I was doing the C2C with work last year when we passed a unicylcist and 2 of his mates on BMXs doing the whole thing. Pretty impressive stuff. Bumped into him at a cafe and got talking to him about it and he said the hardest thing was controlling the thing coming down the hills!!
Unicyclist
- Thread starter HJ
- Start date
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LordoftheTeapot
Guru
Wish I could master my un-cycle. Need more practice...
andrew_s
Legendary Member
- Location
- Gloucester
Did you see that the 24h unicycling record got broken in September? - 282 miles, average 11 3/4 mph
Mountaincarrot
New Member
Because fore-aft stability is entirely down to how hard you can accelerate or deacelerate, the bigger wheel narrows the "safety margin" for control and braking, because you have less torque available. I'd say you need to be a smoother more experienced unicyclist to ride the bigger wheels.
A little wheel gives the lowest "gearing" and better control for a beginner.
BTW, hills are not really a problem for a unicyclist because the entire ride is "controlled" insofar as pressure is applied to both pedals to maintain position. It's a continuous feedback process, and going up or downhill just shifts the "operating point" so to speak.
Bigger wheels do though increase the size of "dead area" where runaway down a hill can begin twice per revolution while the cranks are at "six o clock" and less drive torque is available for control. (In engineering control terms, these brief moments become "open loop", reigned in rapidly during the "quarter to 3" pedal positions where full control is regained with full torque being available. Hence the comments about hills, but these are the benefits of smaller wheels.
A little wheel gives the lowest "gearing" and better control for a beginner.
BTW, hills are not really a problem for a unicyclist because the entire ride is "controlled" insofar as pressure is applied to both pedals to maintain position. It's a continuous feedback process, and going up or downhill just shifts the "operating point" so to speak.
Bigger wheels do though increase the size of "dead area" where runaway down a hill can begin twice per revolution while the cranks are at "six o clock" and less drive torque is available for control. (In engineering control terms, these brief moments become "open loop", reigned in rapidly during the "quarter to 3" pedal positions where full control is regained with full torque being available. Hence the comments about hills, but these are the benefits of smaller wheels.