Create new and interesting multi-person vehicles on the fly by merging together two or more unicycles, tinker-toy style, with speed-rail. See links for details.

Why? Just for fun, of course. I haven't figured out how you would steer most of them, but there is probably a way....
-- Jeremi, Mar 12 2002

Some Configurations http://www.lcscanada.com/jaf/uni.jpg
Some diagrams of potential configurations [Jeremi, Mar 12 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Recommended unicycle http://www.unicycle...ndriven/savage5.jpg
The type of unicycle I recommend using [Jeremi, Mar 12 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Speed Rail http://www.hollaender.com/slipon.htm
To hold them all together as a single vehicle [Jeremi, Mar 12 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

There http://www.shirakaw...ekibe/jpg/ichi2.jpg
but for the Grace of God, go I [thumbwax, Mar 14 2002, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Too few skateboarder leg breaks?
-- reensure, Mar 12 2002


Once you have more than two linked together, what is the advantage of the unicycle?
-- rbl, Mar 12 2002


The advantage, as I see it, if flexibility -- each unicycle's drive train is fully self-contained and independent of the others, so you can add or remove unicycles from the vehicle at will.
-- Jeremi, Mar 12 2002


I give this a resounding neutral. I don't know if this would ever be used after the novelty wore off. It seems like it'd be difficult to ride. Most people don't realize how heavily you rely on steering a bicycle to keep your projected center of gravity on the line between the contact points of each wheel.

How do you steer, especially if you had, for example, a 4 X 5 unicycle matrix?

Even if it were a line of unicycles, if you developed a way to steer the front unicycle, the other wheels would drag sideways unless every wheel minus one could also steer in some proportion to the first wheel.
-- lumpy, Mar 12 2002


This could be steered by have the mounting bracket for each unicycle be a rotational bearing. You would have to provide some upright bars between users for them to push off. The people towards the rear would stear normally (push the fixed bar the direction you want to go). The people towards the front would have to push the bar opposite to turn themselves towards the direction they wanted to go. Of course if everyone just turns the same, the unit changes direction and people who were on the side are now in front.

This would also lead to democratic steering. If more than half the people wanted to go one way, anyone who didn't would end up skidding sideways.
-- MechE, Aug 22 2008



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