The impossible wheel, also known as the BC wheel (after the comic strip B.C.), represents the most basic type of unicycle, consisting of a single, spoked wheel with pegs extending from the axle. The rider mounts the wheel by jumping onto it while in motion or by putting one foot onto one plate or peg and pushing along like a skateboard.
This device has no drivetrain, so when forward inertia runs out due to gravity and friction, the ride ends. Newer BC wheels use plates which hang below the axle instead of pegs in line with the axle. This makes them easier to ride since the center of gravity is lower.
The unicycling community favors the term BC wheel because the device is not actually impossible to ride; proficiency can be gained with a few hours of practice. Tricks, such as hopping, drops, grinds, and spins, are possible.
Famous quotes containing the words impossible and/or wheel:
“It is impossible to step into the same river twice.”
—Heraclitus (c. 535–475 B.C.)
“Men seem more bound to the wheel of success than women do. That women are trained to get satisfaction from affiliation rather than achievement has tended to keep them from great achievement. But it has also freed them from unreasonable expectations about the satisfactions that professional achievement brings.”
—Phyllis Rose (b. 1942)