I picked up unicycling about 2 weeks ago, I tried once several years ago and gave up after a bad fall so I already had one in my garage. Now, I can go forward steadily pretty much as far as my endurance allows me, but I’ve noticed that by the end of my usual run, my tire has a little less air then when I began, and I’m worried there’s a tiny, infinitesimal hole that’s slowly letting out air, but it’s not big enough for me to notice.
What is the general distance I can expect to go on a 20" unicycle before I lose enough air to have to stop riding? If mine can’t make it that far, I’ll know that I have to change the inner tube.
1. Leave it how it is. It’s fun to pump up your tire every time you go out.
2. Replace the tube. This is what most people would probably do.
3. Patch the tube. This might be a little too involved for some people, but it is not a complicated process, especially with a small hole. If the leak is coming from the valve stem, chances are you will have to go with option 2.
4. Put some of that Slime stuff in. This would be a good option for a small hole.
Aha! I took out the tube, filled it with a little air and found this tiny, tiny hole right near where the valve is. Never would have seen it if I didn’t feel the air coming out. It’s patch-able, but it’s such an old and raggedy tube, I’m not sure I’ll ever get any use out of it. I changed it for a thicker tube with some self-sealing gel inside that I got, hopefully I have better luck with this one.
Funny you should mention that, because I have another thing on my concern list of no particular order. And I don’t want to have to make another topic for every individual thing.
The seat cushion. It is… let’s just say not very cushioning, especially after riding for more than an hour straight. I’m pretty sure it’s just the seat that came with the cheap unicycle I got for Christmas 5 years ago or whatever, and I’m very anxious to replace it because I actually had to get off when I was getting close to the end of my route because I needed to take a break from the nearing unbearable pain.
What do you guys do about this? Is there a particular kind of seat you get for the uni, or particular clothing you wear to minimize… friction?
I wear biking shorts when I ride for a long time (more than an hour), and it really helps. I would also recommend getting a nice saddle. The cheapo saddles are just metal with a thin cover over 'em. They’re terrible!
Edit: One thing I forgot on the bike shorts if you decide to get some. Don’t get the ones that look like normal shorts with mesh on the inside, they don’t work and leave you at just about the same level of discomfort. Get the skin tight, close fitting ones. They keep all the important body parts in place and you can just wear jeans over them if they look funny
I’ve been reading about converting to air saddles, it seems like that’s the consensus for most comfortable seat. I’m just not sure if mine would work or not, they seem very specific. I haven’t even seen “Avenir” mentioned anywhere else except on my uni, and I can’t find anything else on my uni that suggests otherwise. My seat post has the 4-bolt rectangular thing, so if I need to get a new saddle, would you recommend getting one that already fits with the 4-bolt, or getting a seat post that works with the Miyata?
If I do convert to air instead of just buying one, could I juse my old inner tube? In the saddle faq, it links to a product that says it uses a 20 x 1.75 tube in the seat, which is the same as my old inner tube. I would just have to patch up the small hole.
I haven’t seen many recent post’s that promote air saddles. I tried an air seat for a little bit and I didn’t like it. It felt nice right away, but after a bit of riding I just couldn’t get comfortable on it. If you have a Torker LX seat it’s probably worth a shot.
I would definately try a good pair of bike shorts first. You probably still need a new saddle, but in my oppinion bike shorts helped me more than anything.
The general consensus seems to be that if you want a more comfortable saddle… get a more comfortable saddle. Most people prefer the KH Fusion Freeride, some favor the Nimbus Gel. I have an old KH Fusion (the really curved one) that I cut a groove in the middle of the foam, and I find it as comfortable or maybe more than my Freeride. So, in short, good saddles are more comfortable than cheap ones, and there are a lot of different people with different points of view about saddles.
Okay. I will definitely try to get some good shorts first, then try to get a good seat.
Money is now becoming a very big problem for me. I’m looking at biking shorts and the cheapest I can find are $60, which seems very high to me compared to any other pair of shorts. =\ Did anyone get good quality shorts for relatively cheap that they can recommend to me, like post a link, or the site/store they bought them?
Haaaaahahahaha. I am playing a game with my uni called “How many things can go wrong before I go into the garage to grab the toolbox and can’t find what I need to fix it”, and I just lost! The left crank is now loose, and it has a hexagon thing that doesn’t fit the size of any of my tools. I can’t just use pliers because it has a circular rim around the hexagon. I wish I had played that cube game where you fit the shapes into their respective holes more as a kid. =\
Is there a universally-known size for this bolt or what I would need to tighten it so I don’t have to do any guesswork of the size? Sorry, the picture is hard to see, but I assure you the black part is a hexagon.
Also, I ordered some good shorts. So hopefully the seat will be less of a problem. Even less so when I get a job come fall and can afford even more stuff.
and you can just wear jeans over them if they look funny
