experienced cyclist, what size Unicycle to get?

[mbaulfinger]

Hello All, Thanks for all the tips on setting saddle height for beginners. Very much appreciated!

I just want to add that I'm 6'3" ( like the gentleman who started the thread asking for wheel size recommendations) and have a 24" wheel to start learning on and personally find it a bit intimidating and feel pretty high off the ground.

[Dingfelder]

Hi everyone! My first day registered here.

I just ordered an Oracle 24 and in my 50's have probably shrunk a bit from where I used to be, almost 6'2". I didn't want to go as small as a 20 to learn on because I didn't see myself using it after learning, so I accepted the challenge of learning on a bigger one right away.

I'm crossing my fingers it can all be learned with simple perseverance, as I've read before. I can already picture owning different wheels for different uses ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves here!

[MUCFreerider]

Originally Posted by YONO

I Agree... A high seatpost helps to keep your weight off the pedals and on the saddle. It helped me a lot in the beginning.

Yes, exactly!

In general, as stated at least twice above, the seat height should be like that of proper bicycle fit (when sitting straight in the saddle without tilting put one heel on the pedal, and the knee should be just barely bent without the ankle stretching at all).

Maybe at first when you're getting used to feel and holding on a wall, pole or hand, a lower seat might have some advantages. But as soon as you start taking the plunge and riding away from the wall without support (as you should!), having a high seat makes it much easier (a low seat requires you to support all your weight with you legs which tires your muscles quickly and induces lots of side-to-side motion).

If you're worried about falling a long distance to the ground, then make sure you have a small unicycle (a 20" with a long seatpost is good even for very tall 6'5" riders).

[MUCFreerider]

Originally Posted by Dingfelder

Hi everyone! My first day registered here.

I just ordered an Oracle 24 and in my 50's have probably shrunk a bit from where I used to be, almost 6'2". I didn't want to go as small as a 20 to learn on because I didn't see myself using it after learning, so I accepted the challenge of learning on a bigger one right away.

I'm crossing my fingers it can all be learned with simple perseverance, as I've read before. I can already picture owning different wheels for different uses ... but let's not get ahead of ourselves here!

As from my own learning experience, being over 6" it's totally doable to learn on a 24" and probably comparable to how a much shorter person feels on a 20" (although bigger people still fall further and harder on their butts).

From my pervious post:

I'm 6'1" and was also an experienced cyclist and freeride mountain biker when I learned to unicycle and I learned quickly on a 24". In retrospect I probably would have learned even faster on a 20". Being tall, the added height of the unicycle is less of a problem, but it is nevertheless easier to learn with less distance to fall, which you will do a *lot* for a while (learning is like 90% psychological if you are fit and have got basic balance).

Originally Posted by mbaulfinger

I just want to add that I'm 6'3" ( like the gentleman who started the thread asking for wheel size recommendations) and have a 24" wheel to start learning on and personally find it a bit intimidating and feel pretty high off the ground.

Yes, being taller you can definitely learn on a 24" but a 20" will reduce the fear and pain, so it's just a question of how much that's worth to you (a tall person with perseverance, determination a not so much fear can learn well and quickly on a 24").

[Acrorebel]

Originally Posted by MUCFreerider

As from my own learning experience, being over 6" it's totally doable to learn on a 24" and probably comparable to how a much shorter person feels on a 20" (although bigger people still fall further and harder on their butts).

From my pervious post:


Yes, being taller you can definitely learn on a 24" but a 20" will reduce the fear and pain, so it's just a question of how much that's worth to you (a tall person with perseverance, determination a not so much fear can learn well and quickly on a 24").

I'm only 5'5" and it took me a few weeks to learn to ride with a Club 24" unicycle(almost 3 years ago). I've considered getting a 20" many times because I'm a small guy, maybe it would be better for the various tricks I do. But based on advice from many experienced riders on this forum, there really isn't that big of a difference between a 24" and 20" when it comes to most freestyle tricks, unless you're a professional and you do a lot of indoor unicycling.

It does appear that probably 95% of professional unicyclists in circuses or performers use 20"s for freestyle tricks(of course a lot of them are using giraffes), and there's gotta be a reason for that. I remember John Foss saying that over 30 years ago American performers often preferred the 24" for freestyle, while most of the rest of the world preferred the 20". Eventually, over the years American unicyclists converted to the 20(please correct me if I'm wrong, can't remember exactly which thread this was in).

A 24" seems the most intermediary of all unicycle sizes — not ideal but good enough for freestyle, and on the very slow end when it comes to distance riding. Of course there are some municyclists who prefer the 24".

[ezas]

My vote is a 24". That helps with OP's height. What no one has mentioned is that a taller uni is farther to fall from no matter what your height is and harder to run out a fall on. Didn't see if this was mentioned but a smaller wheel is easier to learn to mount, and as was mentioned easier to learn basic control on (turns, idling, etc).

Also, what is OP's intended use? If it's riding around in limited areas like a playground or a driveway than a smaller (meaning 24") wheel might be better. If it's more along the line of distance riding than that might be a reason to go 26". But having had a 20", 24", and 29" in the past and now a 26" and I'm 6'1" - a 26" would not have been my first choice, but OP has 2" on me, and I would not have wanted to try learning on a 29". When I went to a 29" from years on a 24" it had a high enough curve learning to mount and ride.

With that said, at 6'1" a 20" felt really small based on using a 20" to relearn to ride after a 10 year lay off from riding.

Summary: I think 24" to 26" is the Goldilocks zone for 6'3"