On another thread, Keaner wrote:
I love Uni, Muni .
I can’t think of any technical questions about Uni/MUni to ask except, I wished I could pedal faster,as far as just riding ,I don’t mean concrete , I find it easy. Anything I need to know with come from more miles,my mind.
Hey, perhaps we all went off on one there, because you appeared to be suggesting that unicycling was at fault because you found it too slow. Sorry.:o
A couple of things:
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You don’t have to ask technical questions. This is a Unicyclists’ Community. If you do a good ride or a good trick, write it up. Share your thoughts - in verse, if you like. Describe your uni. What improvements would you like to make? What advice can YOU give to beginners? And so on.
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So you wish you could pedal faster? Two things will help: practice, and short cranks. Practice costs time and effort; short cranks cost about 10 quid/15 dollars from Unicycle.uk.com or unicycle.com. Changing them is a 10 minute job, and not irreversible. Have long cranks for off roading or trials, and short ones for hooning about on.
What size wheel do you have? Typically, a 20 comes out of the crate with 125mm cranks, and a 24 with 150mm cranks.
A 20 is pretty fast with 110mm cranks, and a 24 is pretty fast with 125s. A 24 is easily rideable on the flat with 110s.
On my 20, I have 110 mm cranks, which give enough control for easy idling and one-footing, and I can ride round in circles so fast I get dizzy, and can lean over so far I can clip my pedals on the floor. On my 24, I have 89mm cranks, which is a bit extreme. However, with 102s, I could hit speeds well into double figures, whilst having enough control for some cross country (rather than MUni).
What happens is your feet move at more or less the same speed, but with short cranks, they have less distance to go, so they do more rpm.
And remember, it’s the feeling of speed which counts, and that comes from having the ‘events’ close enough together. Long rides on the flat can be tedious, even on a big wheel with short cranks. I’m sure skateboarding would be tedious on a perfectly flat surface too.