Looking on Ebay for Unicycles, there are a bunch of cheaper ones that dominate the listings. These for instance:
Though they are from different sellers, many of them seem pretty similar, and don’t seem to say much, if anything, about who manufactures them.
My instinct is that they’re not worthwhile; that they’re the Wal-mart products of the unicycle world and will probably fall apart with much use. Does that seem right to you?
Thanks!
Stormdog
Your instincts sound about right. If you’re shopping for a ‘learner’ uni, take a look at the UDC ‘Club’.
You are correct they are junk, we had a women in our club buy one it is as good as broke, used about 10 times, pedal busted off, and seat height adjuster broke, unfortunately she had brought it before joining club. i have fixed it but only for light children learners.
Well, i bought my first uni for 39€ (regular price 59€) and it did look okay for a learner at first.
But very soon we bought a new saddle (we had luck finding one with the right seatpost that really is more comfortable), later i broke a spoke (heard some creaking noise, was the cranks we finally found out) so i changed the spokes, then we change the cranks, and after one year it needed a new tire.
For the same amount of money we could have bought a quax luxus (which we did when we bought the saddle, we needed a second uni anyway, now we have six) and would have made much better (or less uncomfortable) progress.
Greetings
Byc
Ok, thanks for the advice. I appreciate the confirmation.
I’ll probably end up going with this maybe, if I don’t see a quality used one cheaper on Craigslist by the time I’m ready to buy one.
I bought a $40 uni on ebay when I started a year ago . I beat it but I learned how to ride and moved on to bigger and better unis. I would buy a cheapie to start out on. Some people have the beginning desire to unicycle but don’t stick with it when they don’t see results right away. If I would have quit I would have only been out $40.
You can look at it that way if you want, but imho, you’re less likely to quit when learning on good quality material then on cheap. I probably would have quit haven’t i found a more comfortable saddle and experienced the cool feeling one can have riding a good quality 24" on that day.
Greetings
Byc
I learned on a 20" version of that red one you linked to. Like others have said, it’s utter junk. I had to fix it countless times, but I got a good year of use out of it (along with another 24" I bought a few weeks afterwards) before moving onto a “real” unicycle.
Wouldn’t pay more than 30 bucks for one, but for less than that it’s not exactly wasted money.
I have had several people borrow one of my unis to learn how to ride and none of them ever stuck with it…They all quit after a few times of falling off.
If you’re going to get a Torker I suggest an LX, major upgrade from the CX but again just a starter uni. However, it is a quality starter uni and will put up with a very large amount of abuse as long as you don’t take it off jumps or anything. I have a 20" LX in great condition that I’d be willing to part with if you’re interested. If not take a look around craigslist and ebay.
On that 20" Torker LX; I think I might be interested in hearing more about it at least. I’m trying hard to decide between a 20" and a 24". I’m interested in juggling on it, and I know that the smaller wheels are more maneuverable. But I’m also tallish (about 6 foot with a 34" inseam) so I worry about the 20" not being big enough for me?
Anyway, do you want to reply here or send me a PM with more info like price and shipping and things?
Thanks;
Chris
Would you consider $100 too much to spend on a bike?
You get what you pay for, so inexpensive is probably “cheaply made”.
Sun, Torker, Nimbus, QuAx, to name a few.
Buy used, sell it when you’re done with it.
We paid $75 for a Sun 20" beginner uni in 2008 which we learned on, now it is our loaner uni, still rides fine, I put a better seat and tire on it, replaced the pedals, otherwise it is still running strong.
I sent you a PM Chris.
Yes you are right, I unfortunately bought one and got rid of it as soon as I could!
i bought a second hand but new condition 20" Reflex powerblade uni from ebay 9 months ago to learn on, im 16.5 stone and 6foot tall. iv dropped kerbs and beginning to learn to hop, not had any faults as yet. I paid £20 for it.
Well that’s good to hear; I weight about the same as you, so it’s good to know that we aren’t too heavy for one wheel. grins
In the end, though, I bought a Torker LX from someone here on the forums and I’m quite pleased with it.
haha i dont think theres such a thing as too big/heavy, atleast i hope not!
I have been looking at whats next as my bravery vs tallent improves and bigger drops might be on the horizon.As a starter my reflex (which is neon pink but in a good way, LOL!) has been superb and id definatly recommend but I guess il eventually move towards something even sturdier and trials flavered.
24" ebay cheep unicycle
i brought the exact one linked in the first comment. it is crap. i’ve spent about $100 repairing it.
I’ve got new
cranks
pedals
seat
seatpost
seatclamp
tyre
oh and it didn’t even come with bolts for the bearing caps.
so my advice buy the better one of udc