I’m not sure why I brake like that. I think it’s because I have really bad coordination. I find that if I put any pressure on the handle when I’m coasting or brake-coasting I immediately come off. With my braking style I’m only doing one thing, pulling up on the lever. I think that’s why I can’t glide but can coast on a regular unicycle for hundreds of feet.
I’m not a big fan of handlebars in general. I have one on my G29 but it’s as short as possible. The best position for me when I doing pure coasting is having both my hands out for balance.
I’m not sure what you mean by “rift”. Does this refer to cutting a slot in the tube to make it more like a regular unicycle frame? I didn’t do that. I just use a regular double bolt clamp and a shim:
oh ok ! I meant a “cut” with a saw to make it more regular like an unicycle or bike frame. It is irreversible… after that I couldn’t sell it to a “drift triker”… I think that doesn’t matter…
Great job! Sorry to mislead you about the cranks. I know I was planning 150mm and found they didn’t fit and the next size I had was 125mm. Steel cranks make it even heavier than mine!
Thank you so much! I tried this way yesterday, with a little training, I can ride almost 10m. It changes everything to standing up slightly!
About the 3.8 hub, I’m very impressed by the ease you have to mount on this machine, and how you can ride it so slowly. It seems to me impossible to start withouth speed. For the moment I am training on a flat ground with a running mount, my great brake doesn’t help me so much (I will mount a brake less powerfull to help me to start), my best is almost 2 revolutions but I can not speed up.
I am looking forward to accelerating!
I just weighted mine => 8,3kg (surely more when I will replace the tire by a bigger).
In comparison, my G36 weight 9,6kg. It still remain the heaviest !
I didn’t realize it before but I find that my floating hand braking style is not compatible with standing up on the pedals. I switched it slightly so that my thumb is anchored on the crease where the front bumper meets the saddle. With a little practice I was able to stand up slightly and go faster over water bars which were throwing me off before because I was sitting down on the saddle. I wonder how difficult it would be to transition from a speed-controlled descent (brake-coasting) to jumping a tiny ramp and landing. It would require going from braking position (brake coasting through most of the ramp) to releasing the brake and pulling up on the handle (just before the wheel gets in the air) then back to braking position (on landing). I’ve only practiced the coasting version which seems easy in comparison:
I haven’t been freewheeling for very long (~4 months), and even after that short time, yesterday I was able to get going faster down a slight hill than I could safely pedal. While coasting, the side to side wobble is eliminated, and (potentially) for MUni you would never have to land a drop with your feet in the vertical (6&12) position.
Just like learning to unicycle in the first place it becomes more efficient as you practice. I started out only being able to brake-coast so I had to pedal back up to speed every time I came out of coasting, but now I do more ‘real’ coasting and it’s much more enjoyable.
All this being said, it’s harder to stay on, and although is much easier on the legs, it’s more work for the lower back.
For me there are two main benefits. The first is that I enjoy the feeling of coasting (and brake coasting). It gives me a feeling of flying that fixed wheel unicycling does not. I used to practice coasting a lot on a fixed wheel unicycle and coasting on a freewheel unicycle is more practical and still a lot of fun. The second benefit for me is that freewheel unicycling is a much bigger challenge than fixed wheel unicycling on the same terrain. A relatively easy section of trail which would be tedious on a fixed wheel becomes challenging and more fun on a freewheel unicycle.
Let me resurrect this topic.
When I saw @waaalrus videos, I really wanted to ride a freewheel unicycle and then to try the x3.8 geared hub.
I bought the x3.8 kit in February 2017, but haven’t managed to ride with it at all.
It has to be said that getting started on this beast is a real challenge.
I try to start downhill by jumping on the unicycle with the brake (my favorite mount on a freewheel unicycle), but I just couldn’t do it.
When I tried, it got to the point where my quadriceps ached for several days, bordering on tendonitis.
Then I focused on the normal freewheel to improve my technique and on other practices
Since 2017, I have often installed and uninstalled pedals, saddles and brake on this unicycle…
And then last year, I made lightning progress in freewheeling. I found a pair of pedals that I really like and that are suitable for indoor and outdoor riding (trail grip look, thanks @Canapin).
And @Maxence gave me a saddle to complete the uni.
As soon as I got back on, I wanted to test the saddle height… and I tried to jump mount the beast with the brake (impossible) and without the brake with the cranks in vertical position. And then I felt something was happening.
It’s been 3 weeks since I finally managed to ride this diabolic unicycle
Moral: never get discouraged, set short-, medium- and long-term goals.
Unicyclists ask me what it’s for, why I’m doing it.
Right now, I’m just practicing to improve my control of the machine, and I love it. Pedaling is as hard as coasting, it’s crazy.
So far I’ve only shared stories (instagram and facebook). I’ll have to share a photo of the machine.
Ok let’s build a Schlumpf hub in our heads. Let’s make the sun gear free spinning, and attach a sprocket to it. Not let’s put this new hub on a unicycle with a jackshaft. The crank side will be normal but the hub side will have a crossed chain so it runs in reverse, pedaling will cause the sun gear to counter rotate. The counter rotation of the sun causes the planets to have a faster “day night cycle” but not “year”. This faster “day night” causes the ring gear to rotate faster. The faster the cranks rotate or the “year” the faster the sun spins in the opposite direction, causing the ring to spin faster therefore achieving an up shift only cvt. Picture for a moment that you change the cog sizes on the jackshaft, doing this will result with a change in what speed equals what ratio, essentially customizing the shift rate. I’m going to try to think of a way to downshift
I think it might be possible to make a hub around this and I am fairly certain that the sun gear has a disc brake mount that a sprocket can be mounted to
Sorry for the delay, here are a few photos of the beast.
Thanks to @Maxence for the donation of the saddle and brake support. You’ll also see a magnificent collector’s gold valve cap that I won at CFM2024. And the famous plastic pedals (look trail grip) that I really like.
The coterless steel cranks are 140mm long, so they just barely fit, you’d need a lot of Q-factor to use longer cranks.
The tire is 20x2.4, I took it because I wanted a bigger wheel , because with this frame, I can’t use a bigger rim. Anyway, with a hub like that, I think 24” would have been the max rim size.
The last photo illustrates the position I use to mount the beast: one foot on a pedal at the bottom (for me the right foot) and the other behind to push. I guess that’s how you mount on a BC wheel (I haven’t tried the BC yet).
I’m wondering if it’s possible to start up in a different position. I know that some freewheel riders mount by first putting their foot on the front pedal (with the cranks horizontal).
What about you @waaalrus, how did you mount this unicycle? Do you still have your x3.8 beast?
@toutestbon, I mounted mine the same as my other freewheel unicycles. My x3.8 beast is at the city dump with a lot of my other extra unicycle stuff I got ride of around 2018 (like my peg unicycles). I’m glad to see you on yours. You’re doing more with it than I ever did. Great work!
Did you throw away your unicycles? I’m sorry to hear that.
Let’s just say it makes my unicycle more unique… but I would have preferred to see yours re-emerge.
I don’t think I’ve done any more than you have. I’m trying to build up the consistency to mount it.
I’m lucky enough to be able to use it in the gym twice a week.
I like the pedaling part as much as the coasting part, both are very demanding on core balance
, because with this frame, I can’t use a bigger rim. Anyway, with a hub like that, I think 24” would have been the max rim size.
