Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

Unicycles and Equipment
1

I’v been covetting a new 36" Airfoil wheel for a while, and priced out the parts; The Source is offering it at a great price. Here’s a list of the componants:

$89 - Airfoil Rim
$25 - Bicycle Euro Cranks
$25 - Suzue Hub
$32 - Spokes
$1 - Rim Strip

Add to this the $30 retail cost of a wheel build by John Kovachi, and the total componant cost comes to $202; The Source lists the wheel at $199. The $89 rim cost may catch some off guard, but when you consider the cost and risk of investing in a custom rim to a limited marked, I think gratatude should supplant any feelings of discomfort. $199 is sweet. It’s a pitty the rim isn’t double walled- maybe some day!

There’s another item in the Uni.com candy shop that you’ll be interested in if in the marked for a fresh spoked big wheel. As you’re probably all ready aware, George Barnes is mod’ing Suzue hubs by extending the axel. Not only does he switch the L and E, he seperates the axel halves, splices them back together with a section of tubing, then MIG welds them in place. How much does this cost? ONLY $24. This ROCKS -$49 for a custom hub. Get 'em while they’re hot. Now if we can get John to offer rainbow titanium spokes as an option, we’ll be set! :slight_smile:

Since I was touching base, I decided to check up on where the Profile/Gazz/Alex or Doublewide wheel set prices are at. The Alex wheel set is priced at $549; component costs now come to $419, for a wheel build cost of $110 (down from it’s high of $137). The Doublewide is $579, with a recipe cost of $457- bringing the cost to have this cake baked to $122 (down from $174).

Keep in mind that Kovachi’s charge to you and me to have a wheel spoked would be $30.

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of putting on a set of Profile cranks, it can be a chore… so some allowance should be made here; the Profile Hub and Crank set retails from Profile at $240 -$59 less than the source. No word on weather that includes bearings- so the difference may be as little at $43. That eats up all and more of any ‘allowance’. On the positive side, this price is down $16 from the last time I checked.

To sum it up: Buy the new 36" wheel upgrade spoked up- it’s a good deal, as is the custom big wheel hub. If it’s a prime off road wheel set you’re looking for, you can save about $130 by buying the parts (that figure all ready accounts for shipping from 2 vendors and having the wheel built for $30).

-Christopher

2

Is unicycle.com going the way of the electronic computation industry? Halving prices and doubling performance every year? Let’s just hope their products don’t start crashing like Microsoft’s.

3

Re: Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

Ummm, the airfoil rims are double walled…

4

Aah, my unicycles crash on a regular and frequent basis. However… I don’t think the blame lies with the supplier…

Phil, just me

5

Re: Re: Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

Yikes! So they are- even better. Anyone seen a profile of the extrusion? Looks flat to me, as apposed to a box. May have to buy one and cut it… :wink:

-C

6

if you look at the arrow racing website it’s similar to thier rims.

7

more specifically, like hte DHX rim seen here: http://www.arrowracing.com/default.asp?link=rim

8

Chris,

I’ve had the tire off my Airfoil rim and yes indeedy, the rims are double walled.

The more stressing issue though is the difficulty in installing the Coker tire back on the Airfoil rim. Amy D. once warned me that I would want them to install the tire for me instead of sending the tire and rim disassembled. “Naw,” I said. I’m a man! I can change a little ol’ tire!

Now after the one installation, “Okay, Amy, how much does it cost to send my Coker wheel to you next time I need a tire changed?”

9

theres no way that it can be harder than putting a Monty tire on an Alex rim.

10

Re: Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

The bummer is that I think it’s $55 each way by UPS since it is so big! You
better work on learning the trick - I haven’t tried it yet so can’t help
out. What is so hard about it? Just tight?

—Nathan

“yoopers” <yoopers.cokcn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:yoopers.cokcn@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> Chris,
>
> I’ve had the tire off my Airfoil rim and yes indeedy, the rims are
> double walled.
>
> The more stressing issue though is the difficulty in installing the
> Coker tire back on the Airfoil rim. Amy D. once warned me that I would
> want them to install the tire for me instead of sending the tire and rim
> disassembled. “Naw,” I said. I’m a man! I can change a little ol’
> tire!
>
> Now after the one installation, “Okay, Amy, how much does it cost to
> send my Coker wheel to you next time I need a tire changed?”

11

That profile looks waaay better than the novelty quality rim on the standard 36C (no need to wet out carbon fiber on the inside as reinforcement). Anybody riding one have any comments on how it performs in a twist-hop? My standard threatens to fold durring this manuver…

-C

12

Re: Re: Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

Yep, very, very tight. I must have struggled with it for a good 15 or more minutes using two tire irons (actually plastic). Of course I’m just joking about sending it back and forth to Uni.com for tire changes. Don’t forget, I’m a real man and can change tires (now that the tire is installed).

Bruce

13

Re: Re: Re: Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

In one fail swoop Bruce renders Lewis Gender Uncertain…

-C

14

Rhysling asked about a “twist-hop”. I’d like to know this myself. I have the Coker Deluxe, but can’t bring myself to hop on it yet. It seems to be very sturdy, but I suppose I’m gun-shy from having bent a crank on my Unicycle Factory 45" big wheel the first day I got it (several years back). As much as I paid for this Coker D, I want to get a few more mile on it before I have to send or take it somewhere to be repaired.

Mike

15

Mike,

One can definitely hop on a Coker, it’s just a matter of how much and where. My boys can hop on their standard Cokers, http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/cokertricksters, because their “how much” is not as much as my “how much”. I folded a standard Coker wheel just by climbing up onto the saddle. I have the Diet (Deluxe) Coker as well but I don’t dare attempt to attain a higher elevational state than ground level for fear of revenge. I know the Coker is just laying in state awaiting it’s chance to avenge the destruction of it’s brethern.

As for where, I would however attempt Coker hopping in a place of lower gravitational pull other than this big orbital ball on which I live.

Bruce

16

I just noticed that one little comma has wrecked havoc on my post. The proper link is http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/cokertricksters

Bruce

17

Re: Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

> I’ve been coveting a new 36" Airfoil wheel for a while, and priced out
> the parts; The Source is offering it at a great price. Here’s a list
> of the components:
>
> $89 - Airfoil Rim
> $25 - Bicycle Euro Cranks
> $25 - Suzue Hub
> $32 - Spokes
> $1 - Rim Strip
>
> Add to this the $30 retail cost of a wheel build by John Kovachi, and
> the total component cost comes to $202; The Source lists the wheel at
> $199. The $89 rim cost may catch some off guard, but when you consider
> the cost and risk of investing in a custom rim to a limited marked, I
> think gratitude should supplant any feelings of discomfort. $199 is
> sweet. It’s a pity the rim isn’t double walled- maybe some day!
>
> There’s another item in the Uni.com candy shop that you’ll be interested
> in if in the marked for a fresh spoked big wheel. As you’re probably
> all ready aware, George Barnes is mod’ing Suzue hubs by extending the
> axel. Not only does he switch the L and E, he separates the axel
> halves, splices them back together with a section of tubing, then MIG
> welds them in place. How much does this cost? ONLY $24. This ROCKS
> -$49 for a custom hub. Get 'em while they’re hot. Now if we can get
> John to offer rainbow titanium spokes as an option, we’ll be set! :slight_smile:
>
> Since I was touching base, I decided to check up on where the
> Profile/Gazz/Alex or Doublewide wheel set prices are at. The Alex
> wheel set is priced at $549; component costs now come to $419, for a
> wheel build cost of $110 (down from it’s high of $137). The Doublewide
> is $579, with a recipe cost of $457- bringing the cost to have this cake
> baked to $122 (down from $174).
>
> Keep in mind that Kovachi’s charge to you and me to have a wheel spoked
> would be $30.
>
> If you’ve ever had the pleasure of putting on a set of Profile cranks,
> it can be a chore… so some allowance should be made here; the Profile
> Hub and Crank set retails from Profile at $240 -$59 less than the
> source. No word on weather that includes bearings- so the difference
> may be as little at $43. That eats up all and more of any ‘allowance’.
> On the positive side, this price is down $16 from the last time I
> checked.
>
> To sum it up: Buy the new 36" wheel upgrade spoked up- it’s a good deal,
> as is the custom big wheel hub. If it’s a prime off road wheel set
> you’re looking for, you can save about $130 by buying the parts (that
> figure all ready accounts for shipping from 2 vendors and having the
> wheel built for $30).

Thanks, man.

18

Re: Airfoil 36-inch wheelset- Good Price!

> Is unicycle.com going the way of the electronic computation industry?
> Halving prices and doubling performance every year? Let’s just hope
> their products don’t start crashing like Microsoft’s.

My unicycle crashes way more often than my computer.

How do you install Linux in a unicycle?