Ultimate Wheels: A Beginner's View

Being an Ultimate Wheel expert (I've owned one for 3 weeks and spent, oh, 5
hours or so trying to ride it) I thought it'd be an idea to write down some
of my experiences of learning while they're still fresh in my mind.

Additions, corrections, suggestions welcome.

What is an Ultimate Wheel?

An Ultimate Wheel (UW), is a wheel with pedals. Like a unicycle without the
seat post and saddle. While many people would consider this to be more
comfortable than riding a unicycle, it's more difficult as it's a lot harder
to maintain side-to-side stability.

Some UWs bear a close resemblance to their unicycle origins. They still have
the spokes and cranks (this can be achieved by removing the frame from an
existing unicycle). Others have a small number of thicker spokes (usually
six) with the pedals attached directly to two of them. Other UWs (mine
included) do away with spokes altogether using a wooden disk instead. The
pedals are attached directly to the disk - using a metal insert to secure
them.

A UW with pedals attached directly (rather than via cranks) will be easier
to ride as the feet are closer to the plane of the wheel. I'm not convinced
of a difference in difficulty based on wheel size. I learnt on a 24" which I
expected to be easier than a smaller wheel but, when I tried a friend's 20"
that was at least as easy to ride - possibly easier.

What do I need to learn to ride an Ultimate Wheel?

  1. An ultimate wheel. Obvious one that.
  2. Shin pads as worn by football (soccer) players. Not so obvious but
     doesn't take too long to discover (took me about half an hour plus 3
     days to recover). ;-)
  3. Shoes that protect your ankles. As above.
  4. Silicone spray. While learning to ride, the wheel will rub against your
     legs. Fact of life, don't try to avoid it just try to reduce the
     friction. Spray the sides of the wheel, not your legs.
  5. Old trousers or something to protect your smart ones. The wheel rubs,
     it gets dirty, it gets wet when you're playing out in the rain...

How do I learn to ride an Ultimate Wheel?

OK, you've got your wheel, you're kitted out as above. You probably look a
bit silly but, hey, we're keen and this is gonna look good (eventually).

The 9 step plan to riding an Ultimate Wheel:

  1. Learn to ride a unicycle.
  2. Learn to ride it really well.
  3. Learn to ride with seat-in-front. ** Note ** Steps 2 and 3 are optional
     - I've taught a friend to ride my UW and, while he can ride a unicycle,
     he wouldn't claim to be an expert and has never tried riding
     seat-in-front.
  4. OK, now you're ready to try the UW... Grab hold of something solid
     (wall, lamp post, passing policeman) like you did at the start of 1
     above.
  5. Place the UW with the pedal corresponding to your weak foot at its
     lowest point.
  6. Put your weak foot on the pedal and, still holding tight to that solid
     object, place your dominant foot on the higher pedal. Your feet should
     be as close to the wheel as possible. This isn't as precarious as it
     sounds.
  7. Once you're comfortable (remember, that's a *relative* term), roll the
     wheel forwards slightly so that your dominant foot has plenty of
     leverage to send you racing off into the unknown. Your legs should
     support the top of the wheel.
  8. Put plenty of pressure on your dominant foot, use your legs to keep the
     wheel vertical, head off into the unknown (remembering to let go of the
     solid object).
  9. Go to 4.

I tried riding alongside a wall (as some do when learning to ride a
unicycle) but it didn't help. I also tried using helpers either side but
again, it didn't help. On a UW, you can't stop and regain your balance like
you can on a unicycle. I found it much easier to just head off from the
wall. Within half an hour I got a sense of control and could frequently
achieve several turns of the wheel.

I'd been led to believe that riding an Ultimate Wheel was difficult. OK, I'm
not an expert wheeler yet but I've only spent a few hours on it and progress
had been much faster than I expected. It's addictive - I just wish I had
more time and space to play.

Skills

Turning

Just like on a unicycle - lean into the corner.

Freemount

Not too difficult. Place the UW with the pedal corresponding to your weak
foot at its lowest point. Put your weak foot on the pedal and lean the wheel
very slightly (5-10 degrees) towards your dominant leg. This stops the wheel
flipping when you lift your dominant foot onto the higher pedal. As soon as
both feet are on the pedals, head off into the distance.

Idle, Hover, Rock

Just like a unicycle but the wheel tends to rub against the pedalling leg.
Apply sufficient pressure to the higher pedal to reduce the friction. Shin
pads and plenty of silicone spray help.

Roll mount

I reckon the hardest thing here is getting the wheel to roll in a straight
line. I hold the top of the wheel with my left hand and grip the tyre behind
the wheel with the thumb and index finger of my right hand (hand pointing
down behind the wheel). Bringing the right hand up and over the wheel while
releasing with the left hand gives me the best chance of a straightish line.
Follow the wheel and, if it's rolling straight, put your weak foot on the
pedal when it reaches its lowest point. Follow this immediately with your
dominant foot on the higher pedal. As the wheel is rolling, it's
surprisingly stable. ** Note ** My UW has a wooden disk making it quite
heavy - this probably helps a lot with this manoeuvre.

I tried this trick, sorry, "skill" at the end of my most recent practice
session and within 15 minutes, was getting the mount more often than not (if
the wheel was rolling straight - mind you, I was only getting the wheel to
roll straight about 1 in 3 so any tips there gratefully received).

Kickup Mount

This is a lot easier than a kickup on a unicycle.

Lay the wheel on the ground, place your dominant foot on the upwards-facing
pedal ("on" here is a relative term considering the angle of the pedal) and
place the toes of your weaker foot under the rim of the wheel by the
downwards-facing pedal. Lift the wheel with your weaker foot while at the
same time easing your weight on the upwards facing pedal (this is a little
jump resulting in the wheel flipping to the vertical). Your dominant foot
(and its pedal) should now be at its lowest point while the weaker foot
should be seated nicely on the pedal at its highest point. This position is
similar to the normal freemount - just reversed. Of course, both of these
moves could (and should) be performed with either foot - I've done them this
way round to start with because they match the way I freemount and kickup a
unicycle.

Backwards

Not tried this yet but it's next on my list of "maybe I can do this".

Bunny hop

Not tried this. I'm useless at bunny hopping on a unicycle so this is on my
list of "I've seen someone do this, I know it's possible, but I ain't gonna
try it for a while".

Swedish team "The Wheelies" do this - they lean forward, hold the top of the
wheel and jump. I seem to recall they also did it one footed...

Jump one to another

I've seen this ("The Wheelies" again). I didn't believe it. I still don't.
Maybe someone'll lend me another wheel so I can try?

It's just a case of following a rolling UW while riding one and, at the
appropriate time, you just kinda jump off one onto the other. No problem.
;-)

Jump over pole

("The Wheelies") Limbo-style pole just high enough for the wheel to roll
under, just low enough for the rider to jump over and land back on the
aforementioned UW. Not tried this yet. I would but I just can't find a
suitable pole. ;-)

Leapfrog mount

("The Wheelies") One person crouches down holding the UW with pedals level.
The rider leapfrogs said person and "jump mounts" the UW. I might be tempted
to try this one. Some day.

Safety (Personal)

The protective kit as listed above is really useful. Don't leave home
without it. The shin pads need to be strapped tightly so they don't spin
round with the friction of the wheel.

When learning to ride a unicycle, one of the first things you learn is to
catch it when you're falling off. On a UW, don't bother, save yourself. Not
that you'll have a lot of choice as there are no useful handles to grab hold
of.

I've heard it said that it's easy to break a leg on a UW. This I can
believe. The wheel presses against your leg if it presses too much and your
foot stays stuck to the pedal you could be in trouble. Be careful.

Safety (Environmental)

When the wheel falls over (and you fall off), it will land on the end of one
of its pedals. If you plan to practice indoors on nice polished floors it is
important that the ends are plastic.

Suppliers

If anyone has read this far, you've either got a UW or you want one. Even if
you've got one, maybe you want another (so you can jump from one to the
other). Anyways, here are a few places that can fulfil your requirements:

UK:

    DM Engineering
    59 Fairmile Rd
    Christchurch
    Dorset
    BH23 2LA

Phone +44 (0) 1202 471943

I've got a DM - it's a 24" wheel with a wooden disk, A metal plate has been
inlaid into the disk and drilled/threaded for pedals. No protruding plates,
nuts or bolts to catch ankles on. A nice red and yellow spiral paint job.

Cost UKP80 + shipping

Germany:

    Kurt Pichler Radtechnik
  Address for shipping:
    Steinstrasse 23
    76133 Karlsruhe
    Germany
  Shop:
    Markgrafenstrasse 34
    76133 Karlsruhe
    Germany

Phone +49 721 376166
Fax +49 721 370722

Pichlers have six thick spokes in place of DM's wooden disk. I've not seen
or ridden one. I'd guess that they look nicer than the DM but are harder to
ride (haven't got one continuous smooth surface against your legs).

Cost ???

US:

    Tom Miller
    The Unicycle Factory
    2711 N. Apperson
    Kokomo, IN 46901

Phone +1 765 452-2692

I get the impression that Tom does just about anything to do with unicycles.
He can apparently supply a kit for attaching the pedals to the wooden disk.
You have to supply your own rim, tube, tyre, wood etc. Oh, and you have to
put the bits together.

Cost US$10-12 + shipping
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
       M.Wiggins@ftel.co.uk
       Copyright © 1996 M.Wiggins@ftel.co.uk All rights reserved.
Last modified: Sat Oct 12 07:47:25 EDT 1996