UniGeezer: "Crank it up!"

I wanted to make a little [unofficial] test using different sized cranks on my 36er, and see what the elapsed time and max speeds would be. I found a quiet, deserted parking lot and measured out a flat 300 foot stretch, with a camcorder at each end.

Crank it up!

I couldn’t go all out speed wise since I had one hand on my wrist worn gps for the duration of each run, to turn it on and off at the start & finish. I think I still went at pretty good clips, maybe 85-90% of my max potential speeds. I used graduated cranks sizes 102, 114, 127, 150, & 165mm.

Hope you enjoy and at the end is a bar graph showing the results. Also watch past the creds for more fun! :D[B]

Crank it up![/B]

cough cough …private… cough cough

i never knew sizes went down to 102 mm i thought it only went to 114mm :smiley:
good vid very accurate and stuff. what is your top speed of all time?

Wow! Great video, this can help people choose their own cranks :smiley:

yeah great video Terry!

As I posted on Youtube, the magic fitting of the pedal and crank was very cool, and practically that’s a great demo of crank length differences including the wobble factor.

Haha yeah actually they go down to 89mm! I’ve tried those, but I found it harder to maintain a good cruising speed, even on flat.

My findings from yesterday, which isn’t too surprising:

  • Long cranks (150-165+)= faster acceleration, increased wobble, limited speed, easier to climb, excellent for coker MUni and trials.
  • Short cranks (102-127)= slower acceleration, increased stopping time, smoother spinning, higher speeds, less leverage for climbing.
  • My pick for best overall size: 114mm hands down! The Qu-ax aluminum with zero Q factor are my favs. :)

Well, I almost hit 20 mph while bombing down a moderate grade at the beach bike path. Very scary feeling for me since you are going to go down hard if you upd! Can’t run it out at that speed! But on flat smooth ground, my [comfortable] top speed with 114’s is in the 15-16 mph range. I usually average about 12-14 though on long rides.

Way to “crank” out a very timely video Terry. That was interesting and informative.
Gotta try some shorter cranks on my 36er as I improve.
Loved the sound of you on the uni whizzing by the end camera.
wh-i-z-z-z-z-z-z-zoooooom
Shug or Sean or Sam or Slappy

Way to “crank” out a very timely video Terry. That was interesting and informative.
Gotta try some shorter cranks on my 36er as I improve.
Loved the sound of you on the uni whizzing by the end camera.
wh-i-z-z-z-z-z-z-zoooooom
Shug or Sean or Sam or Slappy

Thank Ben I’m glad if it helps. :slight_smile:

'preciate it! If I had it to do over again I’d probably change it a 100 foot “dash” between crank sizes, to see the difference in acceleration using 102’s to 165’s, and see which would cross the finish line first. My guess is it would have been the 127’s. Btw, it took forever to come to a stop after reaching the finish line on using the 102s! :o

Hey Shug, I’m seeing “double”, lol! Thanks for the comment. Yeah I put that side by side at the end just as an after thought, but I’m glad I did since it really highlights the difference between those two sizes. :slight_smile:

posted a comment to youtube about the excellent video. I already kind of knew all this from my own experience but it was cool to see it on video. I have to agree that the aluminum Qu-Ax 114’s with zero Q have got to be the best cranks for a 36’er out there. although my top speed on flat(and fastest crash) was attained on 127’s at 22.5mph my highest speed attained on a downhill(not crashing surprisingly) was with 114’s and was 28mph I actually didn’t even feel like I was spinning that fast either… once you get in the zone it’s really not that bad.

114 for a 29er

Would this test remain the same for a 29er?
I have only tried 125’s on my 29er. Graet for speed and climbing hills.

Oh that’s what you think… You may want to add these to your video… If you can even get rolling that is: https://www.mys-co.com/shop_e/99.html

Cool video, although no real news to me. But I dig the way you put it together and also the part where you magically put on the pedal…

That’s so true. Here’s a link to my finishing of a marathon in Düsseldorf, Germany, running 102mm cranks. You can get a good idea of how quick they are and how slowly they stop… I was the first ungeared rider crossing the finish line, but the unlimited class was not officially separated that way. Anyways, I was pretty excited to finish on 5th place.

I think the 29er, just like a 20" vs a 26" the smaller size wheel would spin faster and easier than the larger, much heavier 36er. But with crank sizes equal on the 29er and 36er, the 36er would be faster no question, just not as nimble, and the 29er could also stop much sooner.

Haha cool, but those are hand made I was referring to what you can buy ready made. :slight_smile:

That’s amazingly fast! That would also be a bad accident waiting to happen as there would be absolutely no way you could run out at that speed, or anything over maybe 15mph.

That’s cool! Was that 26.2 miles? What was the course like and was ther much steep climbing. And what was your average and top speeds?

Yes, it was the full Marathon length of 42,195 km or 26,2 miles. The course was pretty flat but partly tricky because of surprising elements such as rails and curves etc. My average speed was 26,8km/h or 16,68mph (if my calculation is correct for 1:34:39 for 42,195km). I forgot my max speed, but it was probably in the low 30s. It was my first public appearance on a unicycle in a competitive setting. And it was pretty exciting. I was really nervous the night before and must have slept only about 3 hours… I wouldn’t have expected to finish with such a good time (I actually beat the 2008 record of Arne Tilgen for that course). He actually finished about four minutes behind me with his KH/Schlumpf 36er. But I think he didn’t train much beforehand. Anyways, he’s a great and funny guy. He actually kissed my leg after passing the finish line, that was so hilarious!

That was really cool! Great idea.

That’s why you learn to have instant jello legs as soon as you UPD on a coker. I came out of the 22.5mph crash with minor road rash on my shoulder and across my back where I rolled(hit the ground in a shoulder roll over my right shoulder rolling to my left hip) and that was it. Back semi-on topic haha I love my 114’s best overall cranksize.

Wow props to you for a great finishing time! To average more than 16mph for 26 miles is nothing short of amazing to me, even on mostly flat ground! :slight_smile:

Thanks! There’s a lot I would do different if it was done again. I think the same angles were too redundant, and it might have been a better idea to see how fast I could accelerate to maximum speed in just 100 feet, vs yards. This way, I would not have needed a camera at each end; It could have been set up wide angle from the side showing the start and finish in one shot. And the viewer could also see each run in actual real time without camera cuts.

Haha, yeah but instinct always has me trying to land on my feet. If I know I’m going to fall though, I do try to do so as naturally as possible, and just literally “roll with it”. :smiley:

Thanks! I appreciate it. I was surprised myself.:stuck_out_tongue:
I did my first muni filming session today, maybe I’ll upload it once I manage to finish the editing. It won’t be anywhere near the level of your clips though, but it was a lot of fun recording it.

Great, looking forward to it! I have a new coker vid in the works as well. :smiley: