Home made unicycle for long distance: Making a uni from a bicycle.

I would like to be able to keep up w/ bicycles on my uni.
I figure I have some options.
1. Buy a coker. Cost: over $300
2. Buy or make a geared hub: Not available as far as I can tell
3. Modify a bicycle into a uni: I started on this option. I found a 16"
childrens bike in the trash. I plan to cut the frame and re-weld to make a
uni. The pedals will be 40" off the ground, and with the current gears,
should be equivalent to a 32" wheel. I'll have to cut the downtube off and
re-weld to the bottom bracket. I'll also have to weld the rear sproket to
the rear wheel. The wheels only have 20 spokes, so I plan to drill holes in
the rear hub and rear rim, and use the spokes from the front wheel to make a
40 spoke wheel.

This seems too easy. I'll have about nothing invested in this. Has anyone
else done this?

Thanks!

kokomojuggler

Mike McDermott wrote:
*Has anyone else done this?*


hey! if everybody was concerned about that, we wouldn't be here!


it sounds simmilar to (i keep forgetting the guys name, he's going to
smack me) the guy who cut the front wheel off a racing bike and rides a
uni with 32 gears

someone will remember his name
and link to his pics


--
GILD - Waffle-tosser

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more
hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have
ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
-- C. P. Snow
'this will only take a minute...(fixed)'
(http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/actions/un.htm)
'and while u're in a good-deed-doing-mood...'
(http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com.)

JUST SAY 'KNOW'!

Namaste!
Dave
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Mike McDermott wrote:

The pedals will be 40" off the ground, and with the current gears,
should be equivalent to a 32" wheel.

40" off the ground! So kind of like a 6' giraffe? With an effective
gearing almost as high as a coker!

Just make sure you video your first ride!


- Richard

Mike McDermott wrote:
*This seems too easy. I'll have about nothing invested in this. Has
anyone
else done this?
*

In the mid eighties, I built a giraffe out of bike parts. Using a 20"
wheel, I geared it 1:1, but that could be easily changed. I even
cobbled together an ugly seat out of wood! Talk about cheap!
This summer when I pulled it out of a long retirement in the garage, my
poor welding on the hub sproket broke free. You might want to weld
yours better than I did mine. BTW, the way mine is, once you weld the
sprocket to the hub, you won't be changing any spokes without cutting
the sprocket free again. Surely there are better ways.


--
grey - George Kleinert

"The feeling is weird - sort of like learning to use a single-wheel
prosthetic device to keep the earth away." - cyberbellum
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Mike-

You sent me an e-mail a couple of days ago to which I was unable to
respond due to mailer errors.

First, the guy Gild is referring to is Jeff Baker and he goes by
unibiker on these fora. Jeff has an incredible machine and quite a
history getting there.

Second, skip the 16" wheel for speed. The larger the wheel diameter the
smoother your ride will be. Road irregularities love to sneak up through
gear trains and bite you and small diameter wheels invite that kind of
response.

Third, Cokers are fast and smooth but they can't compete with bikes. I
have passed many a bicyclist on Blue Shift but it's hard work all the
way and it has to be on a smooth, level bike path. To maintain a high
enough speed I am in full protective gear because when I go down at that
speed I go down hard. I have passed few bicyclists on a Coker and those
are almost exclusively during a climb.

Please try to send an e-mail to me again. It may be a problem related to
sending an e-mail on the first day you registered on RSU.


--
harper - Old dog, no tricks

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

"I managed to get my missus riding a couple of yards before she got
pregnant with Jenny, but she hasn't tried riding since. " - Danny
Colyer

"Sa da tay! Sepotown!" - Pootie Tang

"Know thyself. Of course, try to know Claudia Schiffer and Salma Hayak
but, failing that, at least know thyself." - Greg Harper


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instead of welding it you can buy a fixed gear hub. or if you don't want
to rebuild your wheel, surly makes the fixxer, which replaces the
cassette on your hub and makes it act fixed. personally, i'd go with
getting a new hub, especially since you you're using trash


--
ubersquish
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In my earliest days of riding I experimented with larger top chainrings
on my Schwinn Giraffe. You can get more speed this way, but it is
unlikely you will reach the equivalent of bike speeds.

Same on a Coker. I was hoping to do rides with my wife on her new
recumbent, and we will. But it will be up to me to keep up, and up to
her to wait for me every once in a while...


--
johnfoss - IUF Director

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com"
www.unicycling.com

"My sister wanted to buy the new Eminem CD. I had to say to her, 'Like,
you can't hear it.'" — my nephew Austin Miller, whose sister Alexa is
100% deaf... But she can ride a unicycle!

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GILD wrote:
*it sounds similar to (i keep forgetting the guys name, he's going to
smack me) the guy who cut the front wheel off a racing bike and rides
a uni with 32 gears

someone will remember his name
and link to his pics *
smack!


--
unibiker - What is that thing anyway?

Jeff Baker

______________________________

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Don't deprive yourself of speed ,take your bicycle for a ride ,Munis
great but it's dreadfully plodding compared to a bike ride,I'd get fat
just riding Muni .Spice it up, ride your bike you know you love it too.
Wheel,wheels, there all fun.

K


--
keaner - unicycler
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My mistake. The crank will be only 20" off the ground.

"Richard Loxley" wrote in message
news:3FCC916F.B33F34D8@RichardLoxleyDoesntLikeSpam .com...
Mike McDermott wrote:

The pedals will be 40" off the ground, and with the current gears,
should be equivalent to a 32" wheel.

40" off the ground! So kind of like a 6' giraffe? With an effective
gearing almost as high as a coker!

Just make sure you video your first ride!


- Richard