just welded some crank tips to the metal bars (at a 165mm crank length)
I think I’ve decided on metal for an UW. Sorry John, but I’ll have to pass on buying yours. I assume aluminum alloy and steel both weld fine?
I was thinking of taking the frame off of my unicycle and trying to ride just the wheel. This will obviously be more wobbly than a real ultimate wheel, but it shouldn’t be too hard. It should be more or less like seat drag, right?
If by “More or less like a seat drag,” you mean, “A lot harder than a seat drag,” then yes.
incredibly!
with no frame to save you, having your pedals out so far is bad. nothing hits your leg until the tire hits your leg…so the more vertical the tire still is when it hits your leg, the more likely the chance of it bumping your leg, and continues along with it’s momentum.
so the pedals being right against each other basically (and therefore the legs as well), is ideal…the other way is possible, it just sucks.
If I wanted to try that, I’d learn to freemount into a seat drag, first. You’ll still have the momentum of the frame helping you along, but you’ll have to learn to ride a seat drag without the initial stability that you usually have, and it would get you that much closer to riding just a wheelset.
I’d also learn how to ride an actual UW, first, too, since the only relevant thing that I can already do is just a regular seat drag.
Together? I doubt it. But, if you mean welding one of either all steel or all aluminum, you should be fine. You may find that welding aluminum is a bit tougher than welding steel. If you go with steel, brazing should be sufficient - I think. Others with more welding experience are encouraged to jump in below.
Is a UW easier to ride/learn to ride than a regular unicycle wheel removed from the uni frame? If so, is it mainly because with the UW the pedals are closer to the wheel, and/or because there are no cranks to get in the way?
Yes, it’s a lot easier. The pedals are closer to the wheel and the “crank” size is usually longer than you would put on the same size unicycle wheel. I wouldn’t say the cranks get in the way because when your foot is in the down position and the crank is most apt to interfere with your down leg you are angling the UW away from that side to avoid rubbing your leg with the tire.
The challenge in riding the uw is mainly dealing with the friction between the wheel and the legs. Other than that an experienced unicyclists will get the hang of it relatively quickly. I have reduced friction on my 24 inch uw by sewing a sling used for climbing directly onto the tire. If the pedals are closer to the wheel this reduces friction even further.
I’ve heard that a 28er is far easier to learn on then what I have, which is the Nimbus 20" UG. It seems very “squirly” and unstable, but of course a lot of that is me not having much experience with it yet. Hardest part so far is getting moving after mounting, which I seem only to be able to do when the pedals are mostly at 12 & 6 o’clock, which prevents the wheel from moving backwards, but like mounting a uni that way it’s hard to get forward momentum from that vertical pedal position. I may have to take a queue from my own uni mounting tutorial, and just try not to put any weight on the mounting foot.
So far, I can’t seem to mount with the pedals more horizontal, unless I use a wall or something to stabilize things. I have tried holding the tire while mounting but to do so I have to reach way down and then I fall when trying to stand back up. I’m guessing that, although the 20" is probably harder to learn on than a larger UG, like a 28er, that in time I will learn. It just might take longer with a 20".
I’ve never ridden a 20" ultimate wheel and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a video of one. The class of ultimate wheelers, Anthony Soumiatin, usually rides a 24" in his videos. I’ve ridden the 24" and 28" Nimbus ultimate wheels and I’ve practiced a couple weeks on a 26" wheelset. I’ve also practiced a little seat drag on a 20" in the past but about 8 revolutions was my best run. I would say the 24" ultimate wheel is a little harder than the 28" but not drastically so. The main difference to me is the width of the “rim”. On the 28" it’s much thinner which may makes it a little easier to ride but limits tire choices and pressures. I imagine that the difference between 20" and larger sizes is bigger. It probably will be more difficult to learn and I don’t think it’s any better for tricks or general riding.
As far as mounting goes the pedals vertical position is the standard static mount although there are plenty of trick mounts. If you’re finding the pedals vertical position difficult try practicing on a regular unicycle first. Can you mount a giraffe? That’s also the standard pedal position for mounting a giraffe. When I first got a giraffe I found mounting very difficult but then I realized I couldn’t mount a regular unicycle with that pedal position. I practiced mounting with that pedal position on a regular unicycle first and when I went back to mounting the giraffe it was a lot easier.
My poor attempts at a 180 spin mount are:
Anthony starts this video with a bunch of different mounts:
So a thinner rim/tire makes the UW easier to ride? Because I was thinking about making a 29er UW from my old KH 29er drilled rim, but it’s a lot wider than a typical 700c/29er road rim. The one I have is about 47mm wide, or almost double the width of my Dyad rim on my 700c road uni. Is the KH rim to wide to be practical as a UW?
I would say in general the closer your legs and feet are together the easier it is, but I’m not sure how much a difference it is. I didn’t think about it before but I was practicing on a wheelset with a 3.5" tire for a while and it seemed very difficult. The issue with your rim is what smooth tire can you put on it? Something around 2" will probably be OK, maybe even a 2.2" Halo Twin Rail (although that’s possibly too bumpy). Would that fit? I personally think a wider tire (over the skinnier tire you’d be forced to put on a 28" Nimbus ultimate wheel) would be better for tricks and off road riding.
The upside of the skinnier wheel is the lower weight. Also depending on the tire/rim combo, it’s less likely to drag on your legs or pants. Wider rim/tire combinations are more likely to put you against rubber.
One possible solution for wheel friction is to saw smooth material on your wheel. The post below is from another thread:
here it is in action (leg armor is below my pants because i have KH leg armor which also causes friction)
Here’s my newly completed 700c UW. Built it from plywood and a used rim given to me by my LBS. Total cost to make this: $12! Now I just have to go out and try to ride it!
Camo of course! How did you mount the pedals? I can’t tell from the pix (probavly the camo doing its job).
I made cutouts for my 114mm cranks that I was no longer using. I spaced them out to correspond to 160mm crank length, the same as the UDC 28 UW. I figured that using cranks would be much easier than finding a piece of flat bar, and tapping threads, and I didn’t want to use just bolts, however I have seen three holed brackets with 9/16th threads that some have used.
During my initial attempts at riding it, I noticed that the tire sidewalls were causing so much friction against my leg guards that it would stop me in my tracks. So I took a queue from some who have recommended it, and put duct tape on the tire to reduce friction.
It worked and on my next attempt of got around 10 feet. It was pretty exhilarating and scary at the same time, because having never ridden a UW before I was totally unsure as to how I might fall since I felt unstable in every direction! But I think I’m getting the hang of it!
This totally blows my mind! Not only is this guy riding an “Ultimate wheel” off road on technical terrain, but it’s just a regular unicycle wheel! Wouldn’t that be much harder to ride than a purpose built UW, since the pedals on a regular uni wheel are so much farther apart? But then it got me thinking that with your feet & legs that much further away from the tire, wouldn’t there also be less rubbing? Incredible control! But then again, he’s George Peck’s son, so it must be genetic! 