Frustrating day on the new 36

today I pulled my dust covered 26 incher out and after riding my 20 inch
for a month strait, It took me about ten tries to mount it so dont feel
to bad it happens to most of us.

--
UNImaginable
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I had to do a jump mount to mount it because I was getting so mad.

--
UNImaginable
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Took me two tries to mount a 24" for the first time after only having
rode a 20".

--
Borgschulze

Sponsored by My Mom.
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The 36er is a different kind of a beast to mount. It's not like the
smaller unicycles.

The easy way is to point the thing downhill to aid in getting on. Even
a driveway cutout is enough of a slope to make mounting slightly
easier.

You do need to jump up about a 1' or 1.5' to get on the thing. When
you jump up pretend you're jumping up a 1.5' step. You should get that
height from jumping and not from levering yourself up. After you get
the jump up consistent the rest is making sure you end up in balance
with everything positioned and oriented for the first pedal stroke.

My usual cause for a failed mount is allowing the big 36er to lean over
as I'm mounting. Gotta hold the handle tight and keep it from leaning
to the side as I'm jumping up.

--
john_childs

john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
Team Dirty Muni
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If you are having trouble or are tired, try setting up the 36 with the
pedals set for how you like to start but with the back of the tire
backed up against the curb of the street. Stand on the side walk and
mount riding away from the curb. The curb height helps give a boost up
onto the seat and keeps the wheel from rolling back on you or turning
side ways.

--
bungeejoe
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The 36, your gonna love it. Your hooked.... Haaa!

--
Chrashing

Regards,
Ken ... a recreational unicyclist... Please wear a helmet!
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JC as usual speaks truth. But he's also a very competent rider, so I'll
presume to add a couple thoughts from the perspective of a relatively
unskilled rider who has nevertheless put a few thousand miles on
Cokers.

1) Don't get discouraged! They're tough beasts to mount.

2) Keep practicing. It is technique more than skill. It seems really
tall, but with the right technique, shorties can mount too. For me, I
try to get about one full pedal rotation of "walking" start, then have
my strong foot hit the first pedal when it's between 6 o'clock and 9
o'clock position, the shorter the cranks, the closer to 6 o'clock I try
to hit it. Simultaneously, I push off hard with my other leg, and use
the combined momentum of that push and my one full rotation head start
to carry me up over the seat. My second foot hits the second pedal
about the same time the uni hits vertical position, and the pedals are
just past 9 and 3 and in position to start riding.

3) DON'T keep practicing when you're tired. If you're out on a ride
and you fall, try a few times but if you get past 6 or 7 without
success, you're just going to blow all your energy. Try JC's reco on
finding a downhill, or better yet, find a tree, a fence, whatever.
Don't be ashamed to accept assistance from an inanimate friend. The
sooner you get back on, the sooner you're riding again. I can't stress
this one enough. The more energy you blow trying to get back on, the
more likely you are to fall again from some little bump.

4) Devote some time to just practicing your mounts. Don't go for a
ride, other than to establish that your mount was successful. Then hop
off and try again. The slight downhill slope recommendation is a great
thing. When you get tired, take a rest and just admire the coolness of
the 36.

5) If some car stops like it did today, just sit down and wait 'em
out. They'll leave soon enough and take their bad juju with them. Then
you'll nail your remount and be off. 🙂

--
tomblackwood

Tailgate at your own risk...
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Here's my Coker mounting tips. I'm 5'-5 1/2" and freemounting took about
a week before I could nail it 1 of 3 times, my criteria before hitting
the trail. Now I nail it 9 of 10, right or left foot.

I have a pedal at 8 o'clock, and put my foot on it.

I say to myself (in my head...usually) *\-"-U-P-!-\-"-* as I jump onto
the thing without rolling the wheel. Sometimes, it rolls a little
backwards, but not much if at all... The key for me is -up-, not
-forward -so much. The movement of the seat on the axis will bring me
forward.

Next thing I know, I am rolling!

For me the biggest challenge is getting enough height without too much
front-to-back momentum. I don't do rolling mounts, even on my smaller
unis :o , but I hear that is a good one for the Coker if you can figure
that one out. If I can get "UP!" enough, i can get balanced on the
thing.

The downhill tip is a good one. Another one is bracing the wheel. It
doesn't take much, even if you can place a twig behind the wheel.

Oh, yes, about the car. Do as Tom Blackwood says, but once you get the
hang of it, freemounting flawlessly without any flailing or wobbles
after walking your 36er through a busy intersection in front of 50 cars
is a priceless feeling. 😄

Of course, as you seem to know, persistence and practice are really the
most important elements to success. 🙂

--
podzol

WILL DRYWALL FOR UNICYCLES.
*Will unicycle for donuts. *
*Will donut for drywall. *
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I love your non-rollback, and rolling jump mounts onto the big wheel.
Those are best. But I've kept things simple for myself, I know only one
uni mount and that's the roll back.

The roll back mount is not so bad, on the big wheel I am successful 80%
of the time. What it lacks in grace, it makes up in being forgiving,
providing for a slow easy bail out. Those other mounts are beautiful
and reflect skill to be proud of, but they seem to me unforgiving of a
mistake in timing or footing.

--
Chrashing

Regards,
Ken ... a recreational unicyclist... Please wear a helmet!
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Thanks for all of your tips and encouragement. Particularly
tomblackwood for suggestion #3. That ones difficult for me because I'm
so damned stubborn by nature but I was indeed exhausted by the time I
finally rode out of a mount yesterday. I'm glad this thing rolls so
easily or I would never have gotten home. It snowed last night here,
just a couple of inches, but I'll shovel my driveway tonight and keep
practicing. I had the same trouble with my 29er when I first got it
and I did finally get the technique down. Now I nail easily 9 out of
10. I'll get there with the 36 soon, I'm sure.

On a side note, one day last week I got the 24 Muni down off it's hook
and rode it around a little bit. After spending so much time on the 29
and a little bit on the 36 it sure feels squirrely. It took me a
little bit to calm down and ride it smoothly.🙄 I kept
overcorrecting for the least little thing.

--
underdog

'I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody
tell you different' - Kurt Vonnegut
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A few months after I'd finally gotten the hang of mounting my coker, I
had to learn how to mount with a pannier rack packed with 20 lbs of
stuff. (I was touring New England on the beast)

The easiest way for me to mount was with a 10 foot running start. Line
the pedals up so they're parallel to the ground, with whichever one you
usually step to first closest. Start rolling, then when that pedal
comes around again, hop up, and keep pedaling.

It took me forever to learn how to ride again after I switched the
150mm cranks to 110mms.

I rode my coker (with rack and gear) ten hours a day for a month. Then,
I tried to ride my 16" that I use to limbo on. That was a painful
lesson I aim not to repeat.

--
sockmonster

www.unicyclemax.com
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underdog said:

On a side note, one day last week I got the 24 Muni down off it's hook
and rode it around a little bit. After spending so much time on the 29
and a little bit on the 36 it sure feels squirrely. It took me a
little bit to calm down and ride it smoothly.🙄 I kept
overcorrecting for the least little thing.

Hmmm...
After my DX 24 for two months I couldn't get the courage to ride away
from the rail so I got a 16 and rode it, then a 20 (for another three
months), then finally my 24. When I first started riding the 16 I
could only ride zig zag and every half revolution or two it looked like
I just saved from a crash. Each bigger uni was much more stable.

After I could ride the 24 I road the 16 and it didn't look like I was
about to UPD. I guess all of my practicing pedaling smoothly in hopes
of riding faster and someday riding skinnies and w/ one foot has paid
off.

--
skilewis74
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sockmonster said:

It took me forever to learn how to ride again after I switched the 150mm
cranks to 110mms.

It would have been a lot easier, and maybee faster, if you whent in
smaller incriments, like 125/127mm first. I did that before graduating
from my 20 to my 24 also the speed of 20"/102mm vs. 24"/150mm was
identical and similar in difficulty. The smaller ballance window with
still being lower to the ground allowed me to further fine-tune my
skills and giving me the courage to try my 24 again.

--
skilewis74
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Everyone's gonna hate me. 😉 The first time I tried to ride a Coker, I
nailed the mount and rolled away. And my mounting difficulty has been
relatively minor since. I think the key to my success is that I had
already learned to jump mount my muni on uphill slopes before ever
trying to ride a Coker, so I basically did the same mount, only bigger.
If you get tired of practicing mounting your Coker, I think practicing
a jump mount on your muni could be helpful without being as tiring.
And, if your muni rides are anything like mine, you'll have plenty of
chances to practice.

--
phlegm
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I'm rubbish at freemounting my 36er. It's easier with the nimbus 36 and
125 cranks than it was with the heavier coker but still very
difficult.

I don't find it a particular problem as there is almost always
something to help me mount or a downhill bit that I can freemount on.
(I'm short and heavy - the seat comes up to my chest and the top of the
wheel comes up to above my hip). While the weather was good I prefered
to spend my time riding but now the evenings are dark and the weather
is bad there will be lots of opportunity for me to practice and I aim
to have improved by the time the evenings get lighter in the spring.

--
cathwood

Cathy
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A Coker wheel has an 18 inch radius.
A 20 inch wheel has a 10 inch radius.

A Coker probably has 6 inch (150 mm) cranks as standard.
A 20 probably has 5 inch (125 mm) cranks as standard.

The height of the seat is related to the height of the axle, which is
the radius of the wheel. From this should be deducted the length of
the crank.

So the seat on a Coker is only around 7 inches (say a [censored]'s length)
higher than the seat on a 20. (Unless you have the seat on your 20 low
for trials or something.)

The problem is 9 tenths psychological.

The problem I had was not getting on the Coker in the first place, but
getting it to start rolling.

However, I do remember one of my earliest Coker rides where exhaustion
took over and I just couldn't mount try as I might. It's horrible.

To deal with that problem, mount against an object.

Most members of the public have no idea how easy or difficult
unicycling is, or what the "correct" mounting procedure is. They can
see you successfully mounting first time against a wall or fence, or
they can watch you repeatedly failing to freemount. Which is more
likely to provoke an unkind outburst of crude hilarity?

--
Mikefule

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that most people don't.
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I had that on xmas day when i jumped on my new 29" after only ever
riding a 19" very hard, got it sorted though yay!!

--
pkplonker

I WILL DO FOOLISH THINGS AND I WILL DO THEM WITH ENTHUSIASM, I WILL HURT
MY SELF AND I WILL NOT CARE AND I WILL DO IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Mikefule said:

So the seat on a Coker is only around 7 inches (say a [censored]'s length)
higher than the seat on a 20. (Unless you have the seat on your 20 low
for trials or something.)

The problem is 9 tenths psychological.

To deal with that problem, mount against an object.

Most members of the public have no idea how easy or difficult
unicycling is, or what the "correct" mounting procedure is. They can
see you successfully mounting first time against a wall or fence, or
they can watch you repeatedly failing to freemount. Which is more
likely to provoke an unkind outburst of crude hilarity?

Depends how long or (more importantly) short your legs are. Those 7
inches are pretty important when you have to jump a little to get onto
a 20".

Slight threadjack - since getting my T7 handle, I've been wondering
whether the General Public think that riding with your hands on the
handles is easier or harder (if they ever think about it at all). What
d'you think?

--
cathwood

Cathy
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Mikefule said:

Most members of the public have no idea how easy or difficult unicycling
is, or what the "correct" mounting procedure is. They can see you
successfully mounting first time against a wall or fence, or they can
watch you repeatedly failing to freemount. Which is more likely to
provoke an unkind outburst of crude hilarity?

Which is more likely to provoke a thought of "How does he mount it when
there is no wall of fence nearby?"? I don't know, since in the case of
my regular Schlumpf 29er speed ride there -are- no walls or fences
nearby.

--
gkmac

"It's a marvellous thing to see, someone in full flight on the
unicycle." - Stuart Maconie, Radio 2
"Oh no! Both my toes have gone numb!" - Joe Hodges
"You also met me gk! I was the one eating the sandwich!" - Adam Gayne
"Act your tyre pressure, not your age." - rob.northcott
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