Gliding and backflips...

[joona]

So could someone tell me is there actually any difference between gliding and coasting.

And an other thing I'd like to know is if anyone has done a backflip or anything similar with an unicycle. This is something I'd really like to do because I'm quite much into different kinds of jumps even without a unicycle. I've been practicing quite a much of this thing I believe is called front handspring. I can usually manage to do it. I tried some backflips too (not on hard ground) but landed once on my head. It's a good thing that I didn't break my neck. If I remember right someone jumped a backflip from his pedals in the UniRogue video.

[thin_air]

apparently people have done backflips with a uni on a trap but i cant see how that works because i can only get like 2ft of air

[thinuniking]

gliding and coasting look the same almost but gliding is when you are using your foot as a brake on the tyre and coasting you have no brakes but when you are good a gliding you do pretty much coat all the time
ben
(i hope i am right and i hope it is helpful)

[joona]

thanks

[joe]

Gliding/Coasting:
Gliding is using your foot as a brake. When I glide, I do the odd coast in it to keep balance, but not all the time. If you did coast alot when gliding, it would be called coasting, not gliding.

Coasting is the same as gliding, but without a braking foot. I am learning it at the minute... its fun! :-)


As for backflips, Trev (from UniRogue) does a backflip from standup whee walk.
VIDEO

I would love to learn to backflip.. not off a uni though!


Joe,

joe <joe@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote:

>Gliding/Coasting:
>'Gliding' (http://tinyurl.com/t9sn) is using your foot as a brake. When
>I glide, I do the odd coast in it to keep balance, but not all the time.
>If you did coast a lot when gliding, it would be called coasting, not
>gliding.

When gliding, it is perfectly OK to remove one's foot entirely from the
tire. However, I wouldn't call that coasting unless the foot and leg
are moved to the side of tire so braking is clearly no longer possible
and this position is maintained for at least 3 seconds. That generally
would require coasting reflexes to maintain forward/backward balance
rather than pure luck or braking on the tire which is how
forward/backward balance is generally maintained while gliding.

>Coasting is the same as gliding, but without a braking foot.

This is true, but it doesn't explicitly get across the point that
coasting and gliding use two distinctly different balance methods.
Coasting must use coasting reflexes (upper body bending forward/backward
to indirectly move the wheel forward/backward via angular momentum
conservation) exclusively for forward/backward balance. Gliding
primarily uses variation in pressure of the foot on the tire to directly
control the wheel's speed to maintain forward/backward balance, although
coasting reflexes can also be used as a secondary balance method
while gliding.

Note that coasting reflexes can be used as a secondary balance method in
almost all unicycling skills.

Sincerely,

Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com>

[joona]

Ken, you had used sometime on that text. Thanks. And thanks for you too Joe.

[unicycleboy]

Well with the backflips bit, im studying circus arts and phyisical theatre in college, one of my aims to do a actually backflip with the unicycle. I think this is only possible by strapping the unicycle firmly to the body in sum sort of harness.
If anyone has any ideas please say.

Trev

[cyberbellum]

Originally posted by Ken Fuchs

However, I wouldn't call that coasting unless the foot and leg
are moved to the side of tire so braking is clearly no longer possible and this position is maintained for at least 3 seconds.

It seems to me that coasting would be impossible without some contact between the feet and the crown of the unicycle, otherwise there is no way to control the for-and-aft (or side to side, for that matter) tilt of the unicycle.

The seat/seat junction is a pivot. Bending forward at the waist would just bring the legs forward with little effect on the uni except to push the seat back. There's nothing to keep that seat from continuing backwards, though, since there is nothing to resist the backwards rotation of the uni except for pressure from the feet on the crown.

Perhaps this is just understood in the unicycle community, but as a newbie I'm not up to speed on all the tribal knowledge. Sorry if I'm pointing out the obvious.

[unicycleboy]

It seems to me that coasting would be impossible without some contact between the feet and the crown of the unicycle, otherwise there is no way to control the for-and-aft (or side to side, for that matter) tilt of the unicycle.

I believe there is a trick called the nothing. which is no contact between legs and hands. The nothing is a pretty difficult trick ive managed to only do about 1.5 metres when practicing it, plus it isnt eligant at all!

Trev

[UniBrier]

Everything I know about coasting is only by observation. I have some pics from the NAUCC 03 Track Coasting . Check out pics 1154-1176.

Most use the "Hallelulia" position. As Ken F. described: "upper body bending forward/backward to indirectly move the wheel forward/backward via angular momentum conservation".

Some use the one foot on the frame and the other free as seen in pics 1165 and 1166. I guess this also provides a pendulum effect.

[unicycleboy]

oh yeh heres a video of one of my almost 50metre coasts. This is how i do it
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albur74

I use 2 feet on the frame usually, just because it gives more balance, i think the whole reason why i do 1 footed is to do circles and to turn, but i have recently learnt to turn using both feet on the frame

Trev
*Bored*

[joona]

Originally posted by unicycleboy
Well with the backflips bit, im studying circus arts and phyisical theatre in college, one of my aims to do a actually backflip with the unicycle. I think this is only possible by strapping the unicycle firmly to the body in sum sort of harness.
If anyone has any ideas please say.

Trev

Clipless pedals Or would there be a way to just hold on to the handle? Probably not.

[unicycleboy]

Clipless pedals Or would there be a way to just hold on to the handle? Probably not.

Lol well I used to have clipless pedals, it wudnt work because of the way the feet fasten in and out, A one handed backflip on a unicycle! well i dont know if i can one handed backflip on my feet, its not the hands im worried about its my shins if you know what i mean

Trev

>Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com> wrote:

>> However, I wouldn't call that coasting unless the foot and leg
>> are moved to the side of tire so braking is clearly no longer possible
>> and this position is maintained for at least 3 seconds.

cyberbellum <cyberbellum@NoEmail.Message.Poster.at.Unicyclist.com> wrote:

>It seems to me that coasting would be impossible without some contact
>between the feet and the crown of the unicycle, otherwise there is no
>way to control the for-and-aft (or side to side, for that matter) tilt
>of the unicycle.

Sorry,I forgot to explicitly state that the other foot is firmly planted
on the fork crown.

Gliding is usually done with one foot on the fork crown and the other
foot on the tire. Simply raising the foot on the tire a little wouldn't
be considered coasting by a critical observer, because the observer
can't easy determine when the foot is or is not in contact with the
tire. Thus the suggestion that foot also be moved laterally a few
inches as well, so the observer can see there is clearly no tire
contact.

Sincerely,

Ken Fuchs <kfuchs@winternet.com>