Giraffe Crank Lengths

125-140mm cranks should do the job...it all boils down to personal
preference, riding style and types of riding you'll be doing.

As for dismounting: Exit to the rear of your aircraft...hold onto the
front of the seat and step off/drop to the back allowing the unicycle
to move forward. This way you can dismount safely when you know the
unicycle isn't going to shoot out and hit someone or something.

--
dustin

'dustin kelm' (http://unishow.org) isa40:30.31

"You are only limited by your imagination."
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Naomi said:

Any tips on seat type? I don't want to keep the T bar seat if I can
find something more friendly.

I foresee a problem here. My DM giraffe's seatpost and seat doesn't have
the standard four-bolt pattern, but a different three-bolt triangle
pattern, with one bolt at the front and two bolts at the back. Apart
from other DM giraffes I've never seen or heard of this bolt pattern
used anywhere else.

So the only way to change the seat (to a non DM seat) would be to
change the seatpost first. I can't remember if the post diameter is
25.0mm, 25.4mm or 25.8mm (the pains of metric conversion).

Naomi said:

And what is the safest way to get off a DM giraffe? Other than the
parachute?

As Dustin says, make sure there's plenty of space _in_front_of_you_,
grab the handle on the front of the seat, take your feet off the pedals
and drop straight down, making sure the wheel scoots _forwards_.

If you can jump off a 4ft wall safely, you can dismount a giraffe
safely.

Naomi said:

Freemounting is not on the immediate wish list.

I wish I could mount mine. Four years after I've bought my six footer
I've still never attempted it at all! 'Cos I'm a wimp and I'm scared of
heights.

--
gkmac

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, take the pictures." - tomblackwood
"As it only hurts when you walk, will you be riding everywhere now?" -
mikepenton
"Well, not everything is as practical as making your cranks flip around
I guess." - Brian MacKenzie
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I agree with what everyone else says. Dismounting on the back side is so
much nicer than on the front side. I don't feel hardly any impact
compared to dismounting on the front side of the uni. When you are
learning and/or getting used to riding on the giraffe (it's a bit
different feel cause of the chain drive and the height) you'll probably
dismount/upd off the front side at first. This will hurt a little bit
because your not used to it but as you get more experienced you will
learn how to absorb the impact.

P. S. If you ever decide to try learning rolling giraffe mounts, check
out the tutorial in my sig 🙂.

--
surfer1024

*)--SmallSpin-'O,*
My latest Vid: Afternoon Flatland Session 8/27/07
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63821
Rolling Giraffe Mount Tutorial
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63892
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gkmac said:

Four years after I've bought my six footer I've still never attempted
it at all! 'Cos I'm a wimp and I'm scared of heights.

Haha.

You guys should give it a try. I've only ridden a giraffe twice. I was
able to freemount within about 10 tries.

--
Chexjc

www.myspace.com/thelostguitarist
AIM: Guitardude88
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=JasonCheckla

Brian O. said:

brendan said:

when i flex both arms one looks puny next to the other. Mind you it was
that way after years of badminton...

And maybe playing a little too much with the shuttlecock as well?
Hmm? 😉

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Once you start riding it regularly, you will eventually get tired of
having to find a wall/steps/ladder to mount the thing.

A handy 'cheat' in the meantime is to mimic the freemount while holding
onto something like a lamppost.
That makes it much easier to get on, and especially when trying to
mount while holding three clubs.

--
GILD

'three short gs and a long e-flat™'
(http://w3.rz-berlin.mpg.de/cmp/beethoven_sym5_1.wav) - 'unihoki'
(http://www.sinco.hu/data/pic/size_1/session_061007_26.jpg)
'if i'm murdered, don't execute my killer.'
(http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/1539/)
'harper' (http://tinyurl.com/c9epx) 'mikefule'
(http://tinyurl.com/yh6vna) 'bluntrm' (http://tinyurl.com/2bq8ol)
'NAMASTE!' (http://tinyurl.com/4qcxw)
'Dave' (http://www.lyricsdir.com/d/deep-purple/child-in-time.php)
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If the giraffe scares you, remember to think of its height not in terms
of where the top of your head is, but where your feet are. On a
5-footer, that's less than 3' off the ground. No big deal at all.

Essential skills:
You really want to learn to idle and go at least a little bit backward
on your giraffe. Without those skills there are many more ways to hurt
yourself, others, or the giraffe itself if you get into a pinch.
Consider those the basic skills of entry.

Cranks:
The ones on there should be fine. Short or long, unless you plan on
taking it offroad or something, crank length isn't really relevant. The
old Schwinns were made with 140mm or 5.5" (one piece) cranks.

Seat:
Find out your post diameter and then work from there. If it's an odd
size, you might have to hire someone to either make you a post to fit
your new seat, or just cut the top off the old one and weld on a seat
plate for the appropriate seat. That's what I did with my DM ATU, where
the original post is now topped with a gusseted Miyata mount.

Dismount:
What Dustin said. Always check for bumps or other obstacles before
letting your wheel roll out. Never let you wheel roll out to the rear
unless you're absolutely sure there's nothing there. If it hits a curb,
for example, it could cause a back injury. You can also hold the pedals
steady and come down in a arc. This arguably softens the blow because
you start slower, though you then come down at an angle. When you get
more comfortable up there, a good-looking dismount is to make a sudden
stop while popping the seat out in front of you, then jumping straight
down to land next to the unicycle, holding it up. That's my "show"
dismount. 🙂

--
johnfoss

John Foss
Email: "jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
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"pretty much every trail that we've done on the California or Moab Muni
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of view
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