# Freewheel practice
**URL:** https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781
**Category:** Videos
**Created:** [June 10, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781 "2013-06-10T00:36:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 12:36am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/1 "2013-06-10T00:36:40Z")
Today’s practice with my freewheel unicycle which allows you to coast with your feet on the pedals (as opposed to most unicycles which employ direct drive).
https://www.youtube.com/embed/eTp6mfqh-Qg?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque
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### Author:  [@UniMyra](https://unicyclist.com/u/UniMyra)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 12:51am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/2 "2013-06-10T00:51:15Z")
That’s amazing!
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### Author:  [@UVcycle](https://unicyclist.com/u/UVcycle)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/3 "2013-06-10T04:25:30Z")
@waaalrus
Awesome!!! it looks so much fun to ride unicycle that way…
Keep doing what you do, I get a lot of inspiration from your videos 😃
Thanks for sharing that.
Have fun,
UVcycle
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### Author:  [@From\_the\_Woods](https://unicyclist.com/u/From_the_Woods)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/4 "2013-06-10T05:22:50Z")
That looks cool 🙂
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### Author:  [@UniTographer](https://unicyclist.com/u/UniTographer)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 8:32am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/5 "2013-06-10T08:32:30Z")
Awesome.
Looks like you just need to add a brake now 🙂
– UniT
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### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 9:45am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/6 "2013-06-10T09:45:57Z")
> [@UniMyra](#):
>
> That’s amazing!
Thanks!
> [@UVcycle](#):
>
> @waaalrus
>
> Awesome!!! it looks so much fun to ride unicycle that way…
> Keep doing what you do, I get a lot of inspiration from your videos 😃
> Thanks for sharing that.
>
> Have fun,
> UVcycle
Thanks! I like to record videos so I can look back at the progress I’ve made over time. Hopefully the huge amount of fun I have unicycling comes through as well.
> [@From the Woods](#):
>
> That looks cool 🙂
It’s a blast! It’s a little easier than two feet on frame coasting; there’s a larger range for corrections and it’s easier to go over bumps in the sidewalk.
> [@UniTographer](#):
>
> Awesome.
>
> Looks like you just need to add a brake now 🙂
>
> – UniT
I have a caliper brake ready but am trying to find someone who can drill the frame to put it on. With a steeper incline it’s easy to get too fast for me to control so a brake may let me roam around the neighborhood better. I also find pedaling up an incline to be challenging.
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### Author:  [@UniTographer](https://unicyclist.com/u/UniTographer)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 3:08pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/7 "2013-06-10T15:08:48Z")
> [@waaalrus](#):
>
> I have a caliper brake ready but am trying to find someone who can drill the frame to put it on. With a steeper incline it’s easy to get too fast for me to control so a brake may let me roam around the neighborhood better. I also find pedaling up an incline to be challenging.
Sounds like you’re more careful with your frames than I am. I stuck my 24" Torker LX frame in a vise and drilled the heck out of it (carbide bit, but just a plain old hand-held drill). Couldn’t find my shop oil (dunno how that’s possible) so I just paused regularly and let it cool off. Not the prettiest hole ever, but now there’s a caliper brake on there 🙂
– UniT
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### Author:  [@muni123](https://unicyclist.com/u/muni123)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 9:02pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/8 "2013-06-10T21:02:52Z")
I wish I had one now 🙂
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### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 7:18am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/9 "2013-06-11T07:18:30Z")
> [@UniTographer](#):
>
> Sounds like you’re more careful with your frames than I am. I stuck my 24" Torker LX frame in a vise and drilled the heck out of it (carbide bit, but just a plain old hand-held drill). Couldn’t find my shop oil (dunno how that’s possible) so I just paused regularly and let it cool off. Not the prettiest hole ever, but now there’s a caliper brake on there 🙂
>
> – UniT
I’m just more careful with my eyesight. I break tools and parts without the aid of electricity. I trust myself drilling into metal as much as I trust myself pickling vegetables (meaning I would probably kill myself if I tried either).
> [@muni123](#):
>
> I wish I had one now 🙂
It’s now my favorite form of unicycling and I struggle to pull myself away from it for other practice or rides. It has the thrill of coasting but is easier to get into, can be done for longer, and it’s easier to ride over bumps. In fact, bumps can be the most fun and I’m considering building a tiny jump ramp although I may wait until I have a backup wheel for that. I’d like to figure out a way to make it easier to build a freewheel unicycle.
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### Author:  [@UniTographer](https://unicyclist.com/u/UniTographer)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/10 "2013-06-11T16:00:07Z")
> [@waaalrus](#):
>
> I’m just more careful with my eyesight.
Goggles? Or would they spontaneously combust when you put them on your face? 😉
Seriously, this looks like a ton of fun.
– UniT
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### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2013, 10:49am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/11 "2013-06-12T10:49:13Z")
> [@UniTographer](#):
>
> Goggles? Or would they spontaneously combust when you put them on your face? 😉
>
> Seriously, this looks like a ton of fun.
>
> – UniT
Well, I’m actually warming to the idea of trying to do it myself if I get some safety goggles. I actually found a drill in my closet which I’ve never used before. I posted [another thread](https://unicyclist.com/t/coker-freewheel-hub-on-a-uni/120432/1) in case anyone wants to join in the fun. I was practicing where the sidewalk steeples into a tiny ramp because of a tree root and the first time I successfully rode over it I knew I was hooked.
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### Author:  [@lobbybopster](https://unicyclist.com/u/lobbybopster)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2013, 9:48pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/12 "2013-06-12T21:48:47Z")
Freewheel uni
You are awesomely skilled dude! great job.
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### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2013, 8:11am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/14 "2013-06-13T08:11:43Z")
> [@lobbybopster](#):
>
> You are awesomely skilled dude! great job.
Thanks! And thanks for making it possible!
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### Author:  [@KIKENJI](https://unicyclist.com/u/KIKENJI)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2013, 7:39am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/15 "2013-06-15T07:39:44Z")
Great job!
Hi,I’m Kikenji from Japan.
I posted a comment to your video on YOUTUBE.
Thanks for your invitation for this forum!
I’m thinking about the mechanism of freewheel hub.
What kind of thing did you choose?
I think whether I will make a hole in a plastic wheel and will embed an one-way clutch on it.
Tell me your opinion please.
I do not have a technique of an exact drill, either 😃
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### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 15, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/16 "2013-06-15T18:06:37Z")
> [@KIKENJI](#):
>
> Hi,I’m Kikenji from Japan.
> I posted a comment to your video on YOUTUBE.
> Thanks for your invitation for this forum!
>
> I’m thinking about the mechanism of freewheel hub.
> What kind of thing did you choose?
> I think whether I will make a hole in a plastic wheel and will embed an one-way clutch on it.
> Tell me your opinion please.
>
> I do not have a technique of an exact drill, either 😃
Hi, Kikenji! I’m glad you made it to this forum which is an awesome resource for unicyclists (although Japanese unicyclists are underrepresented). Another great resource you should check out if you haven’t is the Facebook group “Unicycle Chat”. I’m not a member but there’s a large community and a lot of information there. For my current freewheel unicycle I’m using the hub of a Huffy Green Machine which is a type of tricycle with a 20 inch wheel on the front. The hub was donated to me by a generous member of the forum (Mark aka lobbybopster). I used the rims and spokes of another unicycle to build the wheel and then replaced the bearings to fit a unicycle frame. The process is similar to the one I recommended on [this thread](https://unicyclist.com/t/coker-freewheel-hub-on-a-uni/120432/41) but that dispenses with the need to build a wheel. The biggest problem for me was getting the old bearings off. What a pain! I’ve done it on two wheels and each time one bearing came off easy and the other broke and I had to use extreme measures to get the inner race off. Another problem is that the bearing spacing of the freewheel hubs I’ve used is wider than a regular unicycle frame which is 100mm. To get around this I just forced the frame on but it’s far from ideal. Other companies make or at least use freewheel hubs for drift trikes and I’ve been contacting some of these to get details about the hubs they use to see if I can find one more suitable for unicycle frames. I’d also like to add brakes to my freewheel unicycle at some point, possible by drilling the frame and putting on caliper brakes.
If you’re going to practice something before making your freewheel I highly recommend one foot coasting where one foot is on the frame and the other one is not. This is probably the most directly transferable skill to freewheel unicycling although it also helps to be able to coast with both feet on the frame. Right now I’m limited to making strong clockwise turns on the freewheel unicycle and have more trouble turning counterclockwise. This is due to the fact that I freewheel with my right foot down and cannot do it with my left foot down yet. To get better at this I plan to practice one foot coasting with my left foot on the frame which is a scary proposition. Let me know if you need any other advice or help! I hope you enjoy freewheel unicycling as much as I do!
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### Author:  [@woog74](https://unicyclist.com/u/woog74)
#### Post date: [June 16, 2013, 10:20pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/17 "2013-06-16T22:20:36Z")
Fantastic! Thanks for the build instructions. Can’t wait to see how it is when you add brakes.
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### Author:  [@edgybonehead](https://unicyclist.com/u/edgybonehead)
#### Post date: [June 17, 2013, 8:38am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/18 "2013-06-17T08:38:50Z")
that looks incredibly hard! I wonder how many people driving by even realize what your doing?
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### Author:  [@Jacob\_Young](https://unicyclist.com/u/Jacob_Young)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2013, 9:59am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/19 "2013-06-21T09:59:21Z")
Introducing the Nimbus ready to run freewheel hub!
Also…
… they do a DISC version!
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### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 21, 2013, 11:31am UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/20 "2013-06-21T11:31:28Z")
> [@Jacob Young](#):
>
> Introducing the Nimbus ready to run freewheel hub!
>
> Also…
> … they do a DISC version!
Yes, this is an awesome development! UDC UK has these now and will build a wheel for you. The US site will have them in September. I asked if they are willing to build wheels with these so we’ll see what they say. I’m still not sure what size I want but I definitely want a disc brake. In the next few weeks I’m planning to build a 24" freewheel with parts I have to see how that is.
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### Author:  [@waaalrus](https://unicyclist.com/u/waaalrus)
#### Post date: [June 23, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://unicyclist.com/t/freewheel-practice/120781/21 "2013-06-23T13:50:36Z")
Freewheel unicycling on Santa Barbara Road 6-23-2013
Another great day to ride my freewheel unicycle!
https://www.youtube.com/embed/W2r-cfwSDRk?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque
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