average/expected speed per tire size?

shapr said:

*
Will I be able to keep up with a bicycle on a 24" MUni?
*

not with 170's you wont. not with 150's either. you'll either want
really short cranks or a 29er if you want *a chance* at keeping up with
her. casual bicyclists average 12 mph or so, and thats what the fastest
coker-ers average. just pray your gf is very slow.

-grant

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Bikes and unicycles are really different machines in that a bike will
always a certain advantage with regards to speed and distance--a biker
can rev it up and coast, but the uniier has to pedal and pedal and pedal
and pedal. No matter what size wheel (ok, the coker does close the gap
somewhat) the bike will eventually speed ahead due to it's physical
self--the two wheels and the chain drive and the ability to coast.

On the other hand, the unicycle ride is a far, far more enjoyable
experience for those lucky enough to ride it, if even for a few feet.
When you think about it, there is probebly not a biker on this planet
who does not view the unicyclist with envy, secret or otherwise.

As far as riding with your girlfriend, I would suggest shorter cranks to
put on that mUni--and if your mUni has a fat tire, your 24 inch will in
fact be more like a 25 or 26 inch, and this combination should make it
into a decent cruising machine. Your girlfriend will still have the
advantage of speed no matter what you do, but chances are she will be
riding slower to "keep down" with you (simply because unicycling is far
more happening than bicycling) than you riding faster to "keep up" with
her.

I only know about this because not too long ago, my wife and I went for
a ride (she on a bike, me on a mUni) and this is what happened. She
occasionally sped up ahead, but always returned to keep pace with me.

(note--when that happened, I was mounting via streetlamps, stopsigns,
etc. Freemounting will indeed cut down on the time difference as
well...) It was totally cool--not all bikers want to go fast anyway...

I hope this was helpful,

Steve

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I agree with dogbowl in that unicycles and bicycles are completely
different animals. The unicycle has a speed range somewhere between
walking and bicycling, but doesn't happily mix with either. I've been
out with people on foot and struggled to ride slow enough - good balance
pratice though 😉 - and with cyclists and been way too slow (although
it's a 20" I'm riding at the moment - thinking about a 26" for riding
the trails).

So now if I go out with cyclists I ride a bike (not a problem for me,
I'm a cyclist who's getting into unis, not a hard-core anti-bike
unicyclist!) and when I ride the uni I'm on my own (ahh) and go at the
unique "unicycle speed".

Perhaps a very quick unicyclist and a very unfit bicyclist may be able
to ride together though.

Rob

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shapr said:

*I have a 20" training uni, and I've just ordered a 24" MUni.
I'd like to go on multi-hour cycling runs with my girlfriend.
Will I be able to keep up with a bicycle on a 24" MUni?
*

I've ridden with cyclists on my 24x3 muni with 150 mm cranks, and also
on my 29-er.

Your girlfriend will have to ride slower, and I think that multi-hour
rides would be a little frustrating, but for shorter rides it should
work.

--
onewheeldave - Semi Skilled Unicyclist

"He's also been known to indulge in a spot of flame juggling - but it's
the Muni that really fires him up."

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shapr said:

*...a table listing average speed for a given wheel size...

I'd like to know the average or expected speeds for 20", 24", 700c
(28"? 29"?), and 36" (Coker). *

On casual rides...I ride a 29er with my family on bikes. They can coast,
so they always leave me behind on the downhills. But we ride along
comfortably together on the flats. I do well on the uphills.

Estimated/Actual Averages over long distance (miles per hour):
Coker...12-14 mph (from threads on this forum)
29er...8 mph (me, out for a nice ride, 125mm cranks)
29er...6.5 mph (me, racing crosscountry/MUni, 150mm cranks)
26...7 mph (est)
24 MUni...5 mph (me, racing crosscountry/MUni with 170mm cranks)
24 MUni...3 mph (me, casual)
20... this is too small for long distance. (IMHO)

Most of my Long D experience is on that 29er. I'll have top speeds of
10-12 during the ride (with 125mm cranks). But I cannot sustain those
speeds for long. Typical rides on that 29er range from 5 to 12 miles.

It really depends on terrain and how fast she rides and how hard you
want to work at it. Assuming you'll be road riding, I'd go with the
bigger wheels and smaller cranks. Coker with 125s is faster than you can
run. 150s more control. I can usually outrun a UPD from that 29er. If
you get a Coker, get wrist protection.

Hope that helps.

--
Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T

Mantra: Avoid Hitting Tailbone...Avoid Hitting Tailbone...

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shapr said:

*...a table listing average speed for a given wheel size...

I'd like to know the average or expected speeds for 20", 24", 700c
(28"? 29"?), and 36" (Coker). *

On casual rides...I ride a 29er with my family on bikes. They can coast,
so they always leave me behind on the downhills. But we ride along
comfortably together on the flats. I do well on the uphills.

Estimated/Actual Averages over long distance (miles per hour):
Coker...12-14 mph (from threads on this forum)
29er...8 mph (me, out for a nice ride, 125mm cranks)
29er...6.5 mph (me, racing crosscountry/MUni, 150mm cranks)
26...7 mph (est)
24 MUni...5 mph (me, racing crosscountry/MUni with 170mm cranks)
24 MUni...3 mph (me, casual)
20... this is too small for long distance. (IMHO)

Most of my Long D experience is on that 29er. I'll have top speeds of
10-12 during the ride (with 125mm cranks). But I cannot sustain those
speeds for long. Typical rides on that 29er range from 5 to 12 miles.

It really depends on terrain and how fast she rides and how hard you
want to work at it. Assuming you'll be road riding, I'd go with the
bigger wheels and smaller cranks. Coker with 125s is faster than you can
run. 150s more control. I can usually outrun a UPD from that 29er. If
you get a Coker, get wrist protection.

Hope that helps.

--
Memphis Mud - Student of GrandMaster 2T

Mantra: Avoid Hitting Tailbone...Avoid Hitting Tailbone...

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If you're fit and on a 29er with 125mm cranks, you can pretty much
cruise on roads at a similar speed to a weekend biker, about 12mph. I've
averaged up to 12.9 mph in real conditions with traffic lights and jams
and stuff.

Offroad, relative speeds depend on the technical level of the terrain
and the skills of the riders, on technical uphill, a unicycle will
sometimes be faster and on tight singletrack you can often keep up. A
few rare times, mainly on very loose downhills, I've just hit it flat
out and overtaken bikes on downhills, just because I'm more confident of
my traction than them.

Mainly though, if you've got a sensible sized wheel (big 26" tyre or up)
and don't have long cranks, a unicycle with a regular (ie. most days)
rider is pretty similar to a bike with a weekend only + summer only
biker. So basically, it's cool to ride with bikes as long as you find
not terribly fit bikers and you're willing to ride loads to get fit
enough to keep up. A 24" muni might be pushing it unless the biker rides
quite slowly.

Joe

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On the other hand, Joe Marshall is superhuman. I trained for weeks a
year or so ago and never managed to hit 13 miles covered in an hour
elapsed, even in ideal circumstances, on a Coker with 150s. OK, so I'm
a middle aged midget, but I like to think of myself as a reasonably fit
bloke and a half way decent rider.

On my Coker, by setting my mind to it, I have overtaken what I'd term
"leisure cyclists" just poddling about at a comfortable speed; I can
easily overtake elderly grannies wobbling back from the shops, or family
groups, held back by children of six on bicycles with stabilisers.

On the other hand, I've ridden alongside bicyclists, chatting to them,
for several miles at a time without them appearing to be riding
uncomfortably slowly.

As a bicyclist, I used to expect to average 12.5 mph to 15 mph on a long
ride. As a Cokeur, I expect to average 9 mph or so on a long ride. A
20 will average about 6 mph or so, and a 24 with short cranks and
determination will probably average 8 mph over a few miles.

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shapr said:

*
I searched google for a table listing average speed for a given wheel
size, but couldn't find such a thing.
*

All you could expect is a speed against cadence (rpm) chart. The
average speed will depend on many variables, not least of which is the
rider's ability.

Assuming you work in miles per hour:

A Coker does 1mph for every 9.34 rpm
(93 rpm = 10 mph)

A 29 does 1mph for every 11.6 rpm
(116 rpm = 10 mph)

A 28 does 1 mph for every 12 rpm
(120 rpm = 10 mph)

A 26 does 1 mph for every 12.9 rpm
(129 rpm = 10 mph)

A true 24 does 1 mph for every 14 rpm
(140 rpm = 10 mph)

A 20 does 1 mph for every 16.8 rpm)
(168 rpm = 10 mph)

Figures are approximate as most wheel sizes are only nominal.

So, what is your sustainable cadence? 60 rpm = 2 pedal strokes per
second. 90 rpm = 3, pedal strokes per second. 120 rpm = 4 pedal
strokes (two complete circles) per second.

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I had the opportunity to ride past a traffic speed monitor machine (the
size of a refrigerator, has a speed limit sign and a speed clocking
thingie "YOUR SPEED IS: [censored]"😉 the other day. While it's accuracy is
always questionable, it told me I was riding 6 mph (on my 24"😉. Pumping
as fast as I could got it to 7, sort of flicking on 8 mph with maybe 120
rpm (judging from bike experience).

So, Mikefule, your numbers seem spot on.

--
steveyo - new old guy

--
steveyo

I complained I needed new shoes, till I met a man with no feet.
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shapr said:

*I'd like to go on multi-hour cycling runs with my girlfriend.*

Teach your girlfriend to unicycle.

Imagine having her all to yourself for 20 or so hours with no other
distractions.

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Bikes and unicycles can certainly mix, it depends on the unicycle and
on the rider, (and on the bike and rider, too). If I aim for speed, I
can cruise at about 11 mph on my 29'er ("de Dikke Dame"😉 with 125 mm
cranks. That's a cadence of 125 - 130. I mainly ride de Dikke Dame on
the flats. I've ridden with my wife and/or my daughter who were on a
bike, on several occasions. Towards the end of a 2-hour ride my wife
complained I was going too fast. YMMV.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
--
"The more you think, the less you have to do. - Leo Vandewoestijne"

With my 29er with 125s i can keep up with my friend on a bike, i average
around 10mph, but for much longer trips it drops to a bit below 9mph.
You would have a higher avg speed on a coker, unless you are in an area
like me where there are a ton of hills, in which case a 29er would go up
the hills with more ease.

--
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my girlfriend rides a custom lowrider, they are built for cruising and
with my 26" and short-ish cranks i can easly keep up with her even when
she is pedling fast. lowriders, particalrly this one she built is not
designed for speed more for comfort and class.

i'm not sure who is getting more looks when we ride together... me on a
26" unicyle or her on a custom candy apple red, pimpedout lowrider bike.

--
hungfromhooks - uni newbie

Philip Barbosa

people photographer- side show performer - newbie unicyclist

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Once you add uphill the bicycle/unicycle match becomes more even, and
allot of the times, in the favor of unicyclers. In 2002' in a 10 mile
race up Indenpendance Pass, with a elevation gain of nearly 3000' feet,
I beat 187 bicyclist out of 335 total. I was on my Coker. My time was
1:03.

--
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shapr said:

*Will I be able to keep up with a bicycle on a 24" MUni? *

😄 *AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!* ok, lemme put it this way, you'll work hard
to keep up with a fast -jogger-. bikes are out of the question.

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aspenmike said:

*Once you add uphill the bicycle/unicycle match becomes more even, and
allot of the times, in the favor of unicyclers. In 2002' in a 10 mile
race up Indenpendance Pass, with a elevation gain of nearly 3000'
feet, I beat 187 bicyclist out of 335 total. I was on my Coker. My
time was 1:03. *

Those poor misled bikers are Girlymen (and Girlywomen) because they've
been coasting some % of their ride (making them soft) while you've been
pedalling 100% of the time (making you strong). On the uphills, everyone
pedals 100% of the time. Our training pays off. Of course, if the hill
gets too steep, they've got grannygears...but that's a different story.

Lance is allowed to differ. I don't remember ever seeing him coast,
except on trecherous downhills.

AspenMike: Averaging 10 miles per hour, uphill for 10 miles...very nice.

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