Tyre Juggling

Unicycles and Equipment
1

A few days back I bought a couple of ‘last-of-stock’ bargain, massive 26 x 3" Gazzolodi off road tyres cos they were a bargain £10 each (normally £30).

I’m hoping to build up a 26" wheel for my unicycle, but that’ll take a while yet.

Today I was just looking at them and started swinging on in each hand, back and forth, then did a few little releases- it was quite rythmic and nice.

Then I decided it shouldn’t be too much harder to get three going in a juggle and that it would be a good visual trick that could maybe work as a 2 person (6 tyre) passing pattern, and would work well outdoors (where wind can really mess with
rings/clubs etc).

So I thought, before getting carried away with imagination I should get outside and see if it worked.

Lacking a third 26 x 3 Gazz I added an old worn 24 x 3 Halo Contra tyre I had knocking around, and went to work.

Straight away I could tell that juggling three was considerably harder than throwing two around; these Gazz’s weigh a lot and were brand new, with sharp knobblies that dig into hand flesh much as they are designed to do with muddy ground!

It wasn’t looking that feasible, but I wondered if it would be better with more sensible tyres.

I dug out three 700 c (racing bike size) tyres of varying thicknesses. Bigger diameter than the Gazz’s, but much slimmer and lighter.

With these it only took a few attempts to get into the groove- basically throw them high and slow, with a bit of spin, and, when catching, let them gracefully go to the side and slightly back.

With the right rythm and height it’s a really nice juggle, gets the breathing going and muscles working.

I persisted till I’d got 60 throws and catches.

I reckon this could be a good outdoor thing over winter (though today wasn’t windy, so it’ll be interesting to see how they cope when conditions get a bit blowy).

Also it should have good potential for passing where the slowness and weight could help get some really solid synchronisation going.

Lastly, it should be fairly easy to get hold of equipment- don’t throw out your old tyres :slight_smile:

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Though I was using 700c’s, I reckon 26" Mountain bike tyres should work if they’re old and the knobblies have worn off. 700c racing bike tyres may be problematic, of the three I used the slimmest was 35mm wide and lacked a bit of structural integrity compared to the other two, one of which was a 700c x 2.1" 29-er and the other 700 x 45 mm.

I suspect that if thin tyres are used it’s probably a good idea to focus on putting extra spin on to splay them out.

Give it a go, it’s good fun and not nearly as ‘tiring’ as you might think :slight_smile:

2

Beast idea! Thats pretty wicked! I definatly have to find some tires and try that. My Duro Wildlife Leopard may need replacing, so I will definatly save it and try and collect some more. Should try and find some spare frames and juggle them, and maybe seatposts, althought they would probably be a little topheavy.

                                  Jason
3

Video please. :slight_smile:

Raphael Lasar
Matawan, NJ

4

Smaller tires are easier. A set of good old Schwinn whitewalls looks especially nice. As the tires get bigger, heavier and fatter, they get more floppy and harder to juggle.

I prefer hula hoops.

5

A videos unlikely as I’ve not got a camera, but if the oportunity to film it comes up I’ll do so.

Small tyres would be easier but I think I’d prefer to stick with the big ones as they’re more visual; also, I like the fact that they’re a bit difficult, it gives me something to work at.

Hula hoops are good, though I’m not sure that they’ll be as wind resistant. One good thing about them is that, in a hall, you can do the throwing at the ground with reverse spin thing, so they roll back.

On a few brief occasions I’ve tried to juggle them like that by throwing them out with reverse spin in a cascade pattern; never pulled it off but came close.

But, at the end of the day, we’re unicyclists, it’s just somehow more appropriate to juggle tyres :slight_smile:

I should say that the sizes I gave for the 700c’s was wrong- I’ve just been out again for a juggle and realised that there was no 700 x 2.1".

It was actually a 700 x 45mm, a 700x 35mm and one off my racing bike which was 700 x 1 1/4"- the latter seems to be not as good as it seems build up some kind of resonance wobble and become unstable more easily.

6

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by onewheeldave
[B] One good thing about them is that, in a hall, you can do the throwing at the ground with reverse spin thing, so they roll back.

acctully,you can do that with tires to.
I have oodles of old worn tires lying around,but…

I cant juggle.