It might work better to have your gearing horizontal instead of vertical and have the wheel traveling in a bit of an ark to maintain the same tension on the chain at all times. Of-course you would get some wheel movement when it goes up and down, but with the chain tensioner in there you would get it anyway, and it would be less sloppy when putting back pressure on the pedals (you won’t be compressing the chain tensioner).
To figure out what would work well think about each component and what forces would go through each of them. Make sure everything has an equal and opposite force and you wont be surprised by a piece breaking when/if you build your design.
ok thanks guys, Ive found a few mistakes myself, such as frame sizing. I think at a possible point, it might work, i might be able to put a shock on the tensioner. I think i may need to post a sideveiw of the frame
yeah, thanks guys once again, it took me a bit just to think of the right side, Considering i have access to a full metal shop, i might try and design something, i might just put the system on both sides, or make it like a girraffe and put another hub on the seatpost area, and then make that fit its way onto both sides, such as a giraffe, like a migdet girraffe on steroids
but then again, its the whole concept of suspension, and myself, i cant think of anything better that will suspension EVERYTHING except the tire itself. I think it might work just to make it like super wide and put the whole gear system on both sides
As drawn, the axle remains fixed to the wheel so everything does not float except the wheel as you say. From the standpoint of suspension your system does the same thing as a suspension seat post but with increased complexity. The saddle moves with respect to the wheel and pedals, the telescoping just takes place in a different location.
Ah, I thought that you had the cranks attached to the frame and the wheel on a shorter axle, that is why I asked about the right side.
If you want some good ideas you should check out this thread. It has lots of good discussion about different designs and their strong points/weaknesses.
A midget suspension giraffe on steroids sounds interesting though:)
kay, i’ll draw up some plans tomorrow after school i guess. As you can see, my handwriting sucks. And that drawing was much better looking before my printer decided to make things too light, for i compensated
It’d prob help w/ big drops though. Everything else it’d be unnessesary, a 3" tire works great, possibly better than suspension.
…but then look what happened w/ DH bikes. They started w/ really fat tires, and now I don’t think any of the pro DH racers ever use anything wider than a 2.3", thanks to tubeless tires and improved suspension desighns.
I do when I mess up, which only happens once im around 7-8 feet high.
Anything smaller, and most street stuff I land with the legs first, and lower myself into the seat afterwards. I tried to explain that I do this, and how it helps with plastic bases lasting a lot longer, but I got ganged up on saying I was wrong. lol. Funny people.
Show of hands if you don’t “get” what this thread is about? Thanks Borg. If you don’t want/need suspension go away. This is more an engineering problem and is obviously not intended to improve general unicycling. He’s already got a chain on there for gosh sakes!
Suspension is not for drops and extreme terrain, unless the rider can be suspended separately from the wheel. But a nice, lite suspension system can do wonders for road riding or light MUni, when you’re seated. If the intention here is to suspend the wheel separately from the pedals, that’s still a problem that hasn’t been solved for “standard” unicycles. Definitely worth pursuing.
If you’re not trying to suspend the wheel separately from the pedals, I’ll have to go along with Harper on recommending a suspension seatpost. Even if you want to build your own, your results would be useful for any unicycle and might still do just as much as what you’re working on now at much less weight and complexity. I’ve used suspension posts on two of my unicycles (both MUnis) and they’ve worked great.
well, im back on peoples lol. Yes, Thanks John for supporting me a bit. Ive already had a bunch of people ask me what the point is. The point in itself is to break slightly new ground. If someone gets an idea out there, that can work, its bound to be able to be made smaller and lighter. Right now my system that i was working on has doubled in size practically… lol… i’m going to try and get it as small as i can when i do get to the metal shop and piece things together. When im done im going to spraypaint it neon green (my best friends idea lol)
Those who don’t understand this will give no constructive input, will experiment with nothing different, and will never see the fruits of “senile men” rambling, even in the field of unicycling and even in the not so far past. How long ago was it that the trials unicycle pictured in Borgschulze’s avatar or anything even similar to it did not exist anywhere?
You’ve mentioned using a spring and/or using a shock. Keep in mind these two components serve two separate purposes.
A spring is a device that allows compression but provides a force to counteract that compression… that is, you can squeeze a spring but it’ll fight that squeeze and return to its original length once you stop squeezing.
A shock is a device that limits the speed at which compression occurs… if you squeeze a shock slowly you’ll have no problem, but if you try to squeeze it very quickly, it will resist (but not prevent) the squeezing motion.
Both springs and shocks are used as suspension, usually in combination… you’d never see a shock by itself, though, as it doesn’t do any work to restore it’s position once squeezed.
As for your tensioner, I’d recommend against using any kind of shock. As others have said, you need maximum tension in your chain and a shock will allow some slack to develop.
I just read an article (Design News, Sept 2004) on the computer controlled suspension system of the Adidas 1 running shoe. W/ enough development this is something that could possibly help w/ Munis (addmitedly would probably require a large development budjet and IMO only be benefitial after a working design has already been developed).
Hmm. Well, ive gotten back aroudn to this project. I’ve reworked my plans, making it far lighter, and far smaller. I will not release the plans, until i have the prototype finished.
For serious guys, it simplifies it a lot, and will be used SPECIFICALLY for Muni, or Distance.
I was going to sleep last night, and thought back to it, and had a serious to god ‘Eureka’ moment. I decided i wanted to have a small drawing of it, so i wouldnt forget it, and wrote it on my wall lol.
Considering the need for less parts, i should have it done before a muni ride i plan to make with a friend. I’ll shoot video of it, and take pics of it. Only things i need are:
29’’ Muni, or a uni, anything for now will do (if you have one, that your willing to sell for under $100, and its worth it, contact me)
Some sort of shocs.
Gears, and chain.
edit: It’ll work to what I planned it to work for, and also keep the cranks centered over the axel a little, not giving it a ‘recumbrant unicycle’ look to it. It also will have, hopefully, 3’’ of leeway for suspension, which should give ample space, and ample comfort for good smooth riding. The system will weigh a few pounds, for the moment, but, its EXTREMELY small and compact compared to my other plans.
