Picking Unicycle Wheels

Series Summary

The unicycle was developed shortly after the development of the bicycle in the mid-nineteenth century. Some think that the unicycle was developed as a result of the velocipede. Since the velocipede naturally went up on one wheel for a little bit, people began developing unicycles. Another theory is that unicycles have always been with us, living and breathing along with our souls since our collective memory's inception. Regardless, unicycles are now used at circuses and carnivals for entertainment. Whether you are performer looking to improve his act, or just someone interested in the challenge, these videos are just the thing for you. In this free video series, learn about beginning to unicycle. Our expert, Megan Rouch, shows you how to get started with your unicycling hobby. Learn how to pick the best wheel, seat, and crank length. Also, learn how to find the right seat height for you. Finally, learn how to mount a unicycle. Megan shows you how to turn and pedal forward as well. So, what are waiting for? Learn about unicycling today!

Video Transcript

"One of the most important things about learning how to ride a unicycle is first picking the best unicycle for your personal needs. So in other words; what is it that you want to do with a unicycle? Do you want to be able to do a lot of tricks? Do you want to go off roading? Do you want to be able to commute on it? These are all different kinds of unicycling and there's a different kind of unicycle for each different kind. So what I have here is what's known as an off roading unicycle. They're usually 24" wheels. That's this wheel size and the tire is usually 2 1/2" to 3" in diameter and it's extra cushioned so that when you hit rocks and stuff on the way down hill it's not going to, it's going to give you that kind of cushion. Twenty-four inches is kind of a standard size as far as beginners go. So if you're a full size adult you probably want to look at a 24" wheel. If you're too short to fit on a 24" wheel you'll probably get a 20" wheel. There's another kind of unicycling called trials unicycling. Which is basically just hopping over stuff. It's the same as trials biking where they just hop over cars and all sorts of things like that and it's similar to the off roading except there's a smaller wheel so that you have more control and it has just as fat of a tire. So that would be a 20" tire that you're looking for. If you're interested in commuting getting from place to place you obviously want a wheel that's going to be bigger than this. So that you can go faster. There's two different types of commuting unicycles. One is the 700 C series or the 27" wheels. That has the same size wheel as most road bicycles and it has a skinny tire so that you can go on the road. Usually it has shorter cranks so that you can have less foot rotation and you can go faster. There's also the Coaker which is the 36" wheel. It's the biggest of all the standard unicycles and you can go the fastest on it. The only problem is that it's a lot, a whole lot heavier. So if you have any hills to go on you probably don't want to get the Coaker. You'd want to go for the 700 series. So depending on what your needs are for unicycling or what you plan to do with it, you have to take that into consideration when you're shopping for unicycle. I recommend if you're just getting started and you don't already know how to ride you should definitely start with a 24" inch or if you're not tall enough a 20" because those are the standard sizes and going from the standard size to the non standard sizes will be an easier transition than going the opposite direction."