In 2-4 years, serious unicycle touring will be done on Schlumpf based 36" unicycles. (Does anyone have one yet?)
This weekend, I did my first ride of any sort of distance on my harper-equipped, stockton-built 36/54 unicycle. My setup is pretty kloogey right now with the bolt for the torque arm running through the bottom V of my Hunter frame with a couple washers. It needs a more permanent setup (this one needs constant adjustment). I’m a little embarassed to admit that I really havn’t given this wheel the attention it deserves.
Yesterday, as part of the Berkeley Juggling and Unicycling festival, we had a group ride. It was 8 miles of mostly flat terrain; the longest I’ve done with this wheel to date. The ride was with a group of mostly 36" and 29" unicycles, and was at mostly relaxed pace.
Lets get the negatives out of the way.
Mounting is hard (but you get used to it). Low-speed handling sucks. It doesn’t like to go slower than about 7mph. The hub (and therefore the unicycle)is quite heavy (no I haven’t weighed it). Mild hills are hard, steep hills are very difficult to impossible. At stoplights I had to dismount and remount each time (I usually do a bunnyhop/standstill).
The Positive.
Once this thing is up to speed, the ride is SWEET!!! On the occassions I was riding next to a coker at its usual speed, I would be hardly pedaling while the other rider was spinning away. On minor downhills, I could scream without pedaling my rear off. In its element, the geared coker lets you ride faster with lower effort.
People who have ridden geared unicycles with smaller wheels (myself included) have complained about them being twichy and requiring lots of focus and mental energy to stay up. Not so on this beast. At cruising speed, the ride is fun and smooth (once you’re used to it). For long flat rides, it can’t be beat.
Because of its lack of shiftability and weight, I wouldn’t use this unicycle for serious touring. It just isn’t practical for anything that has any amount of climbing (and what tour doesn’t?).
But swap the Harper hub for a Schlumpf and the world changes (no offense Greg). I’m hearing that with a little bit of practice that the Schlumpf is on-the-fly shiftable. That means for long flats (with minor hills), you get to cruise at 1:1.5. See a hill comming up or riding in the city? …shift to 1:1 and have all the leverage and control you need. I used 170’s on my ride, but I think 160’s might be an ideal compromise. Touring with existing unicyles requires a compromise with crank length. Short cranks give you speed on the flats, but you suffer in the hills; too long and the flats aren’t much fun. Add a Schlumf hub with 160’s and even steep hills are managable while the long cranks will be perfectly suitable for cruising on the flats in 1:1.5
Once this catches on, I don’t think touring will ever be the same. Average speeds will increase by several mph without a notable increase in effort. Once one rider in a group gets one, all his friends will have to get them too so they can keep up. You heard it here first.
It seems like the current focus of geared unicycles is on the smaller wheels, and their portability is attractive, but I think the internally-geared hub really shines on the big wheel.
PS. I don’t currently have a cycle computer, so don’t ask for any numbers. Once I put one on, I’ll post more information, but don’t expect a detailed scientific trial.
