A Big Wheel is a unicycle with a large wheel. 28" is the largest common bicycle rim for which inflatable tires can be used. Most anything above that size is a big wheel. Most of the ones you see below were built by hand, using standard bicycle rims bent outward and welded together into larger sizes. The tires are commonly made from wheelchair rubber.

Big wheel pile. This pile of big wheels, all built by Tom Miller of the Unicycle Factory, were assembled at the 1983 National Unicycle Meet in Syracuse, NY. Most of them are 40" wheels, and the big one is my 45".

Before I had the Unibus, there was my Unibug. My 45" big wheel didn't fit inside, but looked great on the back bumper. Inside you can see my first Miyata, which was in the car when it was stolen in 1983. This was the first Miyata unicycle sold in Michigan and like the car, was never recovered.

In 1983 when I visited Göran Lundstrom at his home in Sweden, this was the biggest big wheel in the world, at 63 1/2". I mounted and rode it all alone in the afternoon pitch darkness (after 10 minutes of hugging a telephone pole to get on). Nobody saw me, but I know I did it! Currently the largest unicycle wheel is 73" by Dave Moore and Steve Gordon in Southern CA. Photo taken by Göran Lundstrom.

This big wheel is for big hamsters.

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