Micro Machines: Tiny crank and tiny wheel Megathread

So fun fact, but the travel uni above is a medical device for me. I got diagnosed last November as Autisitic at age 28, and one of the main symptoms is not dealing with change or transiton well.

I always have certain items with me to be “prepared” and deal with change or bring something familiar into new spaces and it really helps my brain scream at me less.

The technical term is a transitional object. Just as some people have emotional support animals, I lovingly call it my emotional support unicycle.

So the 20" with 75mm cranks is small enough to take around when I travel as my 700c uni can be a bit big for some spaces.

Being on the spectrum can be difficult at times and it was fairly expensive to get diagnosed but it saved me the $100 to check it round-trip on my recent vacation. As someone who really doesn’t do any exercise besides cycling and uni it’s lovely to have with me.

Also now when somone says I can’t bring it places I used to only say “It’s not a bike”, now I can say I have paperwork lol.

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That‘s indeed a funny fact :smile:
I guess such a diagnosis comes with its fair share of challenges; so it‘s all the better if you can take advantage of it, too.

i’ve also done a couple of decent rides on 19"/75 mm and it is indeed very fun. Once the weather gets a bit milder it would be “fun” to do a 100 km ride!

While my unis are not legally defined as such (not sure if it would even be possible here), I will now start calling them emotional support unicycles

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Ha… well hello @SirCranky. Nice to see you here. :wink:

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Welcome @SirCranky! The only person in the solar system who have ridden 36"/45mm. :star_struck::rocket:

You should have seen their faces when they saw my 36er! :joy: But the supprise didn’t stop them as you already know.

Well thanks, but i’m sure there are some martians or other extraterrestials whomst’ve done it already. Surely it would be easier for them due to the lower gravitational “force” making a Olympus Mons challenge with 36"/45 mm as easy as a speedbump here on earth.

At least a 24"/45 mm ride is hopefully coming in the near future as it was very easy in comparison to the 36". Maybe even practical? :thinking: :thinking:

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This reminds me: @SirCranky demonstrating how to ride 45s:


The lack of leg movement is so amazing.


I was running after him and shouting “This is the craziest thing I have ever seen!!!” and people watching us must have wondered what the big deal with a guy on a unicycle was. :joy:

A very interesting thing about 45s: You can actually ride them solely with your ankles. Sir Cranky actually locked his knees stright and rode my crazy machine! :exploding_head::flexed_biceps::man_shrugging:

I am speechless.

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I just can’t wait until the snow melts!! :star_struck:

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Thats a bit funny cause i thought the level of leg movement looked normal.

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Also conveniently cutting the video just before i fell :rofl:

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These videos are hilarious :joy:
I think I might make my own from some 89mm cranks

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I have been itching to ride my 36-er since Cranky Crew finally got together and tried out 45 mm cranks.

Today was the day. I have given this a proper go now. This was my very best effort out of many, many tries:

I can hereby conclude that riding a 36er with 45 mm cranks is utterly impossible. This is not doable. At all! :exploding_head:

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Skill issue on your part :moyai:

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Can’t play the vid :frowning:

Try it on another browser. Worked for my on Chrome.

Thanks, worked in Edge.
Yeah, that looks about as hard as I imanine it to be.

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I wonder if it would be doable with a not caring about your credit card balance build. Like if you used super lightweight spokes, carbon rim, lightweight Tire, and a tpu-36-in tube.

Riding the 75 mm on my 700c uni really only became possible when I was left on supervised with a credit card and had carbon or lightweight everything

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Well, you do put your finger on an issue here. I have inherited a vintage George Barnes 36er, with an airfoul.. sorry, airfoil rim and a King George tyre. This machine is really heavy, both in actual weight and in response. Getting started from a stand still is hard enough on 89s. I bet it would be easier on a (in comparison) lightweight UDC 36-er (which is also cottorless).

And when I say easier… Well, easier than impossible I guess? Lets not forget what cranks we are talking about here. Just in case someone still struggles with the concept of just how tiny these cranks really are:

I don’t really think it matters how lightweigt you make your 36er. You are not riding anywhere on these cranks.

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I can now report that 24"/45 mm is very doable as long as it’s almost completely flat. Easily reaching 20 km/h, more is very possible with practice. Although my cranks are not 100% so i will need a slightly better solution for that.

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This made me Real Cranky. :enraged_face: And today on my way with @ruari to Propeller Studio he even rubbed that further in. Thanks a lot, Cranky Crew!

…for making me the second person in the Galaxy to have ridden a 36er with 45 mm cranks!!! :star_struck::partying_face::exploding_head::rocket:

It just took me 100 tries, but now I can officially call myself exactly half as skilled as @SirCranky.

Riding 36"/45mm. Well, it is kinda like just staying riiiight on top of your unicycle and just following its movements carefully. I am not in control of Anything. Just a reluctantly accepted passenger. :sweat_smile:

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