animan Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Hi All, New to unicycles and this forum. Just purchased an inexpensive TG-T3 from Banggood for $200 so I could practice and see if this is for me. I am an adult in the 50s! I have been practicing off and on for about day and a half since I got it. Have progressed from struggling to get on the vehicle, to moving forward and back lightly touching a wall. I am finding that while moving back, lightly touching the wall, I can stay balanced longer than while moving forward. Moving forward I tend to veer left and right but go almost straight when moving back. Little puzzled by this... Anyone else experienced this? I am thinking I may be bit more apprehensive going forward and relaxed when going back, but not sure. Riding the unicycle seems to be a lot more about mental state than I had thought and quite fun so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shoe73 Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Suggestion: try with your feet further forward on the pedals. Check out some videos in the video thread to see where people place their feet. It made a lot of difference when I was learning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 1 hour ago, Shoe73 said: Suggestion: try with your feet further forward on the pedals. Check out some videos in the video thread to see where people place their feet. It made a lot of difference when I was learning. + 1 with the aptly named @Shoe73 you need your weight over the centre of the wheel, if your feet overhang the peddles equally front and back you weight is likely to be too far back. Do not over do it though, once you can comfortably move forward make sure you can brake OK as well, the correct position is where accelerating and braking feel about the same effort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nute Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 Simple solution, just turn the wheel around, you obviously are riding it back to front.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animan Posted August 7, 2016 Author Share Posted August 7, 2016 14 hours ago, nute said: Simple solution, just turn the wheel around, you obviously are riding it back to front.... Haha yes, but they are supposed to ride forwards and backwards the same? Anyways, I am making sure the wheel treads are properly aligned when in the forward direction. @Shoe73, @Keith Thanks for the suggestion, I practiced a little today.. I do believe it helps if I move forward a bit. I am trying to keep the back edge of the feet aligned with the rear edge of the footplate. It seems that I am improving a wee bit each time I go out and practice Cant wait for the day when I will be able to cruise around the neighborhood or the park. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thefork Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 21 minutes ago, animan said: Haha yes, but they are supposed to ride forwards and backwards the same? Anyways, I am making sure the wheel treads are properly aligned when in the forward direction. @Shoe73, @Keith Thanks for the suggestion, I practiced a little today.. I do believe it helps if I move forward a bit. I am trying to keep the back edge of the feet aligned with the rear edge of the footplate. It seems that I am improving a wee bit each time I go out and practice Cant wait for the day when I will be able to cruise around the neighborhood or the park. Thanks for the help! Keep at it, you'll soon be there. And let me tell you; once you do you will be the happiest person on earth! The feeling of freedom and the rush of speed that you get the first time you are able to ride a longer distance unassisted is not easily paralleled, and something you'll likely never forget. As an aside, I used to feel free when going on a long walk, but nowadays walking feels like being tied down or carrying heavy luggage. It's so slow, and I have to keep moving my legs! Kinda like the kids in Back to the Future II when Marty finds an old arcade machine: "You mean you have to use your hands?!" But in this context replace hands with feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted August 7, 2016 Share Posted August 7, 2016 18 minutes ago, animan said: I am making sure the wheel treads are properly aligned when in the forward direction. Some tires have a directional tread design for the best performance in rain or dirt. Look on the sidewall for an arrow showing the rotation direction. If the sidewall does not have an arrow, the tread is nondirectional and will perform equally well in both directions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animan Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 @thefork Thanks for the encouragement. Hope to get there sooner or later... hopefully sooner. Need a bigger place to practice so I can go a little more distance than my small backyard permits. Also, started looking for a real machine already @MaxLinux Indeed my tire has a directional arrow, thanks for the suggestion. It turns out I was driving the wrong direction (backwards)... all corrected now. Thanks for all the help guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 21 hours ago, animan said: Just purchased an inexpensive TG-T3 from Banggood for $200 so I could practice and see if this is for me. I am an adult in the 50s! You are like me. I also started with TG-T3, and I am 52. Later I rode TG-F3, then IPS121 and IPS191. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animan Posted August 8, 2016 Author Share Posted August 8, 2016 1 hour ago, MaxLinux said: You are like me. I also started with TG-T3, and I am 52. Later I rode TG-F3, then IPS121 and IPS191. Nice! How do you like the IPS models? I have my eye on the Ninebot S2 after I am able to ride the TG-T3 unassisted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nute Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Im 52 as well, us old guys rule. I have a IPS 191 by the way and love it. Stick at it OP, its such a cool feeling once you have it mastered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 16 hours ago, animan said: I have my eye on the Ninebot S2 after I am able to ride the TG-T3 unassisted. @animan, one other thing I forgot to mention is do check your tire pressure, new wheels often come with it quite low which can make riding more difficult. Most people find around 40-50p.s.i (around 3 bar) handles about right depending on your weight. if you are thinking about the Ninebot S2 I would also take a very close look at the brand new Inmotion V5F+, I tried one out a couple of weeks ago and it is the nicest wheel I have ridden: https://www.ewheels.com/product/inmotion-v5f/ P.S. I'm 60 and still trying to work out where the last 30 years went! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxLinux Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 On 8.8.2016 at 7:59 AM, animan said: How do you like the IPS models? I totally love the IPS121 and IPS191 (Lhotz). Both get a 10/10 rating, in my opinion. If I had to choose only one, it would be the Lhotz by a very small margin. 10 hours ago, Keith said: P.S. I'm 60 and still trying to work out where the last 30 years went! Wouldn't it be interesting to know who is the oldest in this forum, and even more interesting, who is the oldest EUC rider in the world! I'd like to see the world's oldest EUC rider in a YouTube video! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
animan Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 @nute @MaxLinux Yes, we over 50 rule But I am amazed at how the kids pick up and ride these things! @Keith The first thing I checked was the tire pressure, since it felt so soft, and the pressure was 0. I had pumped it up to 45 psi, but since then have lowered it somewhat. The Inmotion V5F+ certainly looks very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.