Unicycling- Introduction and the basics

Unicycling is fun and for everyone. While only a few people can ride it, it can intrigue many. As the word suggests Uni, one, Cycle, wheeled transport, a one wheeled means of transport. While people may think of clowns in a circus that is not the case. People don"t know if it is fun, weird, or cool. I think that some people may change their book cover judgments, after they "read" into the sport. To aid your discovery of unicycling, riding styles will be discussed along with some basics required to learn.

Step 1 Types of riding

There are many different styles including Freestyle, Trials, Street, and Mountain. Freestyle, or flatland are essentially tricks. There are many such as Uni-spins, one footing, wheel walking, and riding backwards. The next kind is Trials which is jumping onto, and off things of great height. The next style is Street which combines elements of Freestyle, Trials, and then some. There are grinds, hops, and spins in this style. The final kind of Unicycling is Mountain, which is similar to trials, but with a different objective, getting down the mountain in one piece! Besides the riding styles there are many sports you can play on a unicycle. The main sports are basketball, jousting, hockey, and polo. These sports can be very interesting especially with skilled riders.

Comments

[aleceatsfood]

Unicycling is both cool and fun! have you ever riden and giraffe unicycle (really tall ones)? I use to take classes in which they had many types of unicycles! Great to know others love to ride too!

[ru60hz1]

I started learning to unicycle in my room, after more than 3 months not learning I got the courage to go outside and try it. then I notice that I am more stable in riding backwards. Now, after 17 days trying out doors I could pedal 10 complete revolution backwards then dismount but can hardly manage 2 pedals forward, sometimes i could get up to 5 uncontrolled pedals then fall. what could be my problem? any help is much appreciated. Friends are already asking, why backwards.

[shakespeare1212]

When you're first starting out, it can be helpful to wear weighed wrist bands. These will make your hand movements have more effect. Once you get a little good at riding, and you can leave the wall, you might also try a balance bar, like tight rope walkers uses. Anything that will increase your inirtia will increase your balance.

[yangus]

I agree, "you shouldn't wear flip flops", but you forgot one word, "ever"
lol but true

[gymnast]

lol the first time i saw someone doing that on a book i laughed cuz i was a beginner and didn't know what it was suppost to do.

[noahh]

I Just discovered the Aquabats! They rock! I own a unicycle, its just a matter of getting up the guts to ride it!

[irishlad]

thanks a lot for this very detailed instructable, it sure helped me a lot!

[vanpaun]

Glad to help! Join the unicyclist forums, ask for Vanpaun. Thats me! Welcome to the 1 wheeled world

[MasterOfNone]

Nice instructable. I would add these comments for beginners from my own experience. 1. As you are learning to mount, try putting the wheel against a chock (like, the curb) so that you can put weight on the pedal when it is in the bottom-back position. This lets you stand on the pedal without the unicycle moving out from under you. 2. The position of your center of gravity relative to the axle is key to riding a unicycle. Think of balancing a broom on your palm. When you want the broom to move forward, you allow it to begin to fall forward and then walk to "catch up" to it. Riding a unicycle is the same: get your weight in front of the wheel, then pedal to catch up to yourself. If you try to pedal when you are sitting up straight, you'll just pedal out from under yourself.

[kaboom05]

bear trap pedals (sorry bad speller)

[kaboom05]

i love unicycling i have a torker dx unicycle with beat trap pedles witch gave me a nice 4 inch scar down mi leg wen first learning lol but yer unicycling rules!!!

[crf250rider]

unicycling is a great sport. i love it, have a 24" torker dx and its great. they are much more manouverable than you would expect, i can ride up and down stairs, do several foot jumps and basically anything a bike can do and more! im suprised its not as popular as it should be. really it is great

[crf250rider]

how do you vote on this site? and what is unicyclisy?

[vanpaun]

www.unicyclist.com is a webforum. they have videos, trading, tutorials, product reviews, pretty much all you need. you rate in the spot where it says info, stats and they like it

[vanpaun]

Lol, You should rate it :). A few people gave me negatives on it :(. Are you on unicyclist?

[philipster]

does any one up grade the uni or is ti just like me? eg a triple wall rim or double wall some pretty fluro spokes or any color but there titanium and some adjustable bear trap pedles any one? and like a kevlar bmx worm tyer (for street) or a bmx dirt tyer

[vanpaun]

Alot of people do. You like Koxx?

[philipster]

yea

[vanpaun]

ya, alot of people like them just for custom's sake

[tac135]

I am a pretty good unicyclist myself, it really is a lot of fun. Another unicycle i would suggest is a torker unistar lx 20", it is a little bit more $ than the sun 20", but it is higher quality and also has a handle.

[wi-fi astronomer]

How many times did you wreck before you were able to use it? Sounds like learning to ride one is a high risk activity. Make sure you use a brain bucket! Maybe a good "trainer would be the seat and pedals in the middle of two side by side wheels like a human-driven segway. Now, about steering one of those...

[vanpaun]

haha, they make one like that, really hard to ride. A dicycle i believe. The two wheels rotate seprately though.

[vanpaun]

Oh yeah, I didnt wreck that much, I call it stepping off :).

[tac135]

Actually, contrary to what you might think it isnt that dangerous. If you start falling forwards or backwards you just get off and let the unicycle fall down. I have never gotten seriously injured riding my unicycle, just maybe a cut or few when i was learning how to ride.

[Gnome]

Just got the new Popular Science issue and on the cover there's an electric unicycle capable of reaching speeds of 40MPH. That's pretty crazy!

[bobbyk881]

I saw that too. I wan't it!!!

[Darklin]

Technically, it wasn't a unicycle.

[bobbyk881]

True. But I still want it. ha ha.

[Gnome]

True. A real unicycle would have been suicide though.

[vanpaun]

Not if it was on "the next generation geared coker!"

[BSR438]

does anyone know how to build a unicycle?

[drummonkey92]

i tried....and failed lol the main problems i had were that i wanted to use only parts from an old bike; i have no welder so pedals were held to the bikes front wheel just by friction of how tight the nuts were on the axle (use a back wheel axle as it is longer to allow gears) problem is that the left pedal would loosen itself as the axle was not counter-threaded. also, attaching the front forks is ver hard because the pedals and axle need to be secured to the wheel but the whole thing must be able to move freely in the forks. i tried loads of things to get this to work and after buying a cheap uni on ebay (£15 inc. p+p) i can see that with the tools i had i wouldnt have been able to do this. hope my experiences can help you a bit, if you do build one male an instructable on it!

[chiok]

May I suggest some additional tips such as posture and deflating the tyre a little bit? Your head is approximately 1/6th your body weight, so where it leads, your body will follow so good posture control will help your overall control. Also deflating the tyre, although a bit cheating, can make idling a bit easier, and then pump it back up as your confidence grows. Oh, and corridors are brilliant places to practice.

[woofboy111]

You need some more details somewhere between step 3 and step 4. Any tips on mounting the unicycle without holding onto a wall? I can get onto my unicycle holding on to something and ride it for miles, but if I stop for whatever reason, I'm walking home unless I can find something to hold onto to remount the unicycle. And very cool shirt by the way...

[vanpaun]

I made a new one just for you!!!

[theburn7]

How is this "green", seriously, i cant find out how, but it is a good instructable

[vanpaun]

i get around town with this, instead of taking a car. if you get a 36 inch wheel with a gearead hub (about $1800) you can go 30mph, almost as fast as a bike

[jackfr0st]

The aquabats are the best...the lead singers sister is in my ward...if that means anything to you .lol

[ongissim]

Good instructable. This would be great if you would open this up as a collaboration!

[vanpaun]

maybe, but then people might screw with it