Fastest speed on a unicycle

Speed (mph), Name, Location, Unicycle, Crank size

29-ish, Christian Hoverath, ungeared Coker, (more info needed)
26.8 mph, Jan Logemann, Remscheid, Germany, Geard KH36, 125mm
26.1 mph, Corbin Dunn, Los Gatos CA USA, Geared KH36, 150mm
24.2 mph, Lars Lottrup, Nivå Denmark, Nimbus 36, 114mm
24.1 mph, Roland Kays, Albany NY, Geared KH36, 165mm
23.5 mph, David Stone, Lobster, 29" Schlumpf, 125mm
22.9 mph, Scott Wilton, Madison WI USA, Nimbus 36, 114mm
22.6 mph, Spencer Owen, Nottingham UK, Schlumpf 29, 127mm
22-ish, John Foss, 45" Unicycle Factory Big Wheel (28 pounds), 6.5" cranks
21.75 mph (35.0 kph) Geoff Houghton, Ashland, Oregon, USA Florian Green
36" with Schlumpf, 165mm
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Jacob Flansberry, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Nimbus Night Rider 36", 137mm.
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Nathan Hoover, Kenya, Schlumpf KH 36, 150mm
21.1 mph, Øivind Stuan, Trondheim Norway, Nimbus 36, 125mm
20.8 mph, Steve Relles, Delmar NY US, KH36/Schumpf, 165mm
20.8 mph, Nathan Hoover, Norway, Hunter 36, 125mm
20.2 mph, Samuel Farmer, West Sussex England, Qu-ax 36, 114mm
19.9 mph, Peripatet, Jacksonville FL USA, KH36, 125mm
19.0 mph, Joe Sowul, Anaheim CA USA, Nimbus Nightrider 36, 125mm
17.0 mph, Rob Northcott, Somewhere on Dartmoor, Mongrel 36er, 145mm
12.8 mph BrianP, Ocala FL US, KH24 w 150s
22.1 mph Tyler Nail, California, ungeared UDC 36er, 125mm

I added my top speed recorded on a track unicycle, from long, long ago. This was done several times on different days, with a well-calibrated Cateye cycle computer attached. I’ve been sloppily recorded at 22-23 mph on my 45" big wheel, but not accurately. I’ve also hit 19 mph on my Coker, but that’s not very impressive. Not sure how fast I’ve gone on 29" and 36" Schlumpfs I’ve ridden, but nothing impressive there either…

Now that’s just rubbing it in :o

I’d be very happy with that.

Rob

today i trained for the 10km race in switzerland, on a little downhill i hit almost 26mph…
i think i did also pretty well with the 10km (less then 21 minutes)

Speed (mph), Name, Location, Unicycle, Crank size

29-ish, Christian Hoverath, ungeared Coker, (more info needed)
26.8 mph, Jan Logemann, Remscheid, Germany, Geard KH36, 125mm
26.1 mph, Corbin Dunn, Los Gatos CA USA, Geared KH36, 150mm
25.9 mph, (41.7 kph), turtle on “turtle’s V”, Gearded 29", 125mm
24.2 mph, Lars Lottrup, Nivå Denmark, Nimbus 36, 114mm
24.1 mph, Roland Kays, Albany NY, Geared KH36, 165mm
23.5 mph, David Stone, Lobster, 29" Schlumpf, 125mm
22.9 mph, Scott Wilton, Madison WI USA, Nimbus 36, 114mm
22.6 mph, Spencer Owen, Nottingham UK, Schlumpf 29, 127mm
22-ish, John Foss, 45" Unicycle Factory Big Wheel (28 pounds), 6.5" cranks
21.75 mph (35.0 kph) Geoff Houghton, Ashland, Oregon, USA Florian Green
36" with Schlumpf, 165mm
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Jacob Flansberry, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Nimbus Night Rider 36", 137mm.
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Nathan Hoover, Kenya, Schlumpf KH 36, 150mm
21.1 mph, Øivind Stuan, Trondheim Norway, Nimbus 36, 125mm
20.8 mph, Steve Relles, Delmar NY US, KH36/Schumpf, 165mm
20.8 mph, Nathan Hoover, Norway, Hunter 36, 125mm
20.2 mph, Samuel Farmer, West Sussex England, Qu-ax 36, 114mm
19.9 mph, Peripatet, Jacksonville FL USA, KH36, 125mm
19.0 mph, Joe Sowul, Anaheim CA USA, Nimbus Nightrider 36, 125mm
17.0 mph, Rob Northcott, Somewhere on Dartmoor, Mongrel 36er, 145mm
12.8 mph BrianP, Ocala FL US, KH24 w 150s
22.1 mph Tyler Nail, California, ungeared UDC 36er, 125mm

This is one of my fastest recorded bursts from a flat-ish 4mile paved loop near my house. The KML file was processed from the raw .gpx by GEtrax/, a program that can (among other features) translate speed into relative altitude on GPS tracks. This is the speed that I trust, as opposed to spikes like the red one to the left (45.4 mph… man, I was flying :wink: ) There may be more hiding somewhere in my GPS tracks, but I’d have to purchase the registered version of the program to easily pick them out, hehe.

billnye
John M

Speed (mph), Name, Location, Unicycle, Crank size

29-ish, Christian Hoverath, ungeared Coker, (more info needed)
26.8 mph, Jan Logemann, Remscheid, Germany, Geard KH36, 125mm
26.1 mph, Corbin Dunn, Los Gatos CA USA, Geared KH36, 150mm
25.9 mph, (41.7 kph), turtle on “turtle’s V”, Gearded 29", 125mm
24.2 mph, Lars Lottrup, Nivå Denmark, Nimbus 36, 114mm
24.2 mph, John Moriarty, Sarasota FL, 24" Schlumpf muni, 125mm
24.1 mph, Roland Kays, Albany NY, Geared KH36, 165mm
23.5 mph, David Stone, Lobster, 29" Schlumpf, 125mm
22.9 mph, Scott Wilton, Madison WI USA, Nimbus 36, 114mm
22.6 mph, Spencer Owen, Nottingham UK, Schlumpf 29, 127mm
22-ish, John Foss, 45" Unicycle Factory Big Wheel (28 pounds), 6.5" cranks
21.75 mph (35.0 kph) Geoff Houghton, Ashland, Oregon, USA Florian Green
36" with Schlumpf, 165mm
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Jacob Flansberry, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Nimbus Night Rider 36", 137mm.
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Nathan Hoover, Kenya, Schlumpf KH 36, 150mm
21.1 mph, Øivind Stuan, Trondheim Norway, Nimbus 36, 125mm
20.8 mph, Steve Relles, Delmar NY US, KH36/Schumpf, 165mm
20.8 mph, Nathan Hoover, Norway, Hunter 36, 125mm
20.2 mph, Samuel Farmer, West Sussex England, Qu-ax 36, 114mm
19.9 mph, Peripatet, Jacksonville FL USA, KH36, 125mm
19.0 mph, Joe Sowul, Anaheim CA USA, Nimbus Nightrider 36, 125mm
17.0 mph, Rob Northcott, Somewhere on Dartmoor, Mongrel 36er, 145mm
12.8 mph BrianP, Ocala FL US, KH24 w 150s
22.1 mph Tyler Nail, California, ungeared UDC 36er, 125mm

GPSDATA-20090528_2225-Rothenbach-Edited - Copy.zip (98.8 KB)

link with TGR

Hey,

Here is a visual summary of all the data reported in this thread until this post.
I displayed the maximum speed (mph) against the Total Gear Ratio
(as defined by Klaas Bil, see New concept: Total Gear Ratio).
Every max speed reported in this thread is represented by one dot, I just highlighted some of the most common set-ups with the labels.

There is obviously some scatter and a lot of overlap (same speeds achieved at very different TGRs), but it does give you a fairly good idea of the max speed you could hope to achieve for a given TGR.

Hope some people find it interesting.

Teddy

Speed_TGR.jpg

Well, I did. Thanks for sharing. I took your approach one step further, into a direction I’ve been wanting to go for some time. For the same dataset, I calculated what I have tentatively coined the “Speed factor”, which is the factor you should multiply the TGR by to arrive at a speed (in this case a maximum speed for a bunch of individuals). I’ve used the same dataset (max speeds in this thread posted so far). In the first plot, I’ve distinguished between non-geared and geared hubs, because I surmised that geared hubs have a penalty in speed because of the decreased control. (In addition of course to having an advantage in speed because of the increased TGR per se.)

Two notes on “using the same data as you”:

  1. I’ve converted mph to km/h, because that’s how I think - and the SI has been internationally accepted anyway, even by the USA.
  2. I’ve used what I think is the actual wheel diameter. For nominal 29" and 36" I just used those. But for the two 24" MUni’s I’ve used an actual diameter of 26". Depending on the width of the tyre, that’s closer to the actual wheel diameter.

Conclusions:
In the first place, unlike I thought, there’s hardly any difference between geared and non-geared hubs. There’s hardly a “jump” between the two trendlines (linear regression).
Secondly, the benefit of increasing the TGR decreases with increasing TGR. That should not surprise anyone. Getting more speed is not as simple as just increasing the TGR.

Because of the first conclusion, I’ve also plotted all the data points with a single trendline (quadratic least squares). See second plot.

tgrspeed1.gif

tgrspeed2.gif

Let us all praise the
Geeks, and of course the speed freaks.
No thread for the meek…

Could it be the drag force coming into play? It scales quadratically with velocity…

Yes, that’s a big factor. Like you say, the drag force is proportional to velocity squared (at least at higher speeds when air flow is turbulent), and in addition (or should I say in multiplication :)), the power needed is drag force multiplied by velocity. So the power required scales with velocity cubed.

Another significant issue, I think, is decreased control when TGR goes up, which makes you ride more conservatively. Part of this can be negated by experience and practice.

Nice work Klaas, cool idea. You need some more top-speeds from smaller wheels - maybe figure the average for some short track races? Not exaclty the same as the downhills used for most of these big wheel stats, but hills make less of a differnece for the smaller wheels so should be ok.

ro

I noticed Christian is still up at the top of the list at ~29 mph on an ungeared coker. Note that, assuming the wheel+tire diameter is actually 38 inches, this would mean that Christian had to spin at 257 rpm to achieve that speed. Still sound plausible? I would actually like to hear more about what rpms people reach (and with what crank lengths). I often count my revolutions over the course of a minute (wristwatch) while I ride because I don’t have a computer and this provides a convenient way to estimate speed. My cruising cadence during a regular commute is ~140 rpm on 115s (26" uni).

Christian’s “record” is not very well documented. But a Coker’s tyre outer diameter is close to 36" so that makes the rpm even higher.

I have left Christian’s datapoint out of my plots because I have no information on crank length, so I couldn’t calculate TGR.

Christian’s record was based only on a cyclometer and his (massive) experience at riding very fast. 25mph was commonplace and easy for him. As far as I know, all his riding was done with 125mm cranks on a custom framed 36" cycle.

It’s kind of an outlier point so dropping it is reasonable. While someone is sure to go that fast again, probably soon, I doubt it will be on that setup!

—Nathan

Speed (mph), Name, Location, Unicycle, Crank size

29-ish, Christian Hoverath, ungeared Coker, (more info needed)
26.8 mph, Jan Logemann, Remscheid, Germany, Geard KH36, 125mm
26.1 mph, Corbin Dunn, Los Gatos CA USA, Geared KH36, 150mm
25.9 mph, (41.7 kph), turtle on “turtle’s V”, Gearded 29", 125mm
24.2 mph, Lars Lottrup, Nivå Denmark, Nimbus 36, 114mm
24.2 mph, John Moriarty, Sarasota FL, 24" Schlumpf muni, 125mm
24.1 mph, Roland Kays, Albany NY, Geared KH36, 165mm
23.5 mph, David Stone, Lobster, 29" Schlumpf, 125mm
22.9 mph, Scott Wilton, Madison WI USA, Nimbus 36, 114mm
22.6 mph, Spencer Owen, Nottingham UK, Schlumpf 29, 127mm
22.1 mph Tyler Nail, California, ungeared UDC 36er, 125mm
22-ish, John Foss, 45" Unicycle Factory Big Wheel (28 pounds), 6.5" cranks
21.75 mph (35.0 kph) Geoff Houghton, Ashland, Oregon, USA Florian Green
36" with Schlumpf, 165mm
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Jacob Flansberry, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Nimbus Night Rider 36", 137mm.
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Nathan Hoover, Kenya, Schlumpf KH 36, 150mm
21.1 mph, Øivind Stuan, Trondheim Norway, Nimbus 36, 125mm
20.8 mph, Steve Relles, Delmar NY US, KH36/Schumpf, 165mm
20.8 mph, Nathan Hoover, Norway, Hunter 36, 125mm
20.2 mph, Samuel Farmer, West Sussex England, Qu-ax 36, 114mm
19.9 mph, Peripatet, Jacksonville FL USA, KH36, 125mm
19.0 mph, Joe Sowul, Anaheim CA USA, Nimbus Nightrider 36, 125mm
17.0 mph, Rob Northcott, Somewhere on Dartmoor, Mongrel 36er, 145mm
15.5mph, Bob Griffiths, Shrewsbury Cycle Track,UK, Coker 36, 150s
12.8 mph BrianP, Ocala FL US, KH24 w 150s

I don’t know about the rest of you nutters, but I hit 15.5mph after getting up to 14ish over balancing and pedalling like hell to get back over the top of my Coker ungeared Steel framed Big-one.
I was proper scared, even though I had my pads and lid on… :astonished:

Speed (mph), Name, Location, Unicycle, Crank size

29-ish, Christian Hoverath, ungeared Coker, (more info needed)
26.8 mph, Jan Logemann, Remscheid, Germany, Geard KH36, 125mm
26.1 mph, Corbin Dunn, Los Gatos CA USA, Geared KH36, 150mm
25.9 mph, (41.7 kph), turtle on “turtle’s V”, Gearded 29", 125mm
24.2 mph, Lars Lottrup, Nivå Denmark, Nimbus 36, 114mm
24.2 mph, John Moriarty, Sarasota FL, 24" Schlumpf muni, 125mm
24.1 mph, Roland Kays, Albany NY, Geared KH36, 165mm
23.5 mph, David Stone, Lobster, 29" Schlumpf, 125mm
22.9 mph, Scott Wilton, Madison WI USA, Nimbus 36, 114mm
22.6 mph, Spencer Owen, Nottingham UK, Schlumpf 29, 127mm
22.1 mph Tyler Nail, California, ungeared UDC 36er, 125mm
22-ish, John Foss, 45" Unicycle Factory Big Wheel (28 pounds), 6.5" cranks
21.75 mph (35.0 kph) Geoff Houghton, Ashland, Oregon, USA Florian Green
36" with Schlumpf, 165mm
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Jacob Flansberry, Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. Nimbus Night Rider 36", 137mm.
21.43 mph (34.5 kph) Nathan Hoover, Kenya, Schlumpf KH 36, 150mm
21.1 mph, Øivind Stuan, Trondheim Norway, Nimbus 36, 125mm
20.8 mph, Steve Relles, Delmar NY US, KH36/Schumpf, 165mm
20.8 mph, Nathan Hoover, Norway, Hunter 36, 125mm
20.2 mph, Samuel Farmer, West Sussex England, Qu-ax 36, 114mm
19.9 mph, Peripatet, Jacksonville FL USA, KH36, 125mm
19.0 mph, Joe Sowul, Anaheim CA USA, Nimbus Nightrider 36, 125mm
17.5 mph, John Foss, Max. indicated speed on 24" with 125mm (multiple repeats)
17.0 mph, Rob Northcott, Somewhere on Dartmoor, Mongrel 36er, 145mm
15.5mph, Bob Griffiths, Shrewsbury Cycle Track,UK, Coker 36, 150s
12.8 mph BrianP, Ocala FL US, KH24 w 150s


In response to the question about 257 rpm I added my best speed on a 24". Calculate the rpms for that as a baseline. Of course, doing the same rpms on a 36" would be way, way scarier!

245.1 rpm :astonished:

Hmmmm. Interesting. If that’s correct (and the Miyatas had an actual wheel diameter of less than 23.5"), I have doubts about Christian pedaling faster than that, downhill or not.

My top sprint speed on a 24" was reached after years of training to beat the Guinness record. The limiting factor in this is getting your legs to spin fast enough. Develop a faster spin and you can reach a higher speed. Granted, my top speed has surely been surpassed in the years since, but not by large amounts. That would mean Christian would have been pedaling his 36" wheel faster than the highest speed I could ever reach on a 24". I know Christian Hoverath was a gifted rider, but that number seems a little fishy. Especially in relation to all the riders who have since been unable to match it…

I’ve always thought Christian’s number sounded fishy, no offense intended. Top speeds as recorded by cycle computers have numerous potential sources of error.

With all due respect to all the amazing riders here who have posted times…bear in mind that these are just ‘for interest’ personal bests.

None of them would stand up to scrutiny as a world record speed. Measurements by a cycle computer (or…car odometer) are just not accurate enough!

For my Hour Record…most of the effort was spent in getting witnesses and surveying the track (I paid a qualified surveyor to measure out the track to the closest centimeter!). We had two stopwatches and two independent timekeepers, as well has having to submit photo and video evidence to Guinness.

Tom et al, take this thread for what it is…a bit of fun. Unless someone went to the trouble of actually setting up an official record attempt, these are just numbers and claims that would be hard to substantiate. Some would be more accurate than others.