I just received my 5ft giraffe Torker. Havent the chance to set it up yet. I was going through Youtube vids but havent found any going on any simple off roads. Except for one guy hopping boulders.
I am sure it’s doable right? Or is the loose gravel that makes it dangerous? But a regular uni is not afraid of loose gravel.
I have read on here that it should be ok. Excited, I cant wait to practice on it!
Are you going to have the first muni-giraffe?
No. I’m sure I wont be the first.
Last night I was wanting to put it together. Unfortunately it was missing the nut and bracket to the chain adjusters. There should be a pair of them. It must of be screwed on loosely on to the eyebolt and somehow it fell off and out of the box thru the box handle holes. I have to contact seller. I am sure the seller can get replacements through Torker.
Apparently i am not the first to have that part missing from a brand new box. Torker Co. Contact page is not working. Will call them Monday.
I’d be interested in how you fare on the gravel. And maybe on the boulders as well.
Yikes, boulderrrs!# my balls not big enough yet… and i’ll need extra padding
Scott Cooper was the BOSS and doing this back in at least 98 (maybe earlier? John Foss where you at?).
Thats gotta be so cool!!
Back in the day I had aspirations of doing this but it never panned out. Giraffes aren’t built stock to take the abuse and hopping on them is a PITA (literally).
That’s the biggest worry I have. I do still plan to get myself a giraffe, and I suspect won’t be able to resist the temptation to take it on some gentle off-road, the sort I could do in my sleep on a normal uni, which won’t stress it too much.
Thanks Killian that’s just the picture I was looking for, for confirmation. I’m sure I’ll need lots of practice , to be real comfortable with my freemounts and dismounts to where the bailouts can be smooth and automatic, if not, I’ll probably end up tumbling down into the stream.
I’m sitting back and letting you do the heavy lifting.
Here’s a more technical-looking picture from the '98 MUni Weekend:
I don’t remember if he made it up that, but he wasn’t afraid to attempt all sorts of stuff.
His giraffe was based on a cheap Torker or similar, modified to fit a 26" wheel and with some reinforcements to the frame. Giraffe frames tend to break by bending to the front or back, usually just above the bottom bracket (pedals).
Scot (Cooper) brought his Muni giraffe to the 2000 MUni Weekend at Lake Tahoe and brought it on Mr. Toads Wild Ride. He first came to MUni Weekend in 1997, which was the second one, but I don’t think he had the giraffe until '98.
Yes, you can ride a (solid) giraffe on all sorts of things. Limitations are that it’s a 20" wheel, so it doesn’t roll over bumps like a bigger one, and also you can’t put as much angle on the frame as with a regular uni. That is, you can’t lean back in the same way, to prepare for a big bump; you have to take it more “vertically” which may lead to you being bounced upward off the seat. Also your ability to stick to steep slopes is somewhat limited as well.
Thanks John, for your wealth of knowledge. Now I can’t wait to get my part in and get it up and running. Now I know that a 26er muni giraffe is possible.
Scot’s got some incredible “He Man” legs for sure!
Woohoo, my first night on the giraffe. Lovin it. Whole nother experience. Mounted from my van. Rode all the way to the park. Through gravel, no problem. Slight incline and decline, no problem. Then i had an abrupt dismount of which i simply jumped off. Painless, easier then i had imagined it to be.
Except… there’s a problem, I forgot that i havent practiced freemounting from anywhere except from my van. Even from the flag pole at the park was hard. Oh well, I ended up taking a midnight stroll back home : )
Riding it is just a slight learning curve. Getting over the fear of being so high was more like it. But eventually you get used to it, and lovin it.
As far as freemounting, it’s a whole other beast. It makes freemounting the 36er like cake.
Well, i guess its the matter of getting over the fear of pushing off your feet and planting your butt onto the seat which is way up nowhere but in the air.
So it is, I guess its all about practice and persistence huh…