Re: New Hour Record

john_childs said:

*But yeah, those who think they can beat the record should do so.
That's how we find out what the fast times should be. Otherwise we'd
just sit around a table and try to agree on what the fastest time for
a 1 hour time trial should be. *

Excellent achievement... but being that the record was accomplished on a
custom machine that Pete built... and being that most people don't have
the expertise to build such a machine... I think it is rather
unrealistic that too many people will have access to the equipment
necessary to pose much of a threat! Perhaps when production 36" geared
uni's become available on the market others will be able to attempt to
break the record.... until then, the chances seem rather slim!

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Good ride.........I think all these rides and record-breaking should be
documented..........and the rules set up as well.........Maybe for
shorter distances the standard 24"/125mm combo would be
good..........For longer distances Cokers/unlimited crank length should
be the norm..........There obviously should be an unlimited category
which should take care of the bigger wheels, geared unicycles
etc.......

Quoted message said:

Bottom line: Accrediting does not make the achievement any 'better

Probably true but would be great to have your name somewhere in the
record books or getting recognition from your peers........100 years
from now they'll be asking about the first dude to break the 20 mile
barrier in 1 hr.........and no one will know.........Gotta record and
document all these achievements.......The IUF needs to get invovled
quickly as more and more records will tumble..........For the
moment,good on ya,Pete( unisk8r )......

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HardcoreCokerRider said:

* most people don't have the expertise to build such a machine... I
think it is rather unrealistic that too many people will have access
to the equipment necessary to pose much of a threat! Perhaps when
production 36" geared uni's become available on the market others will
be able to attempt to break the record.... until then, the chances
seem rather slim! *

What do you mean? David Stone just said that at least five other
unicyclists have done 16 miles in an hour already on standard non-geared
Cokers!

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Wow! Awesome stuff Pete. I'm so glad you've done it. It's an awesome
achievement. I hope you get a chance to be in the next edition before
someone has a go at the record.

As far as records go, the most difficult part is the amount of paperwork
you have to do, and submitting it to Guinness etc. The riding itself is
the easy part (for me anyway).

I know that there are several people who can, have gone, faster than
Petes record, but unless they go through the effort of putting together
the necessary paperwork, it will only be recognised as unofficial
records. For instance, I was averaging slightly over 25km/h for my
first/second hours during my 24hr record attempt, and the 100mile record
has an average speed of 23.8km/h. The late Unibiker posted a time of
about 25km/h, as did Ken Cline. Christian Hoverath and Frank Bonsch
both did about 1hr 40min for a 42km marathon.

I agree it would be nice that the official unicycling body (IUF) set's
it's own record rules- much as how Guinness goes to the UCI (Bicyclings
official body) to get their records. But unfortunately at this point I
don't think the IUF rules are adequate for Guinness to accept. Until
such a time, I'd rather be working on Guinness' rules than the IUF's.

Anyway, keep these records coming! It's great for the sport.

Once again, well done Pete!

Ken

p/s I have some videos from my 24hr record ride. How do I compress
them?

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Congradulations! What a stunning job. Purple Phase must be inordinately
difficult to ride.

I have two comments.
1. Guinness Records and paper work are irritating BUT it is designed to
be as fair as possible, so for the next contender, where ever the
location, there are at least some standard guidelines to follow. I've
dealt with Guinness Records for Solar Car racing
(http://www.midsun.uwaterloo.ca/tour). The paper work is time
consuming, currently ongoing, but a necessary element in order for any
governing body to assume some form of consistency. The Solar Car
competitions also have an active governing body to help insure
consistency. Its rules and regulations are what Guinness Records
chooses to follow.

2. The IUF does need to come to terms with geared and non-geared
unicycles. For geared unicycles it looks like only a small number of
people will be able to afford them; whether they build prototypes or
purchase soon to be available models. Acquiring standard unicycles is
far easier and cheaper, thus more accessible for everyone.

It really comes down to what’s desired. Pushing the sport with gears is
a great idea. Progress, Advancement, Technology, Human Achievement, you
name it, there are lots of great reasons, but I would hate for those
reasons to come at too high a cost where the average rider can never
compete because the records are financially inaccessible.

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TonyMelton said:

*What do you mean? David Stone just said that at least five other
unicyclists have done 16 miles in an hour already on standard
non-geared Cokers!*

Well then I suppose Pete's current record could be challenged on a
non-geared uni... but the point that I'm trying to make is that having a
completely unique custom geared uni (with a gear ratio higher than
anything else that's been built recently)... puts Pete at a MAJOR
advantage over anyone else who attempts to break the record on a
non-geared uni (or even a geared uni with a lower gear ratio... such as
Harper's geared 36er).

Once the unicycling community has easy access to geared uni's (with
equal or similar performance capabilities as Pete's amazing design)...
then and only then will we start to see serious attempts to challenge
the record.

In my opinion, any attempt to break the record on a non-geared uni isn't
really a serious attempt at the record... because if that same rider (or
a rider with equal talent) had access to a geared uni... they would
destroy the (non-geared) uni speed record.

You could be the fastest spinner in the world, but without the ability
to build or borrow a geared uni... I doubt even the fastest spinner in
the world will hold on to the record for too long... probably just until
another decent spinner comes along and attempts the record on a geared
uni!

Since 36" geared uni's are not currently in production, it seems that
Pete (or another rider with similar geared uni building talent) will
most likely hold on to the record for a while.

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Congratulations, Pete! A fine job. Now that you've made one attempt,
I'm sure you will improve just with practice and the newly-acquired
experience.

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Thanks all very much for your support & encouragement!

But I must "say my peace" to counter Stone's stance. I said in my first
post that all I wanted to do was encourage others to try this. Whatever
the official record is, that's what it is. I've acknowledged that I'm
not the best rider in the world. But to say that mine should not be the
record just because there are better riders in the world defeats the
whole notion of an official record.
Take the bike world for example. The hour record is revered despite
there being "better" riders than the record holders (eg Lance is
arguably a better cyclist than Chris Boardman). But if those arguably
better riders never make an official record, then it stands as is. You
can argue all day long that Chris' record shouldn't count because Lance
did a point-to-point time trial faster. But Chris did it under the
then-prescribed standards. That's how records work. Not by arguing
about it informally.
Technology is certainly an issue in all this. But for us unicyclers,
why should a world record not be open to all wheels? Yes, we should
have certain standards for comparison. But not little things like crank
length. I understand that access to geared wheels is currently limited.
But that will change, and quickly.

Tom pointed out the progress made by the juggling world in regulating
their records. I too want to see that for us. So, the bottom line is a
call to action for the IUF to develop regulations that reflect the
modern day racing world. For now, though, I will submit my record and
we'll see what Guinness says, OK?

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Congradulations on the fantastic ride. I would be proud to say I stayed
on my uni without a UPD for 1 hour let alone pedal it at a very high
rate of speed. Keep up the good work, and lets see a 24 hour push!

PS... Did you "P" in the cup, I dont want this to get blown out of
control like baseball. Not only was he on a gear'd UNI, but I bet he
was on the JUICE......

I bet the first guy to fly a jet plane in the speed record ran into the
same problems......" that thang didnt have a propeller!"

Congradulations... best wishes

Steve0we

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In my humble opinion, Pete has accomplished several MAJOR
accomplishments in his attempt to “bring attention to the racing aspect
of unicycling”… accomplishments that go way beyond his stated goal.

First and foremost, Pete’s imagination to conceive of his “jackshaft”
geared design and how to build it (somewhat) cost effectively… and his
technical/engineering abilities to bring the design to fruition are
extremely impressive. (I assume Pete was inspired to come up with his
design because he was not content with the limitations of the internally
geared hub.)

Next, Pete mastered learning how to ride his machine quite well and
assumed the role of “test pilot” and chief engineer… and further
improved his design.

Finally, Pete set out to break the official world record - which he did
in spectacular form - and deal with the hassles of submitting it to
Guinness… which is probably the most effective thing he could do to
spotlight unicycle racing and gain more attention for this niche of the
sport – which was his initial intention.

Pete is a true innovator in the sport… and a skilled rider who is
pushing the sport forward by leaps and bounds. I think the history books
will remember Pete’s huge contribution to the sport – with or without an
“official” world record!

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HardcoreCokerRider said:

*First and foremost, Pete’s imagination to conceive of his “jackshaft”
geared design and how to build it (somewhat) cost effectively… and his
technical/engineering abilities to bring the design to fruition are
extremely impressive. *

lets see if i get my head cut off again. 🙄

the "jack shaft" was originaly invented in abouts 1884 on what was
called a
'Kangaroo' (http://members.aol.com/yankpedal/history.htm)

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Don't flame me for asking...

How does distance work on a velodrome? Is the inner painted line the
official distance? Do you have to be *outside* this line (which means
being on the banked portion of the track)?

Do hour records have do be done on a velodrome track?

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Jagur, you are correct! Tommi Miller gave me a video of the history of
cycling, which had a brief image of that exact cycle. I was
mesmerized...it was so simple in concept and appeared to hold the key to
external gearing. But, it had chains on both sides of the wheel, which
I realized caused binding issues with the chains. I believe some folks
have discovered this same phenomenon trying dual-chained giraffes. It
somehow doesn't work as smoothly as you'd think. So I decided to
combine both sides into one by using the jackshaft. The cycle pictured
really doesn't have a jackshaft, it uses twin direct-drive systems which
is different.
Another issue was the pedal axis. The IUF has a rule that says the
pedal axis must be the same as the wheel. So I incorporated that
concept into my design. Plus it solved the practical problem of making
the crank attachments shown below the wheel axle sturdy enough.
Recall too the guy that made the over-the-wheel jackshaft (pic is on
John Foss' site). That was good in principle, but was far too
complicated for a simple power transmission.
So yes, I borrowed alot of different ideas, but I feel that mine is
unique enough that if I wanted to patent it, I could have. But all that
matters is that it is capable of being manufactured, which may be sooner
than we think...

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Just curious... how high up the banking were you able to get at the
velodrome?

Also... what top speed have you hit on that machine?

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gbarnes said:

*How does distance work on a velodrome? Is the inner painted line the
official distance? Do you have to be *outside* this line (which means
being on the banked portion of the track)?
Do hour records have do be done on a velodrome track? *

To the best of my information, according to Guinness, official hour
records have to be done on either a closed course, or an out & back
course. A velodrome is not necessary. But the logistics of using an
out & back course are alot more difficult to prove & document to the
decimal distance.
On the track, I had the officials measure the inside edge of the apron
surface 3 times, and take the average. It was not possible for me to
have even ridden this line, as it was defined by a grass-to-pavement
edge. So yes, I was quite a bit outside that measured line on the
turns, being in the center of the apron width. To use the banking on
that track, you'd have to go at least 20.

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unisk8r said:

*So yes, I borrowed alot of different ideas, but I feel that mine is
unique enough that if I wanted to patent it, I could have. But all
that matters is that it is capable of being manufactured, which may be
sooner than we think... *

While other designs obviously inspired you... your design seems quite
unique and ingenious... and most importantly, you have gone about
designing and building the 21st implementation of this type of
technology on the latest, greatest unicycle (for speed)... and have
tested and proven the design!

Hey, Pete... this is your second reference to this technology being
manufactured 😄 ... a change of heart or some new developments, perhaps?
Either way... that's GREAT NEWS for unicyclists worldwide! I can't wait
to hear more...

Your doing an amazing job - keep up the good work! You are a major asset
to the unicycling community!

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unisk8r said:

* I said in my first post that all I wanted to do was to bring
attention to the racing aspect of unicycling and to encourage others
to try this.*

and judging by the three pages of discussion so far, this part of your
ride was quite a success as well
🙂

well done

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One question i have for Pete and Ken relates to the effect that their
closed-course path length has on their performance, e.g. does the
relatively tight radius of curvature at the velodrome or cricket field
make their riding more difficult? Does the relatively narrow pavement
increase the difficulty of your ride? Does the repetitive nature of
orbiting such a short course cause you to become mesmerized?

thanks,

max

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HardcoreCokerRider said:

*While other designs obviously inspired you... your design seems quite
unique and ingenious...
*

I would add -elegant- to that list.

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