Reading your post you sound like your in the same position as myself with falling backwards when you stop pedaling and then using the brake to recover which in turn stops your “coast”
I asked the same question recently and put a video up of my riding. There seamed to be confusion over my use of the word “coast” and aim of riding.
Conclusion i came to is that “coast” is a flatland non pedaling still moving where you take you hands off fully and control your balance with your hands in front of you/unicycle.
“brake coast” is non pedaling movement which you would use on a trail or hill in Muni situations.
My aim is to ride my freewheel on Muni and be able to roll/coast down a trial without pedaling which would need to be covering the brake.
I have not yet managed to find the sweet spot yet or can yet find away to stop my falling backwards and needing to brake situation yet despite much time spent trying, I would be greatly interest in hearing how you get on with this.
Have you seen AJs second video were he mounts against a wall and pratices pedaling backwards whilst using body position for control ?
I have. I watched his videos several times when I was learning. Backpedaling isn’t too much of an issue. I practice it when I feel comfortable on a good glide or coast.
I will keep riding and building up my comfort level with freewheeling. Several times I have found myself hopping up and riding without my helmet on as I head to my truck for a ride. Never would have done that when starting. I force myself to stop since a backwards UPD can be oh so fast, unexpected, and life altering with a nasty fall.
More brake gliding practice tonight. Greatly increased my backpedaling comfort level too. 1/4 revolution feels instinctual when needed, pretty much the same with 1/2 rev now. Full revolution backpedals were shaky when I started and comfortable by the end of my practice session. Still messed up on many attempts but more success than failures. Pushed my luck for 1-1/2 revs and while feeling just beyond control, many felt comfortable and easy. Had a few scant 2 and 3 rev backpedals for surprise elation when they worked. By the end the sweet spot feeling for balance would flicker on a lot more. Just need to overcome my beginners memory of no-hand-on-the-brake panic that led to ingrained fear after a couple bad falls. Really enjoying being back on the freewheel.
Thanks for the confirmation! I was afraid I had missed something in how freewheels work
A theory that just came up to me is the fact that Florian had been producing freewheel hubs for years for penny farthing. He may have kept the same model, as it seemed to work on such cycles. Sadly, it doesn’t work for us. I’ll let him know how disappointed we are about the news. Well, maybe not that harsh in my mail
Yes, bicymple had freewheel Schlumpf hubs so my expectation was also that parts were the same/similar, but I’d still expected higher engagement for that just because Schlumpf hubs are a premium product.
I have had a few exchanges of mails with Florian lately. At first, he seemed not to know about our need for a fast or instant engagement. Similarly to what he did for the rotors, I guess he was like: “I’d like to provide something new, but I’m not an expert in this field [freewheel unicycles, rotors]. So, let’s give it a try, it should work good enough!”. After our discussion, it seems to me that he had understood why the freewheel option was not satisfying enough for us.
That may be where we should act: provide him with user knowledge that he doesn’t have, because he is not a user as experimented as some of us are. I would say that he should probably have asked us before going into to production, to assert that his designs were great. However, we can’t change the past, so let’s try to improve the future and tell him what should be enhanced for the next generations!
Just remember, Florian is over 70 years old, the unicycle hubs are purely a side business for him and he only does it out of goodwill and love for unicyclists. I don’t think you should have great expectations. Maybe it’s time for someone younger to take over this area from Florian Schlumpf if it is to survive in the long term.
New video “Bless-ed Family” (long Version). Riders Christian Bless (father and fixed wheel), Lea and Urs Bless: both freewheelers. All of them are team Ursli members and Christian and Urs are the builders of the Ursli-Bar.
Video: by me.
I hadn’t reacted to your messages, but I think there’s still some confusion when I read the exchange you had with @IvenBach
Putting your hands in the air forces you to coast, but it’s not using the brake that makes a coast. You quoted AJ’s video on coasting. AJ rides without the brake, he does coast, but most of the time he has an asymmetrical position with one hand on the saddle handle. It’s much harder to coast in this position than with 2 hands in the air, but it’s easier than coasting with 2 hands close to the body or on the handle.
I’ve just tried for the first time the exercise suggested by AJ, which consists of standing facing a wall and pedaling backwards. It’s really very difficult and I had a really hard time getting on the unicycle facing the wall (I’m used to jump mount on the unicycle in large spaces). This exercise has the merit of putting you in a situation of imbalance (close to the coast) with reduced risk-taking. I don’t have the hindsight to know if this method helps you progress faster. @m00ms did this exercise help you?
In any case, it’s much more difficult than pedaling backwards while braking.
I wonder whether that’s also true when riding on uneven terrain, or if holding on provides a benefit on the rough stuff above the benefit gained from having it up it the air for balance.
On uneven terrain, what helps me is to stay on my feet (= not sitting on the saddle). When you’re standing up, you can absorb the bumps with your legs.
It’s certainly possible to absorb with your arms, just as it must be possible to put all your weight on your arms/hands (August manages to coast on a fixed unicycle with his hands on the saddle and his feet in the air).
