I’ve just been out shopping and someone rode past me on the footpath on a unicycle. You don’t see people riding them very often. I’ve always thought it would be terribly difficult to keep one’s balance on one of them.
Has anyone ridden one? Is it hard to balance?
I took juggling lessons many years ago. I wasn’t very good. I can just about manage three balls.
I tried riding a unicycle. I fell over a lot.
It’s difficult at first. It takes about 20 hours of trial & error to get the hang of it.
I remember finding one in a storeroom when I was in high school. Some friends and I were digging around in the theatre of the school, looking for some stage props that had been stored there. We found a unicycle. I remember riding it around the school and the streets outside the school.
It wasn’t so hard. As long as I kept moving, it balanced OK. When I would get into trouble was when I hesitated, or looked down. But if I looked where I wanted to go, rather than down at the ground, and kept on pedaling, all was well.
If repeatedly falling over before moving more than five feet counts, I have once.
Been riding one since I was a kid. Not often, but pull it out now and then to make sure I have not lost the knack.
I never did get the hang of idling, but no problems going forward, and also learned to make 180degree turns using less than a wheel diameter.
Balancing is not too tricky once you learn, but learning takes a lot of frustrating trial and error, as mentioned above. My first unicycle was a Xmas gift and I practiced, sort of, in a hallway until the snow cleared. Took a couple hours of failing before I was able to ride it at all, then maybe another hour before I got going the second time, but then it came pretty quickly.
I saw one in my neighbors garage when I was a kid and asked if I could borrow it. He said keep it as long as I wanted so I taught myself to ride that summer. Pretty easy once you get the hang of it. I don’t know how much harder the tall ones are that use a chain.
That was 20 years ago and I still have the urge to buy one.
When I was a kid, the front wheel of my BMX bike flew off over a jump. Does this count? I rode it for a few seconds.
Were you absolutely sure it was a traditional unicycle? They have powered unicycles now:
It looked pretty basic to me: just the wheel, pedals and a seat. No sign of any motor.
Had one when I was a teenanger. I’m 55 now, and yep, a year ago, I got me another one, but it’s a el cheapo you get on e-bay for less than $50.00. Looking for a nicer one. Unlike the saying of always knowing how to ride a bicycle, after about 30 years of not being on a unicycle, it didn’t come quite as naturally as I thought it would again, but still, after a dozen or so tries I was doing okay, just took more time to get back into the groove of things.
As usual, I go to youtube, it has great clips on how to ride one. Always try to be leaning slightly forward, not backwards. The latter is kind of dangerous. Squeeze the seat slightly with your legs. Keep those arms out. That’s about all I could tell you, the rest is just doing it. They are a lot of fun, but not good for going anywhere, since there is always constant peddling.
The best reaction I got is when my niece brought her 4 year old daughter over. She was looking at it, and I was complaining to her, that they only sent me half of a bike. I was pretending to be very disappointed, and was on it, saying, how will I ever learn to ride it like this. I was playing like I was going to fall, and coming at her. She was laughing the whole time.
I have one with training wheels. It’s fun (& easy)
not me, seems like a great way to break your wrist
We learned how to ride unicycles in elementary school gym. On concrete. A whole bunch of uncoordinated 8 year olds, holding on to the school walls. If you got the hang of it, great. I could toodle along, but stopping meant ride into the grass and fall.
I bought one when I was 39 with the intention of being able to ride it by the time I turned 40. I am 41 now and that poor unicycle just sits in a corner.
When I was 17 (nearly 30 years ago), I had a couple of friends who were enthusiasts - members of a statewide club, they rode in parades, and along with their “ordinary” unicycles, they owned a couple of other novelty unicycles (one six-footer, and one normal-height unit with a really tiny chain-driven wheel - it looked like you were just riding around on a stick :D). I hung out with them and learned to ride well enough so I could join them in a parade, but dropped the hobby after a couple of years.
Tried again about four years ago when I visited those same friends. They were still at it - hell, they could fucking juggle while riding - but I hadn’t retained much ability at all, and could barely ride 50 feet without falling off.
I bought one, spent a few days falling off it, then gave up and sold it.
I bought a unicycle for my son as a Christmas present when he was 12yrs. He thought it was awesome and practised until he could ride it anywhere. He was also a gymnast (still is at 19) so I think that helped.
The sad thing is he biked to school on it and was sneered at as being a show-off and from that day laid it down and seldom used it since.
Somebody mentioned practicing in the hall. That was key for me. If you have a long hallway in your house, or a narrow alley close by, that’s your starting point. Anyplace where you can reach your hands out sideways to steady yourself.
And for the love of Pete wear a helmet! Going over backwards is just a momentary pain if you have one. Without a helmet it can mean lifetime disability. Lean forward, and don’t go near the cycle without a helmet.
Received one for Xmas at 8 years of age. Took a couple of summers of frustration and rage, but worked it out to the point where I’d ride 4 miles to school, go up and down stairs, jump off of 3’ ledges. Never did learn to rock or go backwards, though.