An ode to a departed unicycle

General
1

Peter J Bier wrote:
> That makes the third unicycle I’ve destroyed. Their life span is down to 12
> months:-( Will my semcycle stand up to much punishment? I’ve been going easy
> on it seeing as it cost a bit and I don’t want to break it straight away.
>
> How do you hard core unicylists combat this problem? Brett, Kris, any
> one else?
>
> It’d be nice not to be limited by the strength of one’s axle or rim.

I had just the same problems some years ago. Breaking spokes and axles, bending
rims, and so on. Meanwhile I’m using N&K axles and I’m very satisfied with
them. I never broke one, though stessing them hard. Then I use high quality
double wall rims (available at BMX shops) with 48 spokes (N&K hubs are
available with 48 holes as well). They are very durable. Most unicycles
(including Semcycle) come with single wall rims with 36 spokes only. A double
wall rim provides approximately double stability compared to a single wall rim.
In addition, 48 spokes result in about 2.5 times as much stability than 36
spokes. So a double wall rim with 48 spokes is approx. 5 times as durable as a
single wall rim with 36 spokes. Another point is that Semcycle build their
wheels with spokes crossed only 2 times. It means, a spoke meets two other
spokes on its way from the hub to the rim. That provides less stability than
spokes crossed three or four times.

                              Best wishes,
                                Wolfgang

          \\\|///
          | ~ ~ |
         (- 0 0 -) +----------oOOo-(_)-oOOo-----------------------------+

| |
| Dr. Wolfgang Stroessner |
| |
| e-mail: wolfgang.stroessner@sap.com |
| http://spectrum.mathematik.hu-berlin.de/~stroess | Oooo. |
±--------.oooO-----( )-----------------------------+ ( ) ) / \ ( (_/ _)

2

Tis sadness that I feel, Now left with one less wheel. The drop was small, or so
I thought; Common sense whispered - recklessness fought, Now its a little late,
My wheel’s not round but a figure eight.

That makes the third unicycle I’ve destroyed. Their life span is down to 12
months:-( Will my semcycle stand up to much punishment? I’ve been going easy on
it seeing as it cost a bit and I don’t want to break it straight away.

How do you hard core unicylists combat this problem? Brett, Kris, any one else?

It’d be nice not to be limited by the strength of one’s axle or rim.

(BTW I did not know it was that easy to bend a rim 90 degrees! )

Saddened at the loss of a loved one, Peter

–

                University of Waikato 61 Nevada Rd Peter Bier
                pjb10@cs.waikato.ac.nz Hamilton Unicyclist, juggler and
                mathematician. (07) 856 1103
3

RE: An ode to a departed unicycle

> Tis sadness that I feel, Now left with one less wheel. The drop was small, or
> so I thought; Common sense whispered - recklessness fought, Now its a little
> late, My wheel’s not round but a figure eight.

Ow. I usually just break my axle.

A Semcycle is probably going to be stronger than the wheels you’ve killed,
though as Wolfgang mentioned the low number of spoke crosses makes it better
suited to riding on level ground.

What were the unicycles you killed? Cheap Taiwan stuff?

If you want to start at the top, the DMATU has the 3/4", splined, high-end BMX
axle that no other manufactured unicycle has. It should take quite a while for
anyone but the most aggressive MUniers to break one of those. I expect mine to
last me years, unless I get more heavily into Trials/hopping type activities.

Other than that you can build your own wheels, but the axle will be the hard
part. Semcycle and Miyata have the strongest axles I’m aware of in regular
unicycles. The Pashley Muni and Telford both use the Miyata’s “Suzue” axle.

> (BTW I did not know it was that easy to bend a rim 90 degrees!)

How easy? What have you been doing? I’ve certainly seen my share of tacoed,
pretzeled, or pringled wheels (American expressions?), but it sounds like you’re
doing some heavy duty riding to get to your current poetry phase!

Double walled rims built for high-stress use, and high spoke count (48) will
also help. Make sure your axle has 48 holes before buying rims…

I also think getting a real fat tire will take much of the stress off the rest
of your wheel. The tire acts as a shock absorber, so if you’re jumping off the
tops of buildings it won’t be such a shock to the axle when your rim bottoms
out. The guys in the Bay area out here are having a blast with their
2.6 and 3" Gazzaloddi tires. I don’t know if UnicycleSource is equipped to sell
to you in NZ, but they have the 2.6, which fits several off-the-shelf frames.

It amazes me to watch guys like Bruce Bundy and Kris Holm bounce their way up
steep stuff, down big drops, and across big gaps to land on tiny perches. It is
obvious that the tire is doing a lot to make this easier for them.

Good luck, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone (reply to jfoss@unicycling.com)
http://www.unicycling.com

“Every once in a while, you just have to be an airplane.”

  • Andy Jennings
4

Re: An ode to a departed unicycle

Find a skilled wheel builder and have him/her tighten the spokes on all of your
unicycles. The wheels on most unicycles (excpet for Telford, DMATU and a few
others) are poorly built. Just having the spokes properly tensioned will do
wonders for wheel strength.

The next step up from just having the spokes tensioned would be to have the
wheel rebuilt with a new stronger rim. And make sure that the spokes are
properly tensioned.

It helps to find a wheel builder who has experience with tandem bikes and/or
downhill MTB wheels. And explain to him/her what kind of abuse you plan to do to
the wheel (like sideways hopping off curbs, etc).

john_childs@hotmail.com

>From: Peter J Bier <pjb10@math.waikato.ac.nz>
>
>That makes the third unicycle I’ve destroyed. Their life span is down to 12
>months:-( Will my semcycle stand up to much punishment? I’ve been going easy on
>it seeing as it cost a bit and I don’t want to break it straight away.
>
>How do you hard core unicylists combat this problem?

Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

5

Re: An ode to a departed unicycle

In article <DB893A7884D1D211AD770008C75DBECC97673E@dewdfx11.wdf.sap-ag.de>,
“Stroessner, Wolfgang Dr.” <wolfgang.stroessner@sap.com> wrote:

>Peter J Bier wrote:
>> That makes the third unicycle I’ve destroyed. Their life span is down to 12
>> months:-( Will my semcycle stand up to much punishment? I’ve been going easy
>> on it seeing as it cost a bit and I don’t want to break it straight away.
>>
>> How do you hard core unicylists combat this problem? Brett, Kris, any
>> one else?
>>
>> It’d be nice not to be limited by the strength of one’s axle or rim.
>
>I had just the same problems some years ago. Breaking spokes and axles, bending
>rims, and so on. Meanwhile I’m using N&K axles and I’m very satisfied with
>them. I never broke one, though stessing them hard. Then I use high quality
>double wall rims (available at BMX shops) with 48 spokes (N&K hubs are
>available with 48 holes as well). They are very durable. Most unicycles
>(including Semcycle) come with single wall rims with 36 spokes only. A double
>wall rim provides approximately double stability compared to a single wall rim.
>In addition, 48 spokes result in about 2.5 times as much stability than 36
>spokes. So a double wall rim with 48 spokes is approx. 5 times as durable as a
>single wall rim with 36 spokes. Another point is that Semcycle build their
>wheels with spokes crossed only 2 times. It means, a spoke meets two other
>spokes on its way from the hub to the rim. That provides less stability than
>spokes crossed three or four times.
>

check out the DM Superdooper rim master thingsy with 48 spokes exrta hard
bearings/axles etc very hard wearing !

– Rob.

… Rob Stone,
Dept Psychology, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK See Anthony Gatto
perform at 13th British Juggling Convention.
13…16 April 2000 YORK, UK http://www.bjc2k.york.ac.uk/
…

6

Re: An ode to a departed unicycle

Peter,

My method of fixing the problem is to move to Indiana (which for those of you
who aren’t from the US, the total elevation change in the state of Indiana is
700ft–not much Muniing here!) So my Muni is making a nice wall piece in my dorm
right now. Its very safe.

Studying too hard, Brett

>
> Tis sadness that I feel, Now left with one less wheel. The drop was small, or
> so I thought; Common sense whispered - recklessness fought, Now its a little
> late, My wheel’s not round but a figure eight.
>
> That makes the third unicycle I’ve destroyed. Their life span is down to 12
> months:-( Will my semcycle stand up to much punishment? I’ve been going easy
> on it seeing as it cost a bit and I don’t want to break it straight away.
>
> How do you hard core unicylists combat this problem? Brett, Kris, any
> one else?
>
> It’d be nice not to be limited by the strength of one’s axle or rim.
>
> (BTW I did not know it was that easy to bend a rim 90 degrees! )
>
> Saddened at the loss of a loved one, Peter
>
> –
> ******************************************************************
> University of Waikato 61 Nevada Rd Peter Bier
> pjb10@cs.waikato.ac.nz Hamilton Unicyclist, juggler and
> mathematician. (07) 856 1103
> ******************************************************************