Calling all unicyclists

[Peter Clinch]

Nick Kew wrote:

> Aha. I should've been clearer. How steep a hill can you
> go down?

Whatever you're happy resisting inna fixed gear stylee... I
go down a "half serious hill" that my house is on in a
rather jerky motion rather than a smooth velocity, but it's
okay. One thing about the unicycle is that though you do
fall off a great deal more than on a bike the bail-outs do
tend to be benign as there's nothing much to get in the way.
So when your knees start protesting you just step off...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Peter Clinch]

Danny Colyer wrote:

> Unicycles tend to have low gears, what with their 1:1
> ratio. Riding up a steep hill isn't usually too difficult
> (of course it depends very much on stamina, physical
> strength, wheel size and crank length).

And the surface. I can get the Muni (26") *down* the rough
lane I stay on okay, but coming back up it through the
really good potholes and protruding stones just doesn't
really happen much (more than it used to, but I still can't
do it!). On a parallel road in decent tarmac it's not really
that much trouble, albeit not exactly very fast!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Just Zis Guy]

"Tim Hall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news[email protected]...

> Do you know where I put the end-of-roll after I decorated
> the lounge? We've had some plumbing done and I need to
> repair a bit of wallpaper and I ca't find it _anywhere_.

I think you used it to line the kitchen drawers.

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

 

[Danny Colyer]

Peter Clinch wrote:
> And the surface. I can get the Muni (26") *down* the
> rough lane I stay on okay, but coming back up it through
> the really good potholes and protruding stones just
> doesn't really happen much (more than it used to, but I
> still can't do it!). On a parallel road in decent tarmac
> it's not really that much trouble, albeit not exactly
> very fast!

Very true. On a good surface I can usually ride down
slightly steeper hills than I can ride up. Riding the Muni
down an off-road trail is great fun. Riding the Coker down a
steep hill is terrifying.

To save their knees when riding down really steep hills,
some people fit a brake. The brake will typically be
controlled by a gear shifter mounted to a bar end on the
seat post. The gear shifter allows the brake to be set
partially on without having to hang on to a lever.

Anyway, those with broadband access may enjoy the clip you
can download here:
url:http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albuw51 from a recent
TV programme showing a muni ride down Snowdon.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
Why I like OE6 - http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/misc/oe6.html
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

 

[Simon Brooke]

in message <[email protected]>, Nick Kew
('[email protected]') wrote:

> On the subject of unis ...
>
> I presume any half-serious hill is out of the question,
> right? How far off dead-flat can you go without serious
> trouble, or having to contour it?

Some people do very serious mountin bike tracks on unis.
They are clearly capable of very steep downhills and fairly
steep uphills.

Not that I could hope to emulate this, of course.

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke)
http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/ ;; "If I were a Microsoft
Public Relations person, I would probably ;; be sobbing on a
desk right now" -- Rob Miller, editor, /.

 

[Tony Raven]

Simon Brooke wrote:
>
> Some people do very serious mountin bike tracks on unis.
> They are clearly capable of very steep downhills and
> fairly steep uphills.
>
> Not that I could hope to emulate this, of course.

To say nothing of free-riding on them
http://municycle.com/pics/gallery/9.htm

Tony

 

[Simonb]

> To say nothing of free-riding on them
http://municycle.com/pics/gallery/9.htm

Crikey!

 

[Just Zis Guy]

Danny, how much weight do you put on the saddle?

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

 

[Danny Colyer]

Just zis Guy, you know? wondered:
> Danny, how much weight do you put on the saddle?

Ideally all of your weight will be on the saddle for
basic riding. In practice, it takes a while to get the
hang of that.

Dave Mariner took a unicycle with pressure sensors on
the pedals to Eurocycle (the European unicycle
convention) a couple of years ago, to measure just how
much weight different riders placed on the pedals. For
the very best riders, he didn't register any pressure on
the pedals at all.

There are times you'll want to put more weight on the
pedals, particularly for trials, muni or climbing hills, but
you don't need to worry about any of those just yet ;-)

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
Why I like OE6 - http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/misc/oe6.html
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

 

[Nick Kew]

In article <[email protected]>,
Simon Brooke <[email protected]> writes:

> Surely if you're on a Uni for the circus scene, your
> appearance in a wheelchair immediately thereafter would be
> entirely logical?

Hmmm, this needs more explanation ...

My character is the father of the young hero. My missus is
my second wife, and wicked stepmother to the young hero.
She's clearly the one in charge ...

So, the director says I've been obviously on death's door
for many years, while she's been expecting to be a rich
widow. I'm to have rather more than just one foot in the
grave, while she must never once smile ....

So, yes I am excused the uni

--
Nick Kew

Nick's manifesto: http://www.htmlhelp.com/~nick/

 

[Anonymous Cowar]

Tony Raven wrote:

> Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
>> I am thinking of buying this:
>>
>>
<url:http://www.unicycle.uk.com/shop/shopdisplayproduct.asp-
?catalogid=498>
>>
>> Any comments please? Should I get the 24" model instead?

It sounds like its too late to suggest this:

http://www.unicycling.com/garage/pix/RECUMBNT.JPG

 

[Peter Clinch]

Danny Colyer wrote:

> Ideally all of your weight will be on the saddle for
> basic riding. In practice, it takes a while to get the
> hang of that.

I can go for that. My amount of weight on the saddle has
progressively increased the better I've got. To start I had
the saddle fitted according to my usual bike rule of thumb
(heel on pedal at bottom of stroke, leg slightly bent), but
it's been going up since then and the weight transfer has
become accordingly easier (I'm probably about 10 cm or so
higher than when I started!). It was rather a positive
feedback loop to move the saddle up. Originally practice
time was limited by my knees screaming at me, but the more
weight went onto the saddle the more I could practice, and
the more weight I could get onto the saddle, and so on...

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Just Zis Guy]

Danny Colyer wrote:

>> Danny, how much weight do you put on the saddle?

> Ideally all of your weight will be on the saddle for
> basic riding. In practice, it takes a while to get the
> hang of that.

Aha, yes, that makes a difference. I went nearly 3ft!

--
Guy
===
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after
posting. http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at
Washington University

 

[Danny Colyer]

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
> Aha, yes, that makes a difference. I went nearly 3ft!

Feels great, doesn't it, to start going far enough to feel
like you're actually riding?

Another thing I've been meaning to mention is foot
positioning. Don't try and pedal with the balls of your
feet, as you would on a bike. Pedalling with the balls is
fine for racing, you'll go faster, but generally you'll get
more control with the pedal under the arch of your foot.

Having had the importance of pedalling a bike with the
balls of the feet impressed upon me 11 years earlier when I
did my Cycling Proficiency, not using the balls was
probably one of the most useful bits of advice I was given
when I first started unicycling. The chap who gave me that
advice makes a point of wearing shoes with heels, rather
than trainers. He rides with the fronts of the heels
against the backs of the pedals.

--
Danny Colyer (the UK company has been laughed out of my reply address)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/
Why I like OE6 - http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/misc/oe6.html
"He who dares not offend cannot be honest." - Thomas Paine

 

[Peter Clinch]

Danny Colyer wrote:

> Another thing I've been meaning to mention is foot
> positioning. Don't try and pedal with the balls of your
> feet, as you would on a bike. Pedalling with the balls
> is fine for racing, you'll go faster, but generally
> you'll get more control with the pedal under the arch of
> your foot.

Ahhhhhhh.... And the amount of time I've spent trying to get
a foot that freemounted into the arch reset with the ball on
the platform... <sigh>

Next thing could well be saddle down a wafffeeeeere and try
it your way.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch University of Dundee Tel 44 1382 660111 ext.
33637 Medical Physics, Ninewells Hospital Fax 44 1382 640177
Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK net [email protected]
http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

 

[Ian Smith]

On Fri, 2 Apr 2004, Danny Colyer <[email protected]> wrote:

> Another thing I've been meaning to mention is foot
> positioning. Don't try and pedal with the balls of your
> feet, as you would on a bike. Pedalling with the balls
> is fine for racing, you'll go faster, but generally
> you'll get more control with the pedal under the arch of
> your foot.

And even more if you wear shoes with a heel rather than eg
trainers with a flat sole.

Incidentaly, I do knoiw one person who tried clipless
pedals. He abandoned the idea after the first test-ride, and
generally recommended not trying it.

regards, Ian SMith
--
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