Different methods work for different people! Also, you may decide if using a wall as a support to go along the side of a wall, or to head away from the wall and just see how far you can ride each time!
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Don't
Stay Still! |
Remember that because there are no brakes on a unicycle, that you can’t just simply stop riding and easily stay upright. You will later on be able to learn to “idle” a unicycle, which basically means rocking back and forth. This is taught later on this page! |
Lean Forward |
Hold on to your support and lean forward slightly while pedalling. |
Let Unicycle
Fall! |
If the unicycle is starting to fall, then let it fall! You can injure yourself if you always try to catch the unicycle before it hits the ground, or just try and stay on “one second longer”! Simply pick the unicycle off the ground, mount it again, get your pedals into the safety position and you are ready to try again! If nothing else, you are going to become more proficient at mounting your unicycle! |
Don't Look Down |
Don’t look down when you are learning to ride. You should be looking straight ahead. This will help you to maintain your centre of gravity over the unicycle. |
Weight Distribution |
There should be as little weight as possible on the pedals as you ride. The weight should be on the unicycle seat. |
Centre of Gravity |
If you start to fall forward, you will pedal faster, bringing the wheel back under the seat. If you start to fall backward you will slow down, allowing the seat to catch up with the wheel. If you can keep your centre of gravity over the seat then you will have a much smoother ride! |
Learn alongside
another learner |
You can take turns at being the support,
and you will know exactly what each other
is going through! You can encourage and remind
each other that it will take a good 10-20hrs
to fully master the unicycle, but you can
have a good time while you learn! |
How to Ride Your Unicycle
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Safety Issues
Unicycling is in fact less dangerous than riding a bike! This is because a unicycle doesn’t allow you to coast (take your feet off the pedals and still cover large distances) and it would be difficult to reach the speed of a bike unless you were speeding downhill! There are also no handlebars to accidentally throw yourself over!
If you teach Unicycling at workshops for children, then I would advise making sure the pupils use some knee pads, wrist guards (or at least gloves) and helmets. Jeans are not comfortable for riding in. Make sure that any shoelaces are tucked out of harms way from the pedals!
Legal Issues
The law seems to be very vague when it comes to the question of whether you are allowed to ride your unicycle on the pavement or the road. The law also seems to vary (when there is a law to be found) from Country to Country. In the UK at least, a Unicycle cannot be defined in any way as a bicycle, and therefore there is no mention of rules to follow in the Highway Code.
The best advice therefore is that if a Police Officer stops you on the pavement or road, then simply apologise, explain that you didn’t know any better, and move on! I wouldn’t recommend unicycling on a very busy road. Too many drivers will become distracted at what you are doing and end up crashing into things ;-)
The First Few Tricks To Master!
Make sure that you can ride in a forward direction for at least the length of a gym hall unaided before you begin learning any further tricks.
Turning |
When you first learn this trick, make sure you look in the direction you want to turn, and also learn to turn in the opposite direction! You may wish to try any of the following ideas and see what works for you!
Do not try and jerk the unicycle by twisting your hips suddenly to change direction as this can wear out the wheel and also it doesn’t look as professional! |
Free Mounting |
This is where you get on a unicycle without using any support. Unicycle should be in front of you. Rotate the wheel until the pedals are almost horizontally level (with the pedal on your dominant foots side being slightly lower). With both feet still on the floor, sit on the saddle as much as possible. Place one foot lightly on the pedal at the back (the wheel should not move yet). Lean forward and hop your other foot onto the pedal at the front as quickly as you can. Immediately push down with your dominant (front pedal) foot and begin riding forward! You can practice this move with a support just to get you used to the jumping up onto the unicycle and being able to ride off, but remember that this trick is called a freemount, and you are supposed to do it without any support eventually! If you find that the wheel keeps rolling backwards as you attempt to jump on to the unicycle, they you could try placing the back of your wheel against a kerb. |
Dismounting |
There is a proper and graceful way to get off your unicycle rather than just falling off! You can dismount by slowing down your unicycle, leaning back a bit, and putting more pressure on the pedal at the back. Just before the unicycle stops, step off the unicycle with one foot and then the other (either step off the unicycle forwards or backwards), and grab the unicycle saddle to stop the unicycle from falling to the ground! |
Idling |
This is where your unicycle stays on roughly the same spot. This happens when you rock the pedals back and forth. This is an essential skill if you are a performer, as otherwise the audience will have to follow you on your journey as you entertain them, as you will have no way of staying in the same space! The aim is for your body to pretty much stay in exactly the same place, while the wheel swings backwards and forwards underneath you. Sit firmly on the seat, look forward and move the pedals back and forth in a rocking motion. Note that one foot should be on a low pedal with most of your weight powering this pedal, and it needs to rock like a pendulum back and forth. The other foot will just be resting lightly on the upper pedal. Use the support of a helper or wall to begin with. Practice idling using your weaker foot also, as this will help you in the long run! Given enough time and practice, the range of motion will decrease (eg you will not have to move the pedals as much as in the beginning stages to keep idling). Combine your idling skill with riding forward for a while, then idling, then continuing riding. Some unicyclists find it easiest to learn in a doorway, where they have plenty of support at either side should they need it! Depends if you are allowed to bring your unicycle indoors though! |
Riding with
the Seat out |
This is where you ride with all your weight on the pedals so that you can remove the seat from underneath you and either hold it behind you or in front of you! While riding, slow yourself down, and stand up on the pedals. Grab the seat and pull it forward as quickly as possible. Many saddles are quite wide, so you may have to arch your legs in order to remove the seat from underneath yourself successfully! Holding the saddle close to your body is more stable than holding it way out in front. Now try and pedal as smoothly as you can by putting the same amount of pressure onto each pedal as you ride. To replace the seat underneath you, slow down, and quickly push the seat back in. You could also attempt this trick by pulling the seat out from behind you instead of in front! This trick would help you to learn riding the Ultimate Wheel (see further down this page for more details!) |
Riding Backwards |
Once you can safely ride forwards and idle (which involves going backwards a little) then why not try riding backwards?! The main difficulty is how to see behind you so that you aren’t going to hit anyone or anything! It is easy to go backwards without looking, which is fine if you are in charge of your performance area and know your limits, but otherwise, you will have to turn your head and look backwards, and this can knock you off balance! |
Further Information on Unicycle Products
To find out which size of wheel is best for you, have a look on my unicycle products page, where you can compare some unicycles and have a look at the leg measurement chart.
Dealing with Heckles
If you enjoy Unicycling and begin using it everywhere you go, here are some useful lines from the much larger collection of one-liners @ www.unicycling.org on how to deal with people who try to be funny by asking “where’s the other wheel?”!
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It'll be along in a minute.
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You're kidding, it was there last time I looked (and promptly fall off)
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I got the bike on sale, half off...I didn't realize they meant the bike.
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Don't be daft, where would I put a second wheel?
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My other wheel? I don't need a training wheel anymore!
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It's on back order.
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Different Types of Unicycle
Standard |
This is your average unicycle. The seat is directly above the wheel, and the cranks connect to the axle. Available to purchase from my Unicycles Page (UK only!) |
Monocycle /
Monowheel |
This is a wheel with the seat inside! These are fairly rare. The wheel is a ring, usually driven by smaller wheels pressing against its inner rim! |
Half a Bike |
If you can find the front end of an old bike, preferably with the kind of handlebars that point towards you (rather than the straight kind), then you could push it along the ground in front of you, giving the appearance of a normal bike! |
Ultimate Wheel |
This is the standard unicycle, but without a seat post or saddle! You definitely need shinguards before going anywhere near this unicycle! |
Giraffe |
These are the taller chain-driven unicycles. Available to purchase from my Unicycles Page (UK only!) |
Impossible Wheel |
Also called a BC wheel. This is a plain wheel with the axle extended on both sides with posts. Because you have no pedals, you have to stand on the posts and roll along, which is pretty impossible for nearly all unicyclists (hence the name “impossible wheel”)! |
Multi-wheeled
Unicycles |
Yes, you can have more than one wheel and still be called a unicycle! Only one wheel in this unicycle is actually touching the ground. One wheel is on top of the other... This means that in order to ride forwards, you have to pedal backwards, which makes the top wheel go backwards, thus powering the wheel on the ground to go forwards! Of course, you could just get a three wheeled version! There is even a version with 13 wheels arranged like a series of cogs! |
Further Information
Things not to do on a Unicycle!
What is MUni? MUni stands for Mountain Unicycling. It's also known as Rough Terrain Unicycling, All Terrain Unicycling, or even UMX. Like mountain biking, you don't need a mountain to do it. It's just the act of riding unicycles off road. You can find out more by visiting www.unicycling.com.
Unicycle Games can be found on my Juggling Games page
Some Other Props to Balance yourself on!
Balancing / Walking Ladder |
To walk a
ladder, you can either buy a lead and exercise
it at least twice a day, or you can learn
to balance on it and do the walking bit yourself!
The walking ladder is an extra wide ladder
which you can balance on, and then learn to
walk along the ground moving the feet of the
ladder one step at a time! You can also balance
on the top rung (one leg at each side of the
ladder) and start juggling while walking along
with the ladder. Available to purchase on Ladder/Globes page (UK only)! |
Balancing / Walking Globe
|
This circus prop is for walking on top of while keeping your balance! Once you are good enough, then you can think about juggling at the same time! The globe can then be used as a way of enhancing your stage show, or rising above the crowds and adding a bit of a danger element to your street shows! |
Unicycle |
A unicycle is a one-wheeled human powered vehicle. Unicycles are similar to, but less complex than, bicycles. Not as difficult as you think to learn the basic riding move, but you have to be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort and not just give up after a few false starts! |
Rola-Bola |
Also known as rolla bolla, bongo board or teeter board. The rola-bola consists of a cylinder and a board - you place the board
on the cylinder, hop up on the board and rock and roll to try to stay
upright. Looks even harder if you juggle at the same time. It's like a
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