Iridemymuni said:Unicycling is a great sport, there's loads of unicycling clubs out there
if you look hard enough, and most of all you feel like you've achieved
something when you first learn to ride. 99.99% of unicyclists are great
people, and there's a large unicycling community and everyones helpful
and you have great fun riding in groups and what not. Here's a quick
run down on unicycling:
Types of unicycling:
Muni - this is mountain unicycling, done in off-road conditions, the
best unicycles for this are 24"ers and 26"ers, but can be done on
cokers and 20"ers for small children. The world's best mountain
unicyclist is Kris Holm.
Trials - this style of riding is a lot like trials bikes. riders hop up
ledges, do great drops and perform amazing tricks. the highest
unoofical drop on a unicycle was 5m onto sand by Kris Holm. The guiness
world record is 2.5m drop onto a hard flat surface, but there have been
bigger. People can jump in excess of 1m high on uniccyles. The best
size for trials is a 19" rim.
Freestyle - This style of riding involves nice flowing movements, and
lots of flatland tricks. these include unispins, pirrouettes and the
like. The people who do this are very co-ordinated and plan out
routines to peform and look amazing. Freestyle uni's are usually 20"
and can be 24"
Long distance - These are done mainly on cokers. cokers are unicycles
which have a HUGE 36" rim. These are great for long distance and give a
great ride. There are also gunis, ( geared unicycles ). which are made
by schlumpf. these can change gears on the fly from 1:1 to 1:1.5. These
are great machines and are very expensive.
Crank interfaces:
because unicycles use a different drive system to bikes, and all the
weight is usually always on the cranks when riding better systems have
been made to account for this. The best cranks for unicycles are
splined systems. makers of splined systems are: Kris Holm, potnenzar
(sp?), koxx one, onza, aricle, qu-ax and torker. These are much
stronger than the usual square-taper interface cranks as they give more
surface area to the hub and cranks meaning that the components are less
likely to bend.
The Kris Holm unicycle hub has 36 splines, this system is very strong
and considered one of the best, the cranks are tubular steel.
The profile hub (potnenzar), have 48 splines, and these are also
considered to be one of the best systems. these are very expensive but
are amazing in strength.
Koxx one hubs use an ISIS drive system, and have solid aluminium
cranks. These are great and strong and are my personal favourite.
Torker make the cheapest splined unicycles and are great for first
unicycles and average trialists. They are strong and hold up to a lot
of abuse.
Qu-ax uses a splined interface also, and are also great and cheaper
than the profiles, koxx one's and the KH hubs.
Onza are slightly stronger than Qu-ax, and great for their price.
Aricle hubs used to be used on the old Kris Holm unicycles, and are
also good for trials and the like.
Other types of unicycles:
giraffe, ultimate wheels, BC wheels.
Giraffe unicycles are typically driven by a chain, and are high. These
are mainly used for performances and are great attention-getters and
amaze the crowd. the standard height is 5 foot with a 20" wheel.
Ultimate wheels are like unicycles, without the frame or the seatpost.
the wheel is basically a disc with a tyre and pedals in the side of the
disk.
Bc wheels are wheels with metal plates on either side that you stand
on. i have made two sets of bc wheels and they are very easy to make.
you get the front wheel off a bike, get some rihgt angle metal with a
hole in it, put that on the front axle and bolt it down. you then just
hop on and coast along.
Wheel sizes:
12" - for children aged 3-7, these also look great when an adult is
riding it.
16" - also for younger children.
19" - used for trials unicycling, these are the strongest size
unicycles beacuse of the small wheel. these are very light.
20" - standard size for beginner unicycles for adults and teenagers.
can be used for trials when used with the correct strength hub and
cranks.
24" - the accepted size for Muni'ing. these are also acceptable as
trials unicycles.
26" - for a person doing some distance, or Muni'ing.
29" - used for commuting and cross country unicycling.
36" - made for commuting and long distance riding, when the rim is
upgraded to an airfoil rim they can be ridden off road.
40"+ - used for long distance - they are not any better than 36"
unicycles for anything really, they just look really HUGE and cool.
How to learn:
it is best to learn holding a fence or wall of some sort.
1) grab the wall, put a selected foot on a pedal, the pedal should be
at it's closest point to the ground.
2) put the saddle in your crotch and whilst holding the wall pull
yourself up and onto the unicycle and put your other foot on the pedal.
then you must turn your wheel so that both cranks are horizontal to the
ground, this is the area where you have most control.
3)you are now ready to give it a shot, you have two options here, you
can either let go of the fence and ride into the open or hold onto the
fence, i'll explore both here.
4)a) whilst still holding the fence, learn forward slightly and pedal
half a revolution so the wheel will return to being under your body. do
this until you feel comfortable with the action.
5)a) while still holding the wall, learn forward and pedal so that the
wheel is catching up with your body and ride alongside the wall and
holding onto it as needed for balance.
6)a) keep doing this until you are very confident with the action, then
try to ride putting little pressure on the fence.
7)a) when you feel confident, you should mount it on the fence and then
try ride out into the open and see how far you go, then keep doing this
until you can ride.
4)b) after mounting the unicycle and holding the fence, point the wheel
out into the open and learn forward and pedal to try and catch up with
your body and see how far you get, try this for hours and hours and you
will eventually get the hang of it.
Important tips to learn to unicycle:
- put all your weight on the seat, not the pedals.
- learn forward then pedal the unicycle forwards.
- put all your weight on the seat, not the pedals.
- don't look at the ground, look at the horizon.
- put all your weight on the seat, not the pedals.
- dont hold onto your seat, have both arms flapping around wildly so
you can keep your balance, this will go away as you learn and get
better.
- and finally, KEEP ALL YOUR WEIGHT ON THE SEAT NOT THE PEDALS!!
When you can ride a unicycle in a straight line, you'll want to learn
to turn. to do this you should twist at your hips and the uncicyle will
change path and you should follow it. remember to have your arms
flapping around wildly to keep your balance. you can also learn into
the turn but i dont reccomend this until you can turn by twisting.
to freemount:
1) put foot on bottom pedal, have the cranks horizontal with the
ground.
2) put the saddle in your crotch.
3) launch yourself off the ground with your spare foot, keeping barely
any weight on the pedal your foot is already on, when you get to the
top put your other foot on the other pedal, then ride off.
it is important to have little pressure on the back pedal, your foot is
there so that the wheel doesnt move while you launch yourself onto the
unicycle.
Useful links:
http://www.unicycletips.com - great site to help with learning how to
unicycle.
http://www.unicycle.com - great site to buy unicycling equipment
virtually anywhere in the world.
I hope this guide has helped you. if you have any questions feel free
to reply to this and i'll try to answer them for you.
keep it wheel, iridemymuni.
