For riding in traffic I find that a rear view mirror is a required item. It is not an optional or just a nice to have safety device. Here is the one I use, cost about $3.00.
I’m a believer, that is my next move, to get a mirror on my helmet. I tried to do a dental mirror on my old helmet and just couldn’t get it set up right. I have another idea and if it doesn’t work I’ll just buy one made for helmets
OH I forgot to mention, I lowered the air pressure in the tire to 35, didn’t seem to help any with fighting the road camber but it sure made for a smoother ride
I just hope I can figure out how to overcome the uni leaning so bad, or realistically not leaning when I’m dealing with camber.
I don’t recommend a mirror if you want to enjoy your ride. i got one thinking it would help me ride backwards all the way on my commute trips. But soon ditched it in a drawer. I haven’t used a mirror after my first year unicycling.
There are lots of camber suggestions from many of the experts. I remember posting a few. Afters trying every trick and suggestIon I could think of or find — this post is still what I find that works for me.
Enjoy,
JM
3 Likes
[QUOTE=bungeejoe;n2802596]
I don’t recommend a mirror if you want to enjoy your ride. i got one thinking it would help me ride backwards all the way on my commute trips. But soon ditched it in a drawer. I haven’t used a mirror after my first year unicycling.
not sure I understand why a mirror would make my ride less enjoyable. now I’m leaning towards one that is built into a wrist band, then I can just move my arm into place long enough to get a good look.
so I got out and rode some more yesterday and I had a real treat, I got to actually ride with a fellow unicyclist that is also a member here. that was my first time riding with another unicyclist
Jeff was heading back home to KY from a visit to FL. and he stopped in for a nice morning ride. I was on my 32 and he was on a 36. Jeff made for a great riding companion as he is just so happy go lucky, he is a much better rider than myself so he kept me on my toes. but I did get to introduce him to something new, he had never crossed RR tracks and we crossed 3 sets during our ride and one of them had a train coming. we had a beautiful day for riding, I was disappointed that we didn’t get to ride the trail at the park due to it being flooded out but we still had a great ride. we had a couple come up to us while we were at the park talking and we ended up putting the young lady on my uni and getting some pictures for her, really made her day.
we made a nice little 8 mile loop, dropped in the local bike shop for a short visit then stopped at Fire House Subs for lunch. we finished off our ride going over the viaduct over the train tracks, this was my first attempt at it and it turns out it wasn’t as big a monster as I was afraid it was, not saying it was easy but nowhere near the challenge I expected. the down hill side was tougher as I was truly working with my new brakes for the first time. I think I was going much slower than I should have but brakes are a bit of a challenge at this point.
I put in another ride yesterday, I only rode 8 miles but it was a good ride I had an incident at the 4 mile mark that once resolved I felt like an idiot. I decided to raise the seat just a little more to see if I had found the right spot yet and when I went to take off there was this grinding sound and suddenly I was thrown off. I started looking and checking everything, but couldn’t figure it out, I could spin the wheel and at a certain point it would grind and try to stop. I was checking bearings and the new brakes but nothing seemed wrong. finally I happened to turn the uni to a point I could see one of my taillights had moved and I have a high spot on my tire and it was hitting the light, DUHH anyway after I fixed that I had the new challenge of mounting with the seat higher. I had also changed my handle bar so now it comes up right at the front of the seat rather than out at the end of the front bar so I have to adjust my mounting technique again. I worked real hard on riding with both hands and did good for the first 3 miles but after that it was difficult to do for very long at a time, but I’m making progress so that’s good
oh and I also bought a mirror that is made on a wrist band. I have to say I really like it, it doesn’t draw your attention toward it while you ride and is very easy to use, I just move my arm out a little and I can see behind me. the mirror not only flips open but is on a dial that rotates 360 so you can set it up at all kind of angles
the mirror is decent size so you get a good view of what is behind you
so I’m continuing to make improvements in my training. this past Mon I rode 16.33 miles and felt pretty good at the end. was getting a bit sore in the bum but had energy to keep going, but it was about to get dark so I packed it up. I had a couple photo ops and had to contend with a person on a motorcycle that had just a few too many adult beverages. he was parked next to my bike when I finished my first 8 mile lap and got very animated when I rode up on the uni. so I’m getting better with 2 hands on the bar but still really fighting the crown issue
So today I brought the uni into the shop broke out the hand grinder and carefully ground the outer tread down and into the next tread so now the tire is a little more round than it was. it is still pretty wide but I’m hoping it’s just enough to help. I have picked out my next challenge to continue my training. we have a road close to the house and it is probably 12 to 15 miles from end to end and has a nice wide shoulder so I can ride safely. I plan to start early one morning and see how long it takes me to complete one run down and back, not sure when I’m going to take the challenge but I see it happening soon
I will be interested in hearing how your tire reshaping works out. Off hand I’d guess that the camber effect will be worse now. My theory based on my observations and other reported experiences is that more flexibility between the tire surface and the tire carcass causes less camber effect. Some have reported that the exact same tire with an open/off-road type tread will get worse as the tread wears down and the flexibility between the tire surface and carcass gets less and less. By grinding off some of the tread you may have reduced the flexibility between the tire surface and the tire carcass and that may have the same result as a tread wearing down.
Jim I totally get what your saying. I hope I didn’t make it worse but I had to try something else. I have tried different tire pressures, didn’t seem to effect the pull just the comfort of the ride as far as harsh vs soft but also increase resistance at lower PSI. so far I like 50 PSI the best for overall comfort in the ride. I will say I did not remove all the tread on the far edge and second row I just rounded them more I should find out this Mon when I ride again if it worked or not. fingers crossed
Well I’m happy to report it looks like my shaving the outer edge of the tire tread has helped. I’ve ridden a couple times since the mod to the tire but yesterday I rode the same road I have been having so much trouble with and for the first time the crown had minimal effect on my ride, I still had to adjust a little from time to time but did not have that sliding off the side of the seat effect at all. I was even able to make a smooth transition in the one corner that has almost thrown me many times because the crown changes from left to right to right to left.
I haven’t posted here in a while but have been riding and training non the less. I checked this morning and they have cancelled the Century ride for Savannah for 2020 due to the virus. so I have another year to train and get ready for it.
Don’t let the cancellation the supported event slow you down. Two years ago I rode 50 miles in a supported ride, one year ago I rode 70 miles in a supported ride and this year they canceled the ride. So because of that and other restrictions this year I did a 100 mile self supported ride right close to home.
I plan to keep riding and increasing my distance, I just have to work out good safe roads to ride to make the distance. right now the heat is at dangerous levels so I’m having to limit my riding some
I still haven’t tried to climb the causeway bridge at St. Simons, it is not as steep or long as the Talmadge Bridge but it is a good starting point