Does anybody else ride muni on a 5-foot giraffe? It is something I have recently taken up (after I put an off-road tire on my giraffe) and am enjoying a lot.
There is a guy on the recent On One Wheel magazine, or is that you?? heh.
I havn’t tried it and dont intend to, you fall hard enough when you go off road. visualizing off roading 5 feet higher OuCh…
well, I give you props man.
I’d love to try but I don’t have a giraffe. Have you got any photos and/or videos?
Thanks,
Andrew
photos are coming.
giraffemuniac, what Greenville are you in?? NC or SC by chance?
NC
Good stuff! I have not really seen a lot of unicyle intrest around these parts, glad to see I’m not alone! 
What wheel size did you use for the MG and what kind of hub (steel or aluminum) ?
I had a 26" built up to an aluminum hub, but then had trouble finding an aluminum gear. I did find a GT sprocket that was rather large (39 teeth) that was aluminum, but the hole in the center was smaller than the hub. I took the sprocket and wheel to a machine shop and had them bore out the center of the sprocket to match the hub, then they welded it together. Lucky for me it works.
I have also had to extend the forks slightly to accomodate bigger tires.
I use Primo 175 mm bike cranks on the MG.
One area I had some problems with was at the chain-tensioner, that is until I went to the beefy BMX type.
Glad to know there are others out there who enjoy this.
Keep us posted on your progress and watch out for low tree branches and other obstacles up there.
You aren’t one of the people on the Idiots on Unicycles webpage are you? If you are, I love your mountain giraffe.
If not, you may want to go here for some mountain giraffe pictures and information.
I didn’t realize that there were other people out there doing this. as for the specifics on the uni, it is just a standard savage 5 foot giraffe with a beefed-up off-road tire on it and pedals with clips (upgrading soon to clipless). It’s been raining here, so the ground is nice and muddy, and today was a beautiful day for riding. I think I freaked out some of the people who saw me… Does anyone have any kind of reccomendations as far as saddles go? I’ve got a viscount on there now, but I’ve been looking really hard at the Miayata saddles and have been considering making my own.
pedals w/clips or clippless ? Why ?
Please don’t do that ! If you like your teeth the way they are and you don’t want any broken bones, don’t use that crap on a unicycle. The pros do not outway the cons.
DO get some platform pedals w/pins and some leg armor like 661 or equal protection.
As for the Homi who asked about the IOU guy, that’s Simon Greenway across the pond. He had DM make his dual chain giraffe back around 2001.
I have yet to see another 26" wheel on a MUni giraffe. Anyone else seen one besides mine ?
Scot Cooper
Re: giraffemuni?
On Wed, 12 Mar 2003 22:20:15 -0600, giraffemuniac
<giraffemuniac.k7p8a@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>pedals with clips
>(upgrading soon to clipless).
Unicycling with clips is seldom done. I have heard of no-one who tried
it and kept doing it for a long time. The potential for a bad fall is
too large - maybe not if your ride is easy but then you don’t need
them in the first place. For MUni this holds a fortiori. For MUni on a
giraffe this holds a molto fortiori (running out of my Italian here).
I would recommend you upgrade to some good pedals with pins.
>Does anyone have any kind
>of reccomendations as far as saddles go?
Miyata with a reinforcement for the base plate, or a Velo KH seat
which is strong enough as is. Add a separate MUni handle if you want,
although especially the Velo handle is good enough for many ppl.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
"The Titanic was insured for $3,019,400. "
I still want to know if you guys freemount on the trail or if you use supports. Also, do you hop over obstacles? Giraffes are pretty heavy.
i understand the concerns regarding pedals with clips, but after using them, they feel very comfortable and help immensely when going uphill (especially over tree roots). If the straps are kept loose then it is very easy to hop out during the long fall down. As for broken bones, I am no stranger; I broke my right tibia and fibula on a skateboard and now am the proud owner of a six-inch stainless steel plate and nine screws that reside in my ankle.
I’m sorry if I am not adhering to “standard unicycle practice,” but surprisingly enough, the clips provide the same benefits on a uni that they do on a bike (increased control and providing power on the upstroke as well as the downstroke).
I have not seen another muni giraffe with a 26 inch wheel, but I am building a performance giraffe with a 26 and a wood frame.
I normally use a support to mount (to help get my foot into the clip) and I do hop (but only when I choose to use the clips) giraffes are really heavy…
I’ve ridden with half toe clips a bit on my 29er. They’re kind of like toe clips, but with half of the clip missing. There are a few people around who ride with clips regularly. Actually, it wasn’t the falling off that I had problems with, it was more the mounting I didn’t like.
I did think about them for commuting on my coker, given I didn’t fall off while commuting, they wouldn’t be a problem.
I can see clips on a giraffe make much more sense than on a normal unicycle actually, because the sort of upside down pendulum thing takes much longer.
I’d guess the problem with clipless as opposed to clip pedals is that in the worst case, wheel stops dead crash, the way your feet are pulling is not a release direction, so it’s hard to get out.
Having said that about clips, I don’t think clips helped as much as a decent spiky pedal, which is kind of almost like clipless, but without the release problems.
Joe
I wouldn’t worry about riding with clips (you’re talking about the ones where you just slide your foot in aren’t you?) but I’d never try with clipless pedals. Then you’d have to twist your foot to the side to release it and there’s a risk of not doing that in time.
Wouldn’t you also be running the risk of damaging the frame? I just thaught they’re general not very strong. Have you done any drops?
Andrew
I thought he was talking about clipless pedals at first also…now that just sounds like a bad idea!! 
metal in the bones
Well…‘LIFE IS FOR LIVING’ .However.After 41 years of practice of mending human bodies I can tell you it is dificcult and very uncertain job to mend the fracture of sombody who already has metal stitches of any sort.Before you challange life again have your metal out. I know that unsolicited adwice particularly unpaid for is not welcome,but…I have taken liberty to do so.
Keep going
All the best
Uniwitold.
Re: giraffemuni?
In article <Uniwitold.kcuhy@timelimit.unicyclist.com>,
Uniwitold <Uniwitold.kcuhy@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
)
)I’m sorry if I am not adhering to “standard unicycle practice,” but
)surprisingly enough, the clips provide the same benefits on a uni that
)they do on a bike (increased control and providing power on the upstroke
)as well as the downstroke).
For what it’s worth, there was a time in the sport of mountain biking
where everyone said it was crazy to be clipped into your pedals.
Obviously that’s no longer the wisdom.
I think I’m going to put a loose set of clipless pedals on my 29er if
I do the Mount Diablo Challenge next year.
-Tom