recumbent riding

Riding Advice
1

I remember reading about the concept of a recumbent unicycle. As I recall,
a few people have built and ridden such thing. I was wondering, once a
person learns to ride a rebumbent unicycle, would it be practical for
transportation?

I still can’t for the life of me figure out how to turn on one of those
(and won’t even begin to figure the proper way to mount dismount, or idle
(assuming that’s possible))

Has anyone out there tried any other completely wacky replacements to the
unfomfortable seats that unicycles are known for? (An ultimate wheel is
the only other thing that comes to mind.)

Jeff Lutkus

Free e-Mail and Webspace - http://Unicyclist.com

2

> I was wondering, once a person learns to ride a rebumbent unicycle,
> would it be practical for transportation?

I don’t see any form of unicycle as being more than a little bit
practical for transportation. Unicycles are great for getting around
relatively small places, and great because they’re small. A recumbent uni
would still get you around a small place (like a campus or factory
complex), but you would lose the size advantage that allows you to bring
it on the bus with you.

A unicycle will always be relatively slow, and the aerodynamic advantage
that makes recumbents stand out from regular bikes is not a factor for a
unicycle. The reason to ride a recumbent unicycle is because it’s cool!
The one picture I have of a recumbent on my Web site has generated dozens
of mails and requests for more information about it.

Also I think a recumbent might be nice for long rides where you aren’t
in a hurry.

> I still can’t for the life of me figure out how to turn on one of those
> (and won’t even begin to figure the proper way to mount dismount, or
> idle (assuming that’s possible))

Sounds like you haven’t tried one. They don’t turn well, but with practice
I think you could learn to turn fine for street riding. Mounting and
dismounting will depend on the shape of the uni. Let’s just say it was
“awkward” on Eric Kolb’s, as the front chainwheel would hit the ground.
Idling would be tough, as it would be harder to twist your body, but I’m
sure you could learn it. For regular riding though, I think I would be
more likely to put my feet down at red lights, or hold onto a light pole
like I do on my big wheel.

> Has anyone out there tried any other completely wacky replacements to
> the unfomfortable seats that unicycles are known for? (An ultimate wheel
> is the only other thing that comes to mind.)

  • I have a picture of Brian Schlosser riding a unicycle with the seat off,
    for all those people who tell us to ride it without the seat. I should
    put it on my ‘Things not to do’ page someday. Not a comfort improvement.

  • Jack halpern has taken half the wheel away, also not a comfort
    improvement.

  • A good one for shows is the “horsey” unicycle, where you replace the
    seat with a hobby horse. Still not a comfort improvement.

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

“Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night” –
good advice

3

In article <52CD02C3DAD2D411A3170002A528514206B719@SERVER>, John Foss
<john_foss@asinet.com> wrote: ) )A unicycle will always be relatively
slow, and the aerodynamic advantage )that makes recumbents stand out from
regular bikes is not a factor for a )unicycle.

Recumbent bikes actually don’t have an aerodynamic advantage, in fact they
usually are disadvantaged compared to diamond-frame bikes; instead of
being able to get into a tuck, you’ve got your big honkin’ chest sitting
broadside to the wind at all times. That’s why many recumbents have wind
fairings–a recumbent with a fairing has an aerodynamic advantage over an
unfaired diamond-frame, but probably not over a faired diamond-frame.

Unicycles are pretty much hopeless, aerodynamically. You could try to lean
forward the way speed skaters do. -Tom

4

>“Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night” –
>good advice

Interestingly enough the Porn Shop on main street had this quote up their
little sign thing, but credited to D.B.

I was only driving by, Jeff

5

> Recumbent bikes actually don’t have an aerodynamic advantage, in fact
> they usually are disadvantaged compared to diamond-frame bikes;

Only if you aren’t “bent” enough… :slight_smile:

> Unicycles are pretty much hopeless, aerodynamically. You could try to
> lean forward the way speed skaters do.

I have tried that, in my early racing days. But bending forward compresses
your lung area, and any slight aero advantage is surpassed by the
squishing of your chest. But the fact about unicycles is, especially with
a 24" wheel, you are not going fast enough to worry about aerodynamics.

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

“Our time is a most precious commodity, but it’s how we spend it that
makes us rich.” - John Foss

6

“John Foss” <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote in message
news:52CD02C3DAD2D411A3170002A528514206B719@SERVER…
> around a small place (like a campus or factory complex), but you would
lose
> the size advantage that allows you to bring it on the bus with you.

You take yours on the bus?? You obviously don’t live in Vancouver…

We go from “Can’t come on here with one of those,” to “AW NAW…GET OUTTA
HERE! I’m NOT lettin’ YOU on!”

Once I got, “That has to be kept out of the way, kay?” Of course I would
have anyway. I was just happy to get on the bus.

But it doesn’t really matter because we haven’t had any busses here anyway
for the past three months. #@$% strike is getting me down. I have put
quite a few miles on my Coker and will need to change the tire soon. It is
getting raw!

Graham

7

— “Graham W. Boyes - TOAO.net” <me@REMOVETHIStoao.net> wrote:
>
> “John Foss” <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote in message

> You take yours on the bus?? You obviously don’t live in Vancouver…
>
> We go from “Can’t come on here with one of those,” to "AW NAW…GET
> OUTTA HERE! I’m NOT lettin’ YOU on!"

I’ve found that bus drivers are way more receptive if they can’t see it.
If you can take the pedals off and throw a garbage bag over it then they
will often let you take it on.

-Kris.

Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/

8

Tom Holub wrote:
> Recumbent bikes actually don’t have an aerodynamic advantage, in fact
> they usually are disadvantaged compared to diamond-frame bikes; instead
> of being able to get into a tuck, you’ve got your big honkin’ chest
> sitting broadside to the wind at all times.

I’ve often read that the riding position on an unfaired SWB recumbent is
aerodynamically equivalent to a full tuck on a road bike. Of course that
varies from bike to bike. As John’s already pointed out, it depends on the
seat angle. It also depends on the bottom bracket height relative to seat
height (higher BB means less drag from the legs) and on whether you have
above-seat or under-seat steering (USS has the arms out to the side,
creating drag). There’s an interesting silhouette at
http://www.hpv.on.ca/recumb.htm showing a Lightning P38 recumbent bike
with 30% less frontal area than a tuck on a road bike.

I certainly feel that I have no more wind resistance on my Street Machine
recumbent bike (seat angled at 30 degrees to the horizontal, bottom
bracket at the same height as the seat) than I ever had on an upright bike
with tri-bars. Something like a BikeE, OTOH, with a more upright seating
position and lower BB, is probably less aerodynamically efficient than a
DF road bike.

A bent bike has the additional advantages over a tuck that the lungs are
open rather than hunched over, the rider can see where he’s going, and
it’s a much more comfortable position to maintain. The first two
advantages are irrelevant to unicycles. On a standard unicycle, the lungs
are open and you can see where you’re going quite easily - probably better
than you could on a recumbent unicycle.

Aerodynamically, as with a bike, the benefits of a recumbent unicycle
would depend on the seat angle and the pedal position. Eric Kolb’s
recumbent unicycle ( http://www.unicycling.com/garage/recumben.htm ) has a
near enough upright seat back and low pedals when riding, so I very much
doubt he’d have any aerodynamic advantage over a standard unicycle. If he
moved the crank axle up, he could probably recline more. Both changes
would improve the aerodynamics, and probably make the rider more nervous
about going over backwards.

I think probably the greatest speed advantage on a recumbent unicycle
would come not from the aerodynamics, but from the fact that it’s almost
certainly going to be chain driven, giving greater scope for gears. And I
suspect that bailing out at speed is likely to be less hazardous to the
wrists - but more hazardous to the yike.

–
Danny Colyer (remove your.mind to reply)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/danny.html “The secret of life is
honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made” -
Groucho Marx

9

Tom Holub wrote:
> Recumbent bikes actually don’t have an aerodynamic advantage, in fact
> they usually are disadvantaged compared to diamond-frame bikes; instead
> of being able to get into a tuck, you’ve got your big honkin’ chest
> sitting broadside to the wind at all times.

I’ve often read that the riding position on an unfaired SWB recumbent is
aerodynamically equivalent to a full tuck on a road bike. Of course that
varies from bike to bike. As John’s already pointed out, it depends on the
seat angle. It also depends on the bottom bracket height relative to seat
height (higher BB means less drag from the legs) and on whether you have
above-seat or under-seat steering (USS has the arms out to the side,
creating drag). There’s an interesting silhouette at
http://www.hpv.on.ca/recumb.htm showing a Lightning P38 recumbent bike
with 30% less frontal area than a tuck on a road bike.

I certainly feel that I have no more wind resistance on my Street Machine
recumbent bike (seat angled at 30 degrees to the horizontal, bottom
bracket at the same height as the seat) than I ever had on an upright bike
with tri-bars. Something like a BikeE, OTOH, with a more upright seating
position and lower BB, is probably less aerodynamically efficient than a
DF road bike.

A bent bike has the additional advantages over a tuck that the lungs are
open rather than hunched over, the rider can see where he’s going, and
it’s a much more comfortable position to maintain. The first two
advantages are irrelevant to unicycles. On a standard unicycle, the lungs
are open and you can see where you’re going quite easily - probably better
than you could on a recumbent unicycle.

Aerodynamically, as with a bike, the benefits of a recumbent unicycle
would depend on the seat angle and the pedal position. Eric Kolb’s
recumbent unicycle ( http://www.unicycling.com/garage/recumben.htm ) has a
near enough upright seat back and low pedals when riding, so I very much
doubt he’d have any aerodynamic advantage over a standard unicycle. If he
moved the crank axle up, he could probably recline more. Both changes
would improve the aerodynamics, and probably make the rider more nervous
about going over backwards.

I think probably the greatest speed advantage on a recumbent unicycle
would come not from the aerodynamics, but from the fact that it’s almost
certainly going to be chain driven, giving greater scope for gears. And I
suspect that bailing out at speed is likely to be less hazardous to the
wrists - but more hazardous to the yike.

–
Danny Colyer (remove your.mind to reply)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/danny.html “The secret of life is
honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made” -
Groucho Marx

10

Tom Holub wrote:
> Recumbent bikes actually don’t have an aerodynamic advantage, in fact
> they usually are disadvantaged compared to diamond-frame bikes; instead
> of being able to get into a tuck, you’ve got your big honkin’ chest
> sitting broadside to the wind at all times.

I’ve often read that the riding position on an unfaired SWB recumbent is
aerodynamically equivalent to a full tuck on a road bike. Of course that
varies from bike to bike. As John’s already pointed out, it depends on the
seat angle. It also depends on the bottom bracket height relative to seat
height (higher BB means less drag from the legs) and on whether you have
above-seat or under-seat steering (USS has the arms out to the side,
creating drag). There’s an interesting silhouette at
http://www.hpv.on.ca/recumb.htm showing a Lightning P38 recumbent bike
with 30% less frontal area than a tuck on a road bike.

I certainly feel that I have no more wind resistance on my Street Machine
recumbent bike (seat angled at 30 degrees to the horizontal, bottom
bracket at the same height as the seat) than I ever had on an upright bike
with tri-bars. Something like a BikeE, OTOH, with a more upright seating
position and lower BB, is probably less aerodynamically efficient than a
DF road bike.

A bent bike has the additional advantages over a tuck that the lungs are
open rather than hunched over, the rider can see where he’s going, and
it’s a much more comfortable position to maintain. The first two
advantages are irrelevant to unicycles. On a standard unicycle, the lungs
are open and you can see where you’re going quite easily - probably better
than you could on a recumbent unicycle.

Aerodynamically, as with a bike, the benefits of a recumbent unicycle
would depend on the seat angle and the pedal position. Eric Kolb’s
recumbent unicycle ( http://www.unicycling.com/garage/recumben.htm ) has a
near enough upright seat back and low pedals when riding, so I very much
doubt he’d have any aerodynamic advantage over a standard unicycle. If he
moved the crank axle up, he could probably recline more. Both changes
would improve the aerodynamics, and probably make the rider more nervous
about going over backwards.

I think probably the greatest speed advantage on a recumbent unicycle
would come not from the aerodynamics, but from the fact that it’s almost
certainly going to be chain driven, giving greater scope for gears. And I
suspect that bailing out at speed is likely to be less hazardous to the
wrists - but more hazardous to the yike.

–
Danny Colyer (remove your.mind to reply)
http://www.speedy5.freeserve.co.uk/danny/danny.html “The secret of life is
honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you’ve got it made” -
Groucho Marx