Freestyle Discussion Thread

I think we should do away completly with the term freestyle and just
call it all flatland. Freestyle is too general a term.

No use in having them seperate when they are both on flat land, unless
you want to lump artistic in with freestyle, in which case you could
just call it artisic.

--
forrestunifreak

I will, because I can.
'*-My Gallery-*' (http://tinyurl.com/wcrsl)
*www.qu-ax.com* *unicycle for
christ*

Joe 'Hodgekins said:

Oh... they don't kick bricks, do they?

------------------------------------------------------------------------
forrestunifreak's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/6828
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Ya, I'd say anyting you can do in a gym or outside on just flat ground
is freestyle/flatland. Therefore by my definition crankflips would be
freestyle/flatland as well as street. My two cents.

--
unicycle6869

Jamey (formaly tuna6869)

Which is worse, a president who screws an intern, or a president who
screws the country?

"Not all who wander are lost." -J. R. R. Tolkien
------------------------------------------------------------------------
unicycle6869's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/8990
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

yes freestyle is pretty much dead here. in fact its pretty much been
dead here since i first joined but i suppose its more dead now that
street has truly taken over.

freestyle tends to occur in concentrated groups for the most part. like
in japan or europe and twin cities in USA. i only know one other rider
who would actually call themselves a freestyle rider in australia.

i agree that freestyle should be replaced by flatland. i think the term
artistic should be used more to describe gym riding.

once my exams finish i'm going to start riding again. i have a 3 month
break and a whole heap of ideas that have been building up in my mind.
at the end of it all should hopefully have an awesome freestyle video
made.

--
nickvb123

"any thing you can do i can do backwards"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
nickvb123's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/5926
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Danni said:

How do you seatdrop? Whenever I try I always fall sideways.
I ride 145mm profiles.

Any tips?

What I meant was when you drop the seat and continue riding with the
seat dragging. Don't know what it's called.

--
Danni

leo said:

Without cocks you wouldn't even have a family forum.

'My Trials Course'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64079)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Danni's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12990
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Glad to hear your trying to learn seat drags!! For myself there were a
few things that helped:

1. Learn how to ride seat out front very well. While riding move the
seat as far from your body as you can and try to use as few fingers as
possible, eventually using one or two fingers to hold the seat.
2. Once you are comfortable at this drop the seat. I personally found
that if I keep my arms up (like the 'crane'😉 it forced me to have
better posture and subsequently was able to drag the seat further.

Also, the unicyclopedia has some great tips for learning various
freestyle skills:

http://tinyurl.com/zbry2

Hope this helps,
Tynan

--
rollot
------------------------------------------------------------------------
rollot's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3831
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

The first post asked which trick we consider the coolest.. I will make a
not priotised list : (maybe we need a new thread for this)

Hand riding
Coasting when standing on seat
Backwards coasting (any coasting is cool, but backwarts just feels
better)
Jumping from pedals to standup glide freehanded
Using the other side/foot at a trick
Piruottes and spins

The list is much longer, but this is the ones I consider the coolest

--
Paaske
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paaske's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/15329
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

forrestunifreak said:

I think we should do away completly with the term freestyle and just
call it all flatland. Freestyle is too general a term.

No use in having them seperate when they are both on flat land, unless
you want to lump artistic in with freestyle, in which case you could
just call it artisic.

I think we should definitely keep the term "freestyle"! Overall there
are probably still much more freestyle riders than flat/street riders.
There are just not as many discussions in the forum for many reasons.
One is probably that freestyle as a discipline has already matured, so
there is less discussion about new tricks and riders have local
contacts or even clubs.

Freestyle and flat have many differences:

freestyle:
- takes place in a gym
- is done on freestyle unis (high pressure tire, high seat, short
cranks)
- mostly continuous tricks like wheel walk, coasting...

flat:
- outdoors
- street unis (19" low pressure trials tire, longer cranks, low seat)
- mostly instantaneous/stationary tricks like seat wrap or flip

Off course there is much overlap between the two (just as there is
between flat/street, street/trial, trial/MUni). But in general there
are many tricks that are very inconvenient on the wrong uni (e.g. flips
with 89mm cranks, standup coasting on a flat uni) and clearly belong to
only one off the two (with a few exception like unispins).

The distinction as it is works very well, so why change it? It does not
hinder you to do both and mix them. It is great there is such an
creative transfer of tricks between freestyle and flat, without loosing
their distinctive flavour.

If two discipline should be merged then its probably flat and street,
since there are hardly any flat riders who do not mix it with street
(e.g. flipping down a curb). But I think we can keep the distinction
there as well.

P.S. One should also distinguish between freestyle as a style of riding
and freestyle as a competition discipline (where half of the deal is
the presentation). Note that there is also standard skills as a
freestyle discipline.

--
Niko

-the harder you try, the dumber you look.-
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Niko's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/10976
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

peleschramm said:

im prty sure thats called a toe catch, and i would consider that a
flatland skill.

All flatland skills are freestyle skills. And if this is true, the
reverse must also be just as true. The difference is in the type of
event they are. Flatland is about doing cool tricks ('see the new
rules' (http://tinyurl.com/2udce2)) and Freestyle is about putting cool
tricks into a performance. That's not a minor difference.

forrestunifreak said:

No use in having them seperate when they are both on flat land, unless
you want to lump artistic in with freestyle, in which case you could
just call it artisic.

"Artistic," at least the way we use it in the rulebooks, stands for all
forms of competitive trick riding. That's Freestyle, Standard Skill,
Open-X, Street, and the new Flatland (or Flat-X). Unfortunately the
waters of definition have been muddied for years and years by the
software that's used as database when running most IUF and USA
competitions as it arbitrarily sticks the word "artistic" randomly in
event names, perpetuating the misunderstanding of what the actual
competition event names are. Basically they're what I listed above,
with the addition of Individual, Pair and Group to some.

The reason to have them separate is because they are very different
styles of riding, and forms of competition event. Niko's list above is
a pretty good generalization of what tends to be the difference these
days, though I see this changing over time. If someone makes a
Trials-type tire that can be ridden indoors without marking up the
floor, it'll suddenly be a real popular Freestyle tire. But some tricks
require the high-pressure tires, namely anything involving
long-distance gliding or coasting.

But Freestyle doesn't only take place in a gym. When I perform, part of
my show is definitely Freestyle but it's usually either outside, or on
a very non-gym-like stage. Also I learned most of my Freestyle moves
outside (due to lack of gym).

There's another distinction of Freestyle that shouldn't be ignored.
Pretty much any unicyclist who makes a living by performing is doing
Freestyle. Though there is a growing market for Street and
Flatland-type performances, I don't think anybody is doing it for a
living.

--
johnfoss

John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------

Man with broken collar bone say: "Have you checked your shoelaces
lately?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

peleschramm said:

im prty sure thats called a toe catch, and i would consider that a
flatland skill.

All flatland skills are freestyle skills. And if this is true, the
reverse must also be just as true. The difference is in the type of
event they are. Flatland is about doing cool tricks ('see the new
rules' (http://tinyurl.com/2udce2)) and Freestyle is about putting cool
tricks into a performance. That's not a minor difference.

forrestunifreak said:

No use in having them seperate when they are both on flat land, unless
you want to lump artistic in with freestyle, in which case you could
just call it artisic.

"Artistic," at least the way we use it in the rulebooks, stands for all
forms of competitive trick riding. That's Freestyle, Standard Skill,
Open-X, Street, and the new Flatland (or Flat-X). Unfortunately the
waters of definition have been muddied for years and years by the
software that's used as database when running most IUF and USA
competitions as it arbitrarily sticks the word "artistic" randomly in
event names, perpetuating the misunderstanding of what the actual
competition event names are. Basically they're what I listed above,
with the addition of Individual, Pair and Group to some.

The reason to have them separate is because they are very different
styles of riding, and forms of competition event. Niko's list above is
a pretty good generalization of what tends to be the difference these
days, though I see this changing over time. If someone makes a
Trials-type tire that can be ridden indoors without marking up the
floor, it'll suddenly be a real popular Freestyle tire. But some tricks
require the high-pressure tires, namely anything involving
long-distance gliding or coasting.

But Freestyle doesn't only take place in a gym. When I perform, part of
my show is definitely Freestyle but it's usually either outside, or on
a very non-gym-like stage. Also I learned most of my Freestyle moves
outside (due to lack of gym).

There's another distinction of Freestyle that shouldn't be ignored.
Pretty much any unicyclist who makes a living by performing is doing
Freestyle. Though there is a growing market for Street and
Flatland-type performances, I don't think anybody is doing it for a
living.

--
johnfoss

John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
-----------------------------------------------

Man with broken collar bone say: "Have you checked your shoelaces
lately?"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
johnfoss's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/832
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Danni said:

What I meant was when you drop the seat and continue riding with the
seat dragging. Don't know what it's called.

o just call it dropping the seat. a good tip for that is make sure to
bend your knees sufficiently so that the wheel doesn't sway from side
to side.

--
peleschramm

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=peleproductions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
peleschramm's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/14077
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

rollot said:

Glad to hear your trying to learn seat drags!! For myself there were a
few things that helped:

1. Learn how to ride seat out front very well. While riding move the
seat as far from your body as you can and try to use as few fingers as
possible, eventually using one or two fingers to hold the seat.
2. Once you are comfortable at this drop the seat. I personally found
that if I keep my arms up (like the 'crane'😉 it forced me to have
better posture and subsequently was able to drag the seat further.

Also, the unicyclopedia has some great tips for learning various
freestyle skills:

http://tinyurl.com/zbry2

Hope this helps,
Tynan

I have no experience, but I've read the same several times. I think
shorter cranks would help, also a balding trials tire w/ high pressure
(flatter profile - less side to side waddle).

🙂 wikibooks has lots of helpful tips for all types of riding.

--
skilewis74

Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. If you can ride where you
are going within a hour, do it, and if you can do a trick 50-75% of the
time do it along the way.
Parafrasing a pro skater when asked for advise to kids who wanted to
get much better and maybee turn pro one day.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
skilewis74's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12404
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Well instead of giving the names of all my favourite tricks (of course I
can't do them), Ill just post this...

I don't know if you've seen it, but if you haven't then you need to.
Does anyone have any other awesome freestyle videos?

--
jamessd

My videos:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WpBvnO6wVG0#GU5U2spHI_4

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnedg1YS8c
Add me: [email hidden]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
jamessd's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/15102
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

jamessd said:

Does anyone have any other awesome freestyle videos?

Heres one that I love watching these. The first isn't really
freestyle.
'backflip off unicycle'
(

)
'An amazing artistic video'
(

)

I think what the name freestyle should be dropped and the names
artistic and flatland should be used instead.

--
unicycle nut
------------------------------------------------------------------------
unicycle nut's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/15273
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Here's Shaun J. Doin some freestyle
http://www.unictube.com/view/44/shaun-freestyle

There's really good vid called "Call Out Video"
http://tinyurl.com/2l4k9h
But it's been removed from Youtube. 🙁 It was my favorite freestyle
video.

--
surfer1024

*)--SmallSpin-'O,*
Rolling Giraffe Mount Tutorial
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63892

Mikefule said:

Cross country is when you risk getting lost. Muni is when you risk
death.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
surfer1024's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13733
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Freestyle has got to be the most impressive, and my favourite style. I
mean come on, COASTING STANDING ON THE SEAT? Most of the things I can
just about understand but that is like an illusion to me.

Does anybody know how [yogi?] did it?

--
jamessd

My videos:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WpBvnO6wVG0#GU5U2spHI_4

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mtnedg1YS8c
Add me: [email hidden]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
jamessd's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/15102
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

It's not Yogi but I can't remember the guy's name.

--
surfer1024

*)--SmallSpin-'O,*
Rolling Giraffe Mount Tutorial
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63892

Mikefule said:

Cross country is when you risk getting lost. Muni is when you risk
death.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
surfer1024's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13733
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

best freestyle video = koxx roadtrip

julien money = god in that video.

--
nickvb123

"any thing you can do i can do backwards"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
nickvb123's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/5926
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Heres some freestyle vids of me(mostly freestyle):

and

yea tell me wacha think.

--
peleschramm

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=peleproductions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
peleschramm's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/14077
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Sweet man. Nice music on the second one. You're really good.

--
The.Mars.Volta

'Kidmuni.com' (http://www.kidmuni.com/Home)
'My Gallery' (http://tinyurl.com/2lotu6)
'YouTube Account' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=UNICYCLEORDIE)
Excuse me, is your fridge running? Because if it is it's probably
running like you, very homosexually.
-Peter Griffin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The.Mars.Volta's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13719
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com

Sweet man. Nice music on the second one. You're really good.

--
The.Mars.Volta

'Kidmuni.com' (http://www.kidmuni.com/Home)
'My Gallery' (http://tinyurl.com/2lotu6)
'YouTube Account' (http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=UNICYCLEORDIE)
Excuse me, is your fridge running? Because if it is it's probably
running like you, very homosexually.
-Peter Griffin
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The.Mars.Volta's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13719
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/65260

Posted Via Usenet.com Premium Usenet Newsgroup Services
----------------------------------------------------------
** SPEED ** RETENTION ** COMPLETION ** ANONYMITY **
----------------------------------------------------------
http://www.usenet.com