Many EUC enthusiasts, myself included, enjoy sitting down on the unicycle from time to time. In this article I’m going to go over some of the major benefits that you might not have thought of when it comes to seated riding, as well as some of the more obvious cons.
EUC Seated Riding: Pros
Wind Resistance: Since sitting on your EUC puts you lower to the ground, your body takes up much less surface area. This makes you less vulnerable to high-speed wind gusts, and can help when riding into strong headwinds.
Higher Speed: This is connected to the point above about lower wind resistance – since the wheel has to work less hard to achieve the same speed, you can actually push the wheel about 5-10 mph faster while using the same amount of power.
Longer Range: I did two complete range tests on my 3600Wh Begode EX30, both at around 25-30 mph. The first range test I did standing, and I rode 70 miles before running out of battery. The second range test I did seated, and I rode 91 miles and still had about 6% battery left.
Muscle Fatigue: One of the main reasons I tend to ride seated a lot is because it relieves strain from my feet, ankles and knees. Depending on your wheel and seat position, seated riding can be much more comfortable than standing riding, especially over long distances.
Less Voltage Sag: Seated riding can actually be safer than standing riding for one specific reason – less voltage sag due to less power output means that you are less likely to experience beeps or cutout when traveling at the same speed.
Seated Riding: Cons
Maneuverability: Anyone who has ridden seated knows that it is much more difficult to stop quickly when your center of gravity is already so low to the ground. Whenever I need to stop suddenly while riding seated, I typically take a second to stand up first, and then I throw my body weight back for maximum stopping power. Additionally, swerving to the right or left to avoid an obstacle is much more difficult when seated. For this reason, I typically reserve seated riding to long open stretches of road where there are few tight turns or potential obstacles.
Field of View: When standing up, your field of vision is very good; in fact I tend to find my eye-level is above the roofs of most cars, giving me excellent visibility into things happening in front of and around me. While sitting down, however, you lose the ability to see over the the tops of cars, and your reaction time to upcoming obstacles decreases.
Trail Riding: Needless to say, seated riding doesn’t really work if you are trying to tackle trails. There are many reasons for this: decreased maneuverability, risk of hitting your knees on the sides of the trail, lack of ability to see and judge height of obstacles and bumps far in front of you… Also, when riding on trails your speed is typically lower than 20 mph, which nullifies most of the positives of seated riding anyway, which mostly center around decreased wind resistance at higher speeds.
Conclusion
I think everyone should absolutely learn to ride seated, but also realize that it may not be the best fit for all types of riding, like when you need to be alert of cars around you or other obstacles. Stay safe, and wear safety gear!
Here is a good tutorial about seated riding from Wrong Way.
EUC Comparison Tool
We made an interactive EUC Comparison Tool. You can sort, filter, and include or exclude data as you see fit. I hope you find this tool helpful!