Unicycle!
 

Today I bought a vintage Schwinn unicycle! Unicycles are fixed gear! Yippie!!!

Now excuse me while I dig up my full-face motorcycle helmet and body armor and head outside...

Wheelie!

where's the gear?

more like fixed wheel.

direct drive?

I pulled my unicycle out of storage in my parents' garage last weekend. If that ever gets boring, you can take the frame and seat off, and just ride the crank+wheel combo. They call it "the ultimate wheel".

I too just bought one a few days ago. From wheelchair wheelies to trackstands to unicycling, it just seemed like the next logical step.
It was a little humbling to see a few 14 year olds doing trials tricks on picnic tables the next day though.

How difficult is it for a moderately experienced fixed rider like me to ride a unicycle? I can do a 10-60sec no-handed trackstand and 2-3 backwards circles in a row.

…actually, a fixed wheel wouldn't move

Rivendell Bicycle Works is planning on selling a few (about 50) unicycles. They will have lugged steel frames.

Personally I don't like them, probably because I can't ride them (I tried!) and they remind me too much of a circus. I HATE clowns, they give me the creeps!

They also call it "the impossible wheel"

Easier than it is for non-bikeriders, but there's an entirely new dimention to fall in! Remember, just like going handless on a bike, the faster you go, the easier it is.

unicycle.com sells something they call the impossible wheel, but it is different than the ultimate wheel. The impossible doesn't have pedals, just little platforms hanging down off the axle.
Ultimate:
http://www.unicycle.com/images/catalog/uw/UWNI28.jpg


Impossible:
http://www.unicycle.com/images/catalog/iw/UNNIIMP.jpg

How would you ride that?

Here's an interview with a local unicyclist from yesterday's paper. He has entered a Cyclocross race.

UNICYCLOCROSS

Dogbait

I honestly believe that anyone can potentially ride a unicycle, and I'm sure you'd be fine at it. It took me about two weeks to learn how to ride, and I've been riding for the last 3 years.

I've been ridding for the last three years, and I've honestly only completely fallen down 2 or 3 times - and that's because I was trying to do something crazy like wheel walk. I've never hit my head.
For some reason people think of it as being unstable. Granted, you're on one wheel, but it's just like walking as far as being upright goes, and it's not like you're stuck on it like you are on a bike.

I want to try that "Ultimate Wheel" so bad...

Flatland freestyle riders used to(and probably still) use a front wheel with just pegs on it and roll it away from them and jump onto the pegs and just roll. Kind of like Thor in the BC comic strip.

UPDATE: If you care whatsoever about your genetalia, DO NOT buy a unicycle.

I've ridden uni for a long time and I haven't heard any complaints from your mom. :p