Is that from somewhere in the UK? If not, bear in mind that you’ll likely pay duties and VAT on import.
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I think it’s from New Zealand
Ahh, if customs catch it then it might end up more like £170 total.
(4% duty, 20% VAT, + a minimal customs charge)
Umm it’s getting tricky to get a hub!
Yup… I looked at some of this a while back.
I was thinking I would probably go for a QU-AX one when they become available and if I manage to master that (or at least manage to ride it reasonably) look at the Mad4One one down the line.
I’m really hoping that Bicymple can produce some hubs before the end of the year or someone else can get some produced with the same design, as without it the budget option is nonexistent and I feel it’s really going to limit the growth of freewheel unicycling.
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It sure would limit it if there’s no options to get one or there out of reach price wise.
Would it be cheeky of me to ask how much your bicymple hub was ?
I bought a few (all wheel takeouts, one broken that I had to fix), and I think they worked out about £90 a piece after delivery, import, and spare parts to fix the broken one.
I imagine they’ll be more like £120-£150 a piece when/if more come to market new now.
A lot less than the Qu-Ax/Mad4One offerings.
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I have a 20" freewheel that a friend got from someone that made it out of a tricycle called “The Green Machine”. I am at the point(at least I was before it got cold and snowy/icy) that I could get going too fast and hop off but could never modulate the brake well enough to keep my speed in check. The lack of rotational inertia compared to larger diameter wheels is why I think it might be harder to stay balanced especially when braking. The brake isn’t very good but I also haven’t heard much on 20" freewheels so I’m curious if it seems like I should lace a larger rim or not.
Sounds like you did well with getting a few, did josh get back to you ?
Ive emailed flat out drift trikes to ask if they would deliver a JR P hub to the UK , i have a friend of a friend that lives in America so i might ask if its not too cheeky if i can get hub delivered to them and have them send it on to me.
The Huffy Green Machine hubs are not known for being all that durable, but if you’re looking to learn in a hall or similar then I’m sure it’ll be fine.
Rim brakes are also harder to use to control your balance on a freewheel.
He has not yet, but the first time I emailed I think my message went to spam, so I’ll chase after the weekend if I hear nothing.
I should probably work out what hubs I’m keeping and spread the love if I can.
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I’m curious as to what kind, brand and size of brake those of you who freewheel prefer. It seems to me that the ability to dissipate heat and the importance of being able to carefully modulate it are at a completely different level than for fixed unicycles, but that a brake that excels on a freewheel would probably also be excellent for a fixed unicycle.
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Nothing different than on other unicycles, as far as I’ve seen. Good modulation, power and heat dissipation are all still nice on a fixed unicycle, so it’s not really any different. (And most freewheel riders are still slower than fixed wheel on most downhills, so in reality it’s not really significantly more heat).
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How about energy spent while riding? As I explained above, I’m kind of dubious that anyone would want to coast faster than they can ride, simply because you then can’t pedal out of it if you start to lean forward, but it does seem like being able to coast might mean you’d be less tired and therefore fresher when it comes time to pedal.
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Well, I’ve barely been able to run out some upds on my 20” freewheel, and I can’t pedal that thing over 10 mph or so, and I can run out a 10mph upd just fine. I’m definitely going faster than I’m able to pedal but I also can’t control my speed hardly at all right now and just leap when I feel in danger/ when braking goes wrong in 0.001 seconds of trying to brake.
Yeah, but that’s on a 20". If you were coasting at 20mph on a 36er would you feel as comfortable running it out? Also, big respect for even being able to ride one of these things!
I hadn’t even thought of trying this on a 36. I don’t see mounting a 36 being very easy, I have a hard enough time on the 20 as is. Maybe there is a better way to mount but I put one pedal down and push off with the other foot to coast a few inches while I put that foot on the other pedal, pedal a few times and then try and coast for a while. Also being higher up would be more dangerous for falling, and I suppose it could be easy enough to get up to 20mph since that big a wheel would probably nice and stable. Scary stuff freewheeling is.
For me, mounting a freewheel 32" wasn’t all that bad. I do a brake assisted jump mount. I’ll be building up my 36" freewheel soon.
You do need to be pretty spritely to jump mount such a large wheel, but personally it’s no problem.
With a brake I also don’t find the speed compared to pedalling being that critical. As you’re not pedalling, you can be far more stable at speed, so as long as your brake control is good, it doesn’t feel like it’s a problem.
On the higher up, ignoring the speed, I think that’s an advantage as you get more time to react before you hit the ground.
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Good question. Let’s put a heartrate monitor on @muni_ben and make him ride the same loop with freewheel and without, because I’d like to know. And if not in energy expenditure, there might be benefits in keeping the legs fresh.
I know for me there is no way I spend less energy freewheeling (the balancing takes up too much), but I’m less than mediocre at it still.
But also if you do fall it might be worse as you are probably hitting the ground harder if you are unable to react in time.