The best way to learn is with a teacher, but if you're going to learn from a book this one is pretty good and, for the price, a definite must-buy. Vivolo has one great insight, which is that you *must* lean forward, that indeed the very act of walking requires leaning forward (try walking a bit and then straightening up to vertical; you'll stop). And beyond that he's a good guide to the rest of the beginner skills -- freemounting and turning. The only thing I can complain about is that he does not cover the "step-over" maneuver which other books cover before they even have you get in the saddle. And he could also say a little more about the proper way to dismount; he tells you to fall off forward, which, granted, is better than falling off backward, but he could have said that even a beginner can and should learn to ID (involuntarily dismount) landing on his feet (not his butt) and with one hand catching the uni's seat tube. I ID'd easily thousands of times before I could ride twenty feet. I'd have gone through a dozen unis in that period, if I'd let the thing just crash each time.
I learned from Jack Wiley's The Complete Book of Unicycling- 2nd Edition, which does cover the step-over and the ID, and I'm grateful for that. On the other hand, Wiley is not as strong as Vivolo on what you do right after you've mastered the step-over. So I'd recommend Wiley too. In fact it's worth getting if only because it has a great deal of historical and cultural material including funny pictures of 1960s people unicycling in dark oxfords, white shirts and ties. I'd also recommend Charlie Dancey's How to Ride Your Unicycle; he covers the step-over and also takes you (very tersely to be sure) to advanced skills like freemounting a 7-foot giraffe uni.
I learned from Jack Wiley's The Complete Book of Unicycling- 2nd Edition, which does cover the step-over and the ID, and I'm grateful for that. On the other hand, Wiley is not as strong as Vivolo on what you do right after you've mastered the step-over. So I'd recommend Wiley too. In fact it's worth getting if only because it has a great deal of historical and cultural material including funny pictures of 1960s people unicycling in dark oxfords, white shirts and ties. I'd also recommend Charlie Dancey's How to Ride Your Unicycle; he covers the step-over and also takes you (very tersely to be sure) to advanced skills like freemounting a 7-foot giraffe uni.
