I completely agree, I am however glad that some borther with it so we might get better equipment.
I encourage you with your attitude wholeheartedly!
I agree that thereās no need for most to care about such details, definitions or precise measures!
However, some of us got bad knees or other issues ā and thus really care about ergonomics on a unicycle. And then there are some nerds or possibly actual rocket scientists among us, that just like rocket science. ā and as @Brian87 mentioned, perhaps for a common good.
So as someone with a bad knee to Iāll dreaily thread for a bit: What setup if preferable for the knees?
This!
Well Iām an engineer, not orbital mechanics or rocket science, but a chip-guy, and details are kind of important in thatā¦ as is knowing which ones arenāt.
Also I never said "Q-factorā wasnāt important, because it patently is (which is why I have VCX cranks on my unis with 125mm hubs), just that having some āSIā or āISOā definition of Q-factor, or the precise semantics of the word āfactorā isnāt ā especially when the origins of it is āquack-factorā. I donāt think weāre trying to define the second here. Furthermore I also didnāt say that details werenāt important, again they plainly are, the machining of an ISIS crank interface is really quite detailed and precise for example ā and I have looked at that ā because I was interested (from the perspective of machining an ISIS axle).
Also, in my option, you can come up with any definition you want so that you can say that the " āwhatever-factorā of this setup is precisely 1.34256", it wonāt make one iota of a difference as people will keep calling it āQā and just make relative comparisons.
Anyway, Iām not trying to be argumentative and Iāve said enough, so Iāll leave it at that.
This reminds me of all the discussions I had at uni, mathematicians vs. engineers, full of clichĆ©sā¦ So Iāll leave it at that and wonāt start another one. Iām too old for this nowadays.
Sounds like a plan ā otherwise weāll end up like an episode of āThe Big Bang Theoryā (Iāll be Howardā¦). We can keep an argument about whether to use āiā or ājā for the āimaginaryā part of complex numbers for the future
I couldnāt care less, we donāt use actual numbers. Calculations are for physicians and engineersā¦ Wait, we had a plan. Sorry, I canāt help it. Ok, Iāll stopā¦
What dies Q-factor have to do with bad knees? Sure enough I had to stop riding UW because my right knee started to hurt really badly, but I blame that on not having a seat. So pushing down will slightly twist my legs.
I found riding with a smaller wheel feels better on my knees. Others might say short cranks are also good , but not when climbing or descending.
Knee pain is natural with overexcursion. And using a bigger wheel is definitely more taxing - at least until the momentum is up and going.
It takes a long time to train the body to be used to hours of riding.
Besides, what are ābad knees?ā Arthritis? Or just out of shape? We do sit down a lot in modern society. And cycling is good for arthritis.
My point is; I think most pains is from overdoing itā¦ too much too fast.
I think John Wayne must have had bad knees, cause he had a wide q-factor when walking. So must have had Gary Cooper in High Noon.
ps: in the wild west the q-factor was measured by the distance between spurs.
This might be true, 15 years of too much cycling, too little days off from cycling might have taken their toll on one of my knees. Luckily this predates me unicycling so itās not the uni thatās to blame. Even though it doesnāt help eitherā¦
I found longer cranks help, but I live in a hilly place. The wheel size is mostly true except for the 36er which seems to be easier in the knees than the other unis.
They should have had zero q horses back then. Iāll bet they would have been faster and smoother.
I think pragnant ponies had the worst q factors back then, but the natives didnĖt complain about the knee pain.
To save the knees, learn how to ride with one, then both hands on the grab handle or bar setup. In a two-handed position, the whole body is locked into left-right motion with the unicycle, and sudden turns and twists will not place extra stress on the knees. The opposite of this is riding an UW. I can understand why @Setonix complained about his knees after learning the UW, and for that reason, I think I will not be buying one.
That alongside bad squatting technique (which makes jumping/landing/running damaging to your knees).
Another setup good for the knees is to lie with your belly on the seat and pedal with your handsā¦
The problem with the 36" is that because I donāt ride it too often, the first few times of mounting which fail, end up in some harder drops back on my feet. The unis I have of 26" and up I ride with 150mm. I donāt care much for being fast, just that I have a comfy ride. And there I think the 36" is quite heavy.
Stepping off the back is less of a problem, because that is done in a controlled way.
It has been done, believe it or not. Though somebody was riding behind, also on a unicycle, holding her feet.
ok from now on I will focus on freestyle, to ride like that. Never any knee pain and possibly strong belly muscles