Hi folks, I've been lurking around here for a couple of weeks now
getting caught up on the latest Uni-scene. I'm not new to uni as I
started riding almost 25 years ago on a flea-market Schwinn (which I
still have). Here's my back story.
After starting out bouncing off of the walls of my parents house I
finally managed to start riding my 20" pretty well. Some how I got my
little sis to learn to ride too. We found out that a little bike shop
in Golden (CO) (self propulsion) actually sold uni's and had a club
formed to goof off with and ride in Parades. So sis and I joined up
and we ended up with a Schwinn 24" and for x-mas one year a Miyata
giraffe (aka the long flamingo). We did shows and parades in Golden
and Denver. We even got hired to entertain a wedding party by playing
uni-polo. My skills back then were decent with a kick mount, hops, 1
foot, hops on the giraffe (which miyata's don't like much), juggling
and so on.
Since we had a lot of indoor practice at my local elementary school we
had to convert the schwinns to non-marking tires. Those sneaky schwinn
designers should have been shot for the odd ball tire sizes on the
s-5/s-7 rims. No problem, we got a new 20" bmx rim and relaced it on
the uni and used a killer tioga comp slick (great tire for
street/freestyle) and on the 24" we went to the local wheelchair shop
and picked up a grey pnuematic wheelchair tire that happens to use the
same oddball size as the Schwinn. Problem solved.
Fast forward and now I've got a son of my own who's video game habit
had both my wife and I worried we need to get him a new hobby. I
mentioned to him about my uni's at his grandparent's house and bet him
he couldn't ride it. He had to see me do it first of course. I
hadn't got up on one wheel in 10 years or so, but figured the feeling
will come back. Other than having to use a LOT more pressure in the
tire (I'm a little heavier than I once was) I managed to hop on and
putt around. Granted I could tell my center of gravity was slightly
higher than it used to be so the ride was wobbly at best. Still I
proved it to the boy and that was all the challenge he needed.
We brought the 20" home for him to learn on and he can already get 10
feet off of the back of a car. We even got the nieghbor kid iterested
in it to the point he needed one of his own. He got a torker LX a week
after we bought ours home. He's a converted Skater who has drobbed the
board completly for Uni. Quick lerner too as he can already ride
around the block without any upd.
Found this site looking for info to help my boy learn and read up a
bunch. I thought about it and couldn't think of a better way to shed
some poundage while getting back on one wheel. So I'll be bringing
back my 24" Schwinn and another 24" Cycle pro to get back into riding
shape on before spending money on a new uni made in this century!
Once I get my 10yr old riding better we might even take on some of the
trails near our house for some light x-country or muni..
Just wanted to poke my head in and say Hi as I don't think I would have
thought much further about riding again until I saw this place.
Thanks for the insperation!
--
UniZoo
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View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/61753
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