While training for my upcoming cross state ride I have been considering taking 2 different size cranks along with me. This would allow me to swap from 4" cranks to say 5 or 6 inchers on a day with varied terrain.
As I didn’t really want to carry a 14 mm socket and a crank puller with me everywhere I went, I combined them into the same tool by welding a 14 mm socket onto my crank puller.
I’m also considering adding the business end of a 15 mm socket to the same tool for pedal removal.
Not terribly brilliant, I know, but I just thought I’d share this with anyone else doing rides of significant length over varied terrain. Anyone else out there swap cranks mid-ride on longer rides?
The Park CWP-5 <http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=421> combines a crank extractor and a 14mm socket. It’s only missing the adjustable wrench (spanner) to make it work. That’s the tool I take with me.
Hey George this would be a great opportunity to make some extending cranks (discussed in another thread somewhere). That would save on carrying different size cranks with you
This would be unpratical for a few reasons, you would weaken the crank wherever you have a hole in it, on top of that when you are using the 6" hole it is like a normal crank, but when you use the 4" or 5" hole it will be unusual. When the crank is in the 12 o’clock position you will have the extra part of the pedal sticking up. I am sure that we all go through enough shoelaces on unicycles without adding something which is just begging to snag one.
I’ve got a friend who reckons you could cut the ends off a crank and weld it onto the end of a 5" crank, so you’d have two sizes on one crank. He thinks that this would be stronger than a crank with multiple holes in it.
As for the shoelace thing, I’d be quite willing to spend a little extra time tucking them in if it meant I had a uni which could be used for Muni and getting places on.
I think if someone followed the idea of variable cranks up it would be a good cheap and simple alternative to the geared unicycles which may be appearing on the market in the next few years.
“I think if someone followed the idea of variable cranks up it would be a good cheap and simple alternative to the geared unicycles which may be appearing on the market in the next few years.”
yeah. maybe, it might work if your foot is guaranteed to be narrower than the pedal and doesn’t EVER move over the edge
besides, do u want to be the one to tell harper that his hours of R&D is being replaced by a dude with a hacksaw and a welding machine?
> why not a longer crank then needed, with multable holes? Have 4" 5" and
> 6" holes and just move the pedal around?
I’ve seen a bicycle crank with multiple holes, but I can’t remember where.
Of course, the right-hand one had the “spider” integrated into it, so some
surgery would be necessary before use on a uni.
> I’ve got a friend who reckons you could cut the ends off a crank and
> weld it onto the end of a 5" crank, so you’d have two sizes on one
> crank. He thinks that this would be stronger than a crank with multiple
> holes in it.
Sorry, I don’t think that logic works. As soon as you move the pedal to the
added portion the original hole becomes the weak point.
Plus I’d be concerned about the weld point. The weld probably couldn’t be
flat because that would cut through the lower hole, and matching and welding
that curve would be an added difficulty.
I wasn’t suggesting that it would replace gearing, gears have the advantage that they can be changed without getting off and unscrewing things; but variable cranks have the advantage of mechanical simplicity.
The crank shortener link from Carl seems to be a practical way of doing it.
I wonder if for unicycles a crank lengthener might be practical, i.e. using a crank of uniform square cross section on the hole end, you could machine a component that fits over the end of the crank(when the pedals removed) that has it’s own hole for a pedal and is secured by screwing something through holes in its casing and the original pedal hole.
This would have the advantages of strength, and, due to the fact that on the short setting it would be removed, there’s nothing to catch on legs or snag shoelaces.
> I’ve seen a bicycle crank with multiple holes, but I can’t
> remember where.
They’re out there. Somebody posted a link to some once. Somebody else said
he has used these types of crank and that they didn’t cause problems, even
in the inner hole. I don’t remember if this was on a bike or a unicycle, and
individual results, of course, may vary.
Multiple holes will reduce the strength of your crank arm. If you need
maximum power at the longest length, you’ll have to use something beefier
than a drilled-out one-size crank.
Though that one introduces a Q-factor issue, it looks like it deals nicely
with the strength issue. In other words, just make a fatter, or wider crank
arm.
Then ask yourself, when riding in the short mode, if you really want that
extra weight on there…
>I think if someone followed the idea of variable cranks up it would be a
>good cheap and simple alternative to the geared unicycles which may be
>appearing on the market in the next few years.
I think it would be all too flattering for variable cranks to consider
them as equivalent to a gear system.
> In a message dated 6/19/02 4:43:13 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> onewheeldave.6hyoy@timelimit.unicyclist.com writes:
>
>[color=darkred]
> >> I think if someone followed the idea of variable cranks up it would be a
>> good cheap and simple alternative to the geared unicycles which may be
>> appearing on the market in the next few years.
>
> why not both?
> __Trevor andersen[/color]
> yeah. maybe, it might work if your foot is guaranteed to be narrower
> than the pedal and doesn’t EVER move over the edge
I can say nothing for your riding style, but i am quite certain that if my
foot has ever once sliped past the crank at the 12 o’clock position, I was
most certainly on the ground less then a second and a quarter revolution
afterwards. I think the extended crank might actualy help to prevent these
types of falls. I suppose it is possible that a rider could potentialy move
his foot inward over the top of the crank every half rev. and then move it
back just as the crank arm comes around. But I think this is well beyond my
skill level, and I am not sure just what the effectivness of this would be.
Is this how you ride? If so, what are the benifits? Do platform pedals with
spikes make this difficult so that you have to stick with cheap plastic ones
to accomidate? Does anybody else do this? What are your opinions?
__
Trevor andersen
> This would be unpratical for a few reasons, you would weaken the crank
> wherever you have a hole in it, on top of that when you are using the 6"
> hole it is like a normal crank, but when you use the 4" or 5" hole it
> will be unusual. When the crank is in the 12 o’clock position you will
> have the extra part of the pedal sticking up. I am sure that we all go
> through enough shoelaces on unicycles without adding something which is
> just begging to snag one.
>
> Thanks
>
> James (jimmy)
I put some thought into this. It would certainly weaken it plenty, I would
not recomend this for trials or sereous muni riding. I dont imagine it would
be terribly different then riding normal cranks however. Simply because, If
it were in the 12 o’clock possition, it should be no different then an
ordinary crank in the 6 o’clock possition, witch does not really pose many
problems. At least nothing we are not used to.
__
Trevor andersen
> This would be unpratical for a few reasons, you would weaken the crank
> wherever you have a hole in it, on top of that when you are using the 6"
> hole it is like a normal crank, but when you use the 4" or 5" hole it
> will be unusual. When the crank is in the 12 o’clock position you will
> have the extra part of the pedal sticking up. I am sure that we all go
> through enough shoelaces on unicycles without adding something which is
> just begging to snag one.
>
> Thanks
>
> James (jimmy)
I put some thought into this. It would certainly weaken it plenty, I would
not recomend this for trials or sereous muni riding. I dont imagine it would
be terribly different then riding normal cranks however. Simply because, If
it were in the 12 o’clock possition, it should be no different then an
ordinary crank in the 6 o’clock possition, witch does not really pose many
problems. At least nothing we are not used to.
__
Trevor andersen
