Alt Bike Culture - unicycle for 11 year old?
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squirtdad
10-22-08, 05:28 PM
looking for ideas about
Sizing
Good place to buy online
My 11 yearold (in 2 weeks anyway) want a unicycle. I have no concerns about his ability to ride...he has way better balance than I do.
He is about 4' 9" tall
thanks
StephenH
10-22-08, 06:13 PM
Sizing- probably a 20" unicycle would work. Some of the sellers show a chart of size vs height, but that is pretty variable. Note that you can cut the seat posts shorter to lower the seat. The critical factor for a short person is being able to reach the lower pedal while seated.
Place to buy- I have bought 3 unicycles new on Ebay from "I_sell_low" or something like that. But just looking right now, he's not especially cheap at the moment.
The Torker LX is a pretty good deal. Seems to be well-made. It won't stand up to jumping off roofs and stuff like that, but should last an 11-year-old a good while. The Torker CX is a little bit cheaper but a lot crumbier in build quality. To get anything much better than an LX, you have to make a big jump in price.
Check out www.unicycle.com (http://www.unicycle.com) as another source. They don't always have the best prices, but do at least know what they're selling.
Also check out the forums on www.unicycling.org (http://www.unicycling.org) ( http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=3 )
The Torker LX was my first Uni and I'd certainly suggest it as a good place to start. It's sturdy, fairly cheap, compact, simple and probably the best choice. I'll also echo the chopping of the seatpost idea but make sure you check out sizing guides for unicycles before you do. It took me about 2 days to find the optimum seat height when I first started out. Good luck
Unicycle.com does a good job of giving the minimum inseam requirements for all their unis, and they have a good selection from sub-$100 up to $1000+ models.