My Uni.5 Review

RE: My Uni.5 Review

> So, what exactly is the problem with mounting uni.5? What goes wrong?

You have ridden different sized wheels? Sometimes after riding one for a
while, when you get on another sized wheel it feels odd. Take that “odd” for
starters.

Next, you have a certain expectation from a unicycle, that it will go a
certain distance when you press down on the pedal. A 24" wheel will move
back about this much, a 20" about this much, etc. First-time mounters on the
Uni.5 don’t know what to expect. It is very unusual to have a unicycle where
the wheel moves a different speed than the pedals.

Lastly, it’s everyone’s first mount. How many times did it take you to get
on a different sized wheel the first time you tried? Probably more than one.
Even the riders at TCUC were reported to have some trouble at first. If they
were like me, part of it was not wanting to hurt the one-of-a-kind unicycle
either.

JF

Re: My Uni.5 Review

Thanks all for replies. I understand that the rollback mount of uni.5
is difficult, as initially it won’t go, and then if it goes it doesn’t
stop (or too late). I was assuming that the static mount would be
easier (than rollback, not easier than a standard uni). Tom Holub’s
explanation seems plausible but it sounds more like “getting used to”
than “difficult”.

John Foss, I have experience mounting 12" u/i 28". Most certainly I
cannot do any “new” size on the first try. I consider myself a weak
mounter. Maybe this knowledge sparks my interest in the mechanics of
mounting uni.5 in the first place?

Sadly I don’t foresee an opportunity to ride a geared uni. I’d love to
experience all of this myself. But I think one day geared unis will be
common, or at least more so than today.

Klaas Bil

On Thu, 20 Jun 2002 18:57:18 -0500, harper
<harper.6kman@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>
>Klaas Bil wrote:
>> *So, what exactly is the problem with mounting uni.5? What goes
>> wrong?
>>
>> *
>
>Klaas-
>
>The classic roll back mount is tricky for either the Coker or a geared
>up unicycle. The rider applies some force to the back pedal to get the
>unicycle to “roll back” under him/her/it. The big wheel (or effective
>big wheel) travels back much further than expected and the unicycle
>shoots out backwards from under the rider.
>
>The problem is exacerbated in the case of the geared unicycle because it
>“looks” like it shouldn’t do that. It’s short, lightweight, and before
>you know it you’re over the top of it and it’s squirting out behind you
>like…well, you get the picture.
>
>In the case of the Coker the problem is made greater by the mass of the
>wheel. The rider tries to “roll back” this inertia by exerting a larger
>than normal downward force against the back pedal to overcome this rest
>inertia. Once rolling, the big, heavy wheel just doesn’t want to stop
>and again, out the back it goes.
>
>
>–
>harper - Gearhead
>
> -Greg Harper
>
>“Seems to me a six-foot drop would break something a little more
>precious (ouch!) than a hub…”
>-sendhair: discussing hub strength
>
>“The main ball bearings on the saddle top are still swollen.”
>-Mikefule: discussing a 20 mile ride
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>harper’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/426
>View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/18799
>

Re: Re: My Uni.5 Review

You could have ridden Frank Bonsch’s geared uni in Bremen. If fact, if you tell Frank how excited you are that a certain Western European football team won it’s game against a certain North American team this morning (even though another Western European team didn’t even make it to the World Cup) maybe he will feel suddenly very friendly toward you and just bring it to het Nederlands for you to try.

If you ever go to Deutschland I’ll bet he’d let you ride it. If you ever come here you may certainly ride mine. And we will toast Beatrice with root beer all night long.

Re: My Uni.5 Review

On Fri, 21 Jun 2002 23:42:23 -0500, harper
<harper.6mu5m@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:

>You could have ridden Frank Bonsch’s geared uni in Bremen.
I (we) had to decide not to go to Bremen due to other obligations, but
at the same time I regretted it for several reasons, one of which was
the uni.6 opportunity.

>If fact, if
>you tell Frank how excited you are that a certain Western European
>football team won it’s game against a certain North American team this
>morning (even though another Western European team didn’t even make it
>to the World Cup)
Hey hey what do YOU have to do with that? It’s bad enough as it is,
with the Germans rubbing it in all the time!

> maybe he will feel suddenly very friendly toward you
>and just bring it to het Nederlands for you to try.
>
>If you ever go to Deutschland I’ll bet he’d let you ride it. If you ever
>come here you may certainly ride mine. And we will toast Beatrice with
>root beer all night long.
I really doubt that Frank would bring it to me to try, regardless of
how I flatter the Mannschaft. Thanks for the uni.5 offer though, I’ll
keep that in mind. But I must ask (also because it was elaborated upon
in another thread): what is root beer?

Klaas Bil

Re: Re: My Uni.5 Review

Root beer is a sweet, carbonated beverage. It is a form of pop if you’re from the midwest, soda if you’re from the east, and Coke if you’re from the deep south. It is flavored with the extract of roots and herbs, in particular the bark from the root of the sassafras tree, also used in making sassparilla, one of two beverages similar to root beer, the other being ginger beer.

as a south african that have done some internet radio i’ve had the opportunity to ask a variety of people of the american persuasion what root beer is
that, mr harper, is the scariest, most concisely accurate answer i’ve ever heard

Re: My Uni.5 Review

Hi Klaas!

>>If fact, if
>>you tell Frank how excited you are that a certain Western European
>>football team won it’s game against a certain North American team this
>>morning (even though another Western European team didn’t even make it
>>to the World Cup)

Hi Greg!

Sorry, I don´t care about soccer at all.

>I really doubt that Frank would bring it to me to try, regardless of
>how I flatter the Mannschaft. Thanks for the uni.5 offer though, I’ll
>keep that in mind. But I must ask (also because it was elaborated upon
>in another thread): what is root beer?

You´re right: flattering the German soccer team won´t help at all. But
I´m working in Aachen (Aken) just a few km´s from the Netherlands´
border. You seem to live in the Den Haag area, so this are another
250km. If you want to try uni.6 here in Aachen you´re welcome. I will
also be at the Hamburg convention (4.-7.7.) and of course at the EJC
in Bremen (yes: eurocycle and european juggling convention both in
Bremen this year). Have you been in Amsterdam for the Dutch Juggling
Festival? I was there but I didn´t ride my geared uni very often
there.

…and root beer is some obscure sweet soft drink (for MN: pop), which
I really didn´t like at all.

CU somewhere!

Frank

Re: My Uni.5 Review

>From: harper <harper.6ocsa@timelimit.unicyclist.com>
>To: rsu@unicycling.org
>Subject: Re: My Uni.5 Review
>Date: Sat, 22 Jun 2002 19:21:49 -0500
>
>Klaas Bil wrote:
> > But I must ask (also because it was elaborated upon in another
> > thread): what is root beer?
> >
>
>Root beer is a sweet, carbonated beverage. It is a form of pop if you’re
>from the midwest, soda if you’re from the east, and Coke if you’re from
>the deep south.

I understand that Europeans don’t like our root beer. I’ve been told it
tastes too much like their cough medicine. Is that true?

However, I like root beer. And, if you are just learning about root beer,
you should also be aware of root beer floats, where you throw a scoop of
vanilla ice cream into the pop and swirl it around with your straw.

This, of course, is completely on topic, since about three weeks ago I went
for a casual ride on my Sem and stopped at Taco Bell for a large root beer.
Rode six miles. Nothing like a fun, casual, Sunday root beer ride.

Which reminds me, we’re planning another root beer ride this Sunday, June
30. Everyone is welcome. (Other forms of pop are okay, too.)

Carol
Minnesota


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mmmmm…root beer float…mmmmmm…

Re: My Uni.5 Review

On Mon, 24 Jun 2002 07:44:20 GMT, frank.bonsch@epost.de (Unifrank)
wrote:

>You´re right: flattering the German soccer team won´t help at all. But
>I´m working in Aachen (Aken) just a few km´s from the Netherlands´
>border. You seem to live in the Den Haag area, so this are another
>250km. If you want to try uni.6 here in Aachen you´re welcome.

Hi Frank,

Aachen! Then maybe we can work something out for this coming weekend.
I happen to be in South Limburg for a mountain unicycling weekend, so
I would be very close to you. Would Sunday afternoon suit you? E-mail
me on klaas123 (at) xs4all (dot) com if it could be accommodated. I’ve
never ridden anything beyond 28" so the uni.6 with its effective 41"
diameter (IIRC) would be a big challenge. I’d love to give it a try,
though.

CU?
Klaas Bil

Re: My Uni.5 Review

On Mon, 24 Jun 2002 09:05:13 -0500, “Carol McLean”
<cettermclean@hotmail.com> wrote:

>I understand that Europeans don’t like our root beer. I’ve been told it
>tastes too much like their cough medicine. Is that true?
In that case, I might like it. I like ginger beer (which is not beer
either), and herb liquor (Kräuterlikör). And I like the taste of many
cough medicines, for that matter.

>This, of course, is completely on topic
I’m happy to know that :slight_smile:

Klaas Bil

RE: My Uni.5 Review

> I understand that Europeans don’t like our root beer. I’ve
> been told it tastes too much like their cough medicine.
> Is that true?

I don’t know, but I suspect that, like other people, Europeans don’t all
have the same likes and dislikes in food and drink. Also I hope there are
choices in brand of cough medicine! :slight_smile:

> In that case, I might like it. I like ginger beer (which is not beer
> either), and herb liquor (Kräuterlikör). And I like the taste of many
> cough medicines, for that matter.

Uh-oh, there’s one now!

JF

Re: My Uni.5 Review

harper <harper.6ocsa@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
> Root beer is a sweet, carbonated beverage. It is a form of pop if you’re
> from the midwest, soda if you’re from the east, and Coke if you’re from
> the deep south. It is flavored with the extract of roots and herbs, in
> particular the bark from the root of the sassafras tree, also used in
> making sassparilla, one of two beverages similar to root beer, the other
> being ginger beer.

So why do root beer Jelly Belly beans taste of Germolene antiseptic cream?

sarah

Unicon 11 ~ Washington USA.~ July 25 - Aug 2 2002
The world unicycle convention and championships.
http://www.nwcue.org

Re: Re: My Uni.5 Review

Root beer jelly beans taste of Germolene antiseptic cream because that is their primary ingredient. Manufacturers of the jelly beans didn’t count on clever sleuths like you actually tasting Germolene antiseptic cream and making the connection between the two and, so, took the path of least expense and started to mold and add solidifying agents to the cream.

Are you still planning on being the first in the world to have ridden the two geared unicycles? That gets it back on topic after the long, although refreshing, root beer break. See you at UNICON.

Re: My Uni.5 Review

Sarah Miller wondered:
> So why do root beer Jelly Belly beans taste of Germolene antiseptic cream?

I mentioned this thread to my missus. It turns out she’s actually tried
root beer - they used to serve it at McDonalds in Bromley. She says it
tastes like surgical spirit.

I don’t know how she knows what surgical spirit tastes like, as I pointed
out when she asked me how Sarah knows what Germolene tastes like.


Danny Colyer (remove safety to reply) ( http://www.juggler.net/danny )
Recumbent cycle page: http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/recumbents/
“I don’t think proofreading is adequate. All posts should be waxed and
buffed. Then they should wear little tuxedos.” - Greg Harper on usenet

Re: My Uni.5 Review

Could someone post a picture of the Uni.5 ?

Thx

HB

Re: Re: My Uni.5 Review

The whole story is at Greg Harper - Home
Photos, drawings…

Re: Re: My Uni.5 Review

I had an unfortunate experience once involving a groggy hangover, a toothbrush and an unfortunately-placed tube of antiseptic cream.

No I didn’t think “Mmmmm, rootbear flavoured toothpaste!”

Leo White

Re: Re: My Uni.5 Review

The cheep root beer (like the stuff you would find at a McDonalds) does taste strange and artificial. But that’s not real root beer. There are premium root beers that taste much better and don’t have that strange surgical spirit flavor. But the premium stuff costs more (about the price of a bottle of good beer).

One root beer that I like is Henry Weinhard’s Root Beer (brewed here in Washington state). Here is some info on Henry’s Root Beer <http://www.root-beer.info/brews/henryweinhard.html&gt; When some of you from the other side of the pond get over here for UNICON we will have to introduce you to some proper root beer.

Right now I’m enjoying a nice root beer float with some Henry’s root beer. Yummm.

john_childs