Freewheel Unicycling Megathread

I do. It works great. There’s just a hole between the crank and the button a bit larger than on a Schlumpf hub. That does not seem to be an issue for the moment.

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Spirit cranks have a largish q-factor right? Does this make button switching easier by keeping your heel further away while normal pedalling?…I’ve had to take the buttons off for now with m41 cranks as I kept accidentally kicking it into the other mode and falling.
Although does a bigger q-factor make the smooth pedalling needed for freewheel harder?

They have a larger Q-factor than most of the other cranks, right. I fave heard that a 100mm-wide hub + Spirit cranks is similar in Q-factor as a 125mm-wide hub + Zero-Q cranks. So there is something like 12.5mm additional Q-factor per Spirit crank.

I can’t tell you whether these cranks make the switches easier or harder. I always use clipless pedals so my feet are always in the same position and it’s easy to switch - without having the accidental switching issue.

I haven’t find any issue in smoothness with these cranks. It may however depend on the rider as some people prefer wide Q-factor whereas other people prefer Zero-Q.

It may be that I just have to get a set and see how they feel. I’m still not particularly confident on the freewheel yet, and even as I improve I can’t imagine ever having the bottle to go clipless

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I honestly can’t advise anyone else to go clipless on a freewheel yet. It requires to master both clipless pedals and freewheel before thinking about it. That’s a lot of training if you don’t want to put yourself in danger!

So, just get a set of KH Spirit cranks and see how they work with your style of riding :grin:

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That’s the plan. Any idea what sized spacers you used?

Not sure at all, sorry. Maybe you could ask @MAD4ONE?

I took my freewheel unicycle to a snow-covered hill… :snowman: Frozen greetings, fellow freewheel unicyclists! :snowflake:

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I’m still just so amazed at the skill it takes to ride these things. Every time I see a freewheel video, it makes me feel like a layman who’s never seen a unicycle before

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Huffy Green Machine (pink, because they had to make them more girly for girls…)



Coaster brake freewheeling unicycle.

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I’m requesting video of you riding it, and a full review of figuring it out! :grin:

Have you ridden this? If so, how does it work?

I would think it would be pretty intuitive with not much of a learning curve.

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I just realized there are no less than four Huffy Green Machines for sale within 10 miles of me, all priced at $30 or less. So, I am very interested to see how this build turns out!

I’ve not ridden it yet, as it was quite dark yesterday by the time I’d finished cleaning and regreasing the hub, and constructing the unicycle.

I paid £12 for this one!
You have to be careful to get the right one though. Only some of them have the coaster brake, but you can tell from the lack of hand brake, and reaction arm mount on the left side.

The build is simple-ish. The bearings are 15x32x9 at 125mm spacing, which adds some complexity.

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I’m not a freewheel rider (never say never I suppose), but just wondering, would the coaster brake ever get activated in ‘normal’ riding? I’m assuming it works by backpedalling, but that would surely be a whole new skill to learn over and above the complications of non-braked freewheel riding. Would a coaster brake freewheel hub be as good as any for a ‘starter’ freewheel build?

So I think a coaster brake freewheel hub will always have more play before engagement than a normal freewheel hub, making it worse as a starter hub.

Also the huffy green machine hub:
a) is not very strong
b) is not very well made
c) has pretty rubbish cone bearings
d) has non standard size frame bearings, at 125mm spacing.

On the braking side of things, you’ve got to pedal backwards a little bit before engagement so I can’t really imagine it would be possible to do while normally riding brakeless freewheel. If you try and push backwards on a brakeless freewheel you fall off. If you try and push backwards on this you almost certainly still fall off unless you’re intentionally trying to activate the brake.

I have a freewheeling uni made from a non coaster brake green machine that’s proven to be quite durable. I think I have gotten about as good as possible without being able to brake, so now I need to learn that. I have found that being able to freewheel helps when you hit ice on a fixed wheel, for two reasons. 1. You can pedal more smoothly from freewheeling, and 2. You can just go “freewheel mode” when you start sliding and try to hold out until you hit the pavement on the other side of the ice patch.

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I guess I should have been more specific with my hub comments.

I’ve no personal experience with the standard Huffy Green Machine hub, but I do remember that Carl Hunt bent the axle on one back in the day.

I’ll stand by saying the the coaster brake hub is not good, but it’s pretty much our only option so it’ll have to do!

What’s the bearing size and centre-centre width on the standard Green Machine hub? Its details were never actually added to the main part of this thread.

I can measure later today if I remember. I know the bearings are small and adapted with plastic chunks from the factory. The guy that made the thing used a lot of the green machines framework to make the uni frame, and it’s all held together with friction and hope.

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Ahh, they’re probably the same as the coaster brake variant then, but it would be good to have confirmation.

The bearing housings on the green machine from the factory are insanely large.