Street unicycling
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Street unicycling (also known amongst unicyclists simply as street) is one of the latest developments in unicycling. The aim of the sport is to use natural/urban/specially made obstacles such as curbs, ledges, handrails and stairs in a given area to perform tricks that look good. The emphasis falls into two categories: technical proficiency and style. Technical proficiency is all about getting more rotation, jumping up higher ledges, grinding longer rails, gapping more stairs, etc. Doing difficult things is impressive. Style is all about the flow of the rider and how well they can work through a combo of tricks in a fluid and natural manner.
For street unicycling, most riders prefer to ride 20" trials unicycles because of their superb hopping abilities and their smooth maneuverability. However, some riders have been known to prefer using the less conventional 24" wheelsize for street riding.
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[edit] Competition Street Unicycling
Amongst some criticism regarding whether or not street unicycling as a genre was ready for its own competition, the 13th Unicycle World Championships (Jul/Aug 2006) played host to the first ever official Street Freestyle Competition. Xaviar Collos (France) clinched the world title but unfortunately before UNICON ended, he broke his ankle while practicing a tre flip down a 5-set of stairs. Unicycling competitions incorporating street aspects are now more commonplace possibly due to the influence of other extreme street sports such as skateboarding and aggressive inline.
[edit] Popular street unicycling tricks
[edit] Unispins
- 180 Unispin
- The rider jumps off the pedals of the unicycle, spins the unicycle 180 degrees and then lands back on the pedals.
- 270 Unispin
- The rider jumps off the pedals of the unicycle, spins the unicycle 270 degrees and lands on the wheel in the tire hop position. The transitions out of this trick are the sideways wheelwalk or a 270 unispin back to pedals. (also 180 unispins from tyre to tyre are also possible)
- 360 Unispin
- The rider jumps off the pedals of the unicycle, spins the unicycle 360 degrees and then lands back on the pedals
- 540 Unispin
- The rider jumps off the pedals of the unicycle, spins the unicycle 540 degrees and then lands back on the pedals.
- 720 Unispin
- The rider jumps off the pedals of the unicycle, spins the unicycle 720 degrees and then lands back on the pedals.
- Smallspin
- A smallspin is performed by starting the trick with the seat-out (holding the seat out in front) and then simultaneously do a 180unispin and a 180 degree jump twist. This trick is also sometimes referred to as a 180/180. (unispin and body spin in the same direction) *note in relation to the ground, small spins travel 360 degrees.
- Bigspin
- A bigspin is performed by starting the trick with the seat-out (holding the seat out in front) and then simultaneously do a 360unispin and a 180 degree jump twist. This trick is also sometimes referred to as a 180/360. (unispin and body spin in the same direction) *note in relation to the ground, big spins travel 540 degrees.
- Inward Unispin
- A 180 Unispin with a 180 jump twist but both in opposite directions. (Some people start with the seat out, others start with the seat in. It's a preference thing) *note in relation to the ground, the unicycle travels 180 degrees
- X-up
- An x-up is where the rider manages to do a 180unispin and then 180unispin back the same way it just came from, all in one jump.
[edit] Hoptwists
- 180 Hoptwist
- A 180 Hoptwist or more commonly known as a 180, is an aerial maneuver where the rider jumps into the air and twists both of their unicycle and their body 180 degrees in relation to the position they were in before leaving the ground. The rider would land facing backwards in the case of regular riding.
- 360 Hoptwist
- A 360 Hoptwist or more commonly known as a 360, is an aerial maneuver where the rider jumps into the air and twists both of their unicycle and their body 360 degrees in relation to the position they were in before leaving the ground. The rider would land facing the same direction they were in upon leaving the ground.
- 540 Hoptwist
- A 540 Hoptwist or more commonly known as a 540, is an aerial maneuver where the rider jumps into the air and twists both of their unicycle and their body 540 degrees in relation to the position they were in before leaving the ground. The rider would land facing backwards in the case of regular riding.
- Shifty
- A Shifty is an aerial maneuver where the rider jumps, twists their unicycle 90 degrees while keeping their body in a riding position on the unicycle (keeping both feet on the pedals and the seat tucked underneath them) the rider then twists their unicycle back to its original position before landing on the ground. This trick is rather open in that you can twist in any direction and the amount you twist is more of a suggestion. The main principle of the trick is a twist but not a spin meaning that you always land back in the same direction.
- Lookback
- A Lookback is a huge shifty where the amount of twist is 180 degrees, first seen in Shaun Johanneson's "Callout Video!" (August, 2006).
[edit] Common Flip tricks
When riding, jumnping and taking your feet off the pedals the wheel still has momentum and will continue spinning, this causes the pedals to not be lined up when returning your feet to the pedals making it very difficult to land. By flipping the wheel you are controlling the amount of spin and landing with the pedals lined up correctly. The development of flip tricks has allowed many unispin, twist and no footer combinations to be done down sets/gaps
There are too many flip tricks to mention, here are some common ones.
- crankflip
- This is the base to all flip tricks. The trick starts with a jump (from flat or off a ledge) and then in mid-air the rider pushes the front pedal, the wheel will then do a complete rotation, before finally landing with feet in the same position as they started. This trick was first performed by Mike Clark from Washington in the first half of 2004. Since then, many variations of the crankflip have been conceived and performed by riders from all over the world.
- 180flip
- A crankflip with a 180 degree jump twist. Switch 180 flips were first done by Jeff Liechti on 5th March, 2007.
- doubleflip
- The same as a crankflip but with two full rotations. This was first performed by Shaun Johanneson from North Dakota during filming for the popular extreme unicycling DVD, Defect (2005).
- tripleflip
- The same as a crankflip but with three full rotations. As of August 2006, this trick has still only ever been landed by Shaun Johanneson of North Dakota.
- backflip
- Same as a crankflip but the cranks spin backwards for a full rotation.
- doubleback
- This is a backflip with two full rotations, the first time this was landed was by Alex Toms "Tomsey" of Sydney, Australia on 2nd March, 2006.
- sexchange
- This is a crankflip with a bodyvarial. The first time this trick was accomplished was by Shaun Johanneson on 8th August, 2005. The Switch Sexchange was first done by Jeff Liechti on 8th March, 2007.
- sexchange-fakieflip
- A backflip with a bodyvarial while riding backwards and landed riding forwards. This trick was first done by Luke Collalto of Melbourne, Australia in January 2007.
- lateflip
- The same as a crankflip except the rider doesn't begin to flip the cranks until they reach the peak of the jump (or later).
- hickflip
- A crankflip with a 180unispin, seat out to seat out. This trick was named after Kelly "The Hick" Hickman of Oklahoma. The Switch Hickflip was first done by Jeff Liechti on 28th February, 2007.
- TreFlip
- A 360unispin with a crankflip.
- inward small flip
- A hickflip with a body varial in the opposite direction to the unispin. often started seat out and landed seat in. another variant of this trick is the more simple inward flip, that starts with the seat in and ends with the seat in.
- hick fakieflip
- A back crankflip with a 180 unispin while riding backwards. The switch version was first landed by Jeff Liechti on 12 March, 2007.
- tre fakieflip
- A fakieflip with a 360unispin. First done by Luke Collalto in January 2007
- double variants
- A doubleflip incorporated into another flip trick. For example, a double flip sexchange, hick doubleflip or varial doubleflip".
- triple varients
- No triple varients have been landed yet.
[edit] Plants
Plants can be done in combination with some form of unispin.
- Footplant
The rider's foot leaves the pedal in mid-air, is planted on the obstacle, pushes off of the obstacle, then returns to the pedal. The rider lands and rides away normally.
- Wallplant
The rider rides quickly towards a wall and, using their momentem and the friction against the wall to stay airborn, plants a hand and a foot on the wall before returning to the unicycle, now riding away from the wall in the opposite direction.
- Wallstall
This is similar to wallplant except the rider places both feet on the wall.
[edit] Grinding
- ledge grind
- Grinding is achieved by getting a pedal or crankarm of the unicycle up onto a ledge and sliding along on it.
- rail grind
- Grinding on round rails is more difficult than along ledges.
- bluntslide
- Jump over a rail and slide down the other side of it
- reverse grind
- 180 into a ledge or rail, grinding the length backwards
- combination grinds
- These tricks involve either a trick into and/or out of a grind, as well as tricks done whilst grinding. (ie one footers and seat drops)
[edit] Influential Street Riders
These are riders who have invented common tricks and/or have an influential style.
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- Shaun Johanneson (US)
- Kevin McMullin (CND)
- Dan Heaton (US)
- Xavier Collos (FRA)
- Alex Toms (AUS)
- Luke Collalto (AUS)
- Mike Swarbrick (UK)
