Just wondering.
And is UW more popular in other nations?
Perhaps this is actually a time when a poll would yield useful results. The people on here are probably a reasonably good cross-section of unicyclists (although with an obvious bias towards English-speaking countries and with the massive Japanese community largely missing), so if we all ticked “yes” or “no” we’d get some sort of idea.
FWIW, I can’t ride one. Tried a few times but never succeeded. I can’t say I’ve put much time into it though (probably less than an hour altogether).
Rob
I agree with you on the poll thing rob. He should ask if people can ride or perform tricks on a UW or even a BC wheel.
Don’t know for all unicyclists, but for my household: Two out of three unicyclists can ride a UW so that’s 66.6%
On a similar note, how many people can coast?
I’ve been trying to learn to coast. It is damn hard.
Estimate: 80% of people who learn to unicycle never ride anything except the unicycle they learned on.
Another estimate: 80% of people who take up unicycling more seriously either never try an ultimate wheel, or try it and find it difficult and not particularly fun to work on.
So, .2*.2=4% of unicyclists learn to ride an ultimate wheel.
I would guess closer to 95%. The vast majority of unicyclists probably never get close to an ultimate wheel. If you aren’t in or around unicycle clubs or conventions, you are unlikely to have the opportunity to try one.
The one thing that the poll system here can potentially collect slightly useful information on, is information about the subset of the unicyclists on these forums who answer polls, which is a small subset of the people here, which is a very small and non-standard subset of the unicycling world in general.
I can ride one badly. What counts as riding it? Level One? Same for coasting. How much counts? We set a 1m minimum in coasting competitions, but I think you should require something more than that. But coasting I can do for fair distances.
I would have to agree with John. I suspect that the vast majority of unicyclists are not unicycle enthusiasts. I’d guess as well that the 4% number represents the percentage of unicyclists who even know what an ultimate wheel is. I’d bet that well fewer than 1% of unicyclists ever learn to ride one.
Just done a quick poll in our chalet in France. 50% of people can ride a unicycle and 1/3 of those can ride an ultimate wheel.
what is an ultimate wheel? can anyone post a pic of one?
wheelset with no frame slightly modified to be more easily rideable.
Question:
Is a real ultimate wheel somehow easier to ride than a unicycle without the frame? I know real UW’s have the pedals directly connected to the bars crossing the rim, but is it the same as a wheelset with cranks and pedals? Or is it somehow easier?
An ultimate wheel has no q factor(or hub width, or space allocated to bearings), and therefore it wobbles less, making it easier to ride.
However, I find it easier to seat drag then to ride an ultimate wheel simply because there is more room to wobble. I can seat drag a good 100yrds or so, but I can only ride a couple revs on a UW.
An ultimate wheel, is, probably, easier. I can freemount the UW but I can’t mount into a seatdrag: The wobble when I get on is too great for me to overcome(without a great deal of practice), even when I hold the wheel. This means that if I actually put some time into it, I would most likely find the ultimate wheel rather simple.
Yeah I can’t ride a UW and I don’t have one but I do know how to coast. It is suprisingly easier than I thought only took a week to get 30 or so feet.
That makes me sad; i’ve been working on it (on and off) for over a year, and I definitely can’t go 30 feet!
any tips?
corbin
Coasting is harder.
I can ride an ultimate wheel 30 feet!
Lean the wheel alternately against one leg and the other. When you get better you won’t have to do this, but it helps to get started. Wear armor over jeans.
I think a better question to ask would be what percentage of unicyclists own a ultimate wheel. I can’t name of any, (and I know a bunch do) but I would much rather have a bc than an ultimate wheel
That sounds like ultimate wheel tips. Corbin want coasting tips:)
I don’t think I want to own one
I bet as soon as I got good at it, I would relax and sit down.