Crazy Unicycle Modification Ideas

This is an idea I've had for a while. Mainly, I think it would be best
used for long smooth descents. Some sort of clutch system would have to
be created to allow the wheel to be fully engaged with the cranks for
normal riding, and be manually disengaged for coasting. To make it
easier to ride, there would have to be the ability to vary the friction
between the cranks and hub.

One idea someone posted was to use a disc brake. Try running a search
for it. The idea sounded all right, but there was some problem with
it.

Daniel

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i think i've heard of something like that, but i can't remember
where....

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you mean a freewheelin' hub? Yeah, that would be really neat.

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certain death

Picture re-engaging that clutch on the fly, when you have come to the
end of comfortable gliding speed

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yeah, a freewheeling hub, i mean, I don't know if it would excite many
people other than unicyclist though. They would probably say:

"Hey, I can allready do that on my b**e, why would I want to do it on a
uni." Silly people.

the re-engagement I don't think would be that bad. I guess the pedals
would just start moving. obviously, you would not have your feet on
them at the time of re-engagement.

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al.dyne said:

* obviously, you would not have your feet on them at the time of
re-engagement.

*

Well sure, if you feel like cheatin'

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I was thinking of doing a peg type system. Like put extentions out from
the hub to behind the wheel and then to strengthen it, connect it to the
seat post to make a triangle. Then find a way to put pegs on the 2 back
points. I dont know what the purpose would be though.

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WOW! I have thought about this idea almost since the day I could
unicycle.
It would be cool, the ultimate downhill uni.

I have another thought though - to create a unicycle just used only for
downhill. Instead of having cranks attached to the axle attach pegs,
like those on a BMX bike, i dont think that would be too hard either.
You wouldnt be able to ride anywere with no slope but it would be like a
'La Twike' (i have no idea how to spell it, it is a bike my friends
brother made, with no seat and pegs you stand on on the back wheel, we
used to take it downhilling, it was crazy)

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munimanpete said:

*Instead of having cranks attached to the axle attach pegs, like those
on a BMX bike *

Wouldn't that just be an impossible wheel with a seat?? That would be
cool to see though!😎

And of course the height of danger don't you think. I mean, with the
freewheeling, at lease you could engage the pedals again to slow down.
But I guess with a brake on, and just the pegs, it might be ok. Scary
thought though.

Al.

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Quoted message said:

Does anyone else have ideas for this thread to continue?

Well it's not exactly a modification but my seated ahdn-driven unicycle
which I -will- eventually get around to making. There are a few threads
about it somewhere.

Andrew

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Quoted message said:

Wouldn't that just be an impossible wheel with a seat??

Thatd be awesome. Instead of using pegs, you could just weld the
threaded part of the pedals straight to the hub. Hopefully the heat of
the welding won't damage the bearings in the pedals, otherwise its 100%
pure death. It shouldn't though, I actually welded a pair of pedals to
some crank arms cause they kept falling out and angering me (it was like
a $12 pair of cranks), and they worked fine after that.

I think I might actually do that one.

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Be real people. None of the above is possible (except the uni with pegs
in back I've wanted to see if that'd work for years) without some really
complicated mechanical or computer-driven logic and some really damn big
gyros. It's hard enough to ride a b.c. wheel, let alone one with a seat!
And come one, how would coasting with disengaged cranks and your feet
off the pedals be any different from normal coasting?

The only thing I can think of that's even remotely possible and remotely
related to what you guys have described is a freewheeling hub where the
cranks are attached to a cam brake. When the pedals are level, there's a
very slight bit of drag, but not really noticable. When you lean forward
and roatae the cranks forward a little bit, it disengages the cam, and
the wheel speeds up, thus catching up with you. When you lean back and
the pedals rotate backwards, more pressure is applied through the cam
brake and the wheel slows down and you catch up with it. But I can't say
whether this'd be really that easy to ride. The cam brake would have to
be very accurate, and the pedal motion to engage it be very fine. But,
the range of motion and brake pressure would have to be highly variable,
hence flat pedals having a slight amount of braking force, so the wheel
has a way to speed up. You'd probably want to err to the side of leaning
back, because that'd be easier to recover from than leanign forward.
It'd basically be a much easier version of coasting, where when you get
too far forward you inevitably fall, but you can always apply more
pressure with the foot.

But, supposedly, if you really got the wheel going fast with a dead
weight attached to the pedals, precession (gyroscopic effect) and the
cam brake should keep it up. And if that worked, keeping a human up
wouldn't be much harder. Just an idea.

Edit: Actualy, a few more of those are possible, such as the hand
-driven uni, now that I read closer.

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Quoted message said:

It's hard enough to ride a b.c. wheel, let alone one with a seat!

Perhaps that is why people would want to ride it.

Quoted message said:

except the uni with pegs in back I've wanted to see if that'd work for
years

I think that would definately work. I'd imagine it would be a lot like
riding seat out, only you would have to push the seat away from you to
keep your balance.

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I was at this years British Unicycling Convention, and somebody there
had a uni with a freewheel in it. I'm not sure how it actually worked
but nobody could even get on it, never mind stay on it. Mind you it was
quite late and there was alcohol involved......

Thomas.

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gerblefranklin said:

Be real people. None of the above is possible (except the uni with pegs
in back I've wanted to see if that'd work for years) without some really
complicated mechanical or computer-driven logic and some really damn big
gyros. It's hard enough to ride a b.c. wheel, let alone one with a seat!
And come one, how would coasting with disengaged cranks and your feet
off the pedals be any different from normal coasting?

Ah, ye of little faith!

Consider this. Ford has a magneto-rheologic (MR) "smart fluid"
automobile clutch in which the plates are separated by an MR fluid
that becomes solid when a magnetic field (from an electromagnet) is
applied. A unicycle hub could be built in a similar manner with the
spindle freely spinning inside and lubricated with MR grease. An
electromagnet wound around the hub could be energized by a battery
based power supply under the seat and controlled with a sensor held in
the rider's hand.

The great thing about this setup is that MR fluids vary smoothly from
liquid to solid. By adjusting the viscosity, you could set the pedals
to drag as much or as little as you like, and make a controlled
transition back to full pedal engagement.

As far as I can tell, this is feasible and not all that complex using
current technology, though MR fluids are cutting edge stuff. I don't
have any idea how much battery you would need though. And don't
expect to be able to ride after the battery is exhausted.

Wait! Add another set of coils and then the (rider controlled) drag
could be induced by generating electricity instead of expending it on
the MR fluid while the rider pedal-glides.

What's that? Time for my medication? Sorry, gotta run...

Ken

One thing I've been wanting to make for a while now is a BC wheel with
handle bars. It would basically be the from fork/handle/wheel/pegs from
a BMX, but I think it would be cool.

Another idea I had was for a similar device but have the fork legs
extend down past the axle of the wheel (this time the rear wheel of a
BMX would have to be used) and have some sort of chain drive system
where the wheel would be powered by the rocking motion of the rider.
I'm sure none you understand what I just said, and that's just as well
because I don't think it's possible anyway.

Daniel

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A BC wheel with a seat? Well, what about an ultimate wheel with a
seat?

Of course, there'd be no frame or forks, otherwise it would be a
unicycle. So the seat would be attached to the rider's backside with
Velcro, and would serve no useful purpose...😄

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gerblefranklin said:

*Be real people. None of the above is possible*

I wouldn't expect to hear such defeatist language from one living so
close to Berkeley. So many things are possible that once were only
imagined... Just ask Albert Hoffman.

Remember the thread from iunicycle complaining about his shoe wear from
gliding? I envision a unicycle where an artificial shoe, the sole of
which consists of a combination of brake pad material and asbestos, is
held in place just above the tire. The heel of the shoe is anchored to
the crown, and the toe is controled via a hydraulic extension mechanism
controlled by a standard magura brake handle mounted under the seat.
Squeeze the brake handle, and the shoe clamps down on the top of the
tire. In this way, a deft rider could simultaneously coast and glide.
Both feet up on the crown, while controlling their speed and balance
through the artificial shoe controlled with the brake lever.

Harper? Showard? You guys grew up in the right decade...tell me it's
possible.

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tomblackwood said:

*
I envision a unicycle where an artificial shoe, the sole of which
consists of a combination of brake pad material and asbestos, is held
in place just above the tire. The heel of the shoe is anchored to the
crown, and the toe is controled via a hydraulic extension mechanism
controlled by a standard magura brake handle mounted under the seat.
Squeeze the brake handle, and the shoe clamps down on the top of the
tire. *

You're short circuiting the feedback loop. But I thought you were going
to say something else: the brake pad is held in place over the tire,
with a hinge/spring-like connection to the frame. With your foot you can
push down on the top of the brake, saving shoe wear, etc. But I also
noticed in some videos I made that I move my foot back and front along
the tire, providing more range of pressure by a simple knee joint
action.

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