uni with training wheels, best learner?

[skilewis74]

I have read a lot of posts about wisecracks about training wheels and the ideal learner, but never both at the same time.

I've seen this 20" uni on e-bay for $65 a couple of times. I didn't get it partly because I was woried about build quality. What are your thoughts on this being the ideal learner?

[milk]

I've never actually tried one, but I don't really see how you can develop balance etc. when the training thing does it all for you. It might help to build confidence, but not much else. Probably best just to learn the normal way - by falling off a bit.

[peter.bier]

My thoughts are don't waste your money. Buying that unicycle is probably a bad idea for the following reasons

- training wheels are not a significant help in learning to ride. If those wheels pictured cannot pivot you are essentially riding a glorified trike and learning to ride it will not put you very far down the path towards riding a normal unicycle. If the back wheels *can* pivot this may be a difficult contraption to ride full stop. You may as well learn to ride a normal unicycle.

- in the case of an unplanned dismount those training wheels are likely to increase your chances of injury (there is more to get tangled up in)

- judging from the picture it is a relatively poor quality unicycle and will be fairly easy to damage

[JustOneWheel]

Originally Posted by skilewis74

I have read a lot of posts about wisecracks about training wheels and the ideal learner, but never both at the same time.

I've seen this 20" uni on e-bay for $65 a couple of times. I didn't get it partly because I was woried about build quality. What are your thoughts on this being the ideal learner?

It's not an effective training aid.
For the moment there isn't any device on the market that would reduce the learning curve.
For now get yourself a Torker LX and do some searching on the forum for tips on learning how to ride.
There is a wealth of knowledge right here at your fingertips.


Adam

[David_Stone]

Because of my club, I bought one of those (actually, it was a tad different, but basically the exact same principle and design). It sucked, then broke.

But to address another point: To me, unicycling is more about coordination than balance. Anything that can help teach someone about the necessary coordination of uni'ing is a great tool. This one just happens to have a lot of flaws in the design.

[dudewithasock]

One word... NO.

pete.bier already explained why.

[mornish]

um.... LOL!!!! itsays deluxe padded seat. It looks like that seat could make me bleed


also, I think it's a stupid way of learning. the actuall unicycle is tilted far to the back, so it's not like your really riding it, just pedaling.

[The Bruiser]

training wheels on a unicycle y not just a bike its pretty much the same thing.

[AscenXion]

Originally Posted by mornish

I think it's a stupid way of learning. the actuall unicycle is tilted far to the back, so it's not like your really riding it, just pedaling.

I have always been on the side of people saying whatever they want on here, and not on the side of the jerks that tell them to shut up because they don't have the "correct" knowledge to speak. However, on this one, I think I'm going to have to flop. With the exception of the one guy that's tried something "like it", you all give VERY strong reasons why you THINK it would suck, but you've never tried one, and you have abosultely NO idea if it would suck, or maybe be quite helpful.

I personally learned in less than two hours without holding on to anything at all from start to finish. So, this is in the realm of most of you out there that held on to walls or railings to start. This is the same concept, except that you don't have to be near a wall with your hand out throwing off you balance and making your learning take twice as long, which to me seems like the STUPID way to learn.

The reason I quoted Miles' reply, was that I think you all are missing what this thing does, and Mile's stated it 100% backwards (sorry, usually I agree with you and stick up for you ) The mono is leaning so far backwards because it's standing on the rear wheels for the picture. As you're learning to ride, you would be UP AND OFF OF THOSE WHEELS. Only when you start to lose balance whould you tilt back a little and then use the wheels to regain balance. Get how they work, like how bicycle training wheels aren't level with the bottom of the bike tire, but are up, so that they don't touch unless you lean to far to the side, then they let you regain your balance.

So, without ever using this thing either, I'm going to give my idea on it, but at least my responce has a little more thought than "this'll suck, take four months to learn like I did". I personally think that this would work fairly well. I would like to have one to teach my wife, and one in the future to teach my daughter, and I'd also make use of it to steady myself for learning new tricks.

All of you are the same people that think that people shouldn't talk without knowing what they're talking about, and yet you all do...kinda stupid, dontcha think?

X

[Naomi]

When I decided that I wanted to learn to ride a unicycle, I went out and bought a unicycle. I wanted to learn ON a traditional unicycle, not on some idealised (or otherwise) trainer. To have done so would have spoiled the experience for me.

Nao

[tomtrevor]

does it really help with keeping your balance? i think you would take longer to learn to ride doing it that way. therefore i think it is pointless.

[Ricky W]

don't waste your money

[StaggerLee]

I'm still learning to ride now and I would never use something like that. It looks like would get in the way when you needed to bail. I can just see that thing wacking me in the back of the head.

I've thought about training aids and the best training aid out there is a really long wall along a flat surface... maybe something like a tennis court


Plus these training wheels are VERY cheaply built. I'm sure the wheels would break/bend/crack in the first couple of tries.

[peter.bier]

Originally Posted by AscenXion

With the exception of the one guy that's tried something "like it", you all give VERY strong reasons why you THINK it would suck, but you've never tried one, and you have abosultely NO idea if it would suck, or maybe be quite helpful.

X

You should always give more weight to the opinion of people who have tried the actual equipment (especially when it is David Stone).


I also have a little bit of an idea why it might suck :-) But you probably don't know me from a bar of soap.

My thoughts were based on 10+ years of riding unicycles of all sorts of shapes and sizes, including various unicycle like devices (which have more wheels touching the ground) I have played around on a few things that use similar concepts to the contraption shown and also talked/lived with people who have ridden similar vehicles. Plus I also teach mathematical modelling and have a reasonable knowledge of physics.

It is always difficult to evaluate what advice is worth listening to from the forums when you have no idea about the background of the giver.

When in doubt it is a safe bet to listen to the likes of John Foss, Greg Harper, Roger Davies and Gilby.

Regarding the vehicle in question, if you don't mind throwing away money on a potential lemon it might be fun to get one for novelty value (assuming you can already ride). It should not prove too difficult to actually ride, although it may end up being slightly harder to use than a normal unicycle. If you are part of a club it could be worth getting for a bit of entertainment. Have a "who can do the most interesting trick with this" evening.

[skilewis74]

I thought about it but didn't buy it. I was afraid it would break from a fall or just riding it soon after I basically learned how to ride. I did buy a 24" DX and spent 2 months riding allong a 90 ft long, 4 ft high rail.

It looked like a great idea though. If you were falling to the left, right, or back the training wheels would catch you. Also just leaning back would save you from a fall. And as you improved you could rais the wheels (if your seat height limited this you could bend the wheels up). The only problem is you'd be riding around with this frame and wheels hanging off the back, which would mess up with your ballance.

This seamed like the Ideal trainer (or for learning tricks like 1 ft. riding, ww, coasting, still stand,etc) especially if you didn't have a rail to support you with. I know a coulple of people who tried learning and quit, but if they had something like this I think they would have stuck with it long enough to learn to ride. I think neither person had any instruction or tried to ride along a rail, fence, or wall though.

When I learned to ride a b*ke I was about 6 (now I'm 31) and I rode around for 4 months before I had the courage to take the training wheels off.