I have considerable practical experience with the mechanics of unicycling. I am quite familiar with the need to lean back while slowing down (including being horizontal behind the wheel. Ouch). It is true that the harder you want to decelerate, the farther you have to lean. But it is also true that the balancing force from leaning back depends on the tangent of your angle from vertical, which means that as you approach horizontal, your force approaches infinity. Leaning back far enough to avoid flipping over should never be a problem.
Granted, my experience is in the 6-10 mph range, and things might be different at 25 mph, but the two things that play a bigger factor in how fast you can decelerate are the power provided to the wheel and the friction force of the contact between the wheel and the pavement.
On a unicycle the power is provided by your legs. On the Uno, it's provided by the motor. None of the reports I've seen have mentioned power or acceleration, but I assume it's something the designers are paying attention to.
Friction is another issue. There is a static friction force between the wheel and the pavement which is equal to the decelerating force. If you exceed the grip of the tire on the road, it will start sliding. And if your wheel starts sliding, you are fucked. Again, personal experience.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 05:08 pm (UTC)Granted, my experience is in the 6-10 mph range, and things might be different at 25 mph, but the two things that play a bigger factor in how fast you can decelerate are the power provided to the wheel and the friction force of the contact between the wheel and the pavement.
On a unicycle the power is provided by your legs. On the Uno, it's provided by the motor. None of the reports I've seen have mentioned power or acceleration, but I assume it's something the designers are paying attention to.
Friction is another issue. There is a static friction force between the wheel and the pavement which is equal to the decelerating force. If you exceed the grip of the tire on the road, it will start sliding. And if your wheel starts sliding, you are fucked. Again, personal experience.