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This mirrors my own experience as a unicyclist (both traditional and electric). Reactions are very common, and vary wildly. It's rare to pass someone and not ge

This mirrors my own experience as a unicyclist (both traditional and electric). Reactions are very common, and vary wildly. It's rare to pass someone and not get some sort of reaction, and if you stop near them it's always "was it hard to learn?" or "what's that cost?" for the electric one.

bradrn 3y ago
OK, I’ll bite… was it hard to learn?
- the_gastropod 3y ago
  Not the person you asked, but as a fellow unicyclist, I can say: not really?! I think most people could get the basics (staying upright, and turning a bit sloppily) in a few hours. When I first learned, I setup a couple large garbage bins several feet apart, and just tried to get from one to the other, using the bins to keep up / turn around / go back. As you improve, move the bins farther apart, and rinse / repeat until you’ve got it.
- grumple 3y ago
  The old school unicycle took maybe a few hours and felt kind of safe to learn. You just step forward to get off. The electric felt a lot more dangerous to learn. I practiced going back and forth in a hallway (holding the wall), then practiced riding freely and turning in a parking lot, then started riding around my neighborhood. It is dangerous, though. One wheel in contact with the ground, people don't know how to react to you, plus high speeds and poorly maintained roads mean a mistake by you or another person can mean a hospital trip with serious injuries. I think the risk is easily 10x or more than what it is to ride a bike around.
- insickness 3y ago
  To be able to actually ride, it took me about two weeks, practicing 30 minutes per day. But then I was still pretty wobbly for a month or so.
amelius 3y ago
One question: don't you miss the gears?
- FredPret 3y ago
  On the other hand: no chain that can fall off
  - the_gastropod 3y ago
    Unless it’s an elevated unicycle!
    - amelius 3y ago
      Can't you somehow fold that design down into a normal-height unicycle with gears?
      - Lio 3y ago
        Tricky I think but maybe. You generally have a fixed wheel on a unicycle. That would make derailleur gears harder to implement as they'd normally work with a freehub of some kind. Hub gears like a Sturmey-Archer generally need to zero torque going through them to change gear. Again that's hard to do when you're using the forward and backward pedalling to balance.
        uranium 3y ago
        There are geared unicycles, e.g. https://krisholm.com/en/gear/component/kh-schlumpf https://krisholm.com/en/gear/component/kh-schlumpf Folks I know who've used them liked them because they took the place of both a 24" and a 36" wheel, in one unicycle. I don't know that they ever changed gears while riding, although I'm told it's possible.
- grumple 3y ago
  An electric unicycle is like an automatic transmission. It just works and goes the speed you demand by leaning. Gears are a bad user experience on bikes too imo; ideally we'd have automated or gradual gearing (in fact, I know some ebikes have this).
an1sotropy 3y ago
Also tracks my experience as a unicyclist. When you keep poking at humanity with the same but unusual prompt, you glimpse how similar people can be. To the quip about losing a wheel, my sadly habituated response is "that was the training wheel!", and then they chuckle, because it's new to them ...
ydant 3y ago
Mirrors mine, too. Although I didn't get to the travel stage on unicycle (never got outside parking lots), so most of my experience with other people was on electric unicycle early in their arrival into our area. (in the US) The one constant was that overwhelmingly older men and women were interested and impressed and had genuine questions or compliments without making jokes. The younger you got with males, the more aggressive and posturing the questions and behavior. Younger females were non-memorable - mainly just looked or ignored. Pre-teen, kids of both genders are just curious. There's a definite similarity in the behaviors of people as they get older and the very young in how they approach new and interesting things like a (e)unicycle. As people get older they seemed to lose all need to posture and prove themselves and they seemed more comfortable exposing the vulnerability of being curious and ignorant. Men absolutely love to ask the cost.
insickness 3y ago
I've been riding an electric unicycle for years and I don't think I've gotten a single negative comment, aside from riding somewhere (they thought) I shouldn't have. But those same comments would have been directed at a scooter or bike. Typically when people marvel at my wheel, I tell them if they give me a few bowling pins I can juggle as well.

bradrn 3y ago

OK, I’ll bite… was it hard to learn?

the_gastropod 3y ago
Not the person you asked, but as a fellow unicyclist, I can say: not really?! I think most people could get the basics (staying upright, and turning a bit sloppily) in a few hours. When I first learned, I setup a couple large garbage bins several feet apart, and just tried to get from one to the other, using the bins to keep up / turn around / go back. As you improve, move the bins farther apart, and rinse / repeat until you’ve got it.
grumple 3y ago
The old school unicycle took maybe a few hours and felt kind of safe to learn. You just step forward to get off. The electric felt a lot more dangerous to learn. I practiced going back and forth in a hallway (holding the wall), then practiced riding freely and turning in a parking lot, then started riding around my neighborhood. It is dangerous, though. One wheel in contact with the ground, people don't know how to react to you, plus high speeds and poorly maintained roads mean a mistake by you or another person can mean a hospital trip with serious injuries. I think the risk is easily 10x or more than what it is to ride a bike around.
insickness 3y ago
To be able to actually ride, it took me about two weeks, practicing 30 minutes per day. But then I was still pretty wobbly for a month or so.

amelius 3y ago

One question: don't you miss the gears?

FredPret 3y ago
On the other hand: no chain that can fall off
- the_gastropod 3y ago
  Unless it’s an elevated unicycle!
  - amelius 3y ago
    Can't you somehow fold that design down into a normal-height unicycle with gears?
    - Lio 3y ago
      Tricky I think but maybe. You generally have a fixed wheel on a unicycle. That would make derailleur gears harder to implement as they'd normally work with a freehub of some kind. Hub gears like a Sturmey-Archer generally need to zero torque going through them to change gear. Again that's hard to do when you're using the forward and backward pedalling to balance.
      - uranium 3y ago
        There are geared unicycles, e.g. https://krisholm.com/en/gear/component/kh-schlumpf https://krisholm.com/en/gear/component/kh-schlumpf Folks I know who've used them liked them because they took the place of both a 24" and a 36" wheel, in one unicycle. I don't know that they ever changed gears while riding, although I'm told it's possible.
grumple 3y ago
An electric unicycle is like an automatic transmission. It just works and goes the speed you demand by leaning. Gears are a bad user experience on bikes too imo; ideally we'd have automated or gradual gearing (in fact, I know some ebikes have this).

an1sotropy 3y ago

Also tracks my experience as a unicyclist. When you keep poking at humanity with the same but unusual prompt, you glimpse how similar people can be. To the quip about losing a wheel, my sadly habituated response is "that was the training wheel!", and then they chuckle, because it's new to them ...

ydant 3y ago

Mirrors mine, too. Although I didn't get to the travel stage on unicycle (never got outside parking lots), so most of my experience with other people was on electric unicycle early in their arrival into our area. (in the US) The one constant was that overwhelmingly older men and women were interested and impressed and had genuine questions or compliments without making jokes. The younger you got with males, the more aggressive and posturing the questions and behavior. Younger females were non-memorable - mainly just looked or ignored. Pre-teen, kids of both genders are just curious. There's a definite similarity in the behaviors of people as they get older and the very young in how they approach new and interesting things like a (e)unicycle. As people get older they seemed to lose all need to posture and prove themselves and they seemed more comfortable exposing the vulnerability of being curious and ignorant. Men absolutely love to ask the cost.

insickness 3y ago

I've been riding an electric unicycle for years and I don't think I've gotten a single negative comment, aside from riding somewhere (they thought) I shouldn't have. But those same comments would have been directed at a scooter or bike. Typically when people marvel at my wheel, I tell them if they give me a few bowling pins I can juggle as well.