Kids Learning

I would say just teach them to start in the middle of the street and
free mount it without holding anything, it will make them better riders
in the future. that is how i learned to ride and didnt take to long.

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andytait said:

I have seen a couple of 16" kid's unis on ebay and it got me thinking.

My boys have been asking about getting a uni to learn on for a while,
they are 7 and 8. I still have my old 20" learner and was going to cut
that down for them. Of course that means I don't have a 20" at my
disposal anymore, so I'd have to buy myself a new Hoppley or something
similar 🙄 .

Is there an advantage to using a purpose built kids 16" over a 20" for
this age to learn on?

Does the ski-pole method work best, or is it best to just go-for-it
hanging on to things like I did. I recently taught a 13 year old who
got on and rode within half an hour. I imagine progress is a bit slower
and more traumatic with younger kids.

I just borrowed a 20 from a local uni rider who wasn't using it. My
oldest (10 years old)has a 23 inch inseam, which is right on the edge
of reccomended size (as posted on unicycle.com). I think it will be OK.
I need to put some more duct tape on the seat,as it was a bit torn up.
Beggars can't be choosers.

I think most people discourage the use of poles. Having you help them
directly is better.

--Tom

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well if there real short they should have a 16 inch 1 but if there kinda
tall get them 20 inchers but i think the 7 year old either way should
probably have 1 16 inch 1 just my opinion.

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I've never taught any kids, but I'd imagine with younger kids the
process isn't necessarily much slower / more traumatic - it'd depend on
the kids.

As a general rule, kids are supposed to be more robust to falls (and
they have less far to fall), so it seems likely they could learn quite
quickly. I always have a suspicion that the develop balance skills
more quickly than us oldies (I use the term relatively), although my
co-ordination as a child always left something to be desired!

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The way they used to teach children in a place called the Clocktower was
to get them set up between two chairs. And just let them get some
balance and go for it.

I would say the advantage of 20" over 16" is that with the 16" the
cranks are more likely to hit the floor when you are learning.

For myself, my son (who is nearly 8) is very afraid of falling. He was
like this when we took the stabilisers off his bike too. He is a wimp,
like his mother (who managed to learn to ride despite overwhelming
wimpiness). He is not robust to falls. He has rubbish dexterity (also
like his mother). And has rubbish ability to concentrate and persevere
(unlike his mother). However, I am hoping that he will grow into
unicycling but just isn't ready yet. (I do still love him nevertheless
and we have nice cycles - him on his bike and me on the uni).

Cathy

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also, sun makes a 18" uni thats sound slike it would be good. 'Here'
(http://www.jugglingstore.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=496) is one place
that sells it.

'here is another one'
(http://www.jugglingstore.com/store/detail.aspx?ID=350)

-miles

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trials_uni said:

Where did you hear that Bedford unis are not strong? They are the best
thing since sliced bread!!

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As it happens, my oldest (8) is away at Grandpa's for a few days so it
seemed like a good idea to give it a go with Ewan (7) while I had a
"one-to-one" situation last night.

I cut down the 20" and made a small uni. Proportionally it is the
equivalent of me learning on a coker, the seat is right down onto the
wheel, so I'm not sure if it will work that well, but we tried for an
hour or so.

One good thing with Ewan is that he is robust and has a natural flair
for sports and bikes, and showed real determination, trying over and
over again. The best he managed was three pedals, setting off from
holding a workbench. He seems to know instinctively what to do, and
when he fell it was from not having the leverage to make the pedal next
turn, so I do think shorter cranks and a smaller wheel would help. He
will probably get there on this uni but we might speed things up a bit
with a 16" or 18" if I can find one in the UK.

The other thing is that once you have cut the frame down to such an
extent, there is no room left for adjustment up or down. I'll persevere
for the rest of this week and if it looks like we are still struggling
I'll buy a 16" off ebay.

Cheers

Andy

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Try 'this' (http://tinyurl.com/jbuoy), 'this'
(http://tinyurl.com/qebp9), or 'this' (http://tinyurl.com/hjzvw).

On the first one, you could cut the post just a little to fit the child
better.

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We got a really cheap 16" for Sam from ebay.

Cathy

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I've never ridden a 18/16/12" unicycle that wasn't really cheap and
nasty even compared to a learner 20".

I'd say if they can fit their legs on the 20" then stick with that if
the shortest one can fit on now.

If he's got to 3 pedals already, he'll probably learn silly quick. I
know I taught a couple of 12/13 year olds on a 26" that looked massive
on them, and they had it down in a couple of hours damn them.

Once they've learnt, you need to find them a muni. Luke Hinson had a
20" trials cut down short to make a muni, which was super cool and
seemed to work well for him, although I think he was a couple of years
older before he started riding that. You can always bung a bmx tyre on
the current 20 to make it a muni, Tue's son Tom had a 20" muni like
this at Dartmoor muni weekend and seemed to keep up with the 29ers
okay, although possibly due to him and Tue being super fit.

Joe

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Thanks for the suggestions. There's a 16" kids uni on ebay right now I
might go for, even if it's cheap and nasty, it's only got to last long
enough to get them going. Still, we've got a few days yet so you never
know he might be riding by the end of the week.

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Ive just been teaching a group of 11/12 year olds circus skills for an
hour and a half a week for the past 7 weeks as part of their wednesday
afternoon enrichment thing. The thing they were most interested and
determined in was the unicycling above anything else, i think was
because they felt they were achieving something even if they were only
sitting on it.

My method of teaching involved them starting in groups of three, so
they start by clinging on to a person each side, then they used the
fence to cling on to with a person the other side, then on their own,
then when they looked relatively stable i made them ride away from the
wall clinging on to me to start with using me less and less as they
went on, then launching themselves on their own. Then i used chocolate
as a bribe...

One girl got it within 2 sessions, and could easily ride 100 yards by
the end of it - although the only reason she first rode that far was
because she was managing to ride 10 feet, then getting off because she
didnt try hard enough to stay on. So to get her to ride further i told
her i would give her a bar of chocolate if she could ride 100 yards,
which she immediately did!! the next week - spurred on by the thought
of chocolate - another 2 got it! which meant i had to spend my well
earned money on lots of chocolate... but it was worth it because it was
great to see them learn and achieve it and have lots of fun trying!

Anna.

P.S. i stole the chocolate/bribe trick from when i was taught! and its
worked for everyone ive taught so far! set a goal with a prize and
theyll get it quick! then once they get it theyll be so pleased theyll
keep ridin to see what else they can achieve on their own.

I also have a cheap n nasty 16 inch for the smaller ones, which worked
nearly as well for them as the 20s for the ones who could reach easily.

--
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My son is 7 he learned recently on a 16 and I moved him to a cut down
20". He is happier on the bigegr wheel.

I recommend hallways with walls on both sides. Chairs, and fences. The
child will pull away from the wall when they are ready. I don't believe
in just putting them in the middle of the street and letting them go.
When in the later stages of learning. He put a tall stool on the side
of the road, would use that to mount and get his composure, then he
would ride off. A slight downward incline is a big advantage.

I also was very lax on encouraging practice. It took my son a year on
and off to learn to ride, but he learned because HE wanted to not
because I wanted him to. It makes a big difference in how long he may
sustain interest. When he did practice I was full of praise and coached
him only when he looked like he wanted help. I really let him own the
process. He rarely was injured as a result of that, too. Little kids
tend to know what they are capable of and what kind of injury they can
sustain instinctually.

He was up and riding well mid May, about a year after I bought him his
uni. Now he rides mUni with me and freemounts about half the time.

Good luck!
Blake

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Our club had a 6-year-old boy who learned on a 20-inch. His dad cut the
seat post really short. He rides well but back then he looked a bit
like a waddling duck because of the relatively long cranks and short
seat. I think he is 8 or 9 now.

We had another boy who started at age 7 on a 16-inch. He just turned 10
and still rides the 16 but he is small for his age and that is what he
is comfortable riding. He can ride across grass and down curbs and is a
very stable rider but shows little or no interest in any skills that
might lead to a fall.

Both boys took almost 6 months to learn but with parental proding, self
motivation and help from club members they both learned.

--
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My son is 9, almost 10, but small for his age, about 60-65 pounds.

I bought him a Torker LX20 for Christmas. I figured it was better to
cut down a decent uni that he can grow into than get him a 16" that
he's going to grow out of as soon as he actually learns to ride. Once
you can ride, 16" seems pretty useless.

He figured out the riding.. learned to freemount about a month ago.
He's dropping off benches and learning to hop up curbs. He went on
about a 2-3 miles MUNI ride with us and kept up just fine. He calls
his uni the Puni Muni. 16" would not be working so well for him right
now, so I know we made the right call on 20".

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Wheel Rider said:

Our club had a 6-year-old boy who learned on a 20-inch. His dad cut the
seat post really short. He rides well but back then he looked a bit
like a waddling duck because of the relatively long cranks and short
seat....

I am beginning to think the cranks are relatively too long, he seems to
know what to. We have a bench in the middle of the street, he gets
himself up easlily, rocks to-and-fro, and when he feels good, sets off.
He has the technique pretty well, but he mainly stumbles because he
can't get his next pedal over the dead-zone at the top. When you look
at him in that position his knee seems up in the air far too high. I
think it throws him sideways aswell. This happens when I lead him along
too.

Thanks for all the advice, it's been interesting. I think I'm going to
try a smaller wheel. For the sake of a few quid, I reckon it's worth
it. I'll let you know how we get on.

Andy

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This is probably a dumb question as it sounds like you've been pretty
careful about the seat height, but his leg is fully stretched if he
sits on the seat with his heel on the bottom pedal? I'm sure it is set
right, just I have seen people having real problems learning because
their seats were too low and their knees were coming right up, so it's
worth checking.

Kiddies bikes come with shorter cranks (sometimes much shorter) so you
might be right on the cranks though, if he's got half the leg length
and they're 150mm cranks, maybe they're a bit like you riding a 300mm
crank.

If you end up with a super small unicycle with 80mm cranks, you'll also
have the added bonus of a pretty challenging unicycle for you to play
on!

Joe

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joemarshall said:

This is probably a dumb question as it sounds like you've been pretty
careful about the seat height, but his leg is fully stretched if he
sits on the seat with his heel on the bottom pedal? I'm sure it is set
right, just I have seen people having real problems learning because
their seats were too low and their knees were coming right up, so it's
worth checking.

I've set the seat up OK so his leg is extended at the lower stroke, but
the seat is right down on the wheel. There's only enough frame left for
a seat clamp, and the seatpost itself is now one inch long.

joemarshall said:

Kiddies bikes come with shorter cranks (sometimes much shorter) so you
might be right on the cranks though, if he's got half the leg length
and they're 150mm cranks, maybe they're a bit like you riding a 300mm
crank.

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, when I watch him trying
it just looks all wrong. And I wouldn't try to learn on a coker with
300mm cracks so why should I expect him to - aren't I a nice Dad!

joemarshall said:

If you end up with a super small unicycle with 80mm cranks, you'll also
have the added bonus of a pretty challenging unicycle for you to play
on!

Ha ha! And now that I've wrecked my 20" I can buy myself a new one😉

BTW He loves it when the other kids in the street come out and watch
him, he tells them all about uni and how to do it, even though he can't
do it himself yet. He keeps trying to wheelwalk too, I've tried to
explain that that come next, but he just keeps trying!

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I would avoid using ski poles as they can be very dangerous especially
with kids

If they fall off and hit the ground still holding the ski poles in
their hands they can dislocate their thumb, I did this when skiing and
was told it was one of the common ski injuries.

Or if the ski pole sticks into the ground as they are falling off, the
handle end can then impale them or even worse go into an eye socket.

best way to learn is with something to hold onto and getting the
courage to ride off unsupported making sure theere are no nearby
hazards like cars, spiked fences, bottomless pits, etc

good luck teaching them

jim

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