Struggling up curbs

I guess it is easyer to jump to the side than to the front.
Because I can jump 1,5 meter to the side and also something
like 0,5 meter to the front.

Ferko

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pete66 said:

does anyone else find forwards to be a lot harder than
sideways?

I think forwards is harder than sideways, at least from a
standing (or hopping) start.

If you jump sideways there is no rotational force on the
wheel from the jumping action, so it is as if you jump from
a fixed surface.

Conversely, jumping forwards will tend to roll the wheel
backwards and you have to counteract that tendency or the
force goes into rolling the wheel backwards as opposed to
propelling you forward. But you have the ratio of crank
length over wheel radius, a.k.a. 'leverage factor', to work
with. This will decrease the forward impetus you can apply.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
You have to keep in mind that those of us who post on RSU
are not normal. - John Childs

Hopping forward is harder, but it's all the same...jsut a
little more practice.

Ease into it...start getting up the curbs at a 45 degree
angle instead of sideways.

--
Sofa - You Tu Tu Tuni?

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Just how tall are curbs in New Zealand? Here the highest
curbs might be a foot. If I could jump forward and up 1.5
feet I would conquer any curb I might encounter.

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bugman - Equilibrium Challenged

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like trying to balance a wet noodle"
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bugman said:

*Just how tall are curbs in New Zealand? Here the highest
curbs might be a foot. If I could jump forward and up 1.5
feet I would conquer any curb I might encounter. *

All curbs in NZ are at least 1.5' tall. But I don't know
where you got that information in the above posts...
🙄

Side hops are easier, apparently because the body has better
musculature for hopping that way than to the front. Long
forward hops are much better done with some forward momentum
than from a standing start. The challenge of course is to
get your pedals where you want them before jumping. This can
also be learned with practice.

--
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pete66 said:

* but when it comes to jumping forwards I can barely hit
half a metre (1ft 8"😉.

Pete *

This is were I got the question. I figured if he could jump
1 foot 8 inches, you should have no problem jumping curbs,
at least not here. I have been practicing jumping forwards
on a box here at work. I think it is about 6 inches high,
and about 15 inches across. I try to roll up to it and jump
on. I then attempt to roll across. I have done it about 10
out of 100 times so far. I have troble getting up in the air
unless my cranks are at 9 and 3. I don't epect w/o hopping
around beforehand that you will have the option of were your
cranks are just riding along unless you do that.

--
bugman - Equilibrium Challenged

"Trying to maintain balance by wild arm and body motions is something
like trying to balance a wet noodle"
Jack Wiley _The_Unicycle_Book_
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sorry I should have made it clearer, I can jump about 1ft 8"
forward horizontally, not vertically. I can jump up curbs
with a rolling forwards jump but I often miss. It just feels
like I'm putting so much effort into the jump and I only
just make it up curbs.

I have managed to jump down 3 stairs with a rolling hop but
still not much sign of any height to my jumps.

We use air cushion cars here and so it's illegal to cross
the road without anti-static boots on. That's why the
smallest curbs you find round NZ are about 2 metres.

--
pete66 - Level 3 Unicyclist
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jumping forward is tough to get...try at first by setting
sticks on the ground. jump at the first stick and see how
far away you can put the next stick and clear it.

--
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On my one unicycling video, it shows a guy jumping over stuff, he rides
up to it where he'll probably be jumping, hops up and down just to get
his pedals at 3 and 9, then pedals backwards, then forwards and jumps.
Seems like a good way to get your pedals where you want them, i'd try it
if I could pedal backwards, someday : )

Andrew

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supertones said:

*On my one unicycling video, it shows a guy jumping over
stuff, he rides up to it where he'll probably be jumping,
hops up and down just to get his pedals at 3 and 9, then
pedals backwards, then forwards and jumps. Seems like a
good way to get your pedals where you want them, i'd try
it if I could pedal backwards, someday : )

Andrew *

Wow! I admire anyone who can sidehop 5' easily, I can barely
make 4' in a sidehop, although I've gotten 5.5' rolling.

Now, as for the question of rolling hops, just practice,
that and measure, for an opening trials move, always
measure. When you say that you can only make the hop when
your pedals are at 3 & 9, you're describing proper hopping
technique, don't bother practicing any other way, you'd be
better off learning crankflips. When ever I go for 18" or
more with a rolling hop, I measure, ethier by hopping and
riding backwards or getting off and pushing the wheel
against the ground as I walk backwards. I've also seen Ryan
Atkins do this on some massive (>30"😉 rolling hops.

As for doing rolling hops up curbs or small stuff, when
learning I reccomend measuring, and slowly getting to the
point where you don't measure and just hope everything
will line up. Eventually you'll get to the point where you
can tell about 10' in advance if your pedals will be right
and then you can prepare. You may sometimes find yourself
riding alongside the curb before the hop, but that's fine
too. I can usually tell pretty accurately if I need to
adjust for a hop within about 15' of the actual hop. If
I'm not in a rush I will adjust and make it so it's in a
better pedal position, but if I'm hauling a** I'll just go
for the gap, occasionally having to do >3' gaps to get up
the curb, rather than stopping. I reccomend learning to
rolling hop up curbs on a 20" or smaller, as the smaller
wheel has a smaller rollout, so you can use less space and
get to positions where you can get up the curb more often.
That is part of why I prefer my trials uni for the commute
to school, because my rolling gap is equal to about 75% of
the tire rollout, so I almost never need to adjust for
pedal position.

Hope this helps.

--
gerblefranklin

I don't break equipment, I make it cheaper.
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Gerblefranklin- Thanks for the tips. I was doing the rollout
thing originally when I was practicing, then I thought "What
good is that, I won't be rolling out when I come to a curb
crossing a street.". What you said makes a lot of sense, and
I will practice my hopes from the 3 and 9 from now on with a
roll out to measure my first jump. Glad I didn't waste to
much time befor this topic came up.

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bugman - Equilibrium Challenged

"Trying to maintain balance by wild arm and body motions is something
like trying to balance a wet noodle"
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I too sympathize. And yet I'm watching my son who is eight and just
learned to hop at all after Christmas. He is now clearing 9"vertical
with ease, a 60lb.(27Kilo)boy lugging a 13lb. unicycle like it's
nothing. He jumps forward and sideways with seemingly equal facility.
His rolling hops are already as natural as skipping is to me. He just
rolls down the road jumping every little spot or rivulet that he sees
and doesn't seem to have a "chocolate" foot at all; either pedal forward
is OK. With his 20" wheel there doesn't ever seem to be anything that
he is not lined up to jump up no matter where it is. I'm sure others
with young sprites will be able to testify of this same phenomenon. And
I am just SO jealous. I've decided to buy a 20" trials of my own just
to see if that helps, though I rather have my doubts. Oh, and just for
kicks I tried the standing broad jump in normal position with feet
together and again with the feet spread as if standing on the uni. Big
difference. And again with the feet together but jumping sideways and
feet spread fore and aft. Not so much difference. And I wonder why?
Is it just practice? And I've determined I will start a vertical leap
exercise program like the basketball players use to see if that helps.
Good luck!🙂

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elmer said:

*. And I've determined I will start a vertical leap
exercise program like the basketball players use to see if
that helps. *

yeah dig a 6" inch deep hole in the backyard and
practise jumping out of it 100 times a day once a week
deepen it by 1 "

that kinda thing? and then one day u'll be able to carry the
cow up the stairs? 😉

--
GILD - Waffle-[censored]

SPACESHIP EARTH

Namaste!
Dave
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Maybe. Then I can use the hole to practice my gapping
technique, with more incentive to make it across.

--
elmer - uniimpaired

"Oh, really? How many hours does it have in it?" (My 8 yr. old sons
response to my stating that this was the shortest day of the year.)
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elmer said:

*Maybe. Then I can use the hole to practice my gapping
technique, with more incentive to make it across. *

"But that's not all!!! If u dig now u can also use your hole
to practise drops!!! Send no money now but make that call
and u too can have your very own...HOLE IN THE GROUND!!!"

(sorry, i'm a frustrated infomercial presenter 😉 )

--
GILD - Waffle-[censored]

SPACESHIP EARTH

Namaste!
Dave
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don't worry i can't jump up curbs either...in fact i can't
jump at all
🙁

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