I was reading about the Guwi, and i began to think back to summer. I had read a few times and read other threads, about full suspension unicycles. Mostly just plans. I decided that at some point (now the near future) that i’d buy 3-5 rock shocks, and mount them in a rim. I had it all solved. 5 shocks probably, so the rim doesnt taco totaly. And then each has pivots in them, on the rim, so it will be able to move when the tire does. The frame would need to be entirely custom built, as to acomidate the tire. I’d end up using the back tire off an enduro motorcycle, which the the rim would be just stiff enough not to taco, and a frame that would give a few inches of freespace between tire and frame. Either that, or i’d take like 7 smaller shocks, and mount them in like a 24’’ rim. It wouldnt taco as easily, that in itself would work fairly well. Well, care to add suggestions? lol, post any further ideas. and I KNOW THAT THERES a thread like this, but this is my ideas on it. And im also planning to do this at some point, and maybe bring her to mondo
I believe the word “full” is unnecessary here. 
i had an idea a little while ago about the whole suspension uni thing. so lets say you cut a hub in half, hollow out the inside so theres space in side, weld a heavy spring to the two ends on the inside so it could twist, attach the to halves so they could twist but not pull apart then build your wheel.
I have no clue if this will work at all because i have no clue how much force is being put on it. nor do i know if the rim would work if the spokes were constantly twisting.
just wanted to run it by the more experienced engineers.
sounds good i guess, but, are you talking about mounting like 2 seperate wheels so to speak on it?
or… we could take a guni and mount it so the gears/chain can slide/move with the wheel. So the frame and pedals will stay hooked together sorta. i’ll just draw up plans and scan em or something… here… brb
had you considered that the shocks and springs from a bike would be far too stiff for this use?
if they were too soft the rim would squash and break
The problem with the first design is that however much travel you give it, it will rotate by up to that amount when you pedal, and wind up, when you stop pedalling it will unwind. You can actually buy some cheap nasty unicycles made like this. They don’t work because of the wind up.
To make a full suspension muni, you really need to make some kind of giraffe or equivalent cos the pedals need to not be fixed to the wheel axis.
Joe
yes, so you need to find a happy medium, and standard bike shocks won’t be it.
Also what Joe said, I’ve ridden one of those crappy 3 shock spoke uni bike things, altering the shock stiffness changes the ride from too stiff to make any difference, to too sloppy to ride in a straight line, with no middle ground.
i think i know just what your talking about
edit: i just drew this up like 5 minutes ago, its my idea for a suspensioned frame
You would have to have one of the shocks mounted solidly to reduce windup (able to completely eliminate 
:o )
The best working prototype I’ve seen. If you use 3 shocks + spokes like the second in there you wouldn’t taco the wheel, plus lighter and prob less expensive.
Full thread.
I don’t mean any of this in a sarcastic tone, I only mean it in more of a “I’m asking because I don’t understand” way. For all of the work (new frame, hub and wheel R+D), what’s the payoff once you ride as opposed to a standard muni? It may be a bit smoother feeling when riding offroad but will you be able to tolerate the associated consequences of a suspension frame? Also, most of your weight is on the pedals when you land so how will that force be displaced into the shocks?
see, in my system, the pedals arent connected to the hub directly, its seperated, the hub moves from in the frame, ive got so many bugs to work out still
ah, ok. that would be a bit different then. I’m no engineer, but do keep in mind that the “bottom bracket” type rigging you make for the pedals/cranks/spindle will need to be in a suspended state or you’ll still feel like you’re landing on solid unsupported ground 
A recumbent I once used (Easy Racer Tour Easy) had some kind of suspension hub in the front wheel.
I wouldn’t call it suspension, it was more of a give that reduced impact on the handlebars.
It was pretty neat actually, but i really feel the only reason it worked was because so little weight is focused on the front wheel on long wheel base recumbents.
This suspension thing got me thinking and I came up with this.Basically it is a single pivot swingarm that could use mtb rear shocks.Chain driven on both sides because of split cranks.The chain length would remain constant through the suspension travel as the sprockets share the swingarm pivots.It would have a large Q factor to have room for the shocks.Would it be rideable and would it exhibit desirable characteristics with the cranks offset to the rear of the wheel.I dont know the answer to that ,I have no intention of building it but it doesn’t hurt to have a think about these things.
looks cool. Currently im working on fashioning out some plans for my chain driven idea, but like a midget girraffe on steroids, odd concept i think, and it’d end up weighing a bit, unless i can get half of it in aluminum
If anyone wants a suspension uni frame For Sale: 20" Suspension Frame
It can be yours for $10 + shipping
Ahh but the holy grail for suspension uni’s is to have the cranks on the spongy side of the suspension.The picture in the link does no more than a suspension seat post.
I’d guess it would be better ridden the other way, with the pedals in front of the axle. This would make the riding position more natural (it would be pretty much like a bike, with pedals slightly in front of the saddle) and would also seem a better way for the suspension to pivot. It would be cool to build one just to see what it was like - it seems like it would be over-complicating things but look at the monstrosities of full-suspension bikes people ride! I must say I’m a bit skeptical that it would be better (or even as good as) a big low-pressure tyre though.
Somebody with the skills, time and resources needs to build one and see what it’s like - it would make a nice novelty machine if nothing else.
Rob