Anyone out there ever put their unicycle in the Eurostar?
M’am and me might spend 10 days in London in august and I was wondering if I can take a uni with me. I’ve been on all sorts of trains in France, Belgium, Switzerland with a uni, but the Eurostar is in a different category - since you need to go through security to board. They don’t allow bikes, except folding (as long as they’re covered, god knows why). Uni? No idea. Anyone tried?
I use the Eurostar a fair bit. I’ve not tried taking a uni on though. A folded Brompton is about the size of a packed up 24 / 26" uni.
Probably depends upon wheel size, Ie, not a 36er. Pop the crank arms and seatpost / saddle out and pack it up, and you should be ok. People take some big suitcases on.
I did it!
Today I rode in London for the first time! Well, a first in the sense that I now know how to ride - London is actually where I got the bug when I saw several unis on display at Oddballs in Camden many years back, but I never got to the point where I could ride more than around my block.
I was worried about crossing the channel with the uni, or more specifically getting on the train through customs, but it went with no problem. Actually, they couldn’t care less. Surely because I had the uni in a bag. I found it the day before leaving, it’s meant for 14" folding bikes and it was a perfect fit for the 29" uni. And it didn’t break the bank.
People drive on the left here, which I can deal with but… I didn’t think about the fact that it would put the road camber on the opposite side of what I’m used to, that was added challenge.
Second observation: Regent Park is not bike friendly. Didn’t take long before a posh but derelict old couple told me so in a not so welcoming manner… Met a nice guy soon after and he gave me some tips. I wonder if Hyde Park is better.
Third: never assume riding unknown turf will make you high-gear proficient. In other words, shin/calf protections are always needed when in the early stages of Schlumpfing. My right calf will remember London for sure!
Side note: anyone tried a Surly Extraterrestrial tire? My addiction to tires is waking up, I need new blood!!! 
Heheh, ouch! Grats on finding new places to adventure though.
I’m dealing with the same problem with calf scrapes, mine were pretty deep, so I know how it feels! I find it hard to believe that most of the people here and who I see on riding videos don’t seem to be concerned about calf protection.
Are you going to wrap up the back of your leg a bit more for at least a while, or put some kind of protection on it?
I’m going to try to put together something on my own, but if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to buy the Kris Holm shin/knee guard set, I guess. It does have fabric in the back, for starters, though I don’t know how much that will help.
I like your idea on the carrying bag too. I think I’d better get something over my uni. For some reason, the dust around here gets sticky … and we also have bugs and spiders getting into everything imaginable and leaving webs and crud and such on everything not brought into the house.
Two things. I got my first unicycle from Oddballs back when I was a kid. Secondly, I used to (about 10 years ago), regularly cycle around Battersea park, in part because it was only a few hundred metres from flat. It is obviously not as big as Regent’s Park or Hyde Park but I quite like it there nonetheless. Also, if you want to go shopping afterwards, the King’s Road (Chelsea) is just over the river.
Probably to keep things clean, mostly in consideration of the other passengers. Imagine someone arriving at the station in the rain, folding up their bike and putting it on top of everyone else’s luggage?
Yup. And your bag doesn’t say “Bike/Unicycle”; just looks like luggage. 
Yes indeed! I think my first exposure to that was in the 10k race at Unicon VI. We were in Canada (Quebec City), where they drive on the right. But they had us going around a large block on the left side of the road, with the other lane open to traffic. Aside from the large contingent of Japanese riders, I think most of the racers got a surprise and extra struggle, trying to ride fast on camber the opposite of what they were used to. 
This Unicon story is a great anecdote! Did the australians outperformed the other riders too?
Actually, I do it all the time on the other trains we have in Europe - fast TGV within the country, Thalys to Belgium and the Netherlands (pretty much same trains as the Eurostar). I arrive at the station, fold the Brompton, and hop on the train. Ok, the Brompton is the cleanest of the folders (chain is inside the fold, and it’s very compact once folded). I wouldn’t put it on top of people’s luggage though cause who wants to balance a bike high up? 