What’s it like? Where’d you get it? Are they sturdy?
Like this 52" one:
800 clams or so (chrome plating, cool). Plus an air seat. 4" cranks,
yikes; that would be fast, until I killed myself. 3 or 4 cross or radial?!
Wha?
My triathlete GF points out that weight on the wheel, especially the rim,
slows you down a lot more than weight on the frame. How bad would solid
rubber tires be? The whole thing is roughly twice as heavy as a Coker.
Cottered cranks? I know nothing except what I read here on
rec.sport.unicycling, but I’ve inferred cottered cranks are a Bad Thing. Am
I wrong? Or is that just for Muni and trials stuff?
Nickel plated rims: good?
60 spokes, 120 plated bright zinc, 3 or 4 cross or radial: is 60 enough for
a 240#+ rider on such a big wheel?
Forged 4" or 5" steel cottered crank: Um?
Smooth solid black rubber tires 7/8" wired on: wired on?
16" Antique leather “hammock” style saddle
Cast fork crown w/pinned & welded fork legs: cast steel?
Sorry for the rambling post. Thoughts, though?
Scott
P.S. Please post replies to rec.sport.unicycling. I’ll read 'em, honest.
–
I unicycled to the State Fair just a few blocks from work. All the suits and
skirts mosey down out of the office buildings for lunch to get some of that
wholesome fair fare. As I passed a couple of skirts, one says to the other,
‘Dork.’ The other cut sultry eyes in my direction and said, ‘Ya? I gotta get
me some Dork, then.’
–Christopher Rhysling
Weight on the rim is only bad when you are accelerating (in the general sense: speeding up, slowing down, or changing turning speed). For steady-state riding, the “flywheel effect” can probably help one go faster. But in situations where acceleration is a dominant feature, weight on the rim is bad. Racing is especially so when an acceleration lag can give your opponent time to sense your moves and counter them. Hill-climbing is another situation where, especially in unicycling, acceleration is significant since, for any but trivial hills, the stepping/pumping motion causes cyclical changes in wheel velocity (hence, cyclical changes in acceleration). Here, whatever energy you can put into the wheel is probably gained in altitude, however, the increase in torque required to accelerate the large inertial mass limits one’s climbing ability.
Big wheel riding sounds like it could be addictive. The Coker is great fun - stately as a galleon. Put shorter cranks on it, though, and it changes character, becoming a speed demon. Those short cranks whisper, ‘Faster, faster…’
Put short cranks on a bigger and heavier wheel and you would have a stopping distance measured in furlongs. I guess at steady speeds it would be smooth and fast, but as soon as you get above 15 mph or so, it becomes a risky proposition. I belly flopped off the Coker at around 20 mph, and I can tell you it happens very quickly, and it spoils your day.
Nevertheless, if I could afford a bigger wheel, I’d buy one.
hahahahahhahh ah ah ah ha ha hah a hah ha ha ha hah ahh ahaha ha ha ahha a (takes breath) ha ha ha ha hah a h ah ah ha ha hah a hah ah ah ah ha haa hah ahaha haha hha ah ah ah ah ah a (takes yet another breath) hah ha ha h ha he hehe he h…
Wow, that almost killed me. What was that guy thinking! If he fell he would surely never have kids.
Now you know what would be awsome? If the guy turned that into a girraffe! then he wouldnt have to have those block things on his feet. I now have a goal in life: To build a girraffe that has a wheel with a 8’ diameter…nah
“ekimstorm” <ekimstorm.cduxn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:ekimstorm.cduxn@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> hahahahahhahh ah ah ah ha ha hah a hah ha ha ha hah ahh ahaha ha ha
> ahha a (takes breath) ha ha ha ha hah a h ah ah ha ha hah a hah ah ah
> ah ha haa hah ahaha haha hha ah ah ah ah ah a (takes yet another breath)
> hah ha ha h ha he hehe he h…
>
> Wow, that almost killed me. What was that guy thinking! If he fell he
> would surely never have kids.
>
> Now you know what would be awsome? If the guy turned that into a
> girraffe! then he wouldnt have to have those block things on his feet.
> I now have a goal in life: To build a girraffe that has a wheel with a
> 8’ diameter…nah
>
> -Mike
I’ve never seen Sem fall, but after seeing that, I’ll bet he has. -Naw, I’ve seem him walk with his crazy unicycle stilts… he never falls. I’m riding a borrowed 48" Penny Farthing / High Wheel that a friend has loaned me. It does not have cross-patteren spokes. I can see the wheel bend while accelerating hard. Cross patterened spokes (esp. that long) provide a much stiffer wheel. It has a “wheel-chair” style tire which is much bumpier/rougher to ride, but provides excellent traction, even on wet roads. It seems to have less road (rolling) resistance than my coker -probably because it is so hard and smooth. It has cottered cranks, and as long as you keep them tight and don’t jump on them much, they seem to be ok. Not as sturdy as DM splined cranks, but who does drops or hops on a wheel that size anyway? If you get one, I’d like to ride it around the block a few times or until I can hear it saying faster, faster, faster.
Jer
> I’ve never seen Sem fall, but after seeing that, I’ll bet he has. -Naw,
> I’ve seem him walk with his crazy unicycle stilts…
Oh my gosh. Unicycle stilts?!
> he never falls. I’m
> riding a borrowed 48" Penny Farthing / High Wheel that a friend has
> loaned me. It does not have cross-patterned spokes. I can see the wheel
> bend while accelerating hard. Cross patterned spokes (esp. that long)
> provide a much stiffer wheel. It has a “wheel-chair” style tire which is
> much bumpier/rougher to ride, but provides excellent traction, even on
> wet roads. It seems to have less road (rolling) resistance than my Coker
> -probably because it is so hard and smooth. It has cottered cranks, and
> as long as you keep them tight and don’t jump on them much, they seem to
> be ok. Not as sturdy as DM splined cranks, but who does drops or hops on
> a wheel that size anyway? If you get one, I’d like to ride it around the
> block a few times or until I can hear it saying faster, faster,
> faster.
> Jer
“Faster, faster, faster: until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of
death.”
–Speedfreaks motto
>Now you know what would be awsome? If the guy turned that into a
>girraffe! then he wouldnt have to have those block things on his feet.
>I now have a goal in life: To build a girraffe that has a wheel with a
>8’ diameter…nah
Something like it has been done:
<www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/JosephAndToddCampbell.jpg>
I am happy, now i wont have to kill myself to fulfill my dreams of seeing a huge wheeled girraffe.
i wonder how big of a wheel one could put on a girraffe. Think of the possibilities! going 70 km/h on a unicycle with a wheel diameter of 15’! Oh damn, now i have a new goal…
What about using the same idea as this picture, but going the other
way? I.e., have the ‘virtual axle’ of the cranks lower than the
axle of the wheel, so that the center of gravity could be lower even
on a 24" or 26" wheel? This would presumably make the unicycle
far more compact (better for travelling), easier to mount, and allow
different (although still fixed) gear ratios.
Does anyone know of such a unicycle?
On Sat, 12 Oct 2002 22:50:56 GMT, klaasbil_remove_the_spamkiller_@xs4all.nl (Klaas Bil) wrote:
>Something like it has been done:
><www.xs4all.nl/~klaasbil/JosephAndToddCampbell.jpg>
On the subject of really big-wheeled giraffes, has anyone built a
big-wheeled two-wheeler?
I recall Gilby saying at Unicon that he was going to build a Coker
two-wheeler out of the Coker he won in the raffle…so how’s the
project going, Gilby?
> i wonder how big of a wheel one could put on a giraffe. Think of the
> possibilities! going 70 km/h on a unicycle with a wheel diameter of
> 15’! Oh damn, now i have a new goal…
Be an excellent way to lose weight, just sand off the front inch or so of
your body. Ouch.
“Tony Melton” <ant24ant@yahoo.com> wrote in message news:b20b2ff1.0210130120.4099012@posting.google.com…
> On the subject of really big-wheeled giraffes, has anyone built a
> big-wheeled two-wheeler?
> I recall Gilby saying at Unicon that he was going to build a Coker
> two-wheeler out of the Coker he won in the raffle…so how’s the
> project going, Gilby?
Coker makes a Monster Cruiser with 2 36" wheels. Also an Ordinary with a
36" front wheel. www.coker.com/default2.asp
>What about using the same idea as this picture, but going the other
>way? I.e., have the ‘virtual axle’ of the cranks lower than the
>axle of the wheel, so that the center of gravity could be lower even
>on a 24" or 26" wheel? This would presumably make the unicycle
>far more compact (better for travelling), easier to mount, and allow
>different (although still fixed) gear ratios.
>
>Does anyone know of such a unicycle?
I’m not sure it would be a very useful concept. The only advantage I
see is the gearing option. The centre of gravity would not be lower by
much (and then, so what?), and it would only be slightly more compact
otherwise your pedals get too close to the ground. Maybe it would be
easier to mount but anyone beyond the initial learning stage can mount
a regular 24" without problems.
