9 foot custom giraffe

Oh yeah, here's some pictures:


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Nerdlinger - Unicycle-er
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Nerdlinger wrote:
> *I'm surprised the guy was selling it for so cheap. It seems to me
> that it's probably worth $200-300 at least. *
It depends how badly the seller wanted to get rid of it. Sometimes it's
hard to connect with a person who wants a tall unicycle, especially
locally.

> *[*]Is it possible to freemount this thing? If so, how do I do it?*
It is doable. The hard part is getting from the top of the tire to the
bottom pedal without letting the wheel move. Mine has a step in between.
The step is on a spring, and when you step on it, it presses down on the
tire. This makes the mount a lot more plausible, but you still have to
deal with the weight of the cycle (catching it each time), and yourself
as you do lots of dismounts in the learning process.

I have seen Tom Miller freemount a unicycle of 8 or 9', using a
depression in the grass of his yard to hold the wheel.

[*]What's the best way to dismount?
Best way to dismount is to return to where you mounted. This is not very
spectacular, but easier on the ankles and other body parts. Otherwise,
look for objects higher than the ground. One of the nicest things to
dismount to is a grass berm at the side of the road. The higher the
berm, the less of a drop. Don't let the wheel roll out as you tip over,
and you can sort of aim yourself at your chosen landing spot. Remember
to always account for where the unicycle will end up when you come down.
In other words, using a car is not recommended!

Tom Miller did not make your unicycle. His style is different, and
generally a lot heavier than yours looks. It does look well made, in
that it's reinforced in the areas that tend to be weak.

[*]Any idea about how much it's worth?
I think the price of a giraffe is very much related to if there's anyone
around who wants it. Shipping can be prohibitive, so you're limited to a
more local market. Or bring it to a convention, but even then you can
only sell it to people who drove there.

[*]This giraffe has 180mm cranks - kinda long for my taste. Are giraffe
cranks normally long? Is it safer that way or what?
A tall giraffe is a "display" cycle. In other words, it's not about
speed or efficiency. If you watch circuses or other full-time performers
on giraffes, you'll see a lot of long cranks. These are more visual, and
show lots of body movement. Plus you have lots of leverage, which is
real nice when you realize the juggling club you just dropped has wedged
itself perfectly under the front of your tire (this happened to me on a
12 footer--talk about a heart attack!).

[*]What about chain tension? How do I tell if there's too much or too
little tension?
The chain should not jangle around too much. The longer your chain run,
the more you may need an idler wheel in the middle to help keep it in
place. When you pedal, the frame will "bow" a little bit, making the
chain loose on the side opposite the pedaling force. You must do
everything possible to keep your chain from being loose enough to derail
for any reason. This will give you a sudden dismount with no warning,
and no time to correct your body position. Dangerous.

I don't know if larger chainwheels are better or worse for chain
tension. Basically, you want to have it nice and tight. Tight enough
that there is some friction in the drivetrain if you spin the wheel
while holding it off the ground.

Test your tall giraffe by holding onto something and idling it real
hard. Since mine is used so infrequently, it needs testing before each
parade or other use. I hold onto the edge of my roof and do super-hard
idles and starts/stops. You need to simulate whatever you're going to be
doing when you're out in the open. This is especially important if the
next use of the cycle will be in a night parade, for example.

Have fun riding it, and remember to be a little paranoid when you're up
there.


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johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"if you can do balloon animals,you can lace your own wheel." -- Jagur
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You might not want to try this on a 9-footer, but the easiest way on a
smaller one is just to stop pedalling and fall forward. Make sure you
bend your knees when you land, and that you catch the unicycle. The
other thing to bear in mind is how much space there is behind you. There
should be at least the length of the unicycle between you and the
nearest solid object (such as a wall). The reason for this is that when
you dismount, you fall straight down, and the wheel moves backwards, If
there's a wall in the way then the uni will push you forwards as you
fall, and you'll go flying.

CHAIN TENSION
I don't really know on that one, when mine (5ft) came, it had a really
tight chain, which was really hard to pedal, and wasn't doing the cycle
much good. So I loosened it of a bit, and over time, it stretched anyway
so now its a lot slacker than anyone else's I've ridden, but it's not
quite at the point of falling off, and it's much less work to pedal
along. It must be a harder balance to strike with one that tall, as
there will inevitably have some slack in it, because of the length. So
long as it's not possible to pull it off by hand I generally assume it's
alright, but I'm sure someone knows a much better way of doing it.


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theamazingmolio - A Unicylist, a juggler, and a prat

Luke Duller ([email protected])
Never trust anything you read on the internet
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BTW, the builder's "choice" of 180mm cranks was probably not based on
any specifics on desired length. Giraffes like that are built from
easily available bike parts! And for the most part, crank length is a
lot less important on a giraffe than on a MUni or other regular uni.

Rolling out the wheel when dismounting is *not* recommended. I think you
land a little less hard when you keep the wheel in place and let the uni
fall like a tree. This also makes it easier to control your landing
area. When the wheel is rolling out behind you it could hit a person
walking (they always want to walk right behind you when you're doing
hard stuff), or a wall or other obstacle if you misjudge the distance.
That can hurt--a lot. But your best bet is to find something higher than
your base ground level to land on.


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johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"if you can do balloon animals,you can lace your own wheel." -- Jagur
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very nice!


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UniManiac - hot damn

TARHEAD!!!
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On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:20:06 -0500, "johnfoss" wrote:

>Rolling out the wheel when dismounting is *not* recommended.
I agree.

>I think you
>land a little less hard when you keep the wheel in place and let the uni
>fall like a tree.
I think you land with a (slightly) higher vertical velocity. Because
the potential energy of both rider and giraffe is the same at the
moment you reach the ground, but the rotational momentum in the
giraffe is larger (it has fallen quicker), and there is also momentum
in the wheel and drive. All this must have come from somewhere.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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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

[email protected] (Klaas Bil) writes:

> On Wed, 26 May 2004 11:20:06 -0500, "johnfoss" wrote:
>
> >Rolling out the wheel when dismounting is *not* recommended.
> I agree.
>
> >I think you
> >land a little less hard when you keep the wheel in place and let the uni
> >fall like a tree.
> I think you land with a (slightly) higher vertical velocity. Because
> the potential energy of both rider and giraffe is the same at the
> moment you reach the ground, but the rotational momentum in the
> giraffe is larger (it has fallen quicker), and there is also momentum
> in the wheel and drive. All this must have come from somewhere.

I believe John Foss and doubt you land faster (greater vertical
speed). The reason is that the rider gains horizontal velocity when
the wheel is kept stationary, and that reduces the vertical component,
at the expense of having to step (run?) forward when landing. I
haven't done the enregy calculations, but I'd be willing to bet the
rider has more horizontal energy when falling this way than the
unicycle does when letting the wheel roll out.

Ken