Track Coasting: 20" vs 24" (Closed for comments)
Comments about this discussion:
Started
Hi everybody,
I'd like to hear your opinions about track coasting on different wheel sizes. I have the feeling that the results are not comparable. People coming from freestyle practice with 20" wheels while people coming from racing practice with 24" wheels. But with the same starting speed 24" wheels coast longer than 20" wheels simply because of the weight.
What do you think of separating the results and have separate titles for track coasting 20" and track coasting 24"?
Felix
Comment
I am no track coaster. But if the difference between the two wheel sizes is 'simply because of the weight', it should be insignificant. What is the weight difference? Track racing 24" unicycles are mostly under 4 kg, so how much lower can you go with a 20"? A rider that is a few kg heavier should then have more effect. I guess that a more important difference is that a 24" rider gets to a higher starting speed.
But I would say: anyone who want to enter this competition should be subject to a single set of rules, and within those rules they can choose the best unicycle for the job. If they want to do it on a 20" they may have a disadvantage... it's their choice. Having two wheelsize classes is in my opinion too much for this "alternate, optional or fun event" (quoting the current rule book).
Comment
I totally agree with Klaas, it is simply too much if there are two categories in that discipline.
You could do categories for everything then, even 20'' and 24'' in the slalom. We just have to stop at a point with making all these different categories because in the end we are so far that everyone gets a medal and that is in my opinion not the aim of our sport. There still has to be a competition. It's the same with racing unicycles. There are riders which compete with really heavy unicylces and other with very light ones but in the end you still have to pedal to win...
Comment
The only upside to having different wheel sizes in Coasting would be in helping out non-Freestyling Track specialists who have to fly to the competition. Otherwise it's a silly idea. I hope I won't offend anyone here with this, but I submit that Coasting is not important enough of an event to go to that trouble. To me it was always a side event; something cool to do with the unicycles at hand, but definitely not a primary reason to attend a big unicycle competition.
Background: The Coasting competitions were originally my idea, campaigned to Alberto Ruiz as ideas for new events that were added at Unicon IV (Unicons I - III were 3-day events; Unicon IV was 6 days). I also interested him in a Downhill Gliding event and a dirt race (now called Muni). The folks in Puerto Rico allowed lots of time for a full-on Basketball tournament with round-robin play. :-)
Comment
I agree that it's not worth adding an additional category.