Unicycling for Newbies

[trials_uni]

Yes I know there are already too many of these threads here but this one will be so comprehensive you can tell your kids(or parents) about. Im going to cover:

Learning to Ride
Styles
Terms of the forums and
The Different Types of Unicycles.

As a unicyclist you join a select group of people who have the power to amaze peopel with your skills. However that is not the only thing about unicycling that is fun. It is a great form of excersize and is something that you can even earn a little money doing(if youre good). So without fruther a due, i present:

Learning To Ride

Before you can do anything with a unicycle you have to learn how to ride, its the most basic skill.

1. Its usually good to have a friend or two for the first few days. First you have to adjust the unicycle for your hieght. Then here comes the friends part, hold onto the shoulders of your 2 friends and lift yourself onto the unicycle. There, thats step one!

2. After your up on the unicycle your gonna want to move foreward. To do this pedal foreward as you hold onto your friend(s) and they walk next to you. Always lean a bit foreward when riding(thats the real key). Practice this step untill you grow more confident.

3. When youre confident with your abilities thus far, you can move down to one friend or just use a wall or something to steady you. And when your finally ready you can let go of the wall and ride off all on your own.

Remember this is just a very basic description, some people take months to learn to ride and some people take only hours to be able to ride. its all a matter of balance and confidence.


Styles Of unicycling

There are many differentstyles of unicycling and everyone has their own preference. I am going to list and explain the styles that exist right now.

1. Freestyle: This style is most comparable to figure skating or dance. There are alot of spins and stand up tricks and is a very show like style. The unicycle most widely used for this style is a 20" wheel with a tire that is around 2" in width and a flat crown frame for doing stand up and foot-on-frame tricks.

2. Mountain Unicycling (MUni) This style is most comparable to mountain biking, it is done offroad on trails and woodland or even snow covered mountains!. this stlye can be done on anysize wheel though wheels larger than 24" are prefered for speed and mobility. the tires are super wide and very knobby for gripping the dirt and mud they are usually 3" in width! The frames used are flat crown for strength but a unicrown frame is preffered by some

3. Trials Trials is basically comprised of hopping, dropping, and gapping. the main idea is to work your way through a line(course) with out letting even one foot touch the ground. The unicycle used for trials will probably have a 19" wheel with a 2.5" tire though some people use MUnis for trials riding aswell. the frame can be unicrown or flat crown. It depends on preference.

4. Street Street is basically a cross between trials and freestyle. A Lightweight Trials Uni is unsually used for this.

5. Cokering A coker is a very large unicycle with a wheel that measures 36"! it is made for speed and commuting.

6. BC Wheel A BC wheel is a unicycle with no frame or pedals. It has 2 Plates that hang over the sides of the tire that you stand on and just roll along.

7. Ultimate Wheel The ultimate wheel is a unicycle with no frame or cranks. The pedals are stuck right onto the wheel. This takes alot more balance than a regular unicycle.

Some people are only good at one style and many are good at alot of them, you dont have to choose just one.


Terms of the Trade

Heres just a shot list of unicycle term you may come into contact with on the fora.

1. UPD- Acronym for unplanned dismount. in other words falling off.
2. SIF- Acronym for seat in front
3. SIB- Acronym for seat in back
4. Coker- A 36" unicycle
5. Giraffe- A tall unicycle
6 GUni- A unicycle that is geared to go faster or slower
7. Muni- Mountain unicycle
8. Splined- A unicycle hub. it is the strongest you can get.
9. Cotterless(square taper)- Another type of hub, strong but not very.
10. Cottered- A very weak hub.


Different types of Unis

this is a list of unicycles that you could find yourself buying some day!

1. Muni- Mountain unicycles used for offroad riding
2. Trials- Used for trials and street riding
3. Freestyle- used for freestyle riding
4. BC Wheel- a coasting unicycle
5. Ultimate Wheel- the ultimte test of balance
6. Coker- the big wheel, used for speed and distance
7. Giraffe- A show unicycle

The differnt types are just giude lines. There are so many different sizes ranging from 12" kiddie unis to 48" show unis.


So theres your guide. Use it well and happy unicycling to you all.

P.S. if any member have anycorrections or additions please let me kno or post them yourselves.