My New Ride



C

cjreeder

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Well, I finally took the plunge and whacked off the front wheel. All of
a sudden people in cars are staring at me again.. go figure.


[image: http://www.reeder.unicyclist.com/unibike.jpg]

Now what am I supposed to call this thing? Here's a short 'video'
(http://www.reeder.unicyclist.com/video/unibike.mov).


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Sah-weet! I want one.

You're Chris Reeder of Moscow, Idaho, right? My friend told me that you
said you wanted to be in our movie. We should hook up sometime and do
some filming.


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James_Potter wrote:
> *Sah-weet! I want one.
>
> You're Chris Reeder of Moscow, Idaho, right? My friend told me that
> you said you wanted to be in our movie. We should hook up sometime and
> do some filming. *


One and the same! Let me know when you guys are going riding and I'll
see if I can tag along.

Chris


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cjreeder wrote:
> *Now what am I supposed to call this thing? *
Good question! It's not a bike, and it's not a unicycle.

It's only go one wheel, and is intended for one-wheeling only. That's
the unicycle part.

It's got a bike frame, and the mechanics of that shape allow for the big
hops of a Trials bike. Also it apparently freewheels?

James Green, from the Detroit Unilights Unicycle Club, once brought a
similar "chopped" bike to a unicycle convention. His had a fixed wheel,
but was otherwise similar. He called it a biucycle. Don't know what the
spelling should be, but it sounds like "bayou-cycle." I liked that name.


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johnfoss - Walkin' on the edge

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
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johnfoss wrote:
> *Good question! It's not a bike, and it's not a unicycle.
>
> It's got a bike frame, and the mechanics of that shape allow for the
> big hops of a Trials bike. Also it apparently freewheels?
> *


Yes, it does freewheel. I should have put some freewheeling in the
video.


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Chris Reeder
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cjreeder wrote:
> *Now what am I supposed to call this thing?*
Hey Chris, you could call it a Unibike. Here are some 'Unibike
Pictures' (http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albun01) courtesy of Jeff
Baker ('Unibiker' (http://tinyurl.com/2fblo)).

On an unrelated note, I use a Reeder handle on my MUni and I like how it
works, although it is a bit heavy. Thanks for designing it Chris!


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I think you need more videos. I want to see you freewheel it and do
some drops and stuff. I'd also like to see how the seat is setup.

Daniel


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there ain't enough body armor in the country for me to try that. -- Ken
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Uni_Biker,

I just found out my supposed round-profile back tire has sort of a flat
top to it. (Partially due to wear.) Anyway, just yesterday I picked
up a Maxxis Hookworm at the LBS and whoa!! It's a much taller tire,
with no flat top. I can turn the wheelie bike nearly twice as sharp,
as it's much more sensitive to lean inputs. It took a day to get used
to it, but what a hoot! Best money I've spent on the bike! (It also
doesn't bottom out so easily on the parking curbs.)

I'm still trying to talk myself into either a machined rim or a disc...
we'll see. My rim now has a slight bump in it right where the seam is,
and it throws me off on the downhill slopes.

Chris


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Chris Reeder
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I've been planning to make one for a while.
I was hoping to find a BMX, or something else without a derallier gear
system, take the front wheel off, butcher the freewheeling hub so that
it doesn't anymore, and see what happens.
The first time I saw anything like this was on a TV advert for a
building society or something a little while back.
A unicycle turns heads, but once they've seen one they've seen em all,
but this just looks really surreal.
Any comments on my planned method, maybe from some of you people out
there who've already done it.


--
theamazingmolio - A Unicylist, a juggler, and a prat

Luke Duller ([email protected])
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gpickett00 wrote:
> *is it as hard as catwalking on a bike? or is it more like the feeling
> of riding a unicycle. i think it would be cool to try out *


gpickett00,

I'm not sure what catwalking is. It does not ride like a unicycle at
all, actually. Very limited similarities, anyway. It's much more like
trying to ride a really long wheelie on a bicycle. Part of this is
because it has a freewheel hub on it, so you pedal forward to go
forward, but have to feather in rear brake to keep from flipping over
backward. Steering is also much different-- you don't just twist the
saddle with your hips and turn. It turns more like a regular uni in a
spin-- you lean the bike into the turn while leaning your body away
from the turn. I don't know what all makes it work, but it's been a
long time in learning. I rode with a front wheel on there for a long
time, trying to do the same stuff. The no-training-wheel version was
just good incentive to keep it up longer. Boy did it work! I suppose
it's lighter now, too, and the wind doesn't blow the front end around
like it did with the front wheel on there.



fluffinator007 wrote:
> *I was going to make one of these. Is all that you did chop off the
> front wheel? Or are there other adjustments/additions/reductions? *


fluffinator,

First I just took off the front wheel, and still had the fork sticking
down. While it looked cool that way, it didn't seem very safe. So I
hack-sawed the fork off right near the frame.


theamazingmolio wrote:
> *I've been planning to make one for a while.
> I was hoping to find a BMX, or something else without a derallier gear
> system, take the front wheel off, butcher the freewheeling hub so that
> it doesn't anymore, and see what happens.
> The first time I saw anything like this was on a TV advert for a
> building society or something a little while back.
> A unicycle turns heads, but once they've seen one they've seen em all,
> but this just looks really surreal.
> Any comments on my planned method, maybe from some of you people out
> there who've already done it. *


amazingmolio,

Having a fixed hub would make it easier to learn to ride, I think,
especially in terms of transferring your unicycle skills. With a fixed
hub, you could remove any brakes. When I rode unis I always wanted to
be able to shift gears, but now that I have 21 gears to select from I
ask myself: How fast do I really want to be going when I wreck? So now
with the training wheel gone, I actually only use about three gears--
really slow to medium fast.

Chris


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cjreeder - Unycycling Fogie

Chris Reeder
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cjreeder wrote:
> *Uni_Biker,
>
> I just found out my supposed round-profile back tire has sort of a
> flat top to it. (Partially due to wear.) Anyway, just yesterday I
> picked up a Maxxis Hookworm at the LBS and whoa!! It's a much taller
> tire, with no flat top. I can turn the wheelie bike nearly twice as
> sharp, as it's much more sensitive to lean inputs. It took a day to
> get used to it, but what a hoot! Best money I've spent on the bike!
> (It also doesn't bottom out so easily on the parking curbs.)
>
> I'm still trying to talk myself into either a machined rim or a
> disc... we'll see. My rim now has a slight bump in it right where
> the seam is, and it throws me off on the downhill slopes.
>
> Chris *


Hi Chris,

Welcome to the oddball category. Is it time to start working on the 25k
times? My times have slipped a bit with the injury induced down time.
The last ride was a 30k at about an hour and a half.

The steering does get much better with the right tire. I'm also running
a Maxxis. A little input goes a long way. I have also trashed rims at
the weld seam due to the high pressure being amplified by having all of
your weight on one wheel. You will also go through tires more quickly as
the sidewalls and beads will fail sooner. You can prolong tire and rim
life by bleeding off the pressure at the end of each ride. With a high
pressure tire, the rim, tire sidewalls, and valve stem are under a lot
of strain while the bike is parked in the garage.

See ya


--
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Jeff Baker
[email protected]
______________________________

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unibiker wrote:
> *
>
> Hi Chris,
>
> Welcome to the oddball category. Is it time to start working on the
> 25k times? My times have slipped a bit with the injury induced down
> time. The last ride was a 30k at about an hour and a half.
> *




Jeff,

Man, you're screamin'! I did my first commute on it yesterday. About
17k in an hour and forty-five minutes. I don't have the endurance yet
to go indefinitely. My longest stretch without getting off the bike to
relax (and to warm up my hands) was only two miles.

Chris


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Chris Reeder
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who's going to be the first to build one of these up with a 24x3 tyre,a
Sturmy Archer drum brake or a wide single speed hub with a disc


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cjreeder wrote:
> *Jeff,
>
> Man, you're screamin'! I did my first commute on it yesterday. About
> 17k in an hour and forty-five minutes. I don't have the endurance yet
> to go indefinitely. My longest stretch without getting off the bike
> to relax (and to warm up my hands) was only two miles.
>
> Chris *
Hey Chris,

The endurance will come automatically if you get hooked enough to stick
with it for a while. 17k is a fantastic start on such an unstable
vehicle. Following are a couple of past threads that might provide some
extra motivation.

'This one was without the forks' (http://tinyurl.com/2e9kc)

and

'this one included the extra weight (and safety) of forks and front
wheel' (http://tinyurl.com/3afgd)

But that was way back when I was 43. My back has aged about a decade in
the past year, so the fun quotient is suffering.

Don’t forget the extra rear brake if you’re being limited by brake
control. It makes a HUGE difference.

Happy unibikin’


--
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Jeff Baker
[email protected]
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