The next step up from
a 28" mini-penny? For me, a 36" hiwheel designed -- and then redesigned* -- by
unicycle maker QU-AX (shown here with an eye-glowing window spectator, in an image that does nothing for my vanity):
Riding in the dark, with a multi-led flashlight clipped to my inner sweatshirt -- it's chilly, I'm wearing an insulated hoodie over a plain hoodie over a knit top.
Whee! (I'm hoping to ride this bike in daylight sometime-- I just missed a
Tweed Ride. And me without my jodhpurs!)
The larger wheel means better speed -- and less effort. For the well-to-do ($$$$!) and technically-inclined,
here's a possible upgrade: a hub with a 1.5:1 transmission! I'm pretty sure a 36" wheel that acts like a 54" wheel is not in my immediate future. Come to think of it, neither (I hope) is a respoking job. But maybe someday.
_______________________________________
*
Seriously redesigned: much shorter stem, tricky front brake removed, seat hugely improved (and retroized) and matching grips added. At least everything but the grips is a safety improvement and they all materially aid rideability. QU-AX really did right by this product -- and the people who buy it.
If I understand these things correctly, they don't have a "coaster" mechanism, and the pedals continue to move with the front wheel?
ReplyDeleteIs that correct?
What do you do if you get a flat? That is, how easy to get replacement tubes and tyres?
ReplyDeleteDr. Jim: Correct! A coaster hub would be **dangerous** as braking that front wheel other than super-lightly can induce a "header," tipping the frame forward over the wheel and taking the rider with it. Modern penny farthings do not have front brakes -- you just slow down the pedals. Some original ones had "spoon" brakes, but it was recommended to use them gingerly, if at all. To do an emergency stop, you hang onto the handlebars and slide off backwards!
ReplyDeleteOverload: I don't know. Both QU-AX and Coker make 36" wheels and tires, but it might take a week or more to order them in. Possibly longer than that for QU-AX; the staff at the one (1) North American distributor -- in Quebec -- are as fine as could be but I get the impression not all of them speak English comfortably. (Upside for me: the ones that do, I could listen to all day. Srsly, it's like music.) There are 36"-wheeled unicycles (!) and cruiser bikes (!!).
OK, understood.
ReplyDeleteIt would be as bad as locking up the front wheel on a motorcycle, something I did once long, long ago, and far, far away.
Love to see the stand you use to build 36" wheels...
ReplyDelete"It would be as bad as locking up the front wheel on a motorcycle"
ReplyDeleteIt would be even worse. (Speaking as an asphalt-surfing veteran of two hard front-end tucks myself, one of which caused the nose to tuck so violently that the handlebar broke my thumb in knocking it out of the way...)
Yeah, I guess it would be worse.
ReplyDeleteWith NO front suspension to compress, and delay the onset a bit, I can see that locking up the front wheel on one of those would result in an instantaneous flip to the front.
Talk to Tam about our plan for you, the bike, a Sherpa (I know someone who can fly one) and a ride that will rival the space jump. :-)
ReplyDeleteOne can fly a Sherpa? ;) Tsk, that Tenzing Norgay, he was already much-married! or did you mean the Brit SUV? The motorcycle? The armored truck? ;)
ReplyDeleteKnowing Brigid, I think she means one of these: http://www.sherpaaircraft.com/
ReplyDeleteI had a bike with a wheel-driven generator mounted on the front wheel. The mounting bolts loosened over time until the generator swung into the spokes, locking the wheel up.
ReplyDeleteThe bike flipped over and I was on my back, on the pavement, with the bike on top of me in something like a couple of milliseconds. The only thing I clearly remembered was the little old lady admonishing me for cursing.
How important is leg length? I read somewhere you need 88cm of inner leg length; which would make it impossible for me to ride with my 80cm.
ReplyDeleteYou want the farthest seat-to-pedal-crank distance to be less than your inseam -- but not too much less. I'm around 86 - 87 cm inseam and it's nowhere near too big.
ReplyDeleteBear in mind that even allowing for the greater tire-to-spine distance of this modern version, it's on the small side for a hiwheel; the old ones were usually 38" and up in diameter, just under a meter. They all have seat adjustment and old ones often offered different crank length (or adjustable in approx. 1.5" increments).