UKC

Hi all,  I'm after a new challenge and have always liked the idea of learning to ride a unicycle,  so with my birthday due I'm thinking why not. Have been reading up online but I usually get great advice from you lot so I thought why not.....

Nearly 50,  5'10 and 80Kg or so.  

Any recommendations I should go for,  or equally avoid.  Clearly I want to keep the price down in case it isn't for me

Cheers all

Beware - my good friend has a very convincing argument as to why he needs 5 different unicycles.....

I can see why you might want two - to weld them together and make a bike

I haven't ridden at all for about 10 years so my knowledge might be out of date, but when I learned everyone learned on a 20".  24" was just if you wanted to go faster or further.

You won't notice the difference in quality until you start doing tricks or jumping around.

If you get a cheep one, you will bend the crank when you start bunnyhopping around (probably your first trick).  I would get a chrome one rather than a coloured one, as it won't show up the scuffs so much.

If you want something cheep, these look fine - they have the advantage of a square frame, rather than a rounded frame, so you have somewhere to rest your foot when you are riding one footed - again quite an early trick.

https://www.unicycle.uk.com/unicycles/adult-learner/club-unicycles.html

If you want to spend a bit more and get something you can jump around on, then these will be great.

https://www.unicycle.uk.com/unicycles/adult-learner/nimbus-unicycles.html

Don't spend a lot of money on the first one. You'll drop it so much that it'll end up pretty scuffed. Learn to ride, then think about an upgrade.

Also, from my experience, its really hard. You'll need to stick at it. I can't think of any particularly useful advice to offer in terms of learning. Just try, try, try again.

LR

The n+1/2 rule...

The way that I learnt was to ride along between a wall and a row of chairs so that I had somewhere to put my hands to assist with balance.  I learnt on a £50 job from lidl that was fine for my purposes.................

The process of learning to ride a unicycle is fascinating. Almost binary, rather than some kind of steady progression. It is impossible until suddenly it isn't.

Can I just say what a fab bunch UKCers are.  There might be some bitching and scrapping going on but deep down we all love each other.

I was PM'd about my request from Andrew from Huddersfield,  offering me a cheap second hand one (but effectively new)

So I popped across as I was fairly close to the area,  met at the end of the parkrun.  600+ people,  ran like clockwork!!

"The finish is near to the tennis courts, you should be able to find me, I'll be the one holding a unicycle!!"

and he was.....

Cheers all,  thanks for all the advice - now I need to give it a bash....

I tried a few years ago, my advice. Wear wrist braces and a helmet. I went down hard on my hands a few times and over backwards hitting my helmet on the floor

I'm sure there are loads of instructional vids on youtube and wotnot, but the two tips that most helped me when I first learned to ride one:

Eyes up - look at the horizon, not down at your feet.
Keep your weight on the seat - there is something about it that makes you want to stand up on the pedals, but when you do the whole thing becomes (even more) unstable.

Beware - it’s addictive!

It’s worth scouting around to find a good spot to learn. Somewhere flat and smooth is important. At first, going along a waist high handrail will help you find the balance point. After this you can push off from a post to get going. I’d advise getting wrist guards, and make sure you always fall forwards, rather than off the back! It took me about 10 hours of practice before I could ride, which I think is about normal.

The saddle height is really important. It will feel safer low down, but it makes it much harder to control. A similar amount of leg bend to a two wheel bike is about right.

If you get really into it then I’d advise investing in a high quality unicycle asap. I have a Nimbus 26” muni, but regret not getting a Kris Holm. If you want to cover any kind of distance on or off road then big wheels (26”+) are waay better. For doing tricks then smaller wheels are better.

Good luck!