Well, the ultimate wheel arrived today - thanks, Roger - and it's like
being a beginner all over again... but nearly 20 years older. :0(
The U/W is the one form Unicycle dot com but I asked dot uk
dot com to get it for me as Roger supplies most of my
equipment. There was a moment of concern when I saw the box
was labelled "24 inch Torker unicycle".
The U/W is a well - made piece of equipment. Basic but
solid. The wheel is a 24 inch bicycle rim, with the spoke
holes still visible. The spokes consist of two rectangular
section tubes welded/brazed (?) into place ot make a cross,
an the pedal threads are in brazed bosses on the continuous
section of rectangular tube, rather than the two shorter
sections which make up the cross. (The joints are butted
rather than mitred.)
(The 20 inch version has only one cross strut, making two
"spokes".)
The frame and rim are painted in a solid gloss finish. The
tyre is a Kenda 24 x 2.25, with white walls, and a roadster
sort of tread pattern. The pedals supplied are plastic
platforms, slightly larger than the round ended ones which
come with the basic unicycles.
So, a decent bit of kit, at a reasonable price.
So, how do I ride the bloomin' thing? Mounting it against a
walll was easy enough, but I can tell it's going to hurt the
insides of my legs... and the tops of my thighs... and my
calf muscles...
Knowing full well I wouldn't be able to ride it more than a
few inches, I tried riding it indoors. Within two or three
goes, I put my helmet on. In 41 years, I have never
previously found myself performing an activity in my living
room which requires me to wear a helmet.
Afraid of damaging my furniture ina fall, I moved out onto
the "patio"
- an small area of rickety slabs at the back. The best I
managed was 2 "paces": right foot down, then left foot...
then catapult forwards and headbut next door's fence.
Ironically, it is the only fence for half a mile that
hasn't been wrecked by bored kids in the last few weeks.
So, who's got any help or advice at all for a perplexed
mid-life-crisis victim who can't begin to conceive how to
ride his new toy?
--
Mikefule - Roland Hope School of Unicycling
So many pedestrians tell me I've lost a wheel.
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