Unicycling - how difficult is it?

[MrsMuddle]

DS would like a unicycle for his 12th birthday. They're about £30 on ebay. He's a good cyclist, and has good balance on stilts etc, but he's never tried a unicycle. I don't know anyone who has one who could let him have a shot to try it out, so I've no idea whether he'd get the hang of it and enjoy it, or if it would be so hard he'd give up. (He's not known for his perseverence.) Does anyone know anything about unicycling?

There are circus schools around - there used to be one round here - where do you live?

Ho, I know just the person to answer your question! I will alert UniSarah to your thread!

Glasgow. Haven't noticed any being advertised, but I didn't think to look. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll google now.

We went to a Christmas Fair at a Steiner School and lots of the (primary aged) children were doing unicycle displays in the playground. They all seemed to be enjoying it and very confident.

If he has good balance on stilts it sounds as if he's likely to enjoy unicycling.

There's lots of info if you put circus skills or circus schools into Google, or I found this site

I saw someone riding along the road on a unicycle the other day with a small rucksack on his back looking like any other young bloke on a mountain bike out for the day. Kids thought it was totally cool! Not just for clowns then.

For a 12 yr old with not much sence of fear a unicycle will be "fairly" easy to learn. it'll still involve some falls and bruises tho. MOSt people take several hours in teh saddle to learn, one of teh reasons kids learn so quick is that they will often do that several hours in just 2 days while and adult might only do 30 mins aday for a couple of weeks.

A 30 quid uni may be Ok to learn on but won't take a lot of abuse. For an average 12 yr old a 20 inch wheel is good , 16inch is a bit small.

www.unicycle.uk.com has lots of usefull info and also sell some good quality unicyles, they are good to talk to on the phone as well and can often point people in the direction of a local club or enthusiast . However they will be a bit busy from thursday as they are involved in the British Unicycle Convention next weekend in Stockton.

I'll be there, I've been riding about 15 yrs and have been in the Uk unicycle team since 1999 competeing at international events. If a kid gets into unicycling seriously they can go a long way.

Thanks, everyone. The collective knowledge of MNers never fails to astound me! UniSarah, would the size of wheel you need depend on your height or ability? Although he'll be 12, he's about 5'8, so taller than average. I'll phone these people you suggested to get some advice. His birthday isn't until the end of the month, so I'll wait till after the convention.

wheel size is partly based on rider size and partly on type of riding.
For most people over about 10yrs old 20 inch is standard for geneneral riding, playing hockey or basketball and freestyle and trials skills. 24 inch is good for raceing or riding slightly longer distances or witha knobbly tyre for off road use. 26 inch for X country riding ( MTB style trye). 29 ( or 700c) for long distance road riding , 36 for very long distance road riding (if your legs are long enough).
wheels under 20 inch - ie 10, 12, 16 inch are best suited to young children or if built to take an adult weight for use in permormance/ clown situations. Unfortunatly there are some unscruplulous retailers who sell kids 16 inch cheap light weight unicycles as "adult" unicycles by adding a long seat post.