Hello all,
I’ve been learning off-and-on for a few years. I’m “ok”, but not proficient. Current problem involves “wobble” as I pedal. Basically, if there was paint on my tire you’d see a squiggly line going down the drive way. Looking for tips on this.
Riding a Nimbus 24" Muni
Putting more weight on the seat will help.
check your tyre pressure. If it’s too low you will find it very difficult to cycle in a straight line.
Also, don’t press too hard on the pedals as you ride.
As others already wrote, correct tire pressure and more weight on the seat less on the pedals is what first comes to my mind when i read your descrption of the problem.
Greetings
Byc
Also as you know, just ride more.
Your seat could also be too low, if you raise it you’ll put more weight on it.
What length are your cranks? If they are on the long side, you will tend to wobble more.
I don’t know about everyone else here, but I consider myself a ‘fairly’ exprienced rider and I still wobble. I figure it’s just part of unicycling, that’s how you balance. The wheel has to come to one side or the other to keep you on it. Obviously it’s not like your going from one side of the trail to the other, but every other unicyclist I’ve ridden with wobbles a bit too. If you put paint on my tire, it would still be a squiggly line.
I’ve noticed that with my riding, to the point that I became obsessed with it. But with riding, comes some uni-wisdom. As Killian said (although I don’t consider myself an experienced rider yet), wobble is part of unicycling. It mainly depends on the terrain you’re riding.
On a flat smooth surface and at a stable speed, it is indeed possible to have an (almost) straight line. And that’s because at that moment, you can have 100% (ok, 99%) of your weight on the saddle.
When you’re on more hostile ground (holes, bumps, or muni track), you put more weight on the pedals, and the wobble shows more.
Same with the transition phases, accelerations and braking: you do wobble a bit more because it is nearly impossible to have a smooth pedaling when changing the speed of rotation: the stronger force we can put on the pedal is on the down-stroke.
Talking about smooth pedaling, best advice I got here was to learn to spin the pedals as opposed to push on the pedals. Took me a while to understand the concept. Long distance cyclist use that technique too, though they’re attached to their pedals, so it’s slightly easier to make a smooth circle with your feet.
I have found the opposite to be true with my current setup.
I too have been trying to reduce the twitchy left/right steering as I pedal.
My Nimbus II 20" has a 2" Hookworm, which has a 85 - 110 psi range.
I had been running it at 45 - 50 psi, but today when I was trying to increase the pressure my pump failed and let more air out.
I managed to get the tyre back to 25 psi, and the difference was substantial (asphalt tennis court).
It was much easier to ride straight without the twitching, plus the rollover on small obstacles was better without the tyre being too flat when riding.
Maybe it is just this tyre, which is strong with thick sidewalls, but I will be keeping it at this pressure for a while.
JD
25 psi. is low but not too low depending on the tyre, of course. I remember one time my 36er developed a slow puncture. I was able to cycle for a while until the tyre pressure went down to the point that the tyre walls were no longer holding form. At this point I could no longer control my direction while cycling so I had to dismount and cancel the ride.
I usually cycle my muni at around 25 psi and have cycled my 36er with the same pressure although now I pump my 36er up to 40 psi.
For freestyle I prefer 80 to 100 psi, for street I would go lower than 25 psi. I reckon many trials, street and flatlanders ride with less than 25 psi but they’re not focussed on riding in a straight line.
To mes his sound as if he low pressure and therfore the bigger contact patch of the tire prevented you from twisting the uni beneath you resulting in a straighter ride. So you do put too much pressure on the pedals which results in wiggling when the tire is pumped up to hae a smaller contact patch (roll better)
Greetings
Byc
I had a long handle on my Muni (but broke it :() but i noticed this:
-When I had a firm grasp on my handle the wobble greatly diminished
Yes, it very much depends on the tyre.
The Hookworm has very strong sidewalls, with the tread wrapping right round almost to the rim. Even at 25 psi it was not bottoming out, although I was not hopping or doing drops.
The large contact patch was all tread, which which definitely reduced twitching and gave me a straighter line.
Lowering tire pressure = greater friction between tire & ground, and a reduction of wobble under nearly any circumstances.
This is true also. Holding the handle gives you a second point of contact with the unicycle (after your crotch). This helps to keep your body facing straight ahead, and can eliminate a lot of wobble depending on your riding position, spin skill, etc.
Some amount of wobble is natural, and attempting to eliminate it could lead to unnatural amounts of energy being put into your ride. The wobble comes from the unneven forces that affect the unicycle up its axis as the pedals go around. Hold a unicycle up off the ground and spin the wheel really fast. It will wobble all by itself. Add your feet to that equation and you generally get even more wobble, for the same reason (just more mass going around unevenly). Don’t worry about a little bit of wobble.
. The wobble comes from the unneven forces that affect the unicycle up its axis as the pedals go around. Hold a unicycle up off the ground and spin the wheel really fast. It will wobble all by itself.
That’s a very good example.