"Leading with left shoulder while riding!

TheObieOne3226 said:

The problem is either mental or you need to get used to your unicycle at
its current setting. I often found when I made a change in tire
pressure or seat hieght (or a number of other things) I had the same
problem, and the more I noticed it the worse it got. My solution was to
hop on the uni and ride it hard and fast until my legs were a little
tired (but loosened up) and then hop back on the uni. More often than
not it solved the problem.

Of course, inspect your unicycle before doing this to make sure your
wheel isn't off center. Also check your pedals, sometimes when your
grip on the pedals isn't strong it leads to changes in the way you
ride.

I just thought that instead of building up the seat with foam under the
cover, I could "shim" or add washers under one side of the seat where
it bolts on.

--
terrybigwheel

Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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It may be that, as your riding develops, your musculature and technique
are becoming asymmetric. Consider taking active steps to balance your
riding style by idling with each leg, one-foot riding with each leg,
working on figure 8s, hopping with each foot forward, and even holding
the saddle with either hand.

--
U-Turn

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
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i may have a some-what related problem. when i'm going up steepish hills
i tend to have my left shoulder way out in front and in most cases my
left shoulder is level with or further to the right than my seat. Is
this a big problem?

--
iridemymuni

In theory, there is no difference between practice and theory, in
practice, there is.
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when i ride across a sloped surface i tend to move my right shoulder
forward a lot more just to stay up right. i got a new tire for my uni
and it pretty much stopped when i did that.

cheers, keep it wheel.

--
tomtrevor

wanna see wacked bikes at their best visit www.mediahug.com/bikes
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Well I just finished adding extra washers onder the right under side
where the seat bolts on. I noticed BEFORE I did this that the seat was
high on the left side when the bolts were even. I think I just
compressed that side down more during riding. So I will see if this has
any effect and fixes the problem. Thanks everybody!🙂

--
terrybigwheel

Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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I have come to my own conclusion that leading with one shoulder or the
other is a means for controlling front-to-back balance.

I get into an awkward position such as a left or right slanting road
surface, I slow down and the next thing that happens is one shoulder
starts leading the way. One shoulder goes forward and so of course the
other goes back. Then instead of using my arms to control side-to-side
balance my arms are controlling front-to-back balance.

Slanted surfaces and steeply curved road crown (especially while riding
my 29er) still give me a lot of trouble. It is better than it used to
be but still feels really awkward.

I don't think it is your equipment unless something is really
mis-aligned. The problem is with the rider.

My 2 cents.

--
Wheel Rider

A man can fail many times but he isn't a failure until he begins to
blame someone else. - Waite Phillips
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Wheel Rider said:

I have come to my own conclusion that leading with one shoulder or the
other is a means for controlling front-to-back balance.

The problem is with the rider.

My 2 cents.

You shouldn't have to "think" about that stuff when you ride; it should
all be totally natural and flowing, like riding a bike.You don't think
about balance, you just ride and react naturally. It really takes the
fun out of riding when you're constantly readjusting and compensating
to simply stay on a straight path.It's taxing and saps my stamina over
a long 3 hour ride. When I pull my backpack way over to the right,it
seems to straighten me out, but it's evenly weighted. So it seems that
I need more weight on my right side in order to balance me out. maybe I
can situate my water bladder over to the right side, so Idon't have to
add extra weight.🙁

--
terrybigwheel

Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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TheObieOne3226 said:

The problem is either mental or you need to get used to your unicycle at
its current setting. I often found when I made a change in tire
pressure or seat hieght (or a number of other things) I had the same
problem, and the more I noticed it the worse it got. My solution was to
hop on the uni and ride it hard and fast until my legs were a little
tired (but loosened up) and then hop back on the uni. More often than
not it solved the problem.

Of course, inspect your unicycle before doing this to make sure your
wheel isn't off center. Also check your pedals, sometimes when your
grip on the pedals isn't strong it leads to changes in the way you
ride.

I've found this to be right. When I upped the pressure on my Coker
tire, this happened, and I eventually just got used to it and it went
away.

--
loosejello
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loosejello said:

I've found this to be right. When I upped the pressure on my Coker tire,
this happened, and I eventually just got used to it and it went away.

You found "what" to be right? When you upped the pressure what exactly
happened?

--
terrybigwheel

Impotence: Nature's Way Of Saying "No Hard Feelings".

Uni is just a cycle I'm going through. 😎

You -can- "Tune a fish". You simply adjust their "scales"! 😄
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Yesterday I rode Daytripper63's brand new KH 29er (with splined axle). I
felt like it rode a little funny, wanting to pull to one side or the
other, like riding on carpet. Very noticeable when riding on slanted
bits of trail. It was very noticeable at first, but after a mile or so
of riding it I felt less uncomfortable. I think the tire pressure was
okay, though I didn't change it. I don't know if it's the tire shape.
My tendency is to trust Kris on the choice of tire on any of his
unicycles.

But I only rode a mile or so, not enough to form a proper opinion or
nail down the problem (if any).

For Terry, I'd recommend starting with the advice of whoever said to
ride a different unicycle. Isolate whether it's the unicycle or you.

The problem is *not* necessarily just in your mind or riding technique.
It could also be orthopedic. But that's one of those things to be stuck
with, only after eliminating everything else. Backpack: Are you sure
the straps are equally adjusted? I usually have to adjust my Camelbak
straps a little on every ride, as they tend to loosen.

Are you holding the seat most of the time? If so, which hand is on the
seat? If that shoulder is leading I don't think it's a problem. But if
it constantly bugs you it is. If you don't normally hold the seat, try
it. Hold the seat for long periods. It might take a while to get used
to the idea, but it makes you more stable to the cycle, as well as
increasing your leverage. It may help you straighten out.

I highly doubt the side-to-side angle of your seat has anything to do
with this. A crooked seat is more likely to just make you sore on one
side more than the other. But let us know if it works!

--
johnfoss

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

"The worst thing you can do on a unicycle when you land is stop dead."
-- Kris Holm, world's expert on high-consequence unicycling
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why does it matter??
and this happens to me after I do spins, but only then and all I have
to do to fix it is hop-180 out of it or spin 180 out of it

--
skrobo

*><> Unicycle For Christ <>< PM me if you would like to
join!!!*

skianduniaddict said:

im to hard core to use my elbows i either use my head or the mouse
swungs as a whip

yeah buddy thats right ... uni 4 christ 🙂
-stephen skrobarczyk- cctx 🙂
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I 'lead' with my right shoulder. I find it especially annoying when I'm
riding on the prom - which slopes pretty badly towards the sea but is
essentially smooth concrete. It's not so bad on the pavement which
hasn't got so much of a slope and is extremely bumpy.

Cathy

--
cathwood

Say no to unicycle genre discrimination! - MrBoogiejuice

http://www.chuckingandtwirling.co.uk
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cathwood said:

I 'lead' with my right shoulder. I find it especially annoying when I'm
riding on the prom - which slopes pretty badly towards the sea but is
essentially smooth concrete. It's not so bad on the pavement which
hasn't got so much of a slope and is extremely bumpy.

Cathy

If you ride in the other direction, do you still lead with your right
shoulder? Does the direction of slope (left or right) determine which
shoulder you lead with?

--
Wheel Rider

A man can fail many times but he isn't a failure until he begins to
blame someone else. - Waite Phillips
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Wheel Rider said:

If you ride in the other direction, do you still lead with your right
shoulder? Does the direction of slope (left or right) determine which
shoulder you lead with?

I usually ride in the same direction because that way the wind is
behind me. It is a fierce wind along the Prestatyn prom. However, if
memory serves, going in the other direction I don't lead with either
shoulder. I never lead with my left shoulder. Another thing that
happens at the leaning times is that my right knee (which is quiet fat)
gets rubbed by the tyre. So I must be slightly twisted.

Interestingly (or at least I think so), when I rode 12 miles (which is
my longest ride so far but hopefully not for long) along a slightly
bumpy offroad track with Zippy, I didn't twist at all. Right at the
end, when I was quite tired, my shoulder did lead a little bit, but not
much. I was wearing shorts and my knee did not get rubbed by the tyre
at all. On this ride I was making a concious effort not to twist
because my shoulders sometimes get tense and ache when this happens. I
didn't want 12 miles worth of aching shoulders. But I think the biggest
factor was that there was no slope.

Cathy

--
cathwood

Say no to unicycle genre discrimination! - MrBoogiejuice

http://www.chuckingandtwirling.co.uk
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loosejello said:

I've found this to be right. When I upped the pressure on my Coker
tire, this happened, and I eventually just got used to it and it went
away.

When I first got my current muni, I had a consistent pulling-to-the-left
problem. In my case adjusting the tire pressure helped a lot. Another
thing I did as a diagnostic measure was to spin the saddle around the
other way and ride for a few minutes "backwards" to see if that helped.
In my case it did, so I then unmounted my Duro tire and mounted it the
other way around, so I'm riding the tire "backwards." These changes
fixed 90% of the pull, but it it is still noticable on certain types of
terrain, at certain times. It has stopped bothering me greatly though.

____________________________________________________________________
Gardner Buchanan gbuchana(a)teksavvy(dot)com
FreeBSD: Where you want to go. Today.

I used to lead with one shoulder--I don't remember which one. Learn to
ride holding the saddle handle with one hand. Then do the same with
the other hand. And finally learn to ride while holding on with both
hands. My upper body is in three different positions for each of
those, so I've learned to lead with either shoulder, neither, or
somewhere in between. It's very useful for muni.

--
phlegm
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