Boston on Rails

[Biggestbtc]

Wow, nice shots!

And good riding, Sam.

[unicycledood]

Its still a square rail

But cool for a first. The second photo looks wiiiiiiiiicked.

[unicycledood]

@MuniAddict

Nice! Did you hit that at the very top stair, or somewhere below?

Plus in Brian’s photos that rail appears to be flat on top. I wonder if round rails are more difficult to grind than square/flat top rails. Seems that a square top would afford a bit more stability that round.

Andrew hit that rail from the top Hes not a frenchy static rail kinda guy.

Flat/sqaure rails are around about… 119,846.25% Easier then round rails Long ones anyway, short ones are all prety much the same.

[johnfoss]

I also like the second shot better. Only to a non-unicyclist it might look a little bit like he’s standing on the rail or something. To me as a unicyclist, the first shot looks out of control and not as good compositionally.

It doesn’t matter what kind of camera Brian used. What matters for those shots is sufficient lighting (probably a flash) and post-production (Photoshop). Nice work!

[unicycledood]

@Emile.m

Some people prefer round handrails for griding

Sorry, forgot to point out that unlike Sam and a lot of others, I grind with my backfoot. Round rails are nightmares for me, when hit wrong.

[agentQ]

Chris-
What makes round rails harder for because of the back foot? There is a 7or 8 that has both a squarish. rail (super slippery tho) and a less slippery round rail… I havnt decided which I will try frist. The round I believe has no kink at the end, the sqaurish rail does.

I just wonder why the back foot makes it tougher? Slip out?

[agentQ]

Chris-
What makes round rails harder for because of the back foot? There is a 7or 8 that has both a squarish. rail (super slippery tho) and a less slippery round rail… I havnt decided which I will try frist. The round I believe has no kink at the end, the sqaurish rail does.

I just wonder why the back foot makes it tougher? Slip out?

[unicycledood]

Kevin dosn’t seem to have much trouble grinding round hand rails blind.
Backfooted, leaning forward = death. Round rails are easier done leaning forward.

Another reason why I say round rails are easier front footed is that riders seem a lot more controled. When I come off a round rail I tend to come off on a bit of an angle. They just look so smooth.

[tugboat]

That’s crazy talk hahaha. There is no difference in a round or square rail. There’s of course a mental difference, since for some reason people think that round rails are harder. Either way, you just have to jump on the rail, and you will slide. At that point, it’s just balancing. Whether I’m grinding round or flat, front foot or back foot (blind for me), it’s pretty much the same technique, and it’s mostly in the head.

[Unigurd]

@tugboat

That’s crazy talk hahaha. There is no difference in a round or square rail. There’s of course a mental difference, since for some reason people think that round rails are harder. Either way, you just have to jump on the rail, and you will slide. At that point, it’s just balancing. Whether I’m grinding round or flat, front foot or back foot (blind for me), it’s pretty much the same technique, and it’s mostly in the head.

The balancing is harder when grinding a round rail than a squared.

[agentQ]

@tugboat

… you just have to jump on the rail, and you will slide.

Haha YES. When I went out to hit that rail, I was thinking of you saying something along those lines to me, a few months ago. Landed it first try… your totally right. Thanks for the words of wisdom bro.

For those of you who have not checked the video forum and want to see the video with this rail in it:

Uneed Films Presents "Begging for More"

Video time, I’ve been working on this one for a while now… Came out good for a “winter video”. I am pretty happy with the trick list in this one, tho my flatland is a bit rough. I was gonna replace the sketchy flat line in the middle of this one, but my foot is kinda hurt up. Vimeo Youtube Watch in HD. The non HD conversion is pathetic. Let me know what you think. -Sam Haber

[unicycledood]

@Unigurd

The balancing is harder when grinding a round rail than a squared.

Exactly. Why do you think Shaun does all his tech grinds on a low ledge?

[tugboat]

Whoa now, there’s a huge difference between rails and ledges, don’t get me wrong. Grinding on a ledge is super easy compared to a rail, but notice that a lot of Shaun’s tech rail grinds are done on a round rail. I have never, ever been with a rider who said “Oh, well if only this round rail was flat… then I’d try such and such”. That seems crazy to me. Rail grinds in general are really fast, and it really doesn’t make any difference. Unless maybe the flat rail is so wide that you can get your whole crank and pedal on it, so it would effectively be a ledge anyways.

All in all, I can’t figure out why people think round and flat rails are vastly different, they are all the same.

Kevin

[Hugo_Duguay]

@Unigurd

The balancing is harder when grinding a round rail than a squared.

For the amount of time most of us stay on the rail, it doesn’t really make a big difference. Of course, if you’re like Chris H. and you hit 15 set rails, then yes, it’s easier to balance on a squared one. We could probably grind forever on the perfect rail…

For me, psychologically, I prefer round rails, because if my pedal is not exactly at the right place, it will slip back to its place. Plus, on squared rails, you can grind on your crank, but if the rail is not large enough, the space between the crank and the wheel will get cought in the rail, which is not cool at all (like in Kevin’s Street Unicyclist vid).

Hugo

[Jerrick]

@tugboat

Whoa now, there’s a huge difference between rails and ledges, don’t get me wrong. Grinding on a ledge is super easy compared to a rail, but notice that a lot of Shaun’s tech rail grinds are done on a round rail. I have never, ever been with a rider who said “Oh, well if only this round rail was flat… then I’d try such and such”. That seems crazy to me. Rail grinds in general are really fast, and it really doesn’t make any difference. Unless maybe the flat rail is so wide that you can get your whole crank and pedal on it, so it would effectively be a ledge anyways.

All in all, I can’t figure out why people think round and flat rails are vastly different, they are all the same.

Kevin

If we want to get even just a wee bit technical, we all know the flat rail will have a higher surface area in contact with the pedal, which gives us a better foundation/better control.

But we wont get into small details.

[unicycledood]

The day I backflip out of a round 9 stair hand rail, I’ll agree that their the same/not so diffrent.

[unicycledood]

Round rails are such a pain for me. I love flat rails. Their just more fun.

And yes like Hugo said, with the perfect square rail, you can grind forever.

[Jerrick]

@Emile.m

I prefer a round rail, since you can still be angeled, on a flat rail, you cannot, your pedal has to be completely parallel to the rail. And I don’t like that. I prefer round rails.

Yep, which is why I stated that we wont pay attention to small details. Unicycling, fact, and preferences dont mix well for most of us.

[unicycledood]

I’m thinking I’ll start doing round rails with my pedal perpendicular to the ground

[unicycledood]

@Emile.m

…seriously, I’m sure you got what I meant.

but you made me laugh anyway

I ment cranks being perpendicular. Grinding with the pedals perpendicular to the rail/ground would be incredibley impressive lol

But seriously, if we all just did round rails with our pedal up it would make foot stance erelevant. There are some grinds at my skatepark that are too low, so I grind them with my pedal down, feels weird but gets the job done.