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48" Uw

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rec.sport.unicycling
Published
7 January 2005
Last activity
10 June 2005
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Ottawa Dave
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  1. I've been thinking about a 48" UW for a while now and would like some
    feed back.
    What I'm thinking of doing is building a big wheel with a solid rubber
    tire about 48" and then building a seat that rides on the tire like a
    mono rail or a roller coaster wheel on it's track.
    It would be a unicycle without a frame.
    Can any one see a flaw in this plan?
    Dose any one know of a other uni like built like this.

    Cheers Dave

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  2. What would keep the seat from falling off sideways? Would it have
    guides extending down some? I assume the saddle would have a double
    roller system to keep it stable on the wheel right?

    I'm interested to see if you can pull it off. I think the lateral
    stability of the saddle might make it very difficult to ride, though I
    think is possible.

    Are you planning on using a spoked or disc rim?

    Daniel

    EDIT: I don't think it should be called a UW because it will have a
    seat. I also think it would work if you used a disc wheel, and use four
    rollers. Two would be under the seat and one each on each side of the
    wheel to prevent the seat from leaning. Was that what you had in mind?

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  3. Yes the seat will ride on 2 rollers that sit right on top of the tire
    there will be 4 more rollers under the seat that grip the rim from below
    holding the seat in place and keeping it straight.
    I'm going to make a wood disk and then cut pannels out of it.
    I'm a carpenter and much happier working with wood.

    Dave

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  4. Ottawa Dave said:

    * Edit Is it the lack of a seat or the lack of a frame that makes a
    UW? *

    Methinks it's the lack of a seat mostly, because what makes it an UW is
    that you have no control over the wheel itself, aside from with your
    feet. With a seat, it won't wobble back and forth.

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  5. James_Potter said:

    *Methinks it's the lack of a seat mostly, because what makes it an UW
    is that you have no control over the wheel itself, aside from with
    your feet. With a seat, it won't wobble back and forth. *

    You could risde on just a frame, but it would probably hurt a lot if it
    went side to side.

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  6. Ok, I spent about four and a half minutes on MS Word to draw this out.
    The diagram on the left is what I think you are thinking as far as the
    roller configuration. Note that there would be another roller
    immediately behind the ones pictured. The diagram on the right is what
    I am thinking about as far as the rollers go. Again, there is another
    roller behind each of the ones shown.

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  7. Dang, the image didn't attach. 2nd try...

    +----------------------------------------------------------------+
    | Attachment filename: clipboard02.jpg |
    |Download attachment: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/264440|
    +----------------------------------------------------------------+

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  8. That is sort of what I'm thinking. Only the roller that is on top of the
    wheel is wider and dips in the center and the guide rollers run at 45
    degrees.

    Dave

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  9. I think what you're building doesn't qualify as a "UW", but it's quite
    different from a conventional unicycle as well.

    You should come up with a new unique name. Like IW (Incredible Wheel)
    or RCW (Really Cool Wheel) or BDTMMCVW (Boy Does This Makes My Crotch
    Vibrate Wheel).

    a UW has niether a seat nor a frame. You're designing a unique frameless
    unicycle with a seat. (UFUWAS).

    ...the possibilities are endless.

    Ottawa Dave said:

    *
    Edit Is it the lack of a seat or the lack of a frame that makes a UW?
    *

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  10. mscalisi said:

    *a UW has niether a seat nor a frame. You're designing a unique
    frameless unicycle with a seat. (UFUWAS).

    ...the possibilities are endless. *

    I vote for Ufuwa!!

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  11. I vote for 'fhqwhgads' (http://www.homestarrunner.com/fhqwhgads.html)

    Everybody to the limit!!!

    /couldn't resist.

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  12. "Ottawa Dave" <[email hidden]> wrote
    in message
    news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:


    I've been thinking about a 48" UW for a while now and would like some
    feed back.
    What I'm thinking of doing is building a big wheel with a solid rubber
    tire about 48" and then building a seat that rides on the tire like a
    mono rail or a roller coaster wheel on it's track.
    It would be a unicycle without a frame.
    Can any one see a flaw in this plan?
    Dose any one know of a other uni like built like this.

    Cheers Dave


    Well worth a go: I think that your top wheel will require some thought: it
    will be carrying all the on-seat weight, which may well be much less than a
    standard uni. It will however have a quite small contact area with the
    tyre, so solid tyre is probably your only option here. Obviously the tyre
    will be smooth.
    You need to think about frictional and other effects tending to move the
    seat forwards as you ride, and these would increase the more the tyre
    deforms to take the weight. I suppose that if the seat's main function is
    to cut down the L/R wobble of a UW, rather than as a place to sit
    comfortably, then this has a fair chance of working. An imaginative idea.
    Best of luck with it.

    You are also not allowed to do this without the mandatory video submissions
    to RSU

    Nao.

  13. From the sound of it, this will not be unique. I've seen a pic of
    something similar made in China (and I think ridden in a Chinese
    circus). It was gold-coloured. I think John Childs has posted a
    picture before.

    Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
    --
    It's impossible to get old when you ride a unicycle - John (what's in a name) Childs

  14. Klaas Bil said:

    *From the sound of it, this will not be unique. I've seen a pic of
    something similar made in China (and I think ridden in a Chinese
    circus). It was gold-coloured. I think John Childs has posted a
    picture before.

    Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
    --
    It's impossible to get old when you ride a unicycle - John (what's in
    a name) Childs *

    Here's the picture of the hoop wheel giraffe. The picture is by Lars
    Lottrup and was mentioned in 'this thread' (http://tinyurl.com/4z5e8).
    It appears that Lars has reorganized his web site or his gallery and the
    pictures are no longer in the same place. I can't read his site and I'm
    unable to find the pictures of that unicycle.

    +----------------------------------------------------------------+
    | Attachment filename: hoopgiraffe1_bylarlottrup.jpg |
    |Download attachment: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/264724|
    +----------------------------------------------------------------+

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  15. In order to reduce lateral movement or twisting of the seat, would it be
    possible to use two lines of bearings on top of the wheel, and another
    two under the rim against the disc like your second diagram? Would this
    provide a smoother ride? I can see how much more difficult this could
    be though.

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  16. john_childs said:

    Here's the picture of the hoop wheel giraffe.

    That's the one. Now that I see it again, I realise it is different
    from Ottawa Dave's idea. The Chinese one is a giraffe, and Dave's
    envisaged contraption has pedals at the centre of the wheel.

    So Dave's concept may be original indeed. I was too quick in saying it
    had been done.

    Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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  17. It's a frameless unicycle, or an ultimate wheel with a seat. I think the
    seat de-ultimatizes it, but at the same time makes it a more functional
    and more comfortable thing to ride. More sensible too.

    If you put rollers on top of the tire, they will roll over whatever the
    tire gets on it. This will probably be fine most of the time, but if
    your tire starts picking up grit & stuff, this may be transmitted up to
    the seat, or possibly foul the seat rollers. If you use well-made wheels
    with some give, like inline skate wheels, this probably wouldn't be any
    problem.

    Obviously his tire will be solid rubber, unless anyone know where to get
    a 48" tire. One of those would definitely be cool though.... :-)

    I imagine you would want to minimize the friction of your seat rolling
    up on top of the tire. Otherwise you might get funky moments where the
    seat tries to spit itself out from between your legs. If a rock ever got
    wedged in there, it could cause a sudden dismount because your seat
    would suddenly pitch forward.

    Your design will probably work great to prove the concept, and for a
    novelty ride. If you later want to make something fancier, you might try
    something more along the lines of a wheelchair wheel. Use the side rims,
    with witch you would normally push it, to run your rollers on. Since
    these rims don't touch the ground, they shouldn't pick up any dirt, so
    you can use smaller rollers. With a hard steel surface, it should roll
    very nicely.

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  18. i think john foss is onto something. make the base rollers of the seat
    really wide and have a frame attaching them to wheelchair style things
    on the outside. you'd have to compensate the Q-factor accordingly
    though or you'd be rubbing you legs on these the whole time.

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  19. Hi John,
    You make some good points about the wheel. I was thinking of useing
    inline skate wheels for the rollers that run on the side of the disk
    like you sugest and a large fan belt for the rubber part of the wheel.
    The seat could then be suported by wide automotive pullys. A brush
    behinde the seat could sweep the tire to cut down on upd's caused by
    [censored] picked up by the tire.
    I agree that it's probably not a UW at this point. How about calling it
    a Mono Wheel.

    Cheers Dave

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  20. Mono Wheel....... hmmmm.. i like it go for it dude

    POW

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