As I impatiently wait for the Harper Hub to appear at unicycle.com, I have begun musing over how it could be used:
Greg’s original incarnation, installed in a 24" wheel, what I would call a “mini-Coker”.
Greg’s second iteration, and original intent for the hub, a 29" wheel, perhaps a “Super-Coker”.
But, other uses also come to mind.
A 20" wheel gives a lot of versatility for freestyle riding, and can be geared up to 30". This gives a smaller (lighter?) package than a 29er, and a huge selection in tires and rims.
A 26" wheel could be a jack-of-all-trades, a huge selection in tires and rims, decent road riding and offroad capable in 1:1. Geared up to 39", it starts to approach the “man zone”.
I tried to add a poll to this, but didn’t work. A little help?
I tend towards MUni so I’ve thought about the Harper hub for that. It might be better if the ratio was lower - something like 1.2 instead of 1.5. That would give you a 24" in direct drive and a 29er in overdrive.
Wouldn’t a 24x3 tire running at 29er speeds off-road be a kick?
Lil’ red- A man sized tri-cycle. Wouldn’t it be neat to have an adult sized tri-cycle? that’s all it took and I was off to the races again. Three days later… Checker plate rear platform, horn by Kenworth, BSA motorcycle handlebars (modified), Norco front forks, direct drive 26" front wheel (drove the centre out, replaced with solid 5/8" dia bar, French cotters, voila!) 16" back wheels (rear tires drive the centre out add 3/4" solid axle and 1 1/8 x 3/4 dom spacer, double Voila!) , Stainless steel seat post, right out of the package 1970’s gold glitter streamer grips, Tennessee red paint.
Here’s another use for the Harper Hub - Law Enforcement.
In recent years police officers have been effectively using mountain bikes to patrol with. This started in Seattle I believe (Harper lives in Seattle - coincidence? I think not). Imagine a 20" uni.5 “Police Special” with Monty tire. It would be light, compact and 29er fast. It would allow the cop to have use of both hands and the uni could be used as a weapon!
Can you imagine a cop running down a bad guy with this machine - jumping curbs weaving in and out of things riding down stairs all the while calling for backup on his radio! Segway Smegway - this is the future!
I’ve tried to get a friend of mine who’s a cop to spearhead this new idea in law enforcement circles but he’s too short sighted and likes his Harley too much.
Is there nothing harper’s hub cant do? I think not!
On a 20" It would make it crazy for urban trials, you wouldnt have to try so hard to get there, just ride the 20" monty wheel, then switch it to 1:1. WHOO!
Or the other extreme, throw it on my coker and fly. I really want to try that.
I’m with nick, how crazy would the Harper 1.5 on a Coker be, we are talking a 54" effective wheel. Think of the speeds capible on that thing, Perhaps that Death Vally 502 isnt impossible afterall…
Wow, could it be right that your possible to do 30 miles an hour on a unicycle??? That would be insane…
It was mentioned before, I’m not sure if it was by Harper, or someone else, but apparently the 20" wouldn’t make a good platform, because the wheel is still too small.
>i’d love to stick it into a three wheeler and then try n pick my teeth
>out of my knees
You mean a (reverse drive) two wheel (stacked) unicycle!
With 24" wheels, a 1.5 gear would provide a 36" gear while pedaling
backwards to go forwards. Now that would a practical and fun
application of Harper’s new 2 speed hub! A Coker two wheel unicycle
might be a bit harder to free mount than the uni.5 equivalent!
