Best mount for beginner

that's a pretty standard "roll back" mount. fairly easy. just practice
more, free mounting takes some time. I found that "static mounting" is
much easier, but i was a long time bicyclist before unicycling and my
legs are quick enough to do it. anyhoo, here's how i do a static mount.
Pedals at 4 o'clock and 10 o'clock (if 12 is the top) 4 in back. put
foot on pedal. tilt uni down and put weight on seat. now in one quick
motion and putting almost NO weight on the back pedal, give a little
jump and put the other foot on the front pedal really really quickly.
remember keep your weight on the seat and off that rear pedal. its
mostly a speed move, so go fast. i hope that helps.

--
markf - movie nerd

stuck in iowa and unemployed.
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markf said:

that's a pretty standard "roll back" mount. fairly easy. just practice
more, free mounting takes some time. I found that "static mounting" is
much easier, but i was a long time bicyclist before unicycling and my
legs are quick enough to do it. anyhoo, here's how i do a static mount.
Pedals at 4 o'clock and 10 o'clock (if 12 is the top) 4 in back. put
foot on pedal. tilt uni down and put weight on seat. now in one quick
motion and putting almost NO weight on the back pedal, give a little
jump and put the other foot on the front pedal really really quickly.
remember keep your weight on the seat and off that rear pedal. its
mostly a speed move, so go fast. i hope that helps.

Thanks that does help. I think I was putting too much weight on the back
pedal AND not moving fast enough, the few times I tried that.

For a roll-back mount, any tips?

What about getting up with the help of a wall/structure, then riding from
there? Beneficial? or hindering development?

Dave

I sucessfully suicide mounted my uni last nite woo hoo

--
Ginja-Ninja - New Unicycler

How cool is Unicyling
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i also recently got up the proverbial balls (hah) to do a suicide mount
on monday night. it was really scary and hard to make myserf do. then as
soon as i was in there air it was easy and not scary and i felt like a
total muss for not trying it sooner. a tip though:lower the seat a bit.
i had a couple close calls.

--
markf - movie nerd

stuck in iowa and unemployed.
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DG said:

*For a roll-back mount, any tips?*

just lots of practise for the most part
a couple of things to keep in mind
once u've pulled yourself onto the seat, just before u pull back on the
left-pedal (r u left-handed?), u should be sitting just behind the
balance point on the uni
in other words, if u didn't pull back on that pedal (and roll the uni in
under u), u would start falling backwards
make sure u don't sit too far forward because then pulling back on that
pedal will simply cause u to fall off the front
it's a gentle movement, so relax into it
make sure that u put as much of your weight on the seat as soon as u get
on the uni
this takes a lot of stress off your legs and the wheel-movement will be
less jerky as a result
the roll-back mount is a very kewl one to learn as soon as u can as it
contains some of the basics that u need to to master in order to learn
idling

DG said:

*What about getting up with the help of a wall/structure, then riding
from
there? Beneficial? or hindering development?*

it's beneficial if u just want to ride but it does nothing for your
freemounting
if u want to hold onto a pole with one hand while u practise to get the
basic 'form' of the roll-back mount under control, that might be a good
thing
but then only for a lil' while and then u must start practising it on
it's own
make the commitment that u won't ride unless u can freemount
if u have the discipline to stick with that, u'll master it in no time
flat and u'll then be able to take your uni anywhere
that kind of freedom is worth the irritation of not 'allowing' yourself
to ride unless u freemounted

--
GILD - Waffle-[censored] and Time-bider

if you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.--
alice 'roosevelt' (http://tinyurl.com/5ngze) longworth
I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages.-- William H.
Mauldin
...using nietzsche's metaphysics to escape from
christianity...-'metro_tramp on the value of metaphysics'
(http://tinyurl.com/4sjw6)-
it's hard to be sure, and good to be paranoid...john childs on life on
the internet
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://tinyurl.com/ywxgb)
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GILD said:

*btw, make sure to go vote 'here' (http://tinyurl.com/3vk3s)
😎 *

Don't forget 'this'n.' (http://tinyurl.com/5nvsu)

--
TheObieOne3226

'SWAT Gallery' (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/SWAT)
'SWAT webpage' (singlewheeledattackteam.1hwy.com)

"Obie is definately a trend setter, I got in to unicycling because of
him, and came here because of him" - KJ-52

"try not to annoy the great Obie, for he is better than us." - Murde
Mental
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TheObieOne3226 said:

*Don't forget 'this'n.' (http://tinyurl.com/5nvsu) *

i think i must be coming down with something
thanx for covering for me Obie
😉

and how long b4 we do 'this' (http://tinyurl.com/v0ze) to the poor
guy?
😎

--
GILD - Waffle-[censored] and Time-bider

if you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.--
alice 'roosevelt' (http://tinyurl.com/5ngze) longworth
I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages.-- William H.
Mauldin
...using nietzsche's metaphysics to escape from
christianity...-'metro_tramp on the value of metaphysics'
(http://tinyurl.com/4sjw6)-
it's hard to be sure, and good to be paranoid...john childs on life on
the internet
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://tinyurl.com/ywxgb)
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GILD said:

*i think i must be coming down with something
thanx for covering for me Obie
😉
*

I had to, MRT is up by 400 again.

--
TheObieOne3226

'SWAT Gallery' (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/SWAT)
'SWAT webpage' (singlewheeledattackteam.1hwy.com)

"Obie is definately a trend setter, I got in to unicycling because of
him, and came here because of him" - KJ-52

"try not to annoy the great Obie, for he is better than us." - Murde
Mental
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DG,
About a 2 months ago I was finally able to freemount consistently.
I started with the roll back mount. If you ask me its the easier mount
to start with when you're a noob and you don't intuitively know
everything there is to know about unicycling.

I did finally learn the static mount in January, but I found that the
only reason I was able to do that was because I had been riding for a
while and I understood what I had to do with my body to move myself up
and to keep my weight off the pedal at the same time.

I do know people who started with the static mount, so obviously the
roll back mount is not easiest for everyone. Just keep at it. It took me
what felt like forever to learn to freemount, but the more you do it,
the better it will get!

And that's just me trying to help. Good Luck!

--
Diznei - U of I Juggler and Unicycler
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I personally found the static mount much easier to learn. I spent ages
trying to do a rollback mount (because that's what was suggested as the
easiest mount in the book I had) without success, then tried a static
mount after reading this forum. I could do that within a couple of days
(probably only an hour or so of riding). Now I never use any other
mount unless I'm purposely trying different mounts - it's just so much
easier for me. The thing I found helped get the static mount is to put
almost no pressure on the back foot and concentrate on getting weight on
the saddle as you jump. That was with a 20" wheel, and the same
technique works for the 26", just with slightly more weight on the foot.
Weirdly, I can mount either of my unicycles with either foot, but I
find a right foot mount slightly easier on the 20" and left foot easier
on the 26" - no idea why!

Oh, one more thing I found helpful was mounting on a slight downhill
slope - it doesn't take much of a slope to make it MUCH easier. That
should apply to any type of mount I suppose.

Good luck.

Rob

--
rob.northcott - Unofficial level 2, on a good day
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GILD said:

DG said:

*For a roll-back mount, any tips?*

just lots of practise for the most part
a couple of things to keep in mind
once u've pulled yourself onto the seat, just before u pull back on the
left-pedal (r u left-handed?), u should be sitting just behind the
balance point on the uni
in other words, if u didn't pull back on that pedal (and roll the uni in
under u), u would start falling backwards
make sure u don't sit too far forward because then pulling back on that
pedal will simply cause u to fall off the front
it's a gentle movement, so relax into it
make sure that u put as much of your weight on the seat as soon as u get
on the uni
this takes a lot of stress off your legs and the wheel-movement will be
less jerky as a result
the roll-back mount is a very kewl one to learn as soon as u can as it
contains some of the basics that u need to to master in order to learn
idling

DG said:

*What about getting up with the help of a wall/structure, then riding
from
there? Beneficial? or hindering development?*

it's beneficial if u just want to ride but it does nothing for your
freemounting
if u want to hold onto a pole with one hand while u practise to get the
basic 'form' of the roll-back mount under control, that might be a good
thing
but then only for a lil' while and then u must start practising it on
it's own
make the commitment that u won't ride unless u can freemount
if u have the discipline to stick with that, u'll master it in no time
flat and u'll then be able to take your uni anywhere
that kind of freedom is worth the irritation of not 'allowing' yourself
to ride unless u freemounted

Thanks!

DG,

Your way of mounting is sometimes called a "beginner mount". The
difference with a regular rollback mount is in the initial position of
the down/back pedal.

More info on mounts, and how to practice, in "Learning to Unicycle"
which you can download from
<http://www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/uni_beginners.htm>

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
It's impossible to get old when you ride a unicycle - John (what's in a name) Childs