mainstreaam unicycling yes or no?



J

JVTFm

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this question has probably been posted before but...
should unicycling go mainstream, or do we want it to stay underground,
well as underground as it is

thank you in advance if you respond to this question


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JVTFm

"all your base are belong to us"
"life is short and god is man"

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id like to see it more mainstream. But maybe thats just cuz i have
nobody around me that rides, so i always go alone.

-grant


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tennisgh22

The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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I would actually hope it stays like it is today. I would hate to see "NO
UNICYCLING" signs go up around town, and be classified the same as
skaters. I kinda like doing something different than what everyone else
does so i hope it doesnt catch on too much. I do however predict that it
will go mainstream someday. How could it not once people start seeing
vids like Universe 2?


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xtremeskier_ - Logan Altier
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With Trials and MUni really becoming prelevant, I think the unicycling
community is growing (at least I hope).

As for going mainstream, I don't think it ever will. Unicycles are too
hard to learn, and they go too slow for most people's tastes. Besides,
isn't part of the fun being able to do something that's percieved as
unique?

JVTFm wrote:
> *this question has probably been posted before but...
> should unicycling go mainstream, or do we want it to stay underground,
> well as underground as it is
>
> thank you in advance if you respond to this question *



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mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
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It would be nice to see it go mainstream so there would be tons of new
riders to go riding with, but on the otherhand zellers might start
selling crappy uni's and practically every little kid would have one in
his closet somewhere, and nobody would be that impressed to see you
ride. it's not a big secret that most of us kind of like the attention
we get, and take pride in the fact that were doing somthing very unique.


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Mike_Foote - Violinist and Unicyclist

Long live unicycling
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I definately like it because its not "cool."

Of course I would like some more people around me to ride with.

Mainstream has a lot of negative aspects to it.


There are already a lot of crappy unicycles out there. It is because
unicycling has become more popular that better unicycles are
available.

Think of the horror if all the teenage skateboarders in the world
started unicycling! :eek:

I think the best would be fore everyone to recognize unicycling for what
it really is. Know about freestyle, trials, muni. In the same way people
see bicycles as transportation, racing, bmx, trials, mountain. But also
see unicyclers as "elite." Something very cool that not everyone does.
But I think those two aspects can not both exist at the same time.


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Rayden
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Rayden wrote:
> *Think of the horror if all the teenage skateboarders in the world
> started unicycling! :eek:*
That's a very interesting thought.

So I'm thinking about it.

Fortunately, I don't think it's possible for that to happen. Yes, groups
of kids can get into unicycling, hang out, wear baggy clothes and no
safety gear, and get hurt trying hard tricks. But not in the big numbers
of skateboarding. The barrier to entry is too high. I think people won't
perceive it as accessible enough.

Mainstreaming has its downsides, but also many upsides. The biggest of
these is a better general awareness of what unicycling is about.
Probably less of the inane questions we often get asked, and a better
understanding by the general populace that "normal" people can learn to
ride one if they want.

If the popularity continues to grow and speeds up, we will certainly see
more el-crappo unicycles on the market. The Savages and similar
unicycles are okay, because they work. They don't make learning to ride
harder (unless they have really bad seats), they just don't hold up as
well. But more products like the old Troxels and other department
store-type unicycles would detract from our sport, as they did in the
past, by being even harder to ride than a well-made unicycle.

More unicyclists would take away some of the novelty of what we do. This
is not necessarily a bad thing. I see MUni and Trials as growing very
fast. This gives people more friends to ride with locally. We're not all
out to impress each other. Being a *good* unicyclist will still put you
in a place where you'll be worthy of having an audience.

But as we've seen with other "technical advances" in the world, even
though the information is out there, the vast majority of the world's
population may persist in believing unicycles are nearly impossible.
Look at the "science" of astrology for example. People still eat it up,
in spite of all the evidence that there is nothing to it.

Possibly the biggest upside to becoming more mainstream will be the
availability of better unicycles and parts, at lower prices, and much
higher likelihood that things will be in stock when you need them!


--
johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"I should be wearing a helmet here -- so should you." -- George Peck,
who prefers not to wear one, in the 1991 video Rough Terrain Unicycling
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yea i can see we have mixed feeling. i for one think it would be more
evil then good cause we would have more posers, cheaply made products
and those "no unicycling signs" would be a bother (and make me want to
s**t in a sock and launch it at the owner of the store with a furious
passion) but we might see some cheaper prices on the good trials and
Munis


--
JVTFm

"all your base are belong to us"
"life is short and god is man"

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I also have mixed fellings on this. For the most part I would just want
unicycling to be a recognized extreme sport. It seems that people
wouldn't like the posers or the no unicycling sighns but i really
wouldnt mind them. I really just want it to be recognized as an elite
thing to do. Also if it went mainstream someone would proably make a
magazine which would be awesome and if it went maistream there would
proably be more pro's and more people making a living riding, which i
think is a good thing.



Brian


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uniextreme - Funkadelic Unicyclist

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Scars are tatoos with better stories
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I say, keep it underground. If it becomes mainstream, like
skate-boarding we'll loose the whole community part of unicycling.

Ever notice how skateboarders don't really communicate with one another?
If I were to meet another unicyclist in the streets I'd be like: "Whoah!
cool! I'm not alone....hey are you on the forum? NO?...dude you've got
to go there...." and we'd have a conversation and keep in touch for some
summer rides...

Skaters just seem to dismiss eachother you know what I mean?

I'm sorry if this post isn't coherent, I'm very lazy and I don't feel
like structuring my writting stuff today....


--
Murde Mental - Unicycling Martyr

Owen Kirby- deep fried and delicious...


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> Skaters just seem to dismiss eachother you know what I mean?


I know EXACTLY what you mean. That whole "you're a poser" thing. I
HATE that. I kind of like unicycling the way it is, and I don't want it
to change all that much.

Although it would be funny seeing Kris Holm at the X-Games ;)


--
digitalattrition
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My vote is for "controlled growth". I'm not interested in having a
bunch of ill-mannered derelicts invading the sport. Let's invite and
assist those who have a serious interest, and not encourage those who
would pull us down.

I don't see it becoming mainstream because of the initial learning
curve, and also because of the price-tag. Entry level isn't too bad,
but to take the next step requires some commitment. This is mostly
good, I think.;)


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elmer - uniimpaired

"At 40 life begins...to show."
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I personally wouldn't mind seeing the sport grow a git, but mainstream
is never going to happen, and most of what I feel is good riddance. Part
of what I like about it being such a tight community is that at a place
like Moab 2004, I was perfectly secure in leaving my Onza, muni, and Dan
Heaton's titanum framed profile muni out in front of our campsite. Not
to mention Mike Middleton's Hunter/profile muni, and Zack Baldwin's
summit and KH pro and KH munis. We wouldn't have been able to do that at
most bike conventions. Also, unicycling is already pretty big. I have
about 17 riders within an hour's drive of my house who do muni,
including two trials riders, and two freestylists (not spectacularly
good, but okay). That's a lot of riders!

As for the mainstreamness of trials biking, it's worthy of mentioning
that's it's rather obscure. Most people are just as impressed by the
trials bikers I ride with as with me, if not more.


--
gerblefranklin - Trials Unicyclist

Don't you think it's a cruel irony that acting like a G.I. Joe in the
army can get you a Medal, while playing with one can get you thrown out?
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gerblefranklin wrote:
> *I personally wouldn't mind seeing the sport grow a git, *


Well, I'm an old git, and I've grown through unicycling.;)

Most skateboarders can hardly skateboard. the sport seems to consist of
standing on the board, jumping, then bending over and picking the board
up. Only a few boarders ever land tricks, or try anyhting
interesting.

Most people with mountainbikes dawdle about on the flat at not far above
walking pace.

Most people with R1s, Fireblades and Ducatis ride 20 miles to the local
meeting place, using the busiest, starightest main roads, then park up
and pose.

Our society values image above substance. Attention spans are short.
We want it now, not tomorrow.

So, unicycling, which takes a commitment of time and effort just to
beable to perform at the very lowest level, will only ever appeal to a
minority. It's at a similar level to martial arts or dancing. Anyone
can pick up a squash racquet, or kick a football, but you can't just try
karate or tap dancing one night.

So we need have no fear (or hope) of a world with a unicyclist on every
corner, and all our favourite trails swarming with cheap unicycles.
There will be no queues forming at the local trials obstacle.

But as the sport gets more accessible, and equipment continues to
improve, there will inevitably be steady growth, with more like-minded
people coming in. The sort of people who choose unicycling might as
easily have chosen bicycle trials, kite surfing, rock climbing, scuba
diving etc. As the sport gets more accessible, more of THOSE people
will choose it.

And if unicycling DID become mainstream, prices would go up, not down.


--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

Some days you're the fly; some days you're the windscreen. When you're
the fly, you get to eat sh*t.
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Mikefule wrote:
> *Most skateboarders can hardly skateboard. the sport seems to consist
> of standing on the board, jumping, then bending over and picking the
> board up. Only a few boarders ever land tricks, or try anyhting
> interesting.*
You're so right! But if unicycling were more prevalent, we would surely
see the same thing. Entry-level riders just cruise around on level
ground. That's the vast majority of the world's unicyclists. There are
just so few of us that we hardly ever see each other without planning
for it.

There are amazingly good skateboarders out there too, and of course lots
more of them than unicyclists. I never see them unless I go looking, not
even at the skate park usually.

> *And if unicycling DID become mainstream, prices would go up, not
> down. *
The high-end would surely go up, but the low end would go down. The
sweet spot would be that a good, basic unicycle (better than Torker)
should be had for much less than a Torker of today. Larger production
runs mean lower prices!


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johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not
because they are easy, but because they are hard." -- John F. Kennedy,
1961
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johnfoss wrote:
> *... Larger production runs mean lower prices! *


How quaint. ;0)

These days, the link between cost of production and retail price is very
tenuous indeed in leisure products. This is linked to the fact that
ownership of a prestige leisure product is a leisure activity in its own
right. Hence, unfit couch potatoes in sportswear; hence families ridng
three slow miles on double suspension 27 speed mountainbikes... etc.

So, larger demand means larger orders. Larger orders means bigger
production runs. This reduces the cost of manufacture.

Meanwhile, large numbers of new purchasers with no background knowledge,
and largely motivated by fashion and perceived prestige, are willing to
pay lots of money for "the best" - and they buy from "trusted" suppliers
- like established sports equipment manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas,
Salomon etc.

So, the big sports companies move in. They order up huge numbers of
unicycles at low price, then sell them to the ignorant adding a big
margin. It ends up that the big boys can buy much cheaper than the real
enthusiasts' shops, and sell at a greater profit. the gap widens. The
real enthusiasts' shops go to the wall.

Too many people buy on brand image, rather than genuine functionality
and quality.

We live in a sad and mixed up world.


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Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling

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Originally posted by Rayden
Think of the horror if all the teenage skateboarders in the world
started unicycling!

Hey careful! I was a teenage skateboarder....about 25 years ago. I
think a more appropriate comparison would be to Mtn Biking than
skateboarding. As I ride around the reception of people is very similar
to what it was when I started riding mountain bikes 20 some years ago
(polite curiousity). At the time MTB's were not too common and I bet
that most people thought that MTBing would never get as big as it did
(after all "grown adults on oversized BMX bicycles?" NO WAY!) and be
careful to place too much emphasis on the skill required to learn;
people (at least here in good ol' Colorado USA) are involved in many
activities which require alot of skill and practice. And if an old fart
like me can learn it, most anybody with a little determination can......
I vote for "underground". Any money savings would not be worth closed
trail signs and other negatives .


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MUNIYETI - The Abominable MUnicyclist
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jjuggle:

is lola a trans or what? i love the song and i've listened to it a
million times but i dunno whether i just have a sick mind, or if thats
really what the singer intended for me to think...

-grant


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tennisgh22

The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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> Most people with R1s, Fireblades and Ducatis ride 20 miles to the
> local meeting place, using the busiest, starightest main roads, then
> park up and pose.


Most people I know ride aren't trophy riders, but ride pretty seriously
(anyway, it's the GSX posers you gotta look out for ;) )

There are aspects of going maintstream I think unicycling would benefit
from as I was watching a bike trials video and I thought I bet there
wouldn't be as many awesome bike riders out there and existing riders
wouldn't be as goodas they are if it was as popular/well known as
unicycling is. There must be dozens if not hundreds of people who could
do so much for unicycling and push its boundaries even further, but just
don't know about it as a bonafide sport.


--
one wheeled stallion - Guerilla Unicyclist

OWS

"It's all in the mind, not the behind" -Mikefule
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