I have been riding a unicycle for about a month and a half. I have it down fairly well…ie riding on my legs and getting tire real fast…I have been trying lately to concentrate on riding on my sit bones. Some observations…It seems that when you first try you usually sit on all the junk under you which causes a lot of discomfort. you give up for a while and then try it again. this time you reposition yourself, arch your back and for about 2 seconds feel a little bit of relief from riding on your legs and are actually sitting on your sit bones. this presents a whole new problem…balance. It seems you can no longer use your legs to keep your balanced and you have to use your hips and upper body to balance you. this is a whole new way and now you have to almost learn how to unicycle again…I know this is not the most fluid…but it’s about how my unicycling is right now.
I don’t know why but I always seem to post on discussions that I really shouldn’t
but Mike read the discussion for the below link, it might help. Also search , balls, junk, my boys there has been a few discussions about this subject http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87823&highlight=Balls
Ally,
the link did not work for me.
Sorry Mike I did it from my phone, hopefully this will work it worked in preview:
http://unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87823&highlight=Balls
Here are more…maybe better ones…
http://unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=75434&highlight=balls+hurt
http://unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63278&highlight=balls+hurt
http://unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22720&highlight=balls+hurt
http://unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61834&highlight=balls+hurt
Hope these help.
The main issue I wanted to stress is this: when learning to put your weight on your sit bones and just using your legs for peddling it seems for me that I have to relearn how to unicycle…When using my legs it is pretty easy to keep my balance, but when I put all my weight on my rear end I find that balancing takes on a whole new dimension…I seem to have to relearn how to do it. did anyone experience this?
Oops, sorry Mike my bad. Personally I guess it is like relearning or I think like the old saying bad habits are hard to break.
At first I rode the same way I’d have to start thinking "weight on seat, take off pedal"s when my legs were getting tired and my legs sort of got a repreive and I could go further and pedaling became easier. I would revert back to the old habit of weight on legs unless I thought to remind myself. Just keep reminding yourself, but most important is to try to relax at the same time.
I think the more you ride the easier it will be for you. In my opinion don’t put so much pressue on yourself to do it perfect, with practice it will come. The more proficient and comfortable you get riding the more you will start to correct yourself. I think for me I started with weight on my seat when I started relaxing and enjoying riding and wasn’t worrying. I think you just have to give yourself time, but I’m sure more experienced riders could suggest other options for you.
Thanks Ally for walking this thru with me. I am finally starting to get it. Eureka…that is on my 20 in. When I get it down on my 20 I will work on my 29er. Then free mounting 
Make sure your seat is high enough and the balance should be fairly similar. Standing up is useful when going over bumps and for tricks like seat out. Every time you learn a new skill it feels like a whole new dimension, but gradually you add it together and one skill leads to another. You might learn idling, backwards or one footed riding and being seated helps for those.
I also experienced the aching legs when I started riding, and I wondered why going a short distance was so difficult. I helped alleviate my problem by welding a tube onto the seatpost to lengthen it because the 20" was way too small for me, but I already learned to ride squatting. It takes a lot of practise- stick at it! I agree with Ally just to relax. Sometimes it is easier said than done…
Actually, you’re not re-learning to unicycle, you’re just adding to your skill sets. As you move on to specific areas of unicycling (like muni) you’ll find it a huge asset to be able to ride with low or high seat. When I started to lower my seats, all of a sudden I couldn’t ride backwards anymore, but now I can and I’m a much better backwards rider for it. Pretty much anything you learn to do on a uni will be beneficial, that’s what I have encountered over time.
I am stepping up from a 24 to a 29er with shorter cranks and it is like learning to ride all over again, don’t give up it will all come in time. I learnt to ride a uni at the tender age of 36 or 37 so anything is possible
I was able to ride my 29er on my sit bones for 2/3 of the time. WooooHoooo. It was harder for me to learn how to go from my legs to my sit bones than it was to initially learn to ride with my legs…Next is free mounting… The 29er is really very fast.
Now you will find out how hard your seat is! 