I’m doing a science report/expirement on the affects of added weight on
someone trying to unicycle… I had my friend Shanna unicycle 10m with
5lbs, then 10lbs, then 15, and so on, up to 40lbs; (a straight line) and
it didn’t really affect her speed in a negative way… but I wanted to get
some other unicyclist’s comments or whatever on how much balance plays a
part in unicycling… any help would be appreciated. thanks!
Taylor Dahlin > … but I wanted to get some other unicyclist’s comments or whatever on > how much balance plays a part in unicycling… any help would be > appreciated. thanks!
Well, I’ve ridden a couple of miles from a railway station to a convention
with two rucksacks on my back, a tent in my arms and two hockey sticks in
my hand. I’ve also ridden a mile along a towpath from the supermarket with
24 litres (i.e. about 11lbs) of milk on my back.
The weight carried has never seemed to make a great deal of difference
when riding, but it makes a very significant difference when mounting.
Obviously balance plays a major part in unicycling (just as it does
in walking).
Where the weight is added is perhaps more significant than the weight itself. A small weight on the end of a long pole held out to one side would produce a large torque on the rider/unicycle. A large weight attached beneath the axle would tend to stabilize the system.
>Where the weight is added is perhaps more significant than the weight >itself. A small weight on the end of a long pole held out to one side >would produce a large torque on the rider/unicycle. A large weight >attached beneath the axle would tend to stabilize the system.
Carrying a large television set (not your own, of course) is generally
impressive. But the most I ever carried was my fiancee, whom I dropped as
my legs got tired. She married me anyway.
Chris
Taylor Dahlin wrote: > > I’m doing a science report/expirement on the affects of added weight on > someone trying to unicycle… I had my friend Shanna unicycle 10m with > 5lbs, then 10lbs, then 15, and so on, up to 40lbs; (a straight line) and > it didn’t really affect her speed in a negative way… but I wanted to > get some other unicyclist’s comments or whatever on how much balance > plays a part in unicycling… any help would be appreciated. thanks! > > -Taylor “Once you admit there’s rules, then you’ve lost.” - Peter Buck > http://flink.livejournal.com
I have found that it’s not so much the weight as its stability that
matter. If the weight shifts this can alter the balance point. An
off-centre rucksack sometimes has me twisted around in the most
uncomfortable way. Perhaps it’s just me…
I’m surprised Joe Marshall didn’t reply, he goes camping with a humungous
backpack, on his Coker :-).
“Arnold the Aardvark” <aardvark@NOTTHIStubulidentata.demon.co.uk> wrote in
message news:1008592630.18632.0.nnrp-08.c246aeec@news.demon.co.uk… > I have found that it’s not so much the weight as its stability that > matter. If the weight shifts this can alter the balance point. An > off-centre rucksack sometimes has me twisted around in the most > uncomfortable way. Perhaps it’s just me… > > I’m surprised Joe Marshall didn’t reply, he goes camping with a > humungous backpack, on his Coker :-).
I’d only ride a few miles with that rucksac though, just to get to a
campsite from the nearest train station, usually that has a 2 man tent,
sleeping bag, cooking equipment, food, lots of clothes, spare shoes, first
aid kit, waterproofs, kitchen sink etc. in it. I’ve walked with that
rucksack, probably with a lot less kit than that, so I’m pretty good at
packing a balanced rucksack. It’s also a good rucksack so the wobble is
pretty minimal. It doesn’t affect speed much, but it definately makes it
harder to turn and I’m much more worried about dropping down kerbs if I
have to start off the road. Mounting is pretty tricky with all the weight,
definately doing a rollback mount is an advantage here as you don’t need
to jump up so much.
I’ve got some lightweight touring kit that I’m going to play with when it
gets a little bit warmer, ultralight bivi bag (300gram), small, light but
still 3 season sleeping bag etc. I’m probably thinking of stopping in
towns every evening for hot meals, so needing no cooking stuff. Hopefully
I’ll get everything into my (largish) camelbak except for the sleeping
bag which I may need to put on a seatpost mounted rear rack as it isn’t
that small.
I wrote: > >I’ve also ridden a mile along a towpath from the supermarket with 24 > >litres (i.e. about 11lbs) of milk on my back.
prompting Klaas Bil to ask: > Do you mean 11 litres (24 lbs)? If it really was 24 litres it would be > almost 53 lbs!
Oops, yes, you’re right. I was converting 2.2kg/lb, I should have gone the
other way (in my defence I was posting in the small hours of the morning
and I was drunk).
For a good experiment, you should have the rider go further than 10 m, do this test more than once, on more than 1 person, and with the weights in different positions. The expirement should be documented for each time, person, weight position, and weight
