Questions RE: children unicyclist

Congratulations on your riders.

My youngest launched right before she turned 6 and was a rider shortly
after. She is petite and started on a 16" Torker/Unistar CX.

Unicycles are measured by tire size. Sun makes and 12" and there are 14"
too but not as common.

Another thing to consider is even on a 16" the standard seat post may
not allow the seat to go all the way down to the top of the seat tube.
Sometimes cutting the seat post so it goes lower will get it to fit for
shorter legs.

I'd measure a 16" for you but I just remembered all my 16" club uni's
and Abby's too are out on loan. (Yea, that means kids are learning on
them!)

Where do you live? If your local bike shop has unicycles you can measure
one. Measure from the top of the pedal in its lowest position to the top
of the seat. Also go to unicycle.com and check out their beginner
series.

Keep us posted.

--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek

Hop Drop & Roll

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Congrats to you!

My 7 year old daughter is very good; can free mount and ride
indefinitely without falling on smooth surfaces. (Muni is next.)

My 5 year old son rides ok, but still uses the walls and couch to
circumnavigate the house.

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Thank you for you time and information. I'll check out those ideas. We
live in Silverdale, Washington. How do you find out about area clubs?

Deanne

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mom3
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I am 14, I have no kids lol. I was wondering with all these parents who
teached there kids how to ride unicycles, did they teach them how to
ride a unicycle before they learned how to ride a normal bike? I have
heard that if you learn how to ride a unicycle before you learn how to
ride a bike the learning process is much easier, is this true? Thats
very impressive to hear that 7 year olds can ride unicycles, my little
sis is 7 and she just learned how ride a bicycle. I wish I could have
learned how to ride a unicycle when I was that young. But my father
used to be a pro bike racer so I learned how to ride a bicycle when I
was 3 and a half.

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MERCYME - Easy Rider

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Silverdale Cyclery carries Torkers but I don't know their current
selection.

Harvy's bike shop in Lynnwood has lots of unicycles in stock, including
a 12".

Harvy's Bike Shop
19920 Hwy 99 Suite C
Lynnwood, WA

(425) 774-8951

Their "sticker price" is often high so go in prepared on what it is
really worth. Ask for the club price.

Most of the Puget Sound unicycle programs are school based. The Uniques
are a non-school club based in the Lynnwood area. We practice on Tuesday
evenings.

I got to head out for Baseball. More later.

--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek

Hop Drop & Roll

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Congratulations on the young riders, it's such a rush to watch them go,
isn't it? I've got a 7-year-old and 5-year-old who both ride. My
7-year-old is freemounting and doing small trials stuff (little ramp to
a platform about 4" off the ground and then off the edge), my 5-year-old
is getting some long-ish rides in (100ft. or so), and mounts assisted
still. She doesn't know how to ride a bike yet.....seems as though
learning the unicycle has been good for her because of the low speed and
the immediate balance correction (unlike a bike which she has to go
faster on and can't correct balance as quickly on). I have a 4-year-old
who is interested in doing what her sisters are having so much fun
doing. Today the local club (newly formed by Billham...25-plus riders
at times) is having its first show at the church where we practice. My
girls are quite small, and we had to cut the seat posts for their
unicycles (16" Torker CX's), but that seemed to make them fit perfectly.
Have fun!!

--Bob

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My 5 year old son wanted to ride a uni also. His inseam was somewhere
around 17". I ended up getting the Sun 12"
http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=644 and then cutting
down the seat tube (this is the part that the seat tube slides into)
then cutting a slot and putting on another quick release.

It was then the right size for him to fit on. If that is confusing, and
you're interested in doing that modification. E-mail me or PM me and I
can probably explain a little better what to do.

--
One on one - Geezer Unicyclists Of America

"However, like the jet pilot, if the Coker rider tries to turn too fast,
he/she could black out."
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I highly recommend you aim for a 16" wheel if possible. A 12" will be
outgrown very quickly, and they tend to be awfully wide for their
height. Pedals hit the ground with very little lean, etc. A 16", even if
it starts out a tad tall, will see lots more use.

MERCYME said:

*I have heard that if you learn how to ride a unicycle before you
learn how to ride a bike the learning process is much easier, is this
true?*

I highly doubt it. Though you would have less to unlearn, you would
have a lot more to learn. For the average person learning, the goal is
to translate the already-familiar motion of turning pedals to replace
your foot motion in walking.

It's like learning to drive on a manual shift car instead of an
automatic. Sure, that's how everybody used to learn, but it's much
easier to learn the steering, braking, traffic part, and later add in
the clutch and shifting part.

--
johnfoss - The wilder Wilder

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
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mom3 said:

Does anyone have riders this young?

My daughters learned at age 9 and 11, so a tad older than yours. In
those days, we went to a club frequently where the youngest riders
were about 6. I have read that the youngest person witnessed to have
unicycled across a stage was a mere 18 months old!

One on one said:

and then cutting
down the seat tube (this is the part that the seat tube slides into)

One on one means to say here:

"and then cutting down the seat tube (this is the part that the seat
POST slides into)".

You might benefit from my "Tips for beginners" page at
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_beginners.htm>. If anything, the
Word document will clarify the terms seat post and seat tube for you.
Good luck!

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
"When it comes to the family jewels, you won't be having fun until they're having fun. - Jake D"

Back from baseball, man was that a long game. 🙄

I agree going for a 16". If he fits, it will give you the most longevity
before having to get another uni.

Our local Brier Elementary has a unicycle program with mostly 16's and
20's. They also have one 14"; the PE teacher says he thinks some kids
actually learn faster on the 14". But they do move up to the larger
wheels right away.

As for area clubs. There seems to be a lot of school based programs in
the greater Puget Sound area but the communication between them is often
little to non-existent.

North Bend Elementary has a very good program. They recently hosted a
workshop day that drew about 150 riders. It was advertised through a
regional PE teacher gathering and through this site. Hopefully we'll
continue to do regional stuff once or twice a year.

Another is Sultan Elementary. They network with the Seattle
Hill/Maltby/Hidden Creek area and do a uni day in May but even that is
by invitation.

If you ever want to come across the sound to visit the Uniques send me a
PM (Private Message, click the button at the bottom of this post).

Last time I stopped by Silverdale Cyclery they told me they sell about
100 unicycles a year. With that volume Kitsap should look into
organizing a year-round club!

--
UniBrier - Its Time to Ride

Steve DeKoekkoek

Hop Drop & Roll

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What school in Central Kitsap do your kids go to? I used to go to
Emerald Hights over there in Silverdale. I know that Mr. Eckland and
also Gayle Smith have unicycle clubs going on in their schools. They
both team up and do a parade in the summer, also. (I'll be there!)
Darnit, you just missed a big convention in North Bend, but I'm sure
they'll have others. I live in Port Orchard. About the unicycle small
enough, I would say if you cut down a 16" uni, it would work. Hope to
see you sometime!

Tyler Cox, 11 years old
Port Orchard, WA

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Hi,

my older son learned unicycling at the age of 6 and the younger started
with it when 7. They both learned on 16" unis. My daughter learned at
the age of ten and she started on a 20" uni.

As someone noticed before, I also see that small children learn faster
on unis that are not too big for them.

I would aim for an 16" uni too. And I believe that this should be
possible with an inseam of 17"!

Don't forget to put on short cranks, because this reduces the needed leg
length as well.

Secondly, wearing shoes with thick soles increase the total leg
length!

If you add up

- half the wheel size --> 8"
- crank length 3.5"
- tyre clearance --> 0.5"
- frame tube --> 3"
- thin saddle --> 2.0"
- this all adds up to --> 17"

HTH

Cheers,
Franz

--
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Great news for all you parents who have gotten your kids to ride!

I am bummed and jealous. I "live" Muni and trials. I watch the vids
regularly and there is a 12" sitting in the garage ready to ride. No
takers🙁 I have a just turned 7 year old and 5 year old boys.

I guess there is hope - one of these days.

Cheers

--
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My son, Tio, started to ride at just over 3 years old, but it wasn't
until he was 4 before he could ride unassisted. His first uni was a 12"
with a cut-down frame (where the seat post enters) as he couldn't quite
reach the pedals. Shortening the cranks also helped (thank you Roger).
At 4 1/2 years old he rode 1km non-stop on his 12". He's now 5 1/2 and
has moved up to a 16" uni which should keep him going for a few more
years. The hardest thing he's found to do so far is to free-mount. It
was only this past weekend that he's finally managed to get on
unassisted. It's great to think I don't have to follow him around the
street anymore - I can just ride with him instead.

Tio learnt to ride his uni well before he could ride a bike without it's
stabilisers fitted. When the day finally came to take his stabilisers
off, he actually rode his two-wheeler without any problems what-so-ever.
I'm convinced that the balance/coordination side of unicycling had
helped him in riding his bike. To this day he spends 95% of his time on
one wheel as opposed to two.

Tio has a younger brother, Zak, who is 1 1/2 years old!! He is a big 1
1/2 year old though............. Hmmmmmm......

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steve.colligan
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