Tandem Unicycle in Popular Mechanics (September, 2010)

[corbin]

Howdy all!
Popular Mechanics interviewed me as a "backyard genius" and did a photo shoot with me, Louise, and the tandem unicycle. It's on page 86 of the September 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics. Check it out

corbin

[Bondo]

Cool, congrats. I'll have to look for it.

Did you explain to them unicycling will never be "Popular?"

[unireed]

Originally Posted by Bondo

Cool, congrats. I'll have to look for it.

Did you explain to them unicycling will never be "Popular?"

negativity isnt cool

[Into the blue]

Originally Posted by unireed

negativity isnt cool

...

[unireed]

do you get early access to the article?

[AlisterBurt]

Originally Posted by Into the blue

...

agreed, and did anybody else notice that bondo has 768 posts...?

I know nothing of the magazine, but from a quick search it looks pretty big, and from what i've seen from you corbin, you do seem like a "backyard genius"

[Bondo]

Originally Posted by unireed

negativity isnt cool

Huh?

I said cool...congrats, and made a joke.
see the smiley face!?

WTF are you talking about?
(sorry Corbin if it seemed anything but congratulatory.)

[leo]

Originally Posted by corbin

a "backyard genius"

Uhm, then I wonder... why didn't you never try it facing each other?

I tried that on this one:



...works much better, especially when you hold each others arms (the one with the arms under should 'pull' the other into the seat) and you should look eachother in the eyes.

I also tried it not facing each other, that was close to impossible to control, just like in the movie on your site.

[corbin]

Originally Posted by leo

Uhm, then I wonder... why didn't you never try it facing each other?

LOL! Your kidding right? Did you see the photo in the magazine? We are facing each other on it, and they titled it "Balanced Marriage".

Originally Posted by leo

...works much better, especially when you hold each others arms (the one with the arms under should 'pull' the other into the seat) and you should look eachother in the eyes.

I also tried it not facing each other, that was close to impossible to control, just like in the movie on your site.

Nice, who made it? That one will be *much* easier to ride, simply because the two riders are closer together. You get a lot less of the teeter-totter effect, and one person leaning left will not (as much) counteract another person leaning right. You also have more room to react; on mine, if one person leans a little too forwards or back, then the other person will start dragging the cog. These are the things that make it difficult to ride.

I hope to make a really ridable one, like the one you pictured, at some point...

corbin

[leo]

Originally Posted by corbin

LOL! Your kidding right? Did you see the photo in the magazine? We are facing each other on it, and they titled it "Balanced Marriage".

No? Where can I find it? I only saw the video on your website.
But... facing each other, you now must have done better atempts than in that clip, right?

Originally Posted by corbin

Nice, who made it? That one will be *much* easier to ride, simply because the two riders are closer together. You get a lot less of the teeter-totter effect, and one person leaning left will not (as much) counteract another person leaning right. You also have more room to react; on mine, if one person leans a little too forwards or back, then the other person will start dragging the cog. These are the things that make it difficult to ride.

I hope to make a really ridable one, like the one you pictured, at some point...

I think it was made by Semcycle, but am not sure.
I think even this one can be improved. What I discover when trieng it for a minute or 10 that holding each others underarm is the key to 'succes', without doing so it's hopeless. I did something like 10 to 15 meter, no assitance at all (so nobody recorded it). If I can get the chanche I will try it again next month, and this time record it.

[corbin]

Originally Posted by leo

No? Where can I find it? I only saw the video on your website.
But... facing each other, you now must have done better atempts than in that clip, right?

The September, 2010 issue of Popular Mechanics -- which was the whole purpose of this thread

Originally Posted by leo

I think it was made by Semcycle, but am not sure.
I think even this one can be improved. What I discover when trieng it for a minute or 10 that holding each others underarm is the key to 'succes', without doing so it's hopeless. I did something like 10 to 15 meter, no assitance at all (so nobody recorded it). If I can get the chanche I will try it again next month, and this time record it.

I'm not sure which clips you are referring too -- I have a few out there. But, it is *very* hard to ride. Many people have tried, as I had it sitting around at ugames for people to play with.

corbin

[BillyTheMountain]

Originally Posted by leo

What I discover when trieng it for a minute or 10 that holding each others underarm is the key to 'succes', without doing so it's hopeless. I did something like 10 to 15 meter, no assitance at all (so nobody recorded it). If I can get the chanche I will try it again next month, and this time record it.

Is that because you can literally push or pull the other person to shift the balance, much like when I'm carrying a load of groceries on my unicycle, sometimes my arm is away from my body or close, ahead of me or at my side, to counterbalance?

[Super G]

Corbin,

Awesome! Well done all the way around!

Bondo,

I got the joke.

[lobbybopster]

Corbin, Congratulations, There's your 15 minutes!

[corbin]

Originally Posted by lobbybopster

Corbin, Congratulations, There's your 15 minutes!

Thanks! I still could have never built the thing without the original inspiration from yours.

My biggest 15 minutes of fame was being on "Weird Homes" -- a Canadian film crew filmed me for it back in the early 2000s when I lived in a treehouse. I think it is in re-runs on the Discovery Channel HD. (Busy Bees is the episode name, if any Canadians happen to remember it).

--corbin