I'm going to be starting the process of teaching my oldest girl how to ride her bike without training wheels, so I figured I would also take the time and effort to learn something new as well. Who knows, perhaps we'll have some shared feelings of frustration and eventually success! Based on my age, it will likely take around 30-40 hours to learn how to ride a unicycle, which is much longer than it takes a child to learn to ride a bike! I've watched several different Youtube "How To's" and done a descent amount of Internet research on what I needed as a beginner. I learned that you should wrap the seat in duct tape as you learn because you'll be dropping the uni a lot. Plastic petals also don't seem to last a long time so you may want to keep metal pedals in mind. I bought a frame without a quick seat adjuster since I will be the only one riding it, but if you would be sharing the cycle or having multiple people trying to learn at once on the same cycle, you should probably get an adjustable seat.
When it takes her 2 hours to learn how to ride her bike, and you've long since given up on justifying spending another 38 hours learning how to ride your death wheel, will you re-gift it around Christmas?
As long as you do not come back in a few days preaching about the benefits of "Going Uni" and that you are considering full Unicyclism, while at the same time telling others that riding 2-wheeled or more manual vehicles is wrong--by all means, have at it!
Please please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take some vids of yourself faceplanting (and it's going to happen). Bonus points if your kid is laughing at you the whole time.
"There is at least as much need to curb the cruel greed and arrogance of part of the world of capital, to curb the cruel greed and violence of part of the world of labor, as to check a cruel and unhealthy militarism in international relationships." -Theodore Roosevelt
Falling off a unicycle is much less dangerous than a skateboard, inline skates, or even a bicycle for that matter! I did order a helmet, but I don't see a need for knee/elbow pads or wrist guards. The majority of the initial learning takes place steading yourself against a wall other support. If I feel like I need them, I'll pick them up later.
Some other info I learned was that a 20" wheel is the best size for an adult to learn. A 24" wheel is faster and is usually considered better for people that know what they're doing.
Fuck me, this is hard as hell! I spent about an hour on it today just getting a feel for it. Of all things my right foot is hurting, so I need to see if my seat is the correct height or not. I think I need to raise it a tad, which is hard to believe because this thing is already a nut crusher for sure. I made a whopping 2 full revolutions, assisted by the wall the entire time. There's no real need for arm/wrist/knee pads (I bought them anyway), because if/when I fall, it's going to be on my butt and back. This thing is tricky as fuck.
Day 2: Something just kind of clicked. I think I was focusing way too much on my feet, when the butt and balance is where I should be concentrating. Once I did that, I had my best results yet. I made 3 revolutions, unassisted, which I am very proud of. I only practiced for about 20 minutes too! I wish I had more time to play, but I have lots of housework and such to do today.
