giraffes and hills

[Wayne van Wijk]

For those into Unicycle physics you might find this interesting.

I live at the top of a hill.

On my 20" uni, I manage to ride up the hill in a straight line if I am feeling
extra fit. Today I tried it on my 5 foot giraffe. The ride was much smoother and
the pedaling took much less effort than on my standard uni.

Would I be correct in asuming that hill climbing is easier on a giraffe because
the rider can lean forwards further without a forced dismount (falling off) than
on a short unicycle?

Wayne van Wijk wvanwijk@gil.com.au
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I'm not scared of pussy cats, they only eat up mice and rats. But a
hippopotamus, he could eat the lot of us. -Spike Milligan
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[Reg_Burgess%AntiSpamPostfix%@stratus.com Reg Burge]

In article <199712242226.IAA07592@iccu6.ipswich.gil.com.au> writes:
> For those into Unicycle physics you might find this interesting.
>
> I live at the top of a hill.
>
> On my 20" uni, I manage to ride up the hill in a straight line if I am
> feeling extra fit. Today I tried it on my 5 foot giraffe. The ride was much
> smoother and
the
> pedaling took much less effort than on my standard uni.
>
> Would I be correct in asuming that hill climbing is easier on a giraffe
> because the rider can lean forwards further without a forced dismount (falling
> off) than on a short unicycle?
>
Yes.

I'd prefer to express it as; "For a given angle of momentary forward lean on a
giraffe it takes more pedalling to get the axle under you again. This makes it
more likely that you will be able to get out of the dead spot around top dead
centre." Well, something like that (-: R

> Wayne van Wijk wvanwijk@gil.com.au
> -----------------------------------
> I'm not scared of pussy cats, they only eat up mice and rats. But a
> hippopotamus, he could eat the lot of us. -Spike Milligan
> ------------------------------------

[Roger Davies]

Wayne van Wijk wrote:

> Would I be correct in asuming that hill climbing is easier on a giraffe
> because the rider can lean forwards further without a forced dismount (falling
> off) than on a short unicycle?

The main reason it is easier is that the cranks will be longer on the giraffe
and that give you better gearing and correction control.

Roger

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Roger.Davies@Octacon.co.uk
Stockton
North East England
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