I've just been out riding with some speed skater friends of mine, and on a 26" muni managed to get up to 35km/h going down a hill. Just curious, has anyone else measured their speed while gliding? I also managed to get some carving turns going on my 20", but clipped the pedals on the ground and bailed kinda hard 😉
For you non-metric people, 35km/h is roughly 21mph
my best probably isn't too fast...I'm betting somewhere around 16 or 17 miles per hour. I would kinda like to put a cyclometer on my trials uni to find out, but...its not worth it....
-- James_Potter
to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.
i have done 16.5 and i had hardly any contact with the tire with my shoe, bacicly it was controled coasting.
I messured my speed with a handheld GPS.
Maybe you do need a steeper hill? On a smaller wheel, then you would definitely be limited due to speed wobbles, but just to assume that because you can't do it makes it impossible is a bit naive...
Evan, I've glided (glidden?) down Lombard street in SF. 21mph sounds quite reasonable, except for the whole issue of shoe-melting. There are hills all over SF that are steep enough that anyone with the skill and a lack of a sense of mortality could break 30-35mph. I've gone >45 on my bike without pedalling on hills over here, so I see no reason why 22 is impossible.
Someday I want to see (not participate in... I'll take a bike) a gliding contest down the grapevine into LA. At the top the shoes would be new, at the bottom the competitors have to replace them...
"I love freedom dearly, ideally, in theory, but in reality we're not there yet--Not nearly."--Cold Duck Complex ------------------------------------------------------------------------ gerblefranklin's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/4295 View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/45194
Someday I want to see (not participate in... I'll take a bike) a gliding contest down the grapevine into LA. At the top the shoes would be new, at the bottom the competitors have to replace them...
Someday I want to see (not participate in... I'll take a bike) a gliding contest down the grapevine into LA. At the top the shoes would be new, at the bottom the competitors have to replace them...
Oh man, that sounds awesome! Some of the suburbs around where I live (where we measured the 21mph) have some insanely long hills, so I want to try get some serious speed on film.
I also want to try gliding with no cranks/pedals, hopefully with the aim of eliminating speed wobbles. What do you guys reckon?
I'll have to get this going.. I can glide, have done it for a hundred metres or so down a pretty steep hill. But nowhere enar high speeds, haven't got the control or balance to do it.. and now it's winter with snow and ice and gravel, so i don't think so, have to wait for spring to glide outside.. There are a few descends in parking-houses and so, but they are pretty short, but i think it will be great practice either way.
Well Ive never measured the exact speed but I know once I was going with the wind and my eyes were still watering from going to fast...Ive had my tire get speed wobbles and me fall...i can easily go 21mph on my bike sicne I had a computer that told me my speed so I know how fast it feels like, and I know Ive glided faster than that..Whats the best way to measure your speed?
Well Ive never measured the exact speed but I know once I was going with the wind and my eyes were still watering from going to fast...Ive had my tire get speed wobbles and me fall...i can easily go 21mph on my bike sicne I had a computer that told me my speed so I know how fast it feels like, and I know Ive glided faster than that..Whats the best way to measure your speed?
A bike computer would probably be best, when I did it we had my friend's car driving beside me while they were filming
I also want to try gliding with no cranks/pedals, hopefully with the aim of eliminating speed wobbles. What do you guys reckon?
Taking off the pedals should be enough. Taking off the cranks doesn't seem to change much, and makes for a much bigger hassle getting back up the hill! 🙂
-- johnfoss
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
