Cyr Wheel

Ive seen a few of these things on youtube.  Anyone have any experience with using them?  It seems they are available from a few people in California including Sam Tribble's Spinnovation.

Holy moly those things are awesome

 

I guess it's a cheap German wheel... seems like you'd have to be very careful of your hands...

 

Edit;

A lot of what they're doing looks more like aerial hoop than German wheel, for obvious reasons I guess. Looks like fun

I've been lucky enough to play with one, but as with most gymnasticy things, I couldn't really get the hang of it in the short time I had with it. Managed to get a couple of spins on the spot and that was it, but it was so much fun, and I'm now trying to justify £400 to buy one myself. As with anything like this, having a coach will help, but I'm sure with practice you can pick up the basics yourself until you find someone who can guide you better.

 

I noticed my shoulder flexibility would be a limiting factor personally. It was like being in a constant spinning version of Coach's wall extension

 

Fedec has a guide (http://www.fedec.eu/datas/files/ressources/fedec_cyrwheel_en_version_2013.pdf) and there is a series of videos on youtube by a now professional Cyr wheel artist showing his first week learning which may be useful to judge the learning curve

wow, this looks like a great way to crush fingers and toes in record time

I'd love to try one these things, but they are damn expensive... 

You could probably build one for half the price, or get it built for you for a little bit more cost if you wander around local builders merchants. I have seen guides online about building one yourself, and that Fedec guide I linked describes what theirs are made out of (page 10). 

When I was living abroad the gymnastic coach realised I loved handstands and was stronger (and slightly more skilled) than the rest of the adult gymnastics class so I got invited to train with the circus group. I didn't receive much coaching from them as they were busy working on their own projects, but I was free to play with all their equipment, such as the cyr wheel, chinese pole, handstand canes, teeterboard, and a full gymnastics hall 5 days a week. Unfortunately, even with such good gym access and facilities, not much coaching meant in 4 months my skill set on any apparatus did not improve as much as it should have. I respect the value of good hands on coaching even more now