RTL: fastest speed reached

[harper]

I, for one, do not now, nor do I ever intend to, threaten the one hour record on a unicycle.

[Klaas Bil]

Originally Posted by harper

I, for one, do not now, nor do I ever intend to, threaten the one hour record on a unicycle.

Phew! That must be a relief to quite a few people.

[flyer]

I was scared.

[mikepenton]

I've been talking to BriTech and there is sooo much date it'll take a while to compile. each unit was taking more data than transmitted, and was accurate to within 4 metres.
Hopefully the top speed data from the GPS will be ready in time for issue 5 of Uni Magazine, which will be out before Unicon and have a big series of articles and detailed race analysis.
If the speed data isn't ready in time, it'll be part of a follow-up article focussing on the GPS in the following issue.

[mscalisi]

Can the top speed from a GPS really be trusted? According to mine, I've hit 95mph.

Originally Posted by mikepenton

I've been talking to BriTech and there is sooo much date it'll take a while to compile. each unit was taking more data than transmitted, and was accurate to within 4 metres.
Hopefully the top speed data from the GPS will be ready in time for issue 5 of Uni Magazine, which will be out before Unicon and have a big series of articles and detailed race analysis.
If the speed data isn't ready in time, it'll be part of a follow-up article focussing on the GPS in the following issue.

[harper]

Originally Posted by mscalisi

Can the top speed from a GPS really be trusted? According to mine, I've hit 95mph.

That indicates that, yes, it can be trusted. You're really fast, Mike. Just face it.

[Klaas Bil]

Originally Posted by mscalisi

Can the top speed from a GPS really be trusted? According to mine, I've hit 95mph.

I have an old model Garmin Vista that also gives spurious readings sometimes, particularly when reception is poor such as under leaf cover. I made a little spreadsheet that extracts a reasonably accurate max speed out of the data. It just sorts all the datapoints according to max speed, and then picks the highest value that is still consistent with the rest. The spurious points will be kind of random outlyers, and so they drop out.

But since Mike quoted an accuracy of 4 m, I think the GPS units used in RTL were better than mine, so max speeds should be more reliable too.

[mikepenton]

Originally Posted by mscalisi

Can the top speed from a GPS really be trusted? According to mine, I've hit 95mph.

I agree. Incidentally, according to my cycle computer I've ridden faster than Chuck (quit laughing at the back!). Of anybody's GPS top speeds, I'd trust Britech's the most. 35 identical, well calibrated units...
It'll be interesting to see what they come up with, and how it compares to those speeds claimed here.

[mscalisi]

While I'm sure I could go that fast while on my unicycle, the abrupt stop as I reached the bottom the of cliff would be somewhat uncomfortable.

Originally Posted by harper

That indicates that, yes, it can be trusted. You're really fast, Mike. Just face it.

[nathan]

Originally Posted by steveyo

Yes, Arne was the fastest of the German Speeders.

Arne told me his previous record was 45kph and he was excited to hit 46kph at RTL - maybe that was on day 2 if I remember right. He also said he is convinced that 50kph is possible. He's only been riding the Schlumpf 36 since January so I believe he can learn to go quite a bit faster than 46kph.

After all, in terms of wheel speed, if you can pedal a regular 36 to 33kph (about my max speed ungeared), then the same cadence results in 51kph on the geared one since the exact ratio for the new hub is 1.545:1 not 1.5:1.

Dan, you were also incredible on that geared machine - you looked so natural and comfortable.

---Nathan

[steveyo]

Originally Posted by nathan

Arne told me his previous record was 45kph and he was excited to hit 46kph at RTL - maybe that was on day 2 if I remember right. He also said he is convinced that 50kph is possible. He's only been riding the Schlumpf 36 since January so I believe he can learn to go quite a bit faster than 46kph.

After all, in terms of wheel speed, if you can pedal a regular 36 to 33kph (about my max speed ungeared), then the same cadence results in 51kph on the geared one since the exact ratio for the new hub is 1.545:1 not 1.5:1.

Dan, you were also incredible on that geared machine - you looked so natural and comfortable.

---Nathan

The idea of breaking 30 mph on one wheel is nutty. Basically, DO NOT fall.

[Angsthase]

Hi!

After a few days free of time in Kanada, we´re now back in Germany.
I checked my speedometer, it saved mostly all trip´s in Nova Scotia on hard disk. Sometimes I forgot to switch it on....
My reached top speed was on day two at a downhill 45,2 km/h (28,2 mph).
My best average was 29,7 km/h (18,56 mph) over a short trip 6,8 km) at the last day. The downhill at kellys mountain was not so fast. My teammates wanted to bring me home alive ;-)
I feel not very scary at this speed, but maybe it´s because I trained to fall and I wear helmet, kneepads, wristguards, ellbow pads and shinguard´s (because it makes sure, that the kneepads stay in the right position).
I have fear if there are cars or other obstacles around me, I can´t controll by myself.

on an empty and closed road downhill, wearing a complete protection set, it must be possible to ride faster than 30mph (or more than 50 km/h).

Me and Jan are used to ride with short cranks, so we rode with 125 on our 36 Schlumpf Unis. Johannes rode his Guni with 140 all the time. For climbing of course longer cranks are better. Our "Hardcorehilluni" was a QU-AX ISIS with 145 mm cranks, we used it only two times.

We will check it out, if we find a good (and save) location to do it ;-)

It was a great time with all of you, thanks for being part of it.

Arne

[genbirch]

Originally Posted by nathan

Arne told me his previous record was 45kph and he was excited to hit 46kph at RTL - maybe that was on day 2 if I remember right. He also said he is convinced that 50kph is possible. He's only been riding the Schlumpf 36 since January so I believe he can learn to go quite a bit faster than 46kph.

After all, in terms of wheel speed, if you can pedal a regular 36 to 33kph (about my max speed ungeared), then the same cadence results in 51kph on the geared one since the exact ratio for the new hub is 1.545:1 not 1.5:1.

Dan, you were also incredible on that geared machine - you looked so natural and comfortable.

---Nathan

Thanks Nathan. It's one of the beauties of a 36 guni - kind of makes one look and feel superheroic. Over the course of RTL I developed a much more acute sense of this guni than when I arrived in Nova. As my confidence grew, my speeds increased. Kind of helped, I imagine, that I've not yet had a significant UPD with it.

I have no idea of high or average speeds attained. Damn good thing for us @ Surly Speed Goats though, that you and Beau weren't rolling Schlumpfs M-F -- you certainly seemed w/in shootin'-distance of us pretty often even ungeared. Great riding yourselves!

[genbirch]

Originally Posted by Angsthase

Hi!
It was a great time with all of you, thanks for being part of it.
Arne

You've the mind and the equipment for safe(ish) speed trials Arne! Go for it, and let us know what's possible. Cheers to you and your teammates and best regards to your sponsor, Florian - his invention sure has had an energizing effect!

[unisk8r]

Congrats to all who rode the Lobster!

Great to see such a quantum leap in road unicycling over the past few years. Imagine what the future holds!