>>>>> On Thu, 29 Apr 1993 11:21:47 +0100, Paul Bennett <pab@doc.ic.ac.uk> said:
Paul> Hi there, folks,
Paul> So I’ve had my Pashley uni for over a year now.
You poor individual. At least its lasting better than usual tho’.
Paul> Here’s the question: what do I look for in a giraffe? What’s a reasonable
Paul> price for a well-made 6’? I was looking at the More Balls Than Most
Paul> catalogue, and they’ve got a 6’ DM (“very high quality giraffe”) for
Paul> 295lbs. Is this about right?
I bought a 6’ sem three weeks ago at 250 squid. Its single chain vs. the double
of the DM, but the frame seems more rigily built and there is no noticable flex
in it. That was from the Mushy Pea stand at the Brum convention, and was cheaper
than you might otherwise get I think. I dont know what the Sem stand was selling
the same for. If you want a cheap sem, you might consider waiting till the
European juggling convention (September in Leeds?) where Sem are likly to have a
stand selling at good prices. (I got my normal sem trainer at the Coventry
convention for 95. I think that was a good price a year ago.) I’d be surprised
if MBTM were the cheapest around, and the other outlets are more likly to give
discounts for being a really nice person (you are arnt you?). Besides, the small
outlets rip people off less so need the trade more. (Yes, I’m biased.)
You could go for the 5-8’ convertible at ~45 brown beer tokens.
Paul> MBTM also rekon that they’re easier than standard unis, but how do you
Paul> get on them?
Every thing feels slower and less hard work. They are more stable, but you have
to get used to them so you stop over compensating (IMHO).
Paul> I always thought you had to climb, but when the “Junior Freestyle Mount”
Paul> was described here a week ago, we were told to “hold it out front, like a
Paul> giraffe”. Is this the start of the “official” giraffe mount?
I know of two mounts…
Hold the Uni upright infront of you by the fromt of the saddle, with your
favoured pedal down. (That said, I prefer rocking left foot down, but mount a
Giraffe right foot down…!). Then one foot on the wheel, one on the bottom
pedal, and on up. If you have a short giraffe or long legs, you can miss out the
wheel and just go straight to the bottom pedal. It needs to be a nice fluid
movement, pretty fast. The main thing seems to be believing its not going to
land you in intensive care, and not to have the saddle too high.
By the way, Ive only managed this a handful of times so far but its early days
yet. I may be way out of line on the suggestions. Typical engineer… talking
about that which I know not.
The more adventurous (stupid?) mount involves holding the uni out in front of
you, saddle near groin, while you run along at an appropriate point jam your
foot onto a pedal near bottom dead center. This should lock the wheel (dosnt
work on slippery surfaces) which turns the mount into a form of pole vaulting,
taking your weight on the saddle. I dont really like to think about this too
much, but it does feel as if it should work OK, and it looks quite impressive.
Sem junior claims its easier, but he would.
Rik … richard@prl.philips.co.uk All comments are given in good faith and
suggestions are believed to be possible unless otherwise marked. However, I’m
not stupid enough to try everything I hear about, so I hope you arnt either.
