May 19, 2020
Unicycle mountain biking.
The video might make you think only men do this, but I first noticed this sport when I saw it done by a bunch of girls — maybe 9 years old.
Okay, here are some kids:
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29 comments:
It's official. Fat tire unicycles. Dogs and cats I tell you. Mass hysteria.
The only thing in sane about the unicycle is that you'd have to be insane to want to. Like the guy in the video says early on--it's about the most inefficient way to get around, you have to fight for every inch, be aware of every bump. Where is the fun in that?
Why is the sport insane?
That's impressive! I once raced a regular mountain bike race against a one-armed man - equally impressive and he had way more grit that me.
Looks like fun.
Althouse said...
The video might make you think only men do this...
Are you just saying that because of the 'jerk-off' handlebar?
"The handle is very important..."
City bikes, mountain bikes, unicycles... Somewhere, there is an article about tricycles that is just waiting for an Althouse blogging angle!
Impressive. My unicycle experience has all been in flat country. When I bought a unicycle and began learning (Lubbock TX, mid 1970's) I found that anything thicker than a dime on the sidewalk could cause a nose plant. With practice - more attention to the road ahead, improved sensitivity and reaction - ordinary sticks, pebbles, and cracks became no problem.
Ah, the unicycle, one of the worst modes of transportation ever invented. There is nothing to be gained by it from an energy use standpoint.
Kids these days
"Are you just saying that because of the 'jerk-off' handlebar?"
The handle is hilarious.
As the guys say in the video, the unicycle is slower than a bike. What is the charm of it? Maybe it feels natural — once you learn — to be above the wheel. They seem to be able to stay in one place by bouncing on it. Something about the balancing?
You do look kind of silly on it, and the guys in the first video talk about being made fun of. Maybe they like being different... and sort of nerdy or clownlike.
Thank you for this Ann. One of the reasons I come here is to see wierd stuff like this.
Inefficient, probably dangerous and a bit nutty. But way, way, cool
John Henry
Saw one on the trail last weekend. Ballsy. Fire roads and smooth-ish trails okay. Not for steep, rocky climbs or descents. But some Kobe-level rider'll prove me wrong.
The handle is important to keep control of the unicycle in an unanticipated dismount.
For balance, hands free and out to the side a bit is good, but I can see the use of a hand-brake for drag on a prolonged downhill. Absent the hand-brake, torque to counteract rolling downhill must come through the pedals. As the pedals approach vertical alignment, use of body weight for that purpose decreases to zero. Toe-traps on the pedals would then be needed for torque, and toe-traps would be a killer in an unplanned dismount event.
The typical unanticipated dismount event involves a retarding obstacle. The wheel stops, the body begins to pitch forward, Foot comes off the low pedal and reaches forward to avoid a face-plant. Full body weight now on the high side pedal causes the machine to eject violently, usually to the rear. In such circumstance, a grip on the saddle horn is needed to avoid injury by the machine to nearby persons.
Another thing about the high saddle front, for male riders, is the need to get Big Jack and the Twins well up and out of the way before mounting.
I learned to ride a uni in the 80's - another one of those hobbies that inexplicably, failed to attract girls. So add that to skydiving, juggling, scuba diving, sports car racing, .....
However, it did give me a lot of appreciation for bicycle handling (I have ridden a LOT for 40+ years) and made me appreciate the balance I learned in Karate and Tae Kwon Do.
Yeah, add those sports to the list above.
i'd love to try what these guys are doing, but i am too old and (somewhat) wise.
_XC
Last year I did a ride up Mt. Diablo, a 4000 ft peak near me. I got a little demoralized when a guy on a unicycle passed me.
It combines the convenience of a pogo stick with the panache of a bicycle.
@janice - I got passed in an olympic triathlon once by a guy riding a single speed steelie. No, it was not hilly.
-XC
Here's my son Jacob in uni cliff jump.
Lake Pueblo, yes he was bruised up for few days.
This is the only video that he ever made money on.
I am glad he switched to motorcycles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccntSpNGnAw
Mountain Segway is next.
There's no reason that a unicycle can't pass a bicycle, if the gear ratio the hill requires happens to match what the unicycle has. You're limited by aerobic capacity if the gearing happens to be right, not the cycle design.
Wake me up when they teach a bear to ride one.
If someone had, I'm sure I would have seen it on the Ed Sullivan Show back in the old days.
rhhardin @2:14 PM: "You're limited by aerobic capacity if the gearing happens to be right, not the cycle design."
You're not accounting for the effort involved in simply keeping the thing upright. A bicycle, once it's moving, is quite stable. I doubt that a unicycle is stable at any speed. The bike just sails along if you take a little break from spinning, or stand up in the pedals to go over a bump, etc.
The unicyclist has to use pedal forces for balance as well as propulsion, not so the bicyclist.
It combines the worst features of the track bike and, well, the unicycle.
All that said, a fit and skilled unicyclist might be able to outrun a fat bicyclist wearing blue jeans and sneakers, even on level ground.
Undeniably, a person on a unicycle is a strange and somewhat intriguing sight, at first anyway. Johnson: "It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."
"There's no reason that a unicycle can't pass a bicycle..."
You're probably right, but those unicyclists are such dorks I don't want them passing me. Nevermind that to most people I'm the dork for wearing bike shorts.
You do look kind of silly on it...
ah-- but get one of these and problem solved!
You do look Sweet
Upon the seat
of an Unicycle
Built for two!
The balance is undoubtedly more difficult than a mountain bikes, and I would suppose you come off the unicycle more frequently, but the dismount does look safer.
The handle is so that you can pedal hard (yes, I know how that sounds) and not lift yourself off of the seat. If you lift off of the seat, you will have no control over the frame.
I learned how to unicycle at about 12, along with two of my three siblings. The one I currently have and can still ride, but it takes a bit to remember how each time, has no handle and no breaks.
With a handle you can hold yourself down and are not limited by gravity to hold you in your seat, but you have only one gear and some hills are just too steep. This is just a fundamental limitation to the design. I am mildly interested in trying a trail uni, but only if I come into one cheaply, like at a used sporting goods place. It is interesting, but not 'I want to spend a thousand Dollars' interesting.
One benefit of unicycles, when you fall it is easy to land on your feet. On a bike, you rarely end up on your feet.
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