Thoughts on Commuting

I’ve had the uni hit my achilles when coming off both a 19er and 26er - admittedly not hard enough to cause serious injury, so it may be down to the energy involved rather than such an incident not happening on smaller unis.

I’ve just dug up the link to the account of that serious damage to achilles tendon caused by a coker ‘peck’.

http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=28113&highlight=tendon

I’ve just begun (over the last 4 weeks) to commute from west to east London and back on my 36er. I have a 29er which I can’t help thinking would be more practical in town, but to be honest since I’ve had the 36 I haven’t really been tempted by it. The total ride is between 7.5 and 8 miles, depending on the precise route.

In practice I ride roughly the same route that I used to b*ke around 3 years ago, with the exception that I take a detour into Hyde Park because of the great cycle paths there.

My impression so far is that I’m much safer than I was on my bke. The only evidence that I can offer is that I’d have at least 2 “incidents” (car doors opening on me, vehicles pulling out in front of me, pedestrians not looking where they’re going etc) on the bke, whereas I have almost none on the uni. I think there reasons are because I’m higher and slower.

There are multiple traffic lights along the route whichever way I go - it does take me though the West End after all. I’ve become quite good at slowing down to wait for the lights to change, but however I play it it takes me at least 1 hour 10 mins to complete. Sometimes up to 15 mins more. Traffic in London can be astonishing.

Today for the first time I wore my newly ordered KH leg armour and it’s been a revelation. I’m sure that in common with many, most minor injuries happen either when dismounting awkwardly or just carrying the damned thing, but another unexpected effect has been that my freemounting has improved, possibly because I’m less concerned about hurting myself.

I remain constantly alert, but I do feel pretty safe riding, possibly because, Hyde Park aside, I don’t really have the option of riding faster than I can run, but also because I know that one of the advantages of a uni over a b*ke is the ability to jump clear without getting your legs tangled up in the frame.

I’m seeing quite a variance in the time taken to ride ~7 miles. Between about 40mins and an hour and a quarter. I assume that has to do with hills/traffic lights etc.

OK. I took the route I’d go by unicycle on my road bike, and rode pretty fast, but got caught at a long light.

The trip is 6.9 miles, and I avereaged 11.5 mph on my bike, probably because of the lights. It took me 36 minutes.

So what can I expect on a 29er for the same route? About twice as long?

With enough training and without lights you could get it in under 30 minutes with a 29er :wink: Average Speed with about 20km/h is possible.

Explain to me how this would be possible. If riding pretty hard on a fast road bike takes ~36 mins with lights, how can it take the same amount of time on a unicycle? Even without lights, the bike’s gotta be more than twice as fast…

This is very frustrating. None of us can tell you how long it will take you to ride 6.9 miles on a unicycle you don’t even own. So I’ll stick my neck out and do it anyway. On a 29", with a 5mph tail wind, it will take you 59 minutes and 14 seconds. On a 36", under similar conditions, it will take you 47 minutes and 42 seconds. These are the definitive and indisputable time estimates.

On open road, I’d say yes but if the majority of your commute is routed through neighborhood streets and bike trails I’m guessing that slows down the bike significantly.

I bike 10 miles to work in 33-35 mins but most of that of that is on one major road with traffic going 40-50mph. On the way home I often take a slightly longer route that includes an unpaved bike trail and wooded, curving back roads. The ride home is much more enjoyable but my average speed is 3-4 mph slower than on the ride in and I’m guessing it would drop even more on neighborhood streets.

It sounds to me like your commute limits your bike speed and the unicycle will not be as slow as you might think in comparison.

I’m simply trying to figure out if it’s worth it to me to get a larger-wheeled uni for commuting and/or muni. It’s hard because I don’t know anyone around me with a 29+ uni to try out the commute. I suppose I could try with my 24, but that would be very annoying to ride 7 miles like that.

35mins vs 1 hour+ is a big difference each way. If I think it’s possible to take 45mins or less, then I would take the plunge and get a big wheel, otherwise I’d stick with a 26.

The last time i rode 10k at Unicon with a 24" with 125mm cranks and it took me 33 minutes (it was a lot of uphill…)
In Düsseldorf with a 29" and 114mm cranks i had an average speed of 19,6km/h during the marathon. Finishing time just a bit over 2 hours (2:06).

If i know that the track is short, i can go faster of course -> 10k with a 29" will be under 30 minutes.

I’m riding my MTB to work (10,5km each way) with an average of 28 km/h or 17,3 mp/h… and im getting faster… im still not used to bikes and need to develop more strenght in my legs…

Mountain bikes with typical tires are not very fast on the road (although still generally faster than unis). For commuting on your mtb, you might consider switching out the tires.

Not if you’re only averaging 11.5mph on the bike - even without the light you’re averaging less than 14mph (and that’s being very generous on how much you got held up by the light - in reality probably less than 13mph). On the “commute” I mentioned above my fastest is 28 minutes by uni for 4.2 miles - even using the fastest route on a bike (which is different to the route I take by uni) I don’t think I’ve done it in 14 minutes - it takes me 10 minutes in a car even with low traffic! If I took the same route by bike as I take by uni it would take me close to 20 minutes - not only with all the junctions and tricky bits slowing me down, but the fast bits on the uni where I can average >10mph I’d be doing less than 20mph on a bike given the amount of foot traffic. Come to that, 10mph on a 29er is a lot easier than 20mph on a bike.

Yes I timed on the way home and it’s shocking how low the average speed is on the bike–it’s all the lights I guess. Of course, I am biking the same route I’d go by uni, that is on sidewalks etc. It’s about 10 mins faster when I go the route on the street, but I am starting to think that’s pushing my luck, and anway, biking bothers my neck in a way unicycling doesn’t. I’ve thought about a recumbent but they are unweildy, expensive and I wouldn’t be comfortable riding it with traffic the way I am on a bike.

I am going to try riding a 29 doing muni this weekend with some guys around where I live. They will let me borrow theirs. Then I will try the commute on my 24 and decide whether to get a 29 for muni/commuting. I think a 36 would be a bit much with the lights and foot traffic. Plus a 36 woudn’t be as versatile as a 29.

I know :wink: But then i would have to change the tires again on weekends… and i dont want to do that all the time :smiley:
My tire is ok for street/mixed riding/gravel and xc touring (front Specialized Captain (will be changed soon…), rear Conti RaceKing).

Bikes make sense for commuting.
But it does not make sense to choose your bike over your uni on the weekend. :stuck_out_tongue: Switch the tires, and it’ll help you focus your weekend time on your uni. :wink:

A 9 mph rate is very doable on a 29" with only a little practice. That would bring you home in about 1 hr, except for the long traffic lights. A 12 mph rate is also doable, but you would need much more practice, and it would feel like work rather than just cruising.

Harper’s estimate is more definitive, and I endorse it.

Scott

OK, so I couldn’t resist and did the ride home on Friday on my 24" Semcycle. I did it straight throug (7 miles). It’s an old-time seat, and by the end my crotch was hurting pretty good.

I rode pretty hard and made it home in an hour.

How much time do you think I could shave off on a 29er? I assume it will be much more comfortable on a 29 after some practice. Can you advise on crank length? I prefer dual hole, so I can use it as a muni too.

Did some muni this weekend with a borrowed KH29. I enjoyed. Had some problems going up steep hills with roots and such, but I imagine some of that was just getting used to the 29. It seems to me like a very versatile uni for muni and urban commuting (with a tire change).

Trying to pick up a used KH29 now.