Stop Here for a Minibike or Another Odd Bike!

When you come to shop at Unicycle.com, we try not to throw you any major curveballs. It’s all in the name - our specialty is unicycles, the associated equipment, unicycle themed gifts, and the expertise that goes along with riding them. If you take it upon yourself to learn how to ride, or to master the riding of one of these great machines, you will find it to be a greatly rewarding experience.

Don’t get the wrong impression; there are a ton of challenges that go along with learning how to ride the one-wheeler, and the fondness we have for riding them is partly attributable to the difficulty. It’s hard enough just learning to balance on one, and after you get a taste of control, you’ll be chasing that feeling until you master it. Along the way, there will be unplanned dismounts, spills, and scrapes, but once you can confidently call yourself a unicycle rider, you’ll know what the thrill is all about.

Of course, if you already know how to ride, this isn’t news. There is a special and unmistakable mark of pride that a lot of unicyclists hold for the sport and the gear, and we understand that firsthand. Yet it isn’t all just about the enjoyment.

We’ve talked in the past about some of the benefits that come along with learning how to ride and mastering a unicycle. There are a number of reasons that you should give it a go if you are interested, and even more disciplines you could follow if you take a liking to it. There’s mountain riding, street riding, and trials riding. You could even get a unicycle for the benefit of getting in a good workout or commuting to work, and you can get a great exercise from one in a fraction of the time that some other conventional workouts will take.

Of course, you could just learn how to ride one for the joy of the challenge and that’s fine. You can lean on us for the necessary equipment - and the counsel - when you are learning how to ride. We also offer a number of unicycles with different features and tire sizes that uniquely equip them to handle a number of specialized uses, like mountain riding or touring.

Yet, through this, it can be easy to lose sight of some of the other cool recreational vehicles and oddities that we sell here on our site. We may be “Unicycle.com,” but we offer a lot more than unicycles. Check out some of our interesting picks and what you can use them for below.

Try a Minibike 

When you hear the term minibike, there are actually two things that you might think of, and with respect to this article, we are only talking about one of them.

The other minibike, which is sometimes called a pocket bike, is a motorized off-road recreational vehicle that has some loyal adherents who use them either for fun or to make them better riders of full-sized bikes. There are probably also some people in the world who use them as commuter vehicles as well, but for the most part, their riders take a focus on dirt biking and use them because they are challenging. Because they have smaller wheels and frames, they don’t respond as favorably to challenging terrain as dirt bikes with larger wheels, presenting a welcome challenge to many off-roaders and dirt bikers. The challenge helps them hone their skills and so they chase the thrill of the motorized minibike.

Enough palaver on that subject, though. Here at Unicycle.com, we offer another, more conventional form of minibike, which is a true, miniature conventional chain-driven bicycle. Motorized versions have a load of fans who ride them for the challenge, so what’s the draw of the chain drive? Hint - it’s not all about the chain drive.

Our UDC Minibike is a bicycle on a seriously small scale that gets a lot of attention for its riders. If you are familiar with the motorized miniature bikes, then when you take a look at ours you will notice a significant difference - it is way smaller. It is so much smaller than it requires great skill to balance, power, and maneuver, which is the force behind its attraction.

Therefore the question; what is the draw of a mini bike like this? Well, it can be really challenging to balance and handle, so for cyclists who have mastered unicycles and bicycles and maybe even Penny Farthings (more on that below), it can present a novel mountain to climb.

One might argue that mastering the minibike will help you refine your senses of balance and coordination, which is likely because they are a trip to tackle. At the same time, though, not everyone who is drawn to our minibike does so for purely practical purposes. On the one hand, it’s tough and that challenge is an attraction in its own right, but there might be something more lurking behind the facade of a trial.

They can be a blast to ride and they turn heads, which is the flipside of the coin. These little bikes are ideal for performers and trick riders, but at the same time, people who take them on just get a kick out of riding them. If you are more into something new and fun to try than you are into honing your skills, you can get something special out of our mini bike.

Moreover, our UDC Minibike is a paragon of quality; this may be a stunt bike of sorts but it is by no means a stunter on quality. Even though it is only 14 inches high and 17 inches long, it has a heavy-gauge steel frame and it is remarkably tough; it even comes with solid rubber front and rear wheels to stand up to many years of riding. Even though it is small, it has a 22.2mm seat post so that you can adjust the seat height for comfort as you learn to ride. If you’re looking for examples of high-quality mini bikes, then you have found the ticket. Check out the product page above or contact our customer service team to learn more about the unique challenges of this bike or about its features.

Go for a Penny Farthing

In our collection of odd bikes, you are going to come across a relic that is a true living fossil in the world of modern cycling. Probably more recognizable by its physical appearance than it is by its name, the Penny Farthing represents one of the earlier designs in bikes that still enjoys a loyal ridership among certain circles.

Penny Farthings, also known as high-wheel bicycles, were among the first machines to be known as bicycles, were first developed in England at the end of the 1800s. They were developed to help alleviate some of the issues of operation associated with prevalent designs of the day such as the Draisienne and velocipede, which, though rideable, enjoyed plenty of shortcomings.

Early bicycles such as these mentioned models struggled with a number of structural problems as well as issues related to performance. For example, earlier models of “bikes” were powered by pushing off of the ground with the feet, or had small wheels with cranks attached to them. These could be propelled forward, but the small wheels and lack of suspension presented multiple problems, with two jumping out. On the one hand, without a chain drive, speed would be severely limited, precisely by the circumference of the wheel to which the cranks were attached. On the other hand, the small size of the device and the lack of suspension meant that all of the jolts and shocks of the road would be directed through the frame and right into the rider. One of these early designs was known as the “boneshaker,” for which we are certain you can deduce the reason.

By the late 1870s, some riders had had enough of ‘boneshaking’ and were ready for something new. A new bicycle was designed which became known as the Penny-Farthing because of the relative sizes of its wheels. With a larger front wheel and a smaller rear wheel, the Penny Farthing solved several of the problems of earlier designs.

Because the cranks of the Penny Farthing were attached to a larger front wheel, the rider could achieve higher speeds because of the greater circumference. Also, because the wheel was larger, it helped to absorb some of the unevenness of a rough road. At the same time, a Penny Farthing’s larger wheel could cover smaller obstacles that would have presented a greater challenge to earlier designs with smaller wheels - but it came at a price. If a rider encountered an obstacle that stopped the forward progress of the bike or tried to stop too suddenly, there was a risk of being thrown over the front of it.

Because of their charismatic design and their significance in the history of the development of modern bikes, Penny-Farthings still have some loyal riders around the world. Our Penny Farthings, which we offer with wheels in diameters of 29”, 32”, 48”, 50”, 52”, 54”and 56”, are of highly durable quality and are much more than reproductions, they are fully functional. In addition, our own line of them has a double step design which makes it easier to mount them while it also gives you a place to rest your legs while you are coasting.

How About a Circus Bike?

In our collection of odd bikes, we also offer a Hoppley 20” Circus Bike, which is not as small as our UDC Minibike but will offer the enterprising rider a brand new set of wheels to try out.

This tiny bike is ideal for those who want to try out BMX style tricks and even has pegs on the front wheels, which can make it possible for two riders to tackle the same bike for trick riding. Additionally, the bike itself is indicative of impressively high quality.

It has a rough Hoppley Circus Bike round crown steel mainframe and steel front handlebar; the model is paired with a Nimbus 22.2 by 200mm straight seat post, and it comes with steel crank arms. It’s a little bike, but it’s tough, certainly tough enough to hang with you as you try some tough tricks.

All the Essentials

If you’re thinking about trying out one of these odd bikes, or even if you’re going to tackle the art of unicycle riding, remember that you need to keep safety in a priority spot at the forefront of your mind. Here on our website, we don’t just sell the bikes themselves, we sell all of the safety gear for riding that you could possibly need. You’ll definitely need a helmet if you want to be well protected, but you can also find gloves, wrist guards, knee pads, and elbow pads in our online store. Check out our collection via the link above and do some research to find out what you need, or give our team a call and pick our brains on what safety gear is best for you and your style of riding.

Give Us a Call!

If you need some more in-depth information or professional guidance on some of these odd bikes and other equipment we sell here, don’t be shy about reaching out to our team. We’re always ready to help share some of our experience for the benefit of our customers. Whether you need to get our insight into which bike or unicycle is best for your purposes or just want to clear up some product queries, we’re more than ready to help. You can contact us via a live chat on our website or you can give us a call at 678-494-4962 if you need some guidance. We’d be glad to fill you in more of the quality of our products, give you some advice for learning to ride, or just point you in the right direction!