Cycling has always been a great source of amusement for centuries. Because it is small, easy to afford, convenient maintenance and anyone can learn cycling without any trouble.
Tricycles and Unicycles are also two types of cycle that were manufactured for different goals and are still being sold and used by people on a high scale.
Key Takeaways
- Tricycles have three wheels, providing stability and ease of use; unicycles feature a single wheel, demanding greater balance and skill.
- Tricycles cater to a wider audience, including children and people with mobility challenges, while unicycles primarily attract enthusiasts and performers.
- Unicycles offer a more physically demanding and challenging experience than tricycles, which focus on stability and safety.
Tricycle vs Unicycle
Unicycles are used for entertainment, such as in circus acts or street performances. Tricycles are used for transportation, hauling cargo, or for people who require additional stability and support. Tricycles are stable and easier to balance, unlike unicycles, that need skill.
The term tricycle refers to a vehicle with three wheels, one in front and two in back. There is also an abbreviated term used for tricycles known as a trike.
Tricycles are used for fun and commercial purposes. Africa and Asia are two major continents that have a higher number of tricycles being used commercially.
A unicycle is another form of a cycle with only one wheel attached to it. A unicycle is used by Tumblr, rope walker, Gymnast, and acrobat.
It requires an advanced level of balance which is acquired by practice. Hence, ordinary people do not use unicycles for transportation. Unicycle also has pedals to make it push forward.
Comparison Table
| Parameters Of Comparison | Tricycle | Unicycle |
|---|---|---|
| Year of invention | The year in which the first model of the tricycle was done made and introduced to the world was 1680. | The year in which the first model of Unicycle was introduced to the world was 1846-1906. |
| Inventor | The person who invented the very first model of the tricycle is known to be Stephan Farffler. | The person who invented the very first model of the unicycle is known to be James Bedford Elliott. |
| Usage | The general uses offered by a tricycle can be known as recreational activities, exercises, shopping, short-distance traveling, commercial, etc. | A unicycle is used professionally for sports and very least for a hobby because it needs practice. |
| Used by | The people who ride tricycles are children, disabled people, people in the transportation sector, and newbies learning to ride bicycles. | The people who ride unicycles are professionals, Gymnasts, street performers, acrobats, rope walkers, etc. |
| Types | A tricycle has many types depending on the need such as freight, delta, drift, upright, etc. | A unicycle also has many types, for example, freestyle unicycles, cruiser unicycles, street unicycles, etc. |
What is Tricycle?
A tricycle is a human-powered vehicle used worldwide. Some advanced version of tricycles also comes with an electric motor installed in them to save human energy being utilized.
One of the very famous types of tricycles is known to be a cycle rickshaw that is a convenient medium of local transportation.
These rickshaws are known by different names in different countries, for example, tricycle taxi, bike taxi, bike cab, velotaxi, trishaw, beca, sikad, trisikad, hatchback bike, etc.
Some rickshaws are driven by the foot of the driver while some rickshaws are motor-powered and such rickshaws are known as the auto-rickshaw.
The tricycle was built for the first time in the mid-1600s. A disabled man from Germany named Stephan Farffler invented it to help him move around without depending on other people and to balance his mobility.
Stephan was originally a watch-maker who was well familiar with necessary pieces of equipment.
He used the hand cranks to power his tricycle. After some years around 1789, French developers added pedals to the tricycle.
There is also a unique design of tricycle available known as a tadpole with two wheels in front and one in the back. The most common types of tricycles are Rickshaw, Upright, Recumbent, Delta, Hand and foot, Freight, Drift, etc.
What is Unicycle?
A cycle that touches the ground with only a single wheel is known as a Unicycle. A Unicycle has two pedals, one saddle, a wheel and sometimes it can also have seat post and cranks.
It is the common structure of Unicycle. It takes professional learning to master a Unicycle which is mostly provided in the circus.
The skill of riding a Unicycle is also learned by street-performers. Some people also learn to ride Unicycle as a hobby.
There is also a sport dedicated to Unicycle that is known worldwide as Unicycle Hockey. Another utilization of Unicycle is trials, mountain unicycling, and biking.
Unicycles need a person to be stabilized, without a person, a Unicycle can never achieve balance and mobility.
A person who rides Unicycle is known as Unicyclist. There are no brakes and gear are given in traditional unicycles but in modern times, an upgraded version of unicycles comes with such features.
There is no difference between the wheels of a Unicycle and a bicycle.
From the day Unicycles were invented till now there have been many types of unicycles that have been introduced and some of them are Road unicycles, freestyle unicycles, cruiser unicycles, trials unicycles, street unicycles, mountain unicycles, commuter unicycles, and many more.
Main Differences Between Tricycle and Unicycle
- A Tricycle has gears and brakes and also motors to power them. Unicycles, on the other hand, come without gears and brakes most of the time.
- When it comes to sport, tricycles are not associated with any official sport. On the other hand, there is a sport known as Unicycle Hockey which is completely based on unicycles.
- The place which is known to be the origin point of the tricycle is Germany. On the other hand, unicycles were invented in Middlesbrough, Yorkshire, United Kingdom.
- The tricycle was invented to help disabled people in their daily routine. While unicycles were invented for entertainment and ridden by professionals.
- The person who manufactured a tricycle for the first time was known as Stephan Farffler. While James Elliott was the person to make unicycles.
- https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3141/2410-09
- https://search.proquest.com/openview/04316f65acd3b5212cd507d72ed44315/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y
Last Updated : 13 July, 2023
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Piyush Yadav has spent the past 25 years working as a physicist in the local community. He is a physicist passionate about making science more accessible to our readers. He holds a BSc in Natural Sciences and Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Science. You can read more about him on his bio page.
