Extreme unicycling

Peter Amey said the following on 08/05/2007 10:04:

Quoted message said:

OK, this is probably already well known to Danny and his ilk. It's
probably also been posted here and I missed it; however, just in case,
take a look at this:

That cheered up a dull Tuesday morning!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

"Peter Amey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OK, this is probably already well known to Danny and his ilk. It's
probably also been posted here and I missed it; however, just in case,
take a look at this:

I wouldn't really call that extreme having watched Kris Holm in the past ...

in message <[email hidden]>, elyob

(') said:

"Peter Amey" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OK, this is probably already well known to Danny and his ilk. It's
probably also been posted here and I missed it; however, just in case,
take a look at this:

I wouldn't really call that extreme having watched Kris Holm in the past
...

Ouch! Does he use a suspension seatpost?

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

;; all in all you're just another click in the call
;; -- Minke Bouyed

On 08/05/2007 11:08, elyob said,

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't really call that extreme having watched Kris Holm in the past ...

I watched a few of his clips - that guy is impressive! I couldn't do a
quarter of that with two wheels!

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Paul Boyd said:

On 08/05/2007 11:08, elyob said,

Quoted message said:

I wouldn't really call that extreme having watched Kris Holm in the past ...

I watched a few of his clips - that guy is impressive! I couldn't do a
quarter of that with two wheels!

A lot of the flashy unicycle stuff you see these days is using the
unicycle more or less as a glorified pogo stick which (in my view)
makes it a little easier. That said, Kris Holm is several orders of
magnitude of skill above the plain old pogoers and I wish I could do
10% of what he can do on one wheel. The bumps and scrapes on my
unicycle tend to be caused by extreme uncoordination rather than
extreme moves :-) I really need to dig it out of the shed now my back
is up to it again.

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

A lot of the flashy unicycle stuff you see these days is using the
unicycle more or less as a glorified pogo stick which (in my view)
makes it a little easier.

The balance is still somewhat different to a pogo stick. And anyway, a
bouncy unicycle is just so much fun!

I keep my 20" tyre pumped up to a suitable pressure for playing hockey
(too high for serious bouncing), my 36" is totally unsuitable for
bouncing and my 26" currently has a not-particularly-bouncy Big Apple
tyre at 80psi for road riding, which means I don't currently have a
bouncy unicycle. But when I put the Gazaloddi Jr on the Muni for going
off-road and pump it up to 28psi, hopping on it always brings a huge
grin to my face.

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2

Danny Colyer said:

The balance is still somewhat different to a pogo stick.

Definitely, but I found it a lot easier to try the fancy looking moves
when I realised that I could turn the unicycle into an essentially
static item rather than trying to think what I should be doing with my
legs to turn the wheel. That said, I'm still [censored] by anyone's
standards and my bouncing is limited to up and down kerbs and over
small logs, some would say they bore an uncanny resemblance to twigs,
but they're just being cruel (and I still end up falling off).

Quoted message said:

And anyway, a bouncy unicycle is just so much fun!

*Any* unicycle is a lot of fun! I'm just a tinge envious of your
little list of unicycles :-)

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

*Any* unicycle is a lot of fun! I'm just a tinge envious of your
little list of unicycles :-)

Perhaps I shouldn't mention the ultimate wheels or my daughter's 12",
then ;-)

One day I'll find an excuse to get a 29".

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2

Danny Colyer said:

Perhaps I shouldn't mention the ultimate wheels or my daughter's 12",
then ;-)

Bar steward! 🙂 Mind you, ultimate wheels are the work of Stan and
given my lack of coordintation and pipe cleaner legs I would
undoubtedly end up in traction if I tried to use one.

Quoted message said:

One day I'll find an excuse to get a 29".

It looks like you've been fairly successful on the excuse front so
far, I'd never be able to get that little lot past the financial
controller. I'd love to get a 36" with one of the Harper inspired
geared hubs. Practical? No. Fun? Too bloody true!

Graeme

Danny Colyer said:

One day I'll find an excuse to get a 29".

Tried the Schlumpf uni yet, Danny? There was one at Kinetics, and I had
quite a bit of bother getting started in "overdrive" as I just wasn't
leaning into it enough (IIRC it's equivalent to about 40"😉, but once I
got on okay it was great. Didn't even /try/ and change gear, but that
would be easier for you than it is for me!

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch said:

Tried the Schlumpf uni yet, Danny?

Not yet, though I did have a go on a geared up electric-assist unicycle
a few weeks ago.

Quoted message said:

There was one at Kinetics, and I had
quite a bit of bother getting started in "overdrive" as I just wasn't
leaning into it enough (IIRC it's equivalent to about 40"😉, but once I
got on okay it was great. Didn't even /try/ and change gear, but that
would be easier for you than it is for me!

If I'd made it to BUC (British Unicycle Convention) this year I expect
I'd have had an opportunity to try one. My next best bit is probably
the Crawley juggling convention in August, but I'd be surprised if
anyone has a Schlumpf there :-(

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2

Chris Slade said:

That red disk thing on the right hand side looks very difficult to ride. No
pedals or seat, what do you do with it? :-) The one on the extreme left
doesn't look much easier...

Both are ultimate wheels:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_wheel>

The one on the right is a wooden disk nailed to the inside of the rim,
with the pedals screwed into metal inserts in the disk.

The one on the left is a cranked ultimate wheel, essentially just a
standard unicycle wheel without the frame.

The disk wheel is very much easier to learn, although I'm led to believe
that a cranked UW is easier to ride once you get really good. I can
ride the disk wheel (I can even free mount on a good day). I can't ride
the cranked one. Perhaps I should have that as a goal for this year.

Here's a picture of me riding one many years ago:
<http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/unicycling/gallery/ultimate02.jpg>
(I painted out the background because the pattern of bricks on the wall
made it unclear what was going on, but I promise I haven't painted out
anything important).

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2

Ian Smith said:

The red disk looks like an ultimate wheel with the pedals off - it has
the pedal inserts.

Actually the pedals *are* on, although being the same colour as the
inserts and viewed end on the pedal doesn't show up terribly well in the
photo.

Quoted message said:

Top trick on an ultimate wheel - ride on in circles, jump off it
leaving it rolling around in a circle on its own. Ride another one
in a circle, catching up with the first and jumping from one to the
other. Repeat. It might sound unlikely, but it can be done.

There's a Swedish trio called The Wheelies who do a *very* good UW
routine involving jumping from wheel to wheel. I've got it on video
somewhere, but a quick look on Google and YouTube didn't find anything
online.

Quoted message said:

You can get a wheel without pedals - it's called a BC wheel. It just
has an axle sticking out (or flat plates that don't propel the wheel)
and you get it rolling then hop on the axle.

By the time I first tried a BC wheel I was old enough that my fear of
hurting myself overrode my desire to succeed. So I never actually
managed to jump on the thing.

That was one with pegs. Most of the ones I've seen recently have had
plates hanging below the axle, which I imagine might be rather easier.

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2

Danny Colyer said:

<http://www.colyer.plus.com/temp/z-yikes.jpg>

Given that I'd just introduced the subject of recumbents I was rather
hesitant to click on that link, fearing that it might lead to that
photo that got you the nick-name of "Nipples Colyer" a while back. I
was mightily relieved that it was just more uni-taunting.

My 3 year old and I were down at the Fremantle markets this afternoon
watching a guy juggling whilst riding a 10' giraffe unicycle. Thomas
was very impressed and asked if he could get my unicycle out of the
shed and ride it when we got home. The only way I could put him off
was pointing out that he couldn't reach the pedals :-)

Graeme

Graeme Dods said:

My 3 year old and I were down at the Fremantle markets this afternoon
watching a guy juggling whilst riding a 10' giraffe unicycle. Thomas
was very impressed and asked if he could get my unicycle out of the
shed and ride it when we got home. The only way I could put him off
was pointing out that he couldn't reach the pedals :-)

They don't need to be able to reach the pedals to have fun:
<http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/unicycling/gallery/020408jenny02.jpg>
<http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/unicycling/gallery/04080703charliecoker.jpg>
<http://www.unicyclist.com/index.php?page=gallery&g2_itemId=193265>

I reckon Jenny's legs will finally be long enough for me to take the
wooden blocks off of her pedals by the end of the summer.

--
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
"Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down. Daddy, put that down.
Daddy, why did you put that down?" - Charlie Colyer, age 2