pogo stick

General
1

Anyone else got a pogo stick?

I succumbed to temptation last weekend and bought one of these. I was
wondering, a) if they help unicycling balance or anything like that at all
and b) if you’ve tried anything more than flat ground on them, anyone
tried trials type jumping up / down stuff on them? I’ve already tried
taking my pogo stick off-road, but it just doesn’t bounce well enough and
totally eats up the ground, so I think that’s a no-no, but I’m going to
try steps and stuff once I’ve got it fully under control. I’ve got a few
low (1 foot) bike attachment railings which might be fun to hop on to and
to gap off.

From looking at the pogo-stick in normal use, it doesn’t get much more
than a couple of inches of travel so I’ve apparently got eight inches
spare bounce, which I’d reckon would get a good couple of feet of drop.

hmmmm,

must play,

Joe

2

> Anyone else got a pogo stick?

Did you buy one of those Razor ones? I have just recently seen them in
stores (including Sharper Image). It would be nice to have access to a
pogo stick that can handle adult weights. This Razor one says its air
device is adjustable up to 200 pounds or something.

In the early 80’s Al Hemminger had a pogo stick from a European company
that could hold up to 250 pounds. It was really fun to jump on because you
could get serious height on it if you were lighter. But those producs
disappeared from the market, probably because of the liability associated
with the serious height.

Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com

“Freedom is not free”

3

— Joe Marshall <joe_marshall@dropmemail.com> wrote:
> Anyone else got a pogo stick?
>
> I succumbed to temptation last weekend and bought one of these. I was
> wondering, a) if they help unicycling balance or anything like that at
> all and b) if you’ve tried anything more than flat ground on them,
> anyone tried trials type jumping up / down stuff on them? I’ve already
> tried taking my pogo stick off-road, but it just doesn’t bounce well
> enough and totally eats up the ground, so I think that’s a no-no, but
> I’m going to try steps and stuff once I’ve got it fully under control.
> I’ve got a few low (1 foot) bike attachment railings which might be fun
> to hop on to and to gap off.
>
> From looking at the pogo-stick in normal use, it doesn’t get much more
> than a couple of inches of travel so I’ve apparently got eight inches
> spare bounce, which I’d reckon would get a good couple of feet of drop.
>
> hmmmm,
>
> must play,
>
> Joe
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> rsu mailing list rsu@unicycling.org
> http://www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu
POGO STICKING!

Im a pretty good pogo sticker. And Ive learned a few things:

Dont try it on grass. It puts big holes in the ground. Also the cap on the
bottom of the pole can get stuck in the dirt and rip off. This ruins the
pogo stick. Also if this doesnt happen, the cap can get stuck, and then
you crash and burn, regardless of skill.

Trials type stuff is possible on a pogostick. Ive done stairs, up and
down. The thing thats hard it that once you get up to a higher stair, the
pogostick bottoms aout very easy and its hard to regain your balance. Gaps
are also not that hard, except for regaining balance once again. Ive tried
grinding on mine also, didnt ever work for me.

There are also numerous tricks you can do. Try hopping with the stick
behind you, um, hard to explain, and takes a while to get. Spinning the
pogostick 180 or 360 then landing back on it. kind of like a bar spin on a
bike. no hands. 1 footed is supprisingly hard. you can kick your feet out
spread eagle like while in the air.

One reason I just gave up the pogo stick was that they dont make any high
proformance pogos. IF you find one, let me know please. But mine, the
spring died and it no longet got the bounce you wanted. also the cap on
the bottom was punched through by the stick. Pogo is fun, but nothing
compared to a unicycle.

later,

=====
Nick Cegelka

Pyrotechnick13@yahoo.com

NickLikesFire AIM

http://www.uni-psycho.cityslide.com

Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals.
http://personals.yahoo.com

4

> Did you buy one of those Razor ones? I have just recently seen them in
> stores (including Sharper Image). It would be nice to have access to a
pogo
> stick that can handle adult weights. This Razor one says its air device
> is adjustable up to 200 pounds or something.
>
> In the early 80’s Al Hemminger had a pogo stick from a European company
that
> could hold up to 250 pounds. It was really fun to jump on because you
could
> get serious height on it if you were lighter. But those producs
disappeared
> from the market, probably because of the liability associated with the
> serious height.

I’ve got an “Acrobat Action Jumping Pogo Stick 500” I think. This is a
cheaper version of the one which uk.unicycle.com sells. The one I’ve got
is big and chunky and rated for up to 200 pounds weight, but isn’t
adjustable. The more expensive one has a turny thing on top which lets you
adjust the preload so the bounce is harder or softer, presumably for
heavier / lighter people.

It came with all manner of safety warnings, I’m supposed to never use it
on non-flat surfaces and always wear a helmet while on it!

The shock is apparently about 10 inches, so hopefully I won’t have too
many problems with bottoming out on stairs or anything.

Joe

5

> Trials type stuff is possible on a pogostick. Ive done stairs, up and
> down. The thing thats hard it that once you get up to a higher stair,
> the pogostick bottoms aout very easy and its hard to regain your
> balance. Gaps are also not that hard, except for regaining balance once
> again. Ive tried grinding on mine also, didnt ever work for me.
>
> There are also numerous tricks you can do. Try hopping with the stick
> behind you, um, hard to explain, and takes a while to get. Spinning the
> pogostick 180 or 360 then landing back on it. kind of like a bar spin on
> a bike. no hands. 1 footed is supprisingly hard. you can kick your feet
> out spread eagle like while in the air.
>
> One reason I just gave up the pogo stick was that they dont make any
> high proformance pogos. IF you find one, let me know please. But mine,
> the spring died and it no longet got the bounce you wanted. also the cap
> on the bottom was punched through by the stick. Pogo is fun, but nothing
> compared to a unicycle.

I thought of spins and jumping off the stick, stick behind you
sounds hard.

Hopefully thiss is a high performance pogo stick, I guess I shall find out
soon enough. They’re available in lots of bike shops in the UK all of a
sudden and also from uk.unicycle.com.

Joe

6

On 1/11/01 5:49 pm, Nick Dangerously posted:

> One reason I just gave up the pogo stick was that they dont make any
> high proformance pogos. IF you find one, let me know please. But mine,
> the spring died and it no longet got the bounce you wanted.

The Razor one someone else has mentioned looks excellent, but I’ve ot had
a go. Instead of a spring mechanism, it has a compressed air cylinder
awith a built in pump so you can adjust the pressure to suit you
weight/preference.

–
Trevor Coultart

“Rabbit is clever. Rabbit has brain. I suppose that’s why he never
understands anything” (Winnie the Pooh.)

7

>— Joe Marshall <joe_marshall@dropmemail.com> wrote:
>> Anyone else got a pogo stick?
<snip, big time>

pyrotechnick13@yahoo.com (
>Nick Cegelka
) responded:
>
>Im a pretty good pogo sticker. And Ive learned a few things:

<snip>
>
>
>There are also numerous tricks you can do. Try hopping with the stick
>behind you, um, hard to explain, and takes a while to get. Spinning the
>pogostick 180 or 360 then landing back on it. kind of like a bar spin on
>a bike. no hands. 1 footed is supprisingly hard. you can kick your feet
>out spread eagle like while in the air.
I have to disagree. 1-footed never seemed hard – I did that all the time
as a kid with little practice. In fact, I tried to make it harder by
pogoing with just one hand and one foot on, and that wasn’t too hard,
either. It was possible to go same-sided limbs, but opposites were easier
(L foot and R hand, or vv.)

Spinning would have been cool – wish I’d thought of that!

I also found it pretty easy to hop with the stick behind me.
>
>
>One reason I just gave up the pogo stick was that they dont make any high
>proformance pogos. IF you find one, let me know please. But mine, the
>spring died and it no longet got the bounce you wanted. also the cap on
>the bottom was punched through by the stick. Pogo is fun, but nothing
>compared to a unicycle.
Totally true. I have never ridden a good pogo stick since I hit about
150lbs in high school, and even before then mine was feeling soggy (from
my weight). And Nick is also right about this: pogo definitely is nowhere
near as fun as uni!

David Stone Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
2:30 @ Central Park Bandshell

8

>> Anyone else got a pogo stick?
>
> Did you buy one of those Razor ones? I have just recently seen them in
> stores (including Sharper Image). It would be nice to have access to a
> pogo stick that can handle adult weights. This Razor one says its air
> device is adjustable up to 200 pounds or something.

I was in toys-r-us a few weeks ago, and was really tempted to find out how
well those worked. However, I did not feel it worth the investment just to
find out. I do have a nice $30 pogo stick I bought a few years back. Pogo
sticks are a great workout. You can also try things like hopping one-
footed, or without any hands. (Yes, both can be dangerous, of course.) My
trick was juggling clubs on a pogo stick.

> In the early 80’s Al Hemminger had a pogo stick from a European company
> that could hold up to 250 pounds. It was really fun to jump on because
> you could get serious height on it if you were lighter. But those
> producs disappeared from the market, probably because of the liability
> associated with the serious height.

I read a story a few months back about some group of mechanical
engineering students (I forgot where, but one of those well-known
colleges) who put together a pogo stick, using technology commonly found
in bows (as in archery). I believe that meant a fiberglass spring. The
resulting pogo stick could jump an absolutely rediculous height. I think
they were talking 5 feet, but I’m not certain. Incidently, they only made
the one prototype, at a cost of just over $1000, so I wouldn’t expect to
see these on the market any time soon :frowning: Still, they’d be a lot of fun.

jeff lutkus

Sent via the Unicyclist Community - http://Unicyclist.com

9

Pogo Stick

I’ve done some pogo sticking myself. I’ve gone up and down stairs and can do bar spins pretty well too. I can also ride it with no hands. It would be awesome to have high performance pogo sticks, thats probably one of my drawbacks.

10

“Nick Dangerously” <pyrotechnick13@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1004636763.16471.rsu@unicycling.org…
> One reason I just gave up the pogo stick was that they dont make any
> high proformance pogos. IF you find one, let me know please. But mine,
> the spring died and it no longet got the bounce you wanted. also the cap
> on the bottom was punched through by the stick. Pogo is fun, but nothing
> compared to a unicycle.
>
http://www.pogostickusa.com/pogo/index.htm sells lots of pogos.

I think my one http://www.hlcorp.com.tw/sportgood-5.htm looks nicer than
these new fangled ones with two bits on the top half.
http://www.hlcorp.com.tw/sportgood.htm is the one with adjustable preload.

Joe

11

Although we stock them I had not played with one really until Mostyn (the
rep looks at you really oddly when you REALLY play with the toys at
exhibitions - we did take the mini bike tandem for a race around the show
ground, but that is another story). I scared myself with how much bounce
you can get with the Acrobat ones, I guess I got up to 80cm in the air
without too much of a problem… the problem was landing it though!

Roger

The UK’s Unicycle Source http://www.unicycle.uk.com

“Joe Marshall” <joe_marshall@dropmemail.com> wrote in message
news:1004718364.579238@ananke.eclipse.net.uk…
>
> “Nick Dangerously” <pyrotechnick13@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:mailman.1004636763.16471.rsu@unicycling.org…
> > One reason I just gave up the pogo stick was that they dont make any
> > high proformance pogos. IF you find one, let me know please. But mine,
> > the spring died and it no longet got the bounce you wanted. also the
> > cap on the bottom was punched through by the stick. Pogo is fun, but
> > nothing compared to a unicycle.
> >
> http://www.pogostickusa.com/pogo/index.htm sells lots of pogos.
>
> I think my one http://www.hlcorp.com.tw/sportgood-5.htm looks nicer than
> these new fangled ones with two bits on the top half.
> http://www.hlcorp.com.tw/sportgood.htm is the one with adjustable
> preload.
>
> Joe
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> rsu mailing list rsu@unicycling.org
> http://www.unicycling.org/mailman/listinfo/rsu