If you want something more challenging than a unicycle, you should try the BC wheel (the name comes from the stone wheel that characters in the popular comic strip ride). It's basically a non motorized version of what they describe in the article. Just a free-spinning wheel with metal plates you stand in. The other name it goes by is an "impossible wheel". They are quite difficult to ride - but some can ride them and do tricks similar to skateboarding. Here's one of the best guys at riding them:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FZlKRyR3qA

Wow!

> They are quite difficult to ride…

It looks like it—even the guys doing tricks looked the entire time like they were one slight hand-wave away from bailing.

On my last trip to London I noticed several people riding unicycles around and I started wondering if it's a growing trend in urban environments (I'm intensely intrigued by the urban landscape and how people cope with the challenges there). I plan on purchasing one myself simply out of curiosity (and because it would be a boat load of fun). Any pointers on brand, technique?

I have a Torker Unistar with a 20" wheel and that's been perfect to learn on. Depending on your height, the seatpost usually comes pretty long, so you may have to cut it down with a hacksaw to get some flexibility on seat level.

As far as learning, I kept a little logbook of each time I went out. It honestly feels impossible at first (constantly falling in 360 degrees), but you just have to keep working on it. I did most of my learning at a school playground (lots of space to wobble around) and leaned against the school wall for support.

Yow, the electric unicycle cited in the article is over $600! The Torker is $90.

Maybe it's possible to build an electric one cheaply? I wonder how much tlb's cost...

EDIT: http://tlb.org/#eunicycle "All together the components, in single unit retail quantities, cost about $1500." I wonder how expensive it would be today?

I practiced with mine in office space. 1 hour of coding, 5 minutes of unicycling and so forth. I just tracked along a wall, forth and back, forth and back until I didn't need the wall

In Buenos Aires I've only seen one guy riding unicycle. He seemed to be commuting to work: he was very, very fast and always blazing through the street at the same time.

Is it comfortable for short commutes?

I've seen at least one unicyclist going up and down the Manhattan Bridge in New York. I moved to another area and don't really see any other unicyclists anymore.

I give up -- what's the difference between "glide for 10 m" and "coast for 10 m"? There's a video of each and they're listed at different levels but they seem indistinguishable to me except that the coast looked slower and therefore harder.