A few more observations on uni.5, aka “Pandora” (since you can’t put her
away once she’s been released from her box).
SPEED over a DISTANCE
I haven’t yet set up a cycle meter for Pandora, so my best way to measure
speed over a distance is to use familiar terrain and to time with a stop
watch.
The best spot for this is Prospect Park, where the 3+mile bike loop takes
me 13:30 on my Coker, averaging nearly 15mph. On Pandora, the best I could
do so far was 15:50. This is a significantly slower time. I attribute some
of the lag to the larger cranks - 5.5" vs 4.3" (140mm vs 110mm), but there
might be other factors as well, including the fear factor – it’s scary
going over 16mph when you know that any UPD is probably going to hit S-3
to S-5. There is simply no catching Pandora from behind at that speed (if
you fall forward of her, as I usually do on UPDs). And the reduced
distance from pedal to ground reduces reaction times, too, making outright
falls quite likely.
TRICKS
Yes, you can idle on both Cokers and Pandora. But last night, after my
time trial around the park, I was too tired to do anything but try a few
tricks. I managed to ride backwards and to ride forwards one-footed. Both
are initially scary to try, but after awhile, I got the hang of backwards.
One-footed took longer to build up to, tho, and it took me about 10
minutes before I could do it pretty successfully. I have not attempted
either on a Coker, mainly because it’s just too scary. And what use is
backwards? (One footing is important to be able to do in case you lose
footing while Cokering – if you aren’t prepared for it, then you can have
a nasty spill).
FATIGUE
I have only ridden 50 miles on Pandora but can report that you definitely
use different muscles there than on a Coker. After my speed trial, I had
some muscle fatigue in parts of my upper legs (thighs, buttocks) which
normally don’t complain to me after my Coker rides. Undoubtedly this is
something that goes away over time. It definitely feels like more of a
chore to ride Pandora than my Coker.
David Stone
Co-founder, Unatics of NY
1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
@ Central Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
Don’t forget that there is drag inherent in the axle’s gearing mechanism that would not be present in the Coker. This would be exacerbated by the unit’s prototype nature and its touring around the country – has it been opened up, cleaned and lubricated recently?
Woh, woh, woh!- don’t open that thing up- you’ll let the little leprechauns out! Greg packed 5 of his kindred in there- alive, or so I’m told. The Uni.5 should be even easyer to pedal- just rap it on the side a couple of times and tell the lazy louts to wake up. If that doesn’t work, play a jig or a reel.
No. The prototype was built the easy way. That, of course, makes servicing difficult. The wheel must be disassembled to take the hub apart. If I make a production model it will probably have a cartridge so that the axle and transmission can be removed from the hub.
I know, but it was the best I could do. “uni.5” seems like such an
anticlimactic name for such a cool uni. And of course, I do bear a
resemblance to Pandora.
David
Co-founder, Unatics of NY
1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
@ Central Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
>
>harper wrote:
>> *
>>
>> If I make a production model …*
>
>Whaddaya mean… IF?
Harper made a common grammatical error, confusing “if” and “when”. Or
so we hope. Actually, this statement is closer to a production model
than Harper has been before.
Klaas Bil
“Seems that quotes are quite fashionable these days” - Bruce Edwards
“To trigger/fool/saturate/overload Echelon, the following has been picked automagically from a database:”
“ie.org, Blenheim, WWSP”
In fact it was all the evils of the world that came out when Pandora was
stupid enough to open it. The only thing left inside was Hope. This
doesn’t seem appropriate somehow.
I think “uni.5” is a fine name, but perhaps David can suggest something
more appropriate. Either way, I hope Greg will let me try “Dubya”* out
at UNICON.
Arnold the Aardvark
Unnamed Unicycle => UU => Double-U => W => Mr. Bush
Of course. Anyone attending NAUCC/UNICON will have an opportunity to ride the uni.5. I will be attending both. I have to take timeout to run the onefoot races and the 10k unlimited (that means unlimited amount of time, doesn’t it?). I wanted to enter a geared unicycle in the 10k’s because I don’t know if it’s been done before. I’ll have to contend with some Cokers and 29’s with relatively young, powerful engines propelling them and by the end of the race I should be able to accurately describe what each one of their backs looks like.
> … I wanted to enter a geared unicycle in the
10k’s
> because I don’t know if it’s been done before. I’ll have to contend with
> some Cokers and 29’s with relatively young, powerful engines propelling
> them and by the end of the race I should be able to accurately describe
> what each one of their backs looks like.
There will be some other relatively old engines powering Cokers around the
course as well
I will have my Coker with me to do the unlimited race as well, it will be
good to see how well your machine performs when in a race,.
