Short Person Unicycling



L

Little_lizzy

Guest
Hey I was just wondering whether there was anyone else out
there with the same problem as me.... and if they have
managed to solve it!!! I am 5 foot tall but I love MUNI,
and enjoy riding on kinda large wheels, but my legs are too
short!!! My friends just brought a 26inch uni and i love it
but even when the seat is as low is it can go it is kinda
impossible to ride with any control as my feet loose
contact with the pedals when i ride..... Does anyone know
what would be the biggest wheel I could get whilst still
maintaing control?

--
little_lizzy
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You should be able to ride pretty much any size except
probably a coker (36").

To solve the problem with the 26er:

1. Buy your own (your friend probably won't let you mod
hers)
2. If the seat post is bottoming out in the stem of the
unicycle frame, you just need to cut it shorter. You can
use a hacksaw.
3. If the stem is already short enough, you may need to cut
the stem of the unicycle.
4. If two and three don't quite get you there (they should)
you can use shorter crank arms.

--
mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
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"little_lizzy" <[email protected]> wrote in
message news:[email protected]...
>
> Hey I was just wondering whether there was anyone else out
> there with the same problem as me.... and if they have
> managed to solve it!!! I am 5 foot tall but I love MUNI,
> and enjoy riding on kinda large wheels, but my legs are
> too short!!! My friends just brought a 26inch uni and i
> love it but even when the seat is as low is it can go it
> is kinda impossible to ride with any control as my feet
> loose contact with the pedals when i ride..... Does anyone
> know what would be the biggest wheel I could get whilst
> still maintain control?

Crank length + wheel radius = inseam?
 
i got the exact opposite problem. Im too tall, so sometimes seat posts
are too short for me. Also, i cant seem to bring my feet up to the crown
to glide or whatever :(

i do agree with mcalisi tho; hacksawing your seat post is
very easy and fast. It only takes a minute.

-grant

--
tennisgh22

The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a
capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety
labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
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Rogeratunicycledotcom has made some frames where the seat is
directly on top of the frame, with no seat post at all. the
seat height is adjusted by having the frame legs adjustable.

I cant find the pictures of it, but I am pretty sure
there is a picture somewhere of Gemma riding a Coker with
this frame.

/\/\

--
mike.hinson - Unicyclist since Nov 2000

"I have to overcome a 'stress hill' when tightening the nuts, but once
installed they sit in a 'stress valley'. "

--Klaas Bil
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If you do resort to cutting either the frame or the seatpost, you should
take it in to a bike shop. Chances are they're have the tools to cut it
down to size and they should do it for free because it's only about a
minute-long job. There's a great tool that cuts piping at perfect right
angles and really smoothly and cleanly. It will look a lot better than
a hacksaw job unless you're particularly gifted with a hacksaw. :)

Andrew

--
andrew_carter - www.unicycles.com.au

HTTP://WWW.UNICYCLIST.COM/GALLERY/ANDREW
andrew_carter (at) mail (dot) com
http://www.unicycles.com.au
New photos added 11/04 - http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albuu61
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I am about 5 foot too but i dont seem to remember having
much problems with wheel size! I do find larger wheels
more difficult though and have not been able to successful
mount a coker unassisted but i think there is some
lazyness on my part.

Like Mike says unicycle.uk.com sell adjustable frames for
cokers and for taller people you can get extra long seat
posts i think!

--
little_leigh - 1ft all the way!

*-* Just nod and smile *-*
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Scott Kurland, RMT wrote:
> * "little_lizzy"
> <[email protected]>
> wrote in message news:[email protected]
> .Poster.at.Unicyclist.com...
> >
> > Hey I was just wondering whether there was anyone else
> > out there
> with
> > the same problem as me.... and if they have managed to
> > solve it!!! I am 5 foot tall but I love MUNI, and enjoy
> > riding on kinda large wheels, but my legs are too
> > short!!! My friends just brought a
> 26inch
> > uni and i love it but even when the seat is as low is it
> > can go it
> is
> > kinda impossible to ride with any control as my feet
> > loose contact
> with
> > the pedals when i ride..... Does anyone know what would
> > be the biggest wheel I could get
> whilst
> > still maintain control?
>
> Crank length + wheel radius = inseam?
>
>
> *
Unfortunately it is more complex than that. I come pretty
close when I ask the customer for measurements from their
street uni, and take careful measurements from the intended
frame and seat, and pedals too if possible.

Air seats are all different, and the air pressure in them.
Also, the intended riding type (off-road, on-road) matters,
as does the person's leg formation. For example, my feet are
slightly different, affecting my relationship with the
pedals, so that my saddle has to be lower than it might be
otherwise.

If a person gets a comfortable setting on a smaller uni,
then measures from the top of the bottom pedal to the top of
the saddle along the seat post, that's a pretty good
measurement to try to transfer to the larger uni. After that
it's lots of riding and some fine tuning.

--
U-Turn - Member of Generation XO

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.

'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)

'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)

'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)

-- Dave Stockton
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mike.hinson wrote:
> *Rogeratunicycledotcom has made some frames where the seat
> is directly on top of the frame, with no seat post at all.
> the seat height is adjusted by having the frame legs
> adjustable.
>
> I cant find the pictures of it, but I am pretty sure
> there is a picture somewhere of Gemma riding a Coker with
> this frame.
>
> /\/\ *

The design actually works for smaller wheels. We have done
one for a child who wanted to ride a 29". He was if I
remember rightly 4'6" tall. Joe Mclean has bought the bits
and is making a Muni for his 8 year old using the same frame
technique - he used a 24" frame as the doner frame.

Picture of the frame is at: http://tinyurl.com/ruzd

Roger

--
rogeratunicycledotcom - ok ish Unicyclist
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I think if I needed a frame cut down, I'd have a pro do it.

The first time I needed a seat post cut, I took it to my
LBS. They used a hacksaw and charged me $7USD. For my next
one, I bought a hacksaw for $5USD. The bottom of the seat
post is inside the frame so you never see the cut anyways.
My cut looks as good (or bad) as the LBS.

andrew_carter wrote:
> *If you do resort to cutting either the frame or the
> seatpost, you should take it in to a bike shop. Chances
> are they're have the tools to cut it down to size and they
> should do it for free because it's only about a minute-
> long job. There's a great tool that cuts piping at perfect
> right angles and really smoothly and cleanly. It will look
> a lot better than a hacksaw job unless you're particularly
> gifted with a hacksaw. :)
>
> Andrew *

--
mscalisi - Not such a newbie anymore
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andrew_carter wrote:
> *they should do it for free because it's only about a minute-
> long job.*
I don't think it's reasonable to expect a bike shop to do
work for free. They may not charge you, but they are paying
for lots of overhead, people's time, and wear-and-tear on
the tools. Just cutting seat posts alone uses hacksaw blades
up quite fast.

--
U-Turn - Member of Generation XO

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.

'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)

'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)

'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)

-- Dave Stockton
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rogeratunicycledotcom wrote:
> *
>
> Joe Mclean has bought the bits and is making a Muni for
> his 8 year old using the same frame technique - he used a
> 24" frame as the doner frame.
>
> *

It's underway. Pic at
http://gallery.unicyclist.com/albuu71/minimuni with the
seatpost plate welded as low as it will go, it just squeezes
down to the required 530mm from lower pedal spindle to seat
base. (I'm not going to add the adjustment until he grows a
couple of inches). Halo Choirboy 24 x 2.6 tyre and wellgo
pedals coming from LBS next week. I'm fabricating the handle
this weekend, welded to the fork crown, independant of the
seat. No doubt he'll be wanting a brake on it too. I've
still got 2 weeks until his birthday...

He's going to have to come on the chopped 20" to the muni
ride next weekend. If you're coming, remember not to mention
this 'cos Obie doesn't know about it yet!!!

--
joemc - mostly harmless
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I have shortened few frames including Cocker.
The esasiest is to use pipe cutter.
More difficult part is to recreate formidable split at the back to
facilitate fixing the post.
It would be wise to ask professionals to do it unless one likes and can
use some simple tools like drills and mini-grinders.:)

--
Uniwitold

Veni !Vidi !Mount ! ' Public does not perceive it reacts'. Greg
Harper.
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