average speed per mile

[tholub]

Originally Posted by naturequack

I would love to have a speed trap set up where we could accurately measure the maximum speed of top unicyclists over a short distance, say 10 meters. How fast can we really get going?

The problem is, top unicycle speed is an elusive thing, particularly on a big wheel. You have to be perfectly placed ahead of your balance point, and your pedal and body movements have to be perfectly balanced. In a 10-meter speed trap, I expect you'd see speed differences for the same rider of 20% for different attempts. It would be interesting to run speed trap races, but it might just provide another set of data which looks weird.

Corbin and Beau were not riding at 100% speed for much of the 10km at UNICON XV; they thought they had dropped the field and were more concerned with each other's speed than Scott Wilton's, which is what allowed Scott on his ungeared 36" to catch them despite crashing twice, and nip them at the line.

Our closest thing to speed trap is the track races, but those are all on 24" and thus extremely lame.

[stingingkneeben]

if im silly i can get 15 mph out of my 29er but for not even 50m before i get the burn a bettter speed is more like 10-12mph

[scott ttocs]

Geoff,

Thank you for the detailed stories. Yes the rides sound like a lot of fun, which is why I have ordered a Schlumpf and will have it set up as a 36" guni. I appreciate the comfortable Sunday morning cruise, but it is nice to hear that you can push that guni to higher speeds. After all, if I am going to plunk down that much money it should do something that my current KH 36" will not do: go too fast.



Scott

PS-Good luck in the criterium May 1!

[unipilot69]

Scott,
I have had my 36 guni put together about a month now. I was able to up & down shift the second time on it. I am still working on smoothing things out. I am having to shift with my ankles because of long feet. I would prefer using my heel. I have 137/165 cranks. I have only used the 165 hole. I have about 25 miles total guni riding so far. My fastest speed so far was 16.7 mph. My colleague was following me home last week on his bicycle. My average speed is around 12mph. That was my old average speed on my Nimbus Nightrider with 127 cranks. I am still geting used to the Schlumpf. Even if my average doesn't improve I still enjoy riding a guni. With the 165 cranks in 1:1 I can climb steeper hills and maneuver through traffic & people better than a fixed uni with shorter cranks. I switched to the 165 hole one week before the Chilly Hilly ride in Feburary on my Nimbus Nightrider. My average speed with the 165 cranks was only 9.5 mph. The Schlumpf has made a big difference in my commute. I usually shift alot. I use 1:1 through the light rail platform & several bussy intersections I traverse on my commute. When I hit the back streets and bike paths I kick up in high gear. When I'm cruising in high gear I usually get triple takes from people. They are surprised that a uni can go that fast.

[naturequack]

Originally Posted by Klaas Bil

So where do you place your banana?

Back pocket of my jersey. It ended up being a nasty brown pile of mush and inedible. Yuck. I'll blame my poor performance on the resulting lack of sustenance at a critical moment.

Originally Posted by tholub

The problem is, top unicycle speed is an elusive thing, particularly on a big wheel. You have to be perfectly placed ahead of your balance point, and your pedal and body movements have to be perfectly balanced. In a 10-meter speed trap, I expect you'd see speed differences for the same rider of 20% for different attempts. It would be interesting to run speed trap races, but it might just provide another set of data which looks weird.

Our closest thing to speed trap is the track races, but those are all on 24" and thus extremely lame.

Weird data or not, a speed trap would give us an idea of what is possible. It's a much more accurate way to measure top speed than cycle computers. We could spend a few hours, with each rider getting half a dozen tries. Pick the best attempt for each rider. Stick a gold star on the winner's forehead, bandage up the road rash of the not so fortunate and head out for a celebratory dinner with fine wine and seafood.

Yeah, racing on a 24" is a completely different animal.

Originally Posted by scott ttocs

After all, if I am going to plunk down that much money it should do something that my current KH 36" will not do: go too fast.



Scott

PS-Good luck in the criterium May 1!

Go too fast. You'll be glad you did. Living on the edge.

Thanks, you can expect a full write up. I'll be sure to pack a ripe banana in my back pocket. Just in case.

Geoff

[Mikefule]

When I was fit and in training, I used to ride for an hour non stop and then check the distance covered. On a Coker with 150s, my best was 12.95 miles in an hour.

I also once did 22.5 miles in 2:15 on the 700c x 23mm with (from memory) 114mm cranks. 10 mph average.

Now I can't even hit that speed briefly.

[Tak]

Originally Posted by madams

The reason I ask this is because I would like to be able to keep up with my wife while she is on her bicycle.

To have the best chance of keeping up with a bicycle in general, you will want the fastest unicycle you can afford.

However, this really depends on your wife and, to a lesser extent, on you. My wife rides at a very leisurely pace, and it's no problem riding alongside on my ungeared 29.

Do you know the pace you're hoping to match? How much extra work are you willing to do to match it?

[dangerdog]

Originally Posted by Tak

you will want the fastest unicycle you can afford.

However, this really depends on your wife

You got that right.

[Dr D]

I've started using a gps tracker for my rides. Quite amusing much as I think this raises my geek scale another notch. Yesterday's ride was downtown dealing with pedestrians, stoplights, crosswalks etc.

On a 24" muni 2.5 inch wheel: 7.2 kph (4.4 mph) over 5.55 km (3.44 miles). Includes the accumulation of 7.5 kg (15 lbs) of groceries.

Definitely not as dangerous as the Colbert Report suggests. I'll be curious to track some rides where it's more of a ride as opposed to a grocery run.

Edit: Just getting into the program details. Apparently I can cruise at 11 kph (6.8 kph) for a sustained period. Stoplights really mess up the data.

[jaco_flans]

I normaly ride at 17/20km/h on my ungeared Coker with 114mm cranks. I'm trying to get faster sometimes. I did a 30km ride once without going under 20km/h, I did the ride without any stops. I'm going to take my Coker out again since all the snow melted and I'll be looking for some other long and fast rides soon

[Dave Cox]

I have a geared 36, and when I go out for rides, my cycle computer generally shows an average of 17-20km/hr, depending on the hilliness and how spry I'm feeling that day.

On my ungeared 36, I would have mostly similar averages, especially uphill, though with the gear I am more likely to have a 20km+ average speed - without the gear I am more in the 16-19km/hr range.

If you look at my top speeds however, on an ungeared I could barely beat out 30km/hr for more than a few seconds, while on the geared I've topped 40, and holding at 28-33ish km/hr is actually quite comfortable when conditions are favourable. I find that for me, the gear allows me to use my energy more efficiently, and to go faster for longer. In the long run if I'm not racing though, my pace tends to stay mostly the same, but I'll have more energy at the end of a long ride. Fast cadences on short cranks are waaay less fun than pedalling slower and going faster!

[MuniAddict]

My 36er is an ungeared kh, and My "comfortable" average speed has gone up from about 11mph, to nearly 13mph, since my uni century on 7/11/10. I think it's because I'm spinning more efficiently, and wheel "wobble" has pretty much been eliminated through smoother technique.

Plus, since I added my aerobars, it's really helped keep me "loose" and relaxed, which also helps me to spin more efficiently. I'm still using 110mm moments exclusively, and may try going to 102's just to feel the difference.

[Dane M]

Using my new 36er (first one) I was averaging 10-11 mph yesterday at cruising speed.