KH24

Today my KH24 arrived! Did I mention I was buying one?
As if I didn't spoil myself enough I got 150/125 dual hole cranks and Magura brakes too.
I rode it enough tonight to know that I'm going to love it. I don't have any downhills in my yard or neighborhood to try the brakes on yet. The trails are calling me.
I also got a second rim. Hmm... why would I do that?

New Railing

Last weekend I built a new railing for the kids to practice with. Actually, I'm finding myself using it to learn idling and riding backwards. Not much progress for me yet. Sydney used the railing today and made some good progress. I think she got a few full rotations several times.

Unibaby?

Another potential unicyclist has entered the world!

Kessa Quinn
She weighed in at 10lbs 8oz!

Need For Speed

Yesterday I rode a few miles in the neighborhood on my 26" Nimbus. As usual, I really wanted to go faster than it would allow.

For unicycles, there are two primary ways to go faster.
Choice one: Ride a bigger wheel.
Unicycle frames are built to handle a certain wheel size. Typical sizes are 12", 16", 20", 24", 26", 29", and 36".
- 12" and 16" are typically for kids.
- 20" are often used for trials and street.
- I have a 24" and 26", which are often used for muni.
- 29" are used for muni or road.
- 36" is pretty much for road.

Obviously a bigger wheel makes you go faster, as for each pedal rotation your wheel travels its circumference.
Unfortunately unicycles are expensive.

Choice two: Geared hub.
Another option is a geared hub. Currently there is only one real choice for this: The Schlumpf hub. It allows you to ride as normal, or shift to a higher gear. The wheel will then travel 1.5 rotations for each pedal rotation. Of course, the wheel size is an important factor still. A 24" wheel will ride like a 36". A 26" wheel will ride like a 39". Sort of. Bigger wheels ride more smoothly, so the ride isn't really the same.
Unfortunately Schlumpf hubs are crazy expensive.
That seems insane but they sound like a lot of fun.

I haven't decided what I really want. I need to ride my 26" on the trails to see if I like that size better than 24". It would be cool to have one of those with a Schlumpf hub.
But it would also be a lot of fun to ride a 36" in the neighborhood or on bike paths. Or may a 29" or 36" with a Schlumpf.

It will be some time before I can ride the 26" on the trails, so I won't be making any decisions for a while.

Webster Herald

Yesterday a friend told me I was mentioned in a local newspaper. The February 17, 2010 issue of the Webster Herald had an article about the trails of Webster.
In the article it was said, "Besides noticing wildlife, you might also see a guy named Buzz on his unicycle enjoying the trails."
Ha ha... I guess I'm comparable to wildlife!

No specific author is given credit, but someone from the Friends of Webster Trails clearly wrote it.

Here's the article:

Camera Positioning

I've been experimenting with mounting my camera on my uni.
Here's some video to start:


I used some handlebar stems that are meant for a folding bike as extension bars. I liked how the folding bike stems have a quick release, so they can be adjusted or removed easily without tools.
Unfortunately they just barely clamp onto my seat post, and they won't clamp onto themselves. I had to file one down to make it wider.
I have a handlebar mounting attachment to mount the camera with.

I really wanted to capture myself riding from the perspective of an observer. The extension bars weren't quite long enough to do that well. So I made them longer by connecting some wood bars I made from a broom handle. They fit really well, and would slide together snug enough to not required any fasteners. But they still had a little play when they bounced around, so I put a screw and wing-nut through each.
But even still, there seems to be too much flex in the system. The flex is coming from several places. The clamp to seatpost - the seatpost is a bit bigger than the expected handlebar. The clamp to bar - I filed it, but it's not perfect. The bar to wood connections - there is still some play. And probably worst of all is the wood itself, because wood can flex more.

Maybe some longer aluminum bars with perfect clamps would help. But I'm not sure where I can get them. Maybe I could have them custom made? Probably too pricey.

My ride was ok, but not too exciting. I went back to Whiting, but tried the orange trail. Hills are fun going down, but going up is impossible in the snow. Free mounting is harder, especially with the camera bars. A long stretch on the edge of a field had too much snow to ride in. It just doesn't work. And I broke a bracket for mounting my camera to the bar, so I switched to my helmet mount earlier than I had planned.
And it was cold. The drinking tube to my Camelbak froze solid about halfway through my ride.
But I'm glad I got out. Gotta keep the unicycle muscles strong for the spring!

New Helmet

The weather sucks. I haven't ridden since my last post. Nothing exciting has been happening. I'm looking forward to the spring.

In the meantime, I bought a new helmet. Wow, the one I'm replacing was purchased in 1994! 15 years is pretty good. It was a Bell helmet with a Reebok pump system. You can pump it up for a tighter fit. But it fit fine without that, so I never pumped it. Hippie.

My new helmet is a Giro Phase. It fits a little better, has more airflow, and a better tightening system.

Maybe I'll actually hit my head in the next 15 years.