Wizards 50th Birthday

Quote: Wizard

That picture brings up lots of questions.

I've never tried a unicycle with handlebars so don't know if it is better. However, the serious long distance riders all seem to have them. I think they have them to reduce pitch and not have so much weight on their ass.

The guy in that picture seems to be riding a 24" wheel unicycle. You can tell by his feet the crank length is VERY short. This gives me hope that maybe I can achieve the 50-mile challenge on my 29" unicycle. I still haven't received the shorter cranks in the mail yet but they should arrive any day now.

The green bar that supports the handlebar looks lethal. I'd hate to get my junk stuck in there.
With all the body armor on the guy, it is clear that he is expecting to go down hard.

What if you use a telescoping walking stick to help you mount? Once you get going, you can collapse it and throw it in your backpack.

Quote: Ayecarumba

What if you use a telescoping walking stick to help you mount? Once you get going, you can collapse it and throw it in your backpack.

The calculations in the table suggest that he might do better with the 110 mm cranks on the 29" wheel, then the 150 mm cranks on the 36" wheel. It would probably make it easier to train as he can use the 127 mm cranks on the hills in Vegas, and switch to the 110 setting for flats.

Then when he does the 50 miler he will have trained on the unicycle that he is using for the birthday bash.

I like this unicycle. Equipped with a gyroscope and an electric motor.

Quote: Wizard

his timing has to be perfect stepping on the pedals.
.

Well yeah, grandpa. Are you so old now
you can't practice the move till you get
it down?

Thanks for the table Paco. I saw on the FedEx web site that my cranks arrived in Phoenix last night, by truck. I'm hoping they get here tomorrow and I'll put the 110/127mm cranks on my 29" unicycle.

Yes, the 36" unicycle is indeed a Coker. Despite being so old, it rides very smooth.

In my judgment, the running mount is harder than the standing one. It wouldn't surprise me if only the experts do the running mount, who are concerned with mounting fast.

If you do a search on eBay for unicycles and sort by price, starting high, you'll see lots of those electric unicycles. I screen out the word "electric" to get to the real unicycles.

Quote: Wizard

Thanks for the table Paco. I saw on the FedEx web site that my cranks arrived in Phoenix last night, by truck. I'm hoping they get here tomorrow and I'll put the 110/127mm cranks on my 29" unicycle.

Yes, the 36" unicycle is indeed a Coker. Despite being so old, it rides very smooth.

http://www.cokercycles.com/accessories/coker-125mm-crank

There is a 125 mm Crank for $29 on their website. I assume they don't have the double holes because the larger wheels means double holed cranks can't take the strain.

The website says they introduced the 36" wheel in 1998, and referred to it as "the big one". The redesigned is called V2. There is nothing on the website that indicates that the older design can't change cranks.

Terry Peterson (the unigeezer) states that his average 36er speed is 12-13 mph with sprints up to 15-17 mph, presumably with the 125mm cranks. He is age 57 and started in his very late 40's.

I tried snowboarding in my mid 40's and I did so many faceplants that I went back to skis the next time.

Quote: Pacomartin

http://www.cokercycles.com/accessories/coker-125mm-crank

There is a 125 mm Crank for $29 on their website. I assume they don't have the double holes because the larger wheels means double holed cranks can't take the strain.

Thanks, I just put in an order for that.

In good news, the new cranks for my 29" unicycle arrived this morning. In bad news, I now see that I need a tool called a crank extractor to remove the old cranks. I don't trust myself to to it properly so I'll probably take it to a bike shop to do it. Maybe tomorrow.

Quote: Wizard

Thanks, I just put in an order for that.

In good news, the new cranks for my 29" unicycle arrived this morning. In bad news, I now see that I need a tool called a crank extractor to remove the old cranks. I don't trust myself to to it properly so I'll probably take it to a bike shop to do it. Maybe tomorrow.

Check youtube.
I do adjustments on my bikes all the time
Alot of times I check Youtube before proceeding.
Lots of great videos on bike adjustments and repairs.

Update: I went the bike shop and purchased a crank remover. To my surprise, I was able to complete the job, which necessitated removing the brake, which was connected to one of the old cranks. I never used it anyway. By the time I was done it was dark outside so I'll try the faster 29" unicycle tomorrow.

Quote: Wizard

Update: I went the bike shop and purchased a crank remover. To my surprise, I was able to complete the job, which necessitated removing the brake, which was connected to one of the old cranks. I never used it anyway. By the time I was done it was dark outside so I'll try the faster 29" unicycle tomorrow.

Brake? Where is the lever?

I did note in the "Mounting a 36" Coker" video, that the guy's seat has hand holds built in. Perhaps this would be a more elegant solution than adding handlebars.