ok… changing the subject slightly… can these hubs freewheel? and if not is it possible to make a freewheel hub and is anyone planning to do it?
makes sense now
Not to be ignorant, but wouldn’t it be a lot easier (and I think just as efficient) to make a unicycle with adjustible-length cranks? Has someone ever done this?
easier, perhaps. In fact, adjustable-length cranks exist (although VERY expensive).
As efficient? I guess that depends on how comfortable and capable you are of pedalling at a very high cadence.
Actually, now that I think about it. Why would you want to choose? How about a geared-hub unicycle with adjustable cranks!!
I got to try the geared uni at Moab. I only rode it for a few minutes and it was very difficult for me until I “mentally shifted”. The bottom line: I want one! I like the idea of flying down the street without petalling frantically.
the Harper hub does not freewheel, and yes it is possible to make a freewheel hub, this one is not geared but would work with a unicycle. also, that’s how the old 3 speed bicycles worked, there are a number of companies still making internal gear bicycle hubs that of course freewheel (if you want to wrap your mind around something check out what NICOLAI is doing ) but that would require some modification to adapt to a unicycle.
this has been brought up before, Steve Howard (showard) has a design that he brought up a few months back, a search should find that. he also has a couple CAD drawings in his gallery
All going well, I’ll be riding one of these pretty soon! Can’t wait!!!
Kris Holm.
Hmmmm… Bonneville Salt Flats?
Any idea when they will be open to a guy, like me.
geared Coker
Or how a bout a Coker geared down to go slower? You’d have the wheel that rolls over anything and the torque to actually do it, if you could maintain balance.
Does this mean that it is possible to have future unicycles shift gear while riding and freewheel? imagine that- it’d be just like a bike, only with mandatory balancing abilities.
okay, about that adjustable crank idea, i sait it was showard but i was wrong it was onewheeldave in this thread that i was thinking of, the CAD drawings are showard’s tho.
have a look at this thread, it covers that very topic at some point (this was one i was thinking of earlier but could not find then)
Re: Geared hub unicycle
On Fri, 2 Apr 2004 21:46:15 -0600, “elmer” wrote:
>Or how a bout a Coker geared down to go slower? You’d have the wheel
>that rolls over anything and the torque to actually do it, if you could
>maintain balance.
Has been brought up before. But a) an internally geared hub would
probably not stand up against MUni abuse, and b) you loose quite a bit
on manoeuverability and agility, compared to a more regular MUni.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
I think profile should make some stronger 145mm cranks - Ryan Atkins
i ~will~ put one of these on my coker, and i want to know about when they will be available, and about how much they would cost. thank you.
Just a thought - I’m sure somebody has already considered this, but still…
Make the hub with the epicyclic gears permanently engaged (with the arm permanently attached to the frame), then have two clutches (actually would be more like two drum brakes) that would lock the axle to the hub body in one position (1:1) and the outside of the epicyclic mechanism to the hub in the other position (1:1.5 or whatever). Obviously the brakes/clutches would have to be set up so that there was a moment during the shift where neither gear is engaged (i.e. freewheel) to avoid locking up, but this would be a very short time if shifted quickly. Using clutches like this would avoid the problem of having to engage teeth and ought to be shiftable on the fly using a cable and bike-type gear lever under the saddle.
So, what’s the catch? Too complicated/expensive? Too big/heavy? Too weak? What I see in my mind is inspired by a combination of car overdrive and bike drum brake…
Rob
mmm, can’t wait for the techies to get here…
Re: Geared hub unicycle
> Make the hub with the epicyclic gears permanently engaged (with the arm
> permanently attached to the frame), then have two clutches (actually
> would be more like two drum brakes) that would lock the axle to the hub
> body in one position (1:1) and the outside of the epicyclic mechanism to
> the hub in the other position (1:1.5 or whatever). Obviously the
> brakes/clutches would have to be set up so that there was a moment
> during the shift where neither gear is engaged (i.e. freewheel) to avoid
> locking up, but this would be a very short time if shifted quickly.
> Using clutches like this would avoid the problem of having to engage
> teeth and ought to be shiftable on the fly using a cable and bike-type
> gear lever under the saddle.
Now, I have never actually unicycled before (I’ve been reading this
newsgroup in order to learn about them before I buy one), but it seems
like there would be a big advantage to being able to disconnect the
wheel from the pedals, in order to coast, and have wondered if there are
unicycles with clutches. If it were possible to coast and stay upright
and on the unicycle, this method would be a really good way to do it.
The problem with freewheeling on a unicycle is that normally the forward/backward balancing is done by the pedaling action - without the drive it’s very hard to stay on. Some people have built unicycles with freewheeling hubs and can ride them, but in normal circumstances it’s not a good thing.
Re: Geared hub unicycle
rob.northcott wrote:
> The problem with freewheeling on a unicycle is that normally the
> forward/backward balancing is done by the pedaling action - without the
> drive it’s very hard to stay on. Some people have built unicycles with
> freewheeling hubs and can ride them, but in normal circumstances it’s
> not a good thing.
I suppose if you were able to adjust the friction on the freewheel very
accurately, it would be <i>possible</i>, but I bet it would take a
rather large amount of practice to get the hang of it.
Re: Geared hub unicycle
Mike Roberts wrote:
> rob.northcott wrote:
>
> > The problem with freewheeling on a unicycle is that normally the
> > forward/backward balancing is done by the pedaling action - without the
> > drive it’s very hard to stay on. Some people have built unicycles with
> > freewheeling hubs and can ride them, but in normal circumstances it’s
> > not a good thing.
>
> I suppose if you were able to adjust the friction on the freewheel very
> accurately, it would be <i>possible</i>, but I bet it would take a
> rather large amount of practice to get the hang of it.
I rode a small one at the Uni-meet at Kidderminster here in the UK last
month. It does take some getting used to, but the hardest bit is getting
on I’d say.
Fantastic fun though.
Cheers,
Roger
Nottingham One Day Juggling Convention
5th March 2005 - 10am-Late
I’m still waiting for the unibike, the motorbike with one wheel only. 