how to ice unicycle?

Off-topic
1

I need some advice on how to unicycle on ice. do i need special tyres? or anything that could make learning to do it a little less painfull etc.

hope someone can help me!! :thinking:

2

They do have tires with studs/spikes in them for ice riding, so those would greatly help the amount of traction.

Some other riders on this site have put screws through their tires to make their own ice and snow tire.

3

yeah, any idea if its possible to hover on ice, cause if use great big studs in your tires it could possibly grip too much?

4

maintaining your balance on ice is quite easy, itā€™s all body positioning, no need for spikes/studs

5

Dude donā€™t unicycle on ice. I know from personal experience how bad things can go wrong if you unicycle on something as slippery as ice. But if you got to learn the hard way I hope you got insurance.

6

Iā€™ve seen a link posted somewhere on these forums recently of a tyre youā€™d need

something like this but for a unicycle:

Edit: This is the closest I could find to what you want: http://www.fisheroutdoor.co.uk/public/index.php/product/tyres/schwalbetyres/swalbemtbtyres/TYS086.html?Fisherpublic=730rl1f6bhg97qbn6c58895kl7

7

Welcome theunicyclingguitarist.

How to unicycle on Ice:

  1. Post Unicycle thread in RSU, not JC, where it is more likely someone may remember an old gallery, past threads, or have fresh advise.

  2. Use Search function. A quick search of Stud and Studded Tire found these and more.

  3. Iā€™d recomend, at a minimum, good wrist guards.

8

And a video camera.

9

the picture of the motorcross bike uses Kold Kutter ice screws which you can put on a tire to gain excellent traction on ice. Leo made one of these tires for his unicycle, so you should email him to get the exact details.

edit: the second uni he uses in that video is the custom made one with the Kold Kutter Ice Screws. First one is a stock 26" ice tire which is similar to the one linked earlier in the thread.

10

I unicycle on ice every winter at a local pond.

I usually do it on my 29er with a Big Apple, mostly due to the fact that the pond is far enough away that to ride a Muni to it is tedious. I have Muniā€™d on the pond (which is only about 2 feet deep) on occasion, and it was, as expected, much easier than with the 29er.

I grab the tire of my 29er so it doesnā€™t slip out during the mount, then stay as upright and steady as possible during the ride. The trick is to stay completely in line with the hub and overall center of the uni; any leaning and you go down. Iā€™ve had some spills, but none of them involved wetness or injury. Mostly just a string of expletives.

11

Along the lines with this, I find that when trying to turn (90 degree corners on glare ice sidewalks, for example) turning is achieved by really pushing your hips to the side and learning the tire, while still keeping your head directly over the center of the unicycle, exagerated arm movements also help

Riding on ice is fun, and people like at you like you are. Crazy

12

thanx for the help everyone. im glad i joined this thing ;). and i shall remember UniSLABā€™s comments when i limp home with various broken bones and a mild concussion from ice riding.

13

I learnt on ice

the lake next to my work was the only flat place around so thats where I learnt. I used 98 3/8" #8 round head steel screws and put them through the center of every second knobbie on my Luna tire.

kind of like this (the "x"es are where the screws are)

00000000000000
0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0
00000000000000
0x0x0x0x0x0x0x0
00000000000000

This worked quite well, has adequate grip on ice and is still ridable on other surfaces. The screws only stuck out one to two mm so rubber could still make contact for other surfaces.

I now ride with chains on my Muni in winter (see pic in profile) which works great for hard packed snow but not so well on ice

Good luck!

ERIC

14

I was quite pleased to come across this thread.

Iā€™m actually planning on making my snow tire tomorrow out of a Kenda Kinetics 24"X2.6".

I think Iā€™m going to drill tiny holes through the nubs in the tire tonight and go to a hardware store tomorrow.

The pattern Iā€™m going to make is something like this:

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
oXooooooooooXooooooooooXo
ooooXooooXoooooXooooXoooo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooooXooooXoooooXooooXoooo
oXooooooooooXooooooooooXo
ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

What is the advantage of using these ā€œkold-cutterā€ screws? I can see that they have very large threadsā€¦but wouldnā€™t a normal wood or drywall screw work just as well?

Iā€™d think something with a flat head would be best, to protect the tube.

One question I have is, should I use something to keep the screws in place (superglue maybe?)?

I plan on putting a couple of layers of electrical tape or maybe duct tape over the heads once Iā€™m finished.

15

I did this when i was into mountain biking using only hardware store screws (and the drilling method you mentioned)

I found no need for center lined screws, and only put them in the side-ish treads, so they would grip when leaning over (and iā€™m sure when i was riding, the lower air pressure in the tire put them on the ice), and i was able to ride snow covered wooden skinnies just like it was summer.

16

That depends on the ice. A friend and I made a studded tire once (with carpet nails). It rode great on ice and packed-down snow (my street). No problems idling or anything like that. But for most situations just move slowly and you can deal with all but the most slippery of ice.
http://www.unicycling.com/things/index.htm#20

17

Yea I initially planned on putting screws in the center but changed my mind.

So you didnā€™t use anything to hold the screws in place?

My concern is that the ground pushing up on the screws will push them back into the tireā€¦but maybe the tire pressure prevents this from happening?

EDIT: I go to school in Oswego, NY. We got 12 feet of snow in 11 days last semester (almost record-breaking)ā€¦so I want to be prepared this time :).

18

thanks for reminderā€¦i sliced a tube around the inside and used that to go between the inflated tube and the screw heads

19

Ah okay that sounds like a good idea.

I just got home from Home Depotā€¦I was a little too excited to stop once I started drilling. The screws I got are WAY too long. Iā€™m looking to only have a cm or so sticking out of the tire. I bought 1 1/4" 10ā€™sā€¦I think iā€™m going to return them tomorrow and try 3/4" 10ā€™s.

20

What are you making, a coker wheel? :sunglasses:

i donā€™t recall how long they were, but not too much poked out of the rubber.

it doesnā€™t matter if they are a little too long and the points kind of ā€˜fold overā€™ when riding, because the screws are ice-grabby all around