4B.2 Unicycles
This discussion has an associated proposal. View Proposal Details here.Comments about this discussion:
Started
4B.2 Unicycles
There are no restrictions on wheel size, crank arm length, brakes, or gearing.
I would add "free wheel".
Related definitions in 1D.1:
Freewheel: Mechanism allowing the wheel to rotate while the cranks are stationary.
Gearing: Any mechanism that transfers the rotation speed of crank arms to a different
rotation speed of wheel.
Comment
I'm all for it!
Comment
I agree. I'm thinking about the ideal wording:
"There are no restrictions on wheel size, crank arm length, brakes, gearing or hub design (freewheel allowed)."
We could also consider the more general "drive design", as this would also clearly allow chain-drive (Huni-Rex or whatever it's called), although these are probably already covered under "gearing", so I think hub design as above is sufficient.
For the definition I would suggest a slight improvement:
"Freewheel: Hub design allowing the wheel to rotate forward while the cranks remain stationary as on a typical bicycle."
Comment
Would be fine for me.
Comment
These are good additions! For the "no restrictions" statement I would change the end to "...brakes or gearing. Freewheel hubs allowed." That should be sufficient to go with the definition that will follow, for which I think Nathan's edit is perfect (the bicycle statement should clear it up for people unfamiliar with freewheels).
Comment
We are actually not imponing any restriction to the unicycle. If so, I would suggest following:
"Any unicycle may be used (as defined in Article 1D.1)"
Comment
That would indeed be a suitable simplification of the rule.
Comment
I basically agree with "Any unicycle may be used (as defined in Article 1D.1)".
I'm wondering though about this statement in 1D.1: "It is driven by pedals and cranks which rotate to power the wheel." With a freewheel, you can also ride the unicycle (downhill, that is), without rotating the pedals/cranks, just relying on gravity. So I would say this statement there could be refined slightly (I'm not in the main committee though).
Comment
@Ben, I wouldn't be to picky on the "It is driven by pedals and cranks which rotate to power the wheel."
Still, the pedals and cranks remain the main and most effective way to power the wheel in the freewheel unicycle. I would suggest in the Main Committee to remove this sentence.
Comment
Great suggestions all. I will keep my eyes out for a Main Committee email or activity in that part of the website so I can advocate for this.
Also I will recommend that we provide riders with a place to ask questions about rules. Rider questions could be a valuable way for us to see where riders are having trouble, which could help with future updates.
Comment
Maksym wrote: "Still, the pedals and cranks remain the main and most effective way to power the wheel in the freewheel unicycle."
This is true, but there are other types of unicycles out there, so we probably need to make clear that only human-powered unicycles are permitted (if this isn't already in there somewhere). But beyond that, in the area of Muni, we do allow chain drives and pretty much anything on a uni.
Comment
It is already in definition:
Unicycle: A Unicycle is a vehicle that has a single rolling contact with the riding
surface. It may have multiple wheels, but it must not be possible to ride the unicycle
when more than one wheel touches the ground. It is driven by pedals and cranks which
rotate to power the wheel. It is powered, balanced and controlled by the rider only, with
no additional support devices. Unless noted otherwise, a unicycle may be fitted with
handlebars and/or brake(s).
Comment
@ All: If you create a proposal from a discussion, please create it via the corresponding discussion (scroll to the bottom of the discussion, where you will find the text “Privileget Action: Is this discussion ready to be made into a proposal? Create a proposal from this discussion” with the link to create a Proposal for that discussion).
Otherwise, we will soon have a lot of “duplicate” discussions, as the “Create New Proposal” link on the main page will always automatically create a new discussion for the proposal.
Comment
Since there were no further comments here, I would put the proposals to a vote soon and hope that all members of the committee will also take part in the vote.
Once voting has started, comments will no longer be possible here, so if there are any comments, please comment here as soon as possible.
Comment
Note: I do not seem to have the "Privileget Action..." At least not at the bottom of this discussion. I'm definitely logged in if you can see this comment.
Also, while directing the reader to the Definitions section, I recommend we save time for new people and mention the basics with a short few words, something like "no restrictions on wheel size, crank length or freewheel", followed by reference to the Devinitions section. In most cases, that's all most readers will need to know for Muni events, and we will have saved them the trip. In my experience, people don't like to read any more than they absolutely have to. :-)
Comment
> Note: I do not seem to have the "Privileget Action..." At least not at the bottom of this discussion. I'm definitely logged in if you can see this comment.
What would you like to do? Revising the proposal is only possible for the creator or administrators, just like changing the status (call for votes). All changes should be the result of a consensus from the discussion, so it would not be useful if everyone could make changes to the proposal.
Regarding your second comment: I can definitely understand your thought, too many references can definitely disrupt the readability of the rules. On the other hand, with “Any unicycle may be used [...]” we have already included the core statement without having to read elsewhere. Overall, however, I would be fine with both variants.
What does the rest of you think?
Comment
As there were no further comments, I assume that everyone else agrees with the current proposal and do not see any need for further changes. I would therefore put the proposal to the vote.