B
BillyTheMountain
Guest
johnfoss wrote:
> *U-turn is right in that we seldom see unicyclists out in public. I
> certainly don't. What we do not see are all the people who *can* ride
> unicycles. All the dormant ones that learned when they were kids and
> then stopped doing it. Certainly these are not active riders, but they
> are unicyclists.
>
> When I lived in New York, I was always running into people who used to
> ride. They would see my jacket, or the stickers on my car, and tell me
> they used to ride. In most cases, they knew Bill Jenack also. He sure
> made an impact in Nassau County. All those people are unicyclists, but
> dormant (retired).
>
> That's more riding than the majority of those closet unicyclists out
> there. So I'm sure my estimate of one million is high. But I do
> believe it's between 500,000 and a million.
>
> As for *active* riders, we have to go back and define what we mean. *
While all surveys and statistics have a range of error, it does not hurt
to attempt to gather information. Lots of good ideas here, and it is
certainly a good question to ask. A good starting place would be to
survey those who sell unicycles in North America to find out how many
are SOLD each year. Then estimate that many are sold to non-riders
(unicycle.com told me they sell mostly to novices) who never become
riders, and very few are sold to riders who already have unicycles. But
still, sales figures would be useful....
If any students need a project, email your fellow students with a poll
like Do you ride? When was the last time? How often have you ridden in
the past month? Better than an email poll would be to ask the first
question to EVERYONE entering the student union/coffee
shop/airport/train station, recording number of people asked and the
number of YES responses.
My bet is that uni riders are also distributed unevenly geographically:
much higher rates in the Northeast (DC to Boston) and the West Coast,
pockets in Minnesota, and far fewer down south, even taking into
consideration that these are denser population areas. Unicycling is
probably overrepresented in the denser population areas, and
underrepresented in the sparser population areas.
--
BillyTheMountain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BillyTheMountain's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/5357
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148
> *U-turn is right in that we seldom see unicyclists out in public. I
> certainly don't. What we do not see are all the people who *can* ride
> unicycles. All the dormant ones that learned when they were kids and
> then stopped doing it. Certainly these are not active riders, but they
> are unicyclists.
>
> When I lived in New York, I was always running into people who used to
> ride. They would see my jacket, or the stickers on my car, and tell me
> they used to ride. In most cases, they knew Bill Jenack also. He sure
> made an impact in Nassau County. All those people are unicyclists, but
> dormant (retired).
>
> That's more riding than the majority of those closet unicyclists out
> there. So I'm sure my estimate of one million is high. But I do
> believe it's between 500,000 and a million.
>
> As for *active* riders, we have to go back and define what we mean. *
While all surveys and statistics have a range of error, it does not hurt
to attempt to gather information. Lots of good ideas here, and it is
certainly a good question to ask. A good starting place would be to
survey those who sell unicycles in North America to find out how many
are SOLD each year. Then estimate that many are sold to non-riders
(unicycle.com told me they sell mostly to novices) who never become
riders, and very few are sold to riders who already have unicycles. But
still, sales figures would be useful....
If any students need a project, email your fellow students with a poll
like Do you ride? When was the last time? How often have you ridden in
the past month? Better than an email poll would be to ask the first
question to EVERYONE entering the student union/coffee
shop/airport/train station, recording number of people asked and the
number of YES responses.
My bet is that uni riders are also distributed unevenly geographically:
much higher rates in the Northeast (DC to Boston) and the West Coast,
pockets in Minnesota, and far fewer down south, even taking into
consideration that these are denser population areas. Unicycling is
probably overrepresented in the denser population areas, and
underrepresented in the sparser population areas.
--
BillyTheMountain
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BillyTheMountain's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/5357
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/22148