Is there such a thing as "Unlimited" unicycle racing?



C

cyberbellum

Guest
Sofa's 'question' (http://tinyurl.com/33mq7) about crank/wheel setup
raises an interesting question:

What is the optimal setup for one-wheeled racing?

Thoughts?

It seems like the only way to really get at this question is to open an
unlimited class of unicycle racing. Does unlimited racing already exist?
There seem to be three natural classes for "unlimited":

1) UNLIMITED STANDARD[/B]
A CONVENTIONAL UNICYCLE SETUP WITH UPRIGHT RIDER, STANDARD SEAT AND
CRANKS FIXED DIRECTLY TO WHEEL.

2) UNLIMITED GEARED
Same as unlimited standard except for geared hubs (e.g., BlueShift)

3) UNLIMITED UNLIMITED
Any pedal powered vehicle with only one wheel. (One-wheeled recumbants
with fairings, low-speed "landing gear", etc are all legal.)

What would people choose for short races, and what would people choose
for long ones?


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big.
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In article <[email protected]>,
cyberbellum <[email protected]> wrote:
)
)What is the optimal setup for one-wheeled racing?
)
)What would people choose for short races, and what would people choose
)for long ones?

Cokers, and Cokers.
The 10K at nationals had an unlimited category, and I think the first 5 or 6
places were Cokers, followed by Blue Shift.
-Tom
 
As Tom said, the 10k marathon at the North American nationals has an
unlimited category. Unlimited means that you can use a non track racing
unicycle (which means something other than a 24" wheel with 125 mm
cranks). The blue shift was able to enter the 10K in the unlimited
category.

Under the current rules, I'm not sure if unibiker's wheelie bike would
be legal in the 10K unlimited category. I'd hope that it would be
legal. It is, after all, an unlimited category.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

john_childs (at) hotmail (dot) com
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On Sat, 15 May 2004 02:28:56 GMT, [email protected] (Tom Holub) wrote:

>The 10K at nationals had an unlimited category, and I think the first 5 or 6
>places were Cokers, followed by Blue Shift.


Was that unlimited Class 2 or Class 3, in cyberbellum terminology?
I.e., were fairings etc allowed? I would guess they were, but they're
probably not practical and at unicycle speeds make too little of a
difference.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
be sure to remove the saddle and simply sit on the seat post. this is far more comfortable - tennisgh22 on the comfort of Savage unis
 
Last week I had an idea for a one-wheeled speed machine that would
clearly be a unlimited-unlimited (class 3) unicycle.

It would have a geared hub with probably a 2:1 or 2.5:1 ratio, a 700c
wheel with a track tubular (150g tire/tube combination) at 150 psi, and
clipless pedals.

There would be no seat in a conventional sense. The rider would ride on
his stomach on a custom "tray" with his back horizontal, in a typical
bicyclist position. A fairing/crash pod would enclose the rider and
machine. (Perhaps the rider would wear the top half of the fairing?)

The rider's arms would operate a couple of "wings". At high speeds the
wings would provide balance and steering with aerodynamics. At medium
speeds the wings would flail around as we do now with our arms, and at
slow speeds the rider would bring the ends of the wings into contact
with the ground and use them as props. Small wheels with brakes would
be in the tips for this purpose.

The thing would be used only at indoor velodromes because it would be
very wind sensitive and would need a really smooth surface. Speeds of 30
mph or more should be possible.


--
cyberbellum - Level 1.0 rider!

Optimists think the glass is half full. Pesimists think the glass is
half empty. Engineers think the glass is too big.
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cyberbellum wrote:
> Sofa's 'question' (http://tinyurl.com/33mq7) about crank/wheel setup
> raises an interesting question:
>
> What is the optimal setup for one-wheeled racing?
>
> Thoughts?
>
> It seems like the only way to really get at this question is to open
> an unlimited class of unicycle racing. Does unlimited racing already
> exist? There seem to be three natural classes for "unlimited":


Yep, 10K unlimited.

> 1) UNLIMITED STANDARD[/B]
> A CONVENTIONAL UNICYCLE SETUP WITH UPRIGHT RIDER, STANDARD SEAT AND
> CRANKS FIXED DIRECTLY TO WHEEL.
>
> 2) UNLIMITED GEARED
> Same as unlimited standard except for geared hubs (e.g., BlueShift)
>
> 3) UNLIMITED UNLIMITED
> Any pedal powered vehicle with only one wheel. (One-wheeled
> recumbent with fairings, low-speed "landing gear", etc are all
> legal.)
>
> What would people choose for short races, and what would people choose
> for long ones?


Coker, Coker, Coker, Coker....
 
In article <[email protected]>,
Klaas Bil <[email protected]> wrote:
)On Sat, 15 May 2004 02:28:56 GMT, [email protected] (Tom Holub) wrote:
)
)>The 10K at nationals had an unlimited category, and I think the first 5 or 6
)>places were Cokers, followed by Blue Shift.
)
)Was that unlimited Class 2 or Class 3, in cyberbellum terminology?
)I.e., were fairings etc allowed? I would guess they were, but they're
)probably not practical and at unicycle speeds make too little of a
)difference.

I'd agree with impractical. Among other things, a fairing would wobble
back and forth, which could wind up creating extra wind resistance, and
would catch side winds, which would take extra energy to overcome.

But if you saw Elijah coming back the other way in that race, you'd
see that he was clearly moving fast enough for a fairing to matter.
-Tom