Quoted message said:True, but if you're comparing bikes with unicycles, you really need to
compare a fixed gear fixed hub bicycle with a unicycle, and both
weighing approximately the same.
I disagree; I think that a bike and a unicycle are different enough
that a fixie will be no different than a regular road bike as far as
its difference from a unicycle is concerned IF the gear ratio on the
fixie happens to be matched to the hill grade as the optimal gear for
that hill. Then, a road bike will have no choice but to use that gear,
making it identical. Also, in hill climbing, a road bike will have no
choice but to pedal all the time, getting rid of the coasting
advantage.
Quoted message said:That's what Uni handles are for.
I do see your point, but I also think that a handlebar on a unicycle
won't give as much of a boost as handlebars on a bicycle, simply due to
the difference in width. You can get much more side-to-side torque on a
bicycle than you can with uni bars; also, too much yanking on a uni
handlebar or handle will cause the unicycle to wobble, whereas a bike
will always maintain a straight line.
Also, power can only be applied gradually on a unicycle, because, in
order to accelerate, one must first lean forward and then apply the
appropriate power to stay balanced. On a bike, you can really go
haywire with your legs and push/pull like there's no tomorrow, because
you won't fall forward if you happen to run out of power.
Quoted message said:Why is a chain more efficient that having direct power to the axle?
I don't think it is; however, on the unicycle, you have to spend more
power balancing, and your power output must remain relatively constant,
meaning that in the optimal positions for crazy power action in your
pedal stroke, you have to dampen ever so slightly, even if you may not
be consciously aware of it. On a bike, there's such a thing as
"hammering" up hills, whereas on a unicycle, hammering will produce too
uneven a power and with every pedal stroke you'll tip forward and back
as your power comes and goes 4 times per second (assuming 120RPM and
two feet).
Quoted message said:I spend so little trying to balance I think it makes no difference to
efficiency.
I can't refute you or even claim authority to disagree with you here,
because you've done so many more miles than I have on your Coker and
are probably a much better rider. However, I'm willing to bet that
you're still spending a nonzero amount of power balancing, even if the
"expenditure" comes in the form of actually putting out -less- power in
order to keep the output constant to prevent mad fast tipping action. I
could be wrong, but I think that this balance comes to us so
automatically that we're not aware of it anymore, and that this is the
only reason why a unicycle will never beat a bike up the same hill with
an identical rider and identical circumstances.
Quoted message said:It's like saying bikes are less efficient than cars because you need to
keep you balance on them as they only have two wheels.
Here, I do disagree. The balance on a unicycle is forward/back (and
side to side, but that's minimal when powering on a hill). The
forward/back is along the same axis as the transportation. In order to
balance on a unicycle, you either have to pedal harder or softer to
maintain your center of gravity relative to where the wheel contacts
the ground. On a bike, the balance is left/right, and is largely taken
care of ENTIRELY by the gyroscopic action of the wheels.
That, combined with the fact that it is not coupled at all to the
"engine" (i.e. the power you put into the pedals), means that it won't
impact your performance at all, as you're free to do whatever you want
with your legs. In fact, one could argue that the side-side balance on
a bike gives the rider -more- freedom to output power than in a car or
four-wheeled human powered vehicle, because, many times, when yanking
hard on the bars to drive the pedals harder, you'll tilt side to side.
Quoted message said:There is a hill I use for training where my Uni time and bike time are
almost identical.
That's AWESOME. I love hills like that! I have that one where my uni
time is right with my bike time, but not quite there.
I challenge you, however, to find a hill where your unicycling time is
consistently faster than your bicycling time when you're going all out
on both rides. If you can do this, I will eat my words! 🙂 I firmly
believe that I (or any rider who is equally capable on a bike as on a
unicycle) will always be faster on a road bike climbing a hill. I think
there's an optimal grade where a uni will get close to the bike, but I
think that even there, the bike will win, and, even then, only because
of the power-to-balance problem on the unicycle.
--
chuckaeronut
Cycling: It doesn't get easier; you just get faster.
Unicycling: It doesn't get easier; you just do tougher stuff.
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