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. Xavier Collos (France) clinched the world title but unfortunately before UNICON ended 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
- Unispin
- The rider jumps off the pedals of the unicycle, spins the unicycle and then lands back either in the hop-on-wheel position or back onto the pedals. These are done in increments of 90 degrees ranging from 90 to 900. They are named by the amount of rotation. eg. 180 Unispin.
- X-up
- An x-up is where the rider completes one 180unispin then another 180unispin in the reverse direction all in one jump.
[edit] Unispin Hoptwists
These are when a rider completes a hoptwist and a unispin simultaneously in the same direction. These are some common ones.
- Smallspin
- 180 twist + 180unispin
- Bigspin
- 180 twist + 360unispin
- hugespin
- 180 twist + 540unispin
- Mammothspin
- 180 twist + 720unispin
[edit] Hoptwists
Hoptwists are an aerial maneuver where the rider jumps into the air and rotates. These are measured in increments of 180 degrees ranging from 180 to 540.
[edit] Shifty
The rider jumps and twists his unicycle 90 degrees while keeping his body in a riding position on the unicycle (keeping both feet on the pedals and the seat tucked underneath him). The rider then twists the unicycle back to its original position before landing on the ground. This trick is rather open-ended in that one can twist in any direction and the amount of twist is something of a personal preference. The main principle of the trick is a twist, not a spin; the rider always lands moving in the same direction from whence he came.
Common Flip tricks
When riding, jumping and taking one's feet off the pedals will leave the wheel spinning. This prevents the pedals from being lined up when the feet are returned to them, making it very difficult to land. By flipping the wheel, the rider can control the amount of spin and land 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, because you can combine a crankflip with almost all other tricks; 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 complete a full rotation before the rider lands with his feet in the same position as they were when the jump started.
- 180flip
- A crankflip with a 180 degree jump twist.
- doubleflip
- The same as a crankflip but with two full rotations.
- backflip
- Same as a crankflip but the cranks spin backwards for a full rotation.
- fakieflip
- A "backflip" while riding backwards (fakie).
- 180 fakieflip
- A "fakieflip" while riding fakie.
- Sexchange
- This is a crankflip with a 180bodyvarial.
- Backchange
- A "180bodyvarial" with a "backflip:.
- Fakiechange
- A "180bodyvarial" with a "backflip" while riding fakie.
- Hickflip
- A crankflip with a 180unispin.
- Hickbackflip
- A "180unispin" with a "backflip"
- TreyFlip
- A 360unispin with a crankflip.
- Treybackflip
- A "360unispin" with a "backflip".
- FifthFlip
- A 540unispin with a crankflip.
- Smallflip
- A "smallspin" with a "crankflip".
- Smallbackflip
- A "smallspin" with a "backflip".
- Varialflip
- A "smallspin" from seat in with a "crankflip".
- Varial Backflip
- A "Varial" with a "backflip".
- Full-Varial flip
- A 360unispin & 180 hoptwist with a crankflip.
- double variants
- A doubleflip incorporated into another flip trick. For example, a double flip sexchange, hick doubleflip or varial doubleflip".
[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 the obstacle, then returns to the pedal. The rider lands and rides away normally.
- Wallplant
The rider rides quickly towards a wall. Using momentum and friction against the wall to stay airborne, the rider plants a hand and a foot on the wall before returning to the unicycle and riding away from the wall.
- Wallstall
This is similar to wallplant except the rider places both feet on the wall.
[edit] Stances
- Natural: The stance in which a rider feels most comfortable jumping and tricking. The natural stance comes in two varieties: left or right foot forward. Both are self-explanatory. On average, more riders hop left foot forward.
- Switch: Switch stance is the opposite to one's natural stance; a regularly-footed unicyclist tricking with their right foot forward is riding in switch. This is difficult because the feet need to switch roles.
- Fakie: A rider is said to be riding fakie when he is in the natural stance but traveling backwards. From a difficulty perspective, it's slightly uncomfortable, but because the feet still perform the same roles as they naturally would, fakie is only slightly more difficult than riding normally.
- Switch Fakie: In this stance, one must ride backwards whilst performing all tricks with the opposite foot forward. It is commonly accepted as the most difficult stance to hop and pull tricks from, because it combines the difficulties of the other stances.
- Sideways: Riding the unicycle sideways in the "hopping standing on the wheel" position-- that is, holding the seat tight with both hands, and one foot on each side of the frame.
[edit] Influential Street Riders
These are riders who have invented common tricks and/or have an influential style.
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- Dan Heaton (USA)
- Shaun Johanneson (USA)
- Kevin McMullin (CND)
- Xavier Collos (FRA)
- Alex Toms (AUS)
- Luke Collalto (AUS)
- Mike Swarbrick (UK)
- Loïc Baud (FRA)
- Adrien Delecroix (FRA)
- Spencer Hochberg (USA)
