Freestyle Uni

I used a 24" Torker CX for freestyle stuff for almost a year. It should
work fine for most freestyle, but there are several tricks you avoid or
may have problems with.
1. Seat drag. This is simply to hard on the weak rim; the spokes could
pop out of the rim. (This happened to me. Also I fell on the wheel while
seat dragging and bent it.)
2. Hopping on the wheel. This is another stressful trick. The wheel can
handle basic wheel hopping, but will bend if you have any serious mess
up while doing it.
3. Stand-up wheel walk. This (in my experience) simply does not work.
The CX axehead (saddle) makes it extremely difficult to get the
necessary grip on the seat with your knees.
4. Hand wheel walk sitting on the seat. Again, the saddle makes this
trick close to impossible. It is simply too uncomfortable.
5. Unispins. I don't think I would try this. There are to many ways to
mess up and wreck the cranks/rim.
6. Coasting. This trick is possible on this unicycle, but I found
sometimes that while trying to coast on it, I would be balanced, but
then fall off the seat rather than losing my balance on the unicycle. A
larger saddle is helpful.
For stuff like wheel walk, one-foot riding, seat out, and most of the
variations on these skills it should be fine. Also, since you are eleven
and probably weigh at least fifty pounds less than I do, you may not
have the problems I had with seat drag and hopping on the wheel. If you
plan to get serious about freestyle, consider getting one of the really
good 20" unicycles from unicycle.com.

--
jsm - Coasting Addict

Why ride with your feet when you could just as well use your hands?
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for about $20 more, you can get a Torker LX 20." The only problems I
know of are: the cranks strip easily, weak pedals, and the hub isn't the
srongest in the world. But if you aren't planning on going off big
drops, you'll be fine with it. It's also much lighter than the CX.

--
TheoELind - 5 year schwinn rider
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The 'Torker LX 20 inch'
(http://www.unicycle.com/Shopping/shopexd.asp?id=634) is a much better
unicycle and only $20 more. You shouldn't even be considering the
Torker CX. Everything on the LX is better than the CX.

The Torker LX will handle traditional indoor freestyle riding. It's a
good freestyle unicycle.

--
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john_childs said:

*You shouldn't even be considering the Torker CX. *

Amen

Go for the LX. It's 30 times better and only a few bucks more.

--
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OK, I get $10 a week for allowance, and I already have $60, so about 2
1/2 more weeks until I can get one!!! Yay!!! Also, do you recommend
the rounded or flat crown? I kinda want the flat for 1-footed stuff
which I do a lot!

--
tylercox - 11-year-old UniDude!

"The stupider you are, the cooler you are!"

-tylercox
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Flat crown. I can't think of a single advantage of having the crown
rounded.

--
jsm - Coasting Addict

Why ride with your feet when you could just as well use your hands?
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I have the LX, I compared it to the CX, and thought the overal qualuity
was worth the extra $

--
mikebober
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tylercox said:

*OK, I get $10 a week for allowance, and I already have $60, so about
2 1/2 more weeks until I can get one!!! Yay!!! Also, do you
recommend the rounded or flat crown? I kinda want the flat for
1-footed stuff which I do a lot! *

Oh, I see. The original question, Tyler, should have been: " I have $60
right now and it's burning a hole in my pocket. Please let me know if I
am wasting my money on a junkcycle."

It's a good thing to ask before buying. Good Job.
Eric

--
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'I have the amazing power to talk to cats! =^.^='
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му οиℓу ωιѕн
τнιѕ уεαя...
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tylercox said:

*OK, I get $10 a week for allowance, and I already have $60, so about
2 1/2 more weeks until I can get one!!! Yay!!! Also, do you
recommend the rounded or flat crown? I kinda want the flat for
1-footed stuff which I do a lot! *

The flat crown. The old Torker LX from 2003 had a rounded crown. The
new Torker LX for 2004 and 2005 has the flat crown. If someone is
selling a Torker LX with a rounded crown they are selling old stock. It
would be a good idea to verify before you buy that you are getting one
of the new ones with a flat crown.

And don't forget shipping costs. Shipping will be about $20 for a
20-inch unicycle from Unicycle.com to Washington state.

There are bike shops that sell the Torker LX unicycles. You may be able
to find a local bike shop that has the Torker LX for $99 or so. You
won't have to pay for shipping, but you will have to pay sales tax. In
the end it would end up being about the same cost as buying from
Unicycle.com and paying shipping.

--
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correct me if im wrong but i think that a bike shop in seattle is the
actual distributor of torker in the US. Its called like the seattle
bike company or something

--
unijuggler - TOTAL NEWBIE

i should have eaten my wheaties

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Gregs Geenlake Cycles (http://www.greggscycles.com/) has the Torker CX,
LX, and DX for sale on the floor. That's where I bought mine and it's
done me good. I don't know how far a drive that would be for you but it
would give you a chance to actually see and 3 models assembled.

--
Gobd
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unijuggler said:

*correct me if im wrong but i think that a bike shop in seattle is the
actual distributor of torker in the US. Its called like the seattle
bike company or something *

Torker unicycles are distributed by 'Seattle Bike Supply'
(http://www.seattlebikesupply.com/). They're a distributor (a
warehouse) and not a bike shop. They're the distributor for Torker,
Redline, some other brands, and numerous bicycle parts. Their base is
in Kent Washington which is near Seattle. They also have warehouses in
other parts of the country to allow for quick shipping to all parts of
the US (except for Alaska and Hawaii).

Pretty much any local bike shop can order from the Seattle Bike Supply
(SBS) catalog. That's why so many bike shops carry Torker unicycles.
SBS is one of the main catalogs that bike shops order parts from.

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How long have you been riding Tyler?

--
TheoELind - 5 year schwinn rider

Any unicyclists in Colorado that want to ride with me? I love doing
street, trials, freestyle, MUni, whatever. I also have 2 friends who I
ride with. Even if you aren't in Colorado, come out over the summer
while the skii resorts need buisness. Those mountains are getting sick
of double tracks.
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john_childs said:

*Torker unicycles are distributed by 'Seattle Bike Supply'
(http://www.seattlebikesupply.com/). They're a distributor (a
warehouse) and not a bike shop. They're the distributor for Torker,
Redline, some other brands, and numerous bicycle parts. Their base is
in Kent Washington which is near Seattle. They also have warehouses
in other parts of the country to allow for quick shipping to all parts
of the US (except for Alaska and Hawaii).

Pretty much any local bike shop can order from the Seattle Bike Supply
(SBS) catalog. That's why so many bike shops carry Torker unicycles.
SBS is one of the main catalogs that bike shops order parts from. *

oh ok

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i should have eaten my wheaties

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TheoELind said:

*How long have you been riding Tyler? *

I've been riding about two years. Here is the list of tricks I can
do:

- One footed
- One footed idling
- Backwards
- Seat in front
- Stomach on seat
- Hopping
- Riding off tall curbs
- Wheelwalking
- Tight figure eight and that kind of stuff

--
tylercox - 11-year-old UniDude!

"The stupider you are, the cooler you are!"

-tylercox
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thats dope. youre only 11 and you say youve been riding 2 years? thats
awesome.

jon

--
AllThingsUni - A Hog Noob

I will prepare and one day my time will come. - Abe Lincoln

You become brave by doing brave things - Aristotle
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tyler get the lx i got one tonight and the thing is so sweet i cant
stand it i learned how to one foot idle in aprox. 3 mintues with my
strong foot and about 15 with my weak sweet frestyle uni

POW

--
Unitik908 - Level 4 almost level 5

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--Kurt Cobain

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I can't even idle yet, one foot idling seems really far out of reach. I
have a lx right now, it's right crank arm is messed up though, getting
new parts soon, very soon. ORdered them yesterday. But, how long did
it take most of you to learn to idle, and do you have any helpful tips.

--
darkp0is3n
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darkp0is3n said:

I can't even idle yet, one foot idling seems really far out of reach. I
have a lx right now, it's right crank arm is messed up though, getting
new parts soon, very soon. ORdered them yesterday. But, how long did
it take most of you to learn to idle, and do you have any helpful tips.

Took me freakin' forever. Several months, actually.

Keep at it. If you find progress is slow, set goals. I started by
resolving to idle 50 times on my good foot, even if I had to add up 50
individual attempts to eek out just one swing back and forth. As I
got better, the goal was to do at least 2, 3, 4, etc. idles at a time
and recover afterwards. Once you 6 or 7 in one set you're on the home
stretch.

Working on each side is theoretically a good idea, but I didn't do it
much and my weak side skill quickly caught up when I got good on the
strong side.

The other hint that comes to mind is to weight the bottom foot a lot,
and avoid too much correction from the top foot. I actually strained
my achilles tendon from overcontrolling with the top foot, but hey
maybe I'll be stronger when I get back to wheelwalking practice :-)

Good luck.

Ken