The … thing was found at the Spezi fair (Spezialradmesse) in Germersheim, Germany last weekend.
http://www.oche.de/~luftschwimmer/jpeg/spezi06/pg-p4290016.htm
They’re called monocycles, i’ve seen lots of pictures of people in china with things like these, theres even motorised road legal versions in america ( at least i think? )
Also known as Monowheels, a chap named maclean has various road legal versions in the US, including a V8 powered design capable of over 100mph. Not seen a cycle powered one in a long time, then tend to have small bike engines.
thats sweet
Mm, I know. But this one looks more like a uni than the ones I’ve seen before. Almost something one could consider to build. I wonder what speeds would be reacheable if you geared that thing up. The big wheel should offer some stability due to the mass and flywheel effect.
Much less than on a geared coker, the extra weight and complexity makes for a much more inefficient ride. Having been involved in the building of one of these things I can tell you they are not easy to ride if the wheel is heavy, even i you just kick along with your feet.
actually monociclo is only the latin name for unicycle. thats all it is... a unicycle. a huge one... theres a guy in my college who wants to do one kinda like this. I hope he can make it. for sure it`s great fun!
I don’t think the Romans had unicycles. It’d have been too hard to ride in a toga, don’t you know. 
I have a Gladiator themed fancy dress night coming up and I fully intend to prove you wrong, unless I decide to go as a Spandex gladiator. 
Time again, I guess, to post this link…
http://www.dself.dsl.pipex.com/MUSEUM/TRANSPORT/motorwhl/motorwhl.htm#gd
…to a great monocycle page.
BTW in the picture there seems to be a poster for Pichler (a unicycle maker from Germany -good stuff-)
was this “thing” (in French also monocycle means unicycle) made by Pichler?
Not sure. I think they made the water-HPV which is standing next to the monocycle. Here is a better shot of it:
http://www.oche.de/~luftschwimmer/jpeg/spezi06/pg-p4290015.htm
Cool, n’est pas?
they were invented a few years after unicycles. theres some guy in the US that holds speed records for them, he also custom builds and sells them
[QUOTE=tomtrevor]
they were invented a few years after unicycles.QUOTE]
No-one knows how or when the unicycle was invented, or by whome, unless you’re privy to some information that you are withholding from the rest of the world, how do you know that?
This reminded me of a clip I saw on AFV (America’s Funniest Home Videos, for those of you not in the States.)
This guy welded a circular bar from the center of his handlebars, or the wheel-fork, or something, and connected it to below the seatpost, and by shifting his weight forward quickly, the bike would start to go on the front wheel, and if he had enough speed, the bike would do a flip while rolling on the bar welded around the bike. I’m not doing a very good job describing it, but it was really awesome. I’ll search google video to see if I can find the clip…