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General tips

Seat Adjustment

The seat height adjustment is a matter of personal preference. Most commonly the seat is adjusted similar as it would be on a bicycle. With the rider seated the leg is fully extended with the pedal in the down position if the heel is placed on the pedal. The leg is then slightly bent when the foot is properly placed on the pedal, with the ball of the foot over the axle. The following is a general guideline for selecting the right seat pole size:
rider's heightseat pole size
under 5'200 mm
5' to 6'300 mm
over 6'400 mm

Wheel Size

The most common wheel size on standard unicycles are 20" & 24".
  • 20 " wheels are used mainly by people who travel a lot with their cycle or perform in small stage areas and still want to have a lot of pedal action.
  • 24" wheels are the choice of people who ride outside and want to cover any kind of distance and still want to be able to do tricks.
  • 26" and larger wheel sizes are mainly used for distance riding & road races
  • 18" and smaller wheel sizes are mostly used for special effects (i.e. clowns) and small children.

Tips on basic and intermediate skills

IDLING

  • Start by using a support, but try not to lean on it or towards it. Get a powerful rocking motion going; the wheel going back and forth while the upper body stays in place.
  • Sideways balance is maintained by moving into the direction of falling

IDLING ONE FOOT

  • Start by idling with the largest possible pedal stroke, making the bottom foot push harder to accelerate and decelerate. Soon you will feel that the top foot is not really doing anything and can be taken off the pedal

BACKWARD RIDING

  • Afraid of falling back because you can not see where you are going? Try running backwards a few meters first.
  • Start same way as learning to ride

ONE FOOT RIDING

  • Start by riding doing all the "work" with one foot. This means that the working foot will be applying pressure on its pedal in both the forward and the backward position, causing you to ride a bit jerky, accelerating when the foot goes down and decelerating when the foot goes up.

WHEEL WALKING

  • Since walking the wheel requires you to move much slower than regular riding first try riding very slowly.
  • Start at the top of the wheel near the frame with your toe and roll your foot all the way to the heel with the foot parallel to the wheel.

JUGGLING WHILE RIDING / IDLING

  • Juggling while riding / idling requires you to be able to ride / idle without the use of your arms, so if there is a problem here the thing to do is first practice riding / idling with your arms crossed.

HOPPING

  • Hopping is done by pushing up off the pedals like you were to jump up off the unicycle and then pulling up on the seat with one hand, taking the unicycle up in the air with you. For consecutive hops the air in the tire works like the spring in a pogo stick.
  • To hop with hands free turn knees in slightly and stand up on the pedals in order to get a good grip on the saddle

MOUNTING A CHAIN DRIVE UNICYCLE

  • Lean unicycle forward, not straight up or back, and go up, not back when climbing
  • Make sure the cycle does not lean sideways before you go up and make the step from the tire to the second pedal a quick one.
We hope you find these tips helpful - Please take care when trying new skills.
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Semcycle, Inc. - 15574 Oak Dr - Livonia, MI 48154 - USA
Phone: 734-421-2505 - Fax: 734-421-2414
E-mail: info@semcycle.com
www.semcycle.com