In my first 8 days of learning to unicycle, my Torker CX 24" has taken quite a bit of nasty falls. The point of impact as ranged from the crank arms to the pedals (both left and right) to the front and rear of the saddle. The nuts holding my saddle to the saddlepost come loose every 4 or 5 falls, and my saddle bumpers are already on the verge of being totally destroyed.
Although these are minor things, I still have some concern for the longevity of the unicycle. Is my CX really going to last me until I can actually ride any considerable distance, seeing as how I can currently only ride 20 feet on a good run?
ive had my little norco for 4 months now and its taken some heavy beatings…it should last as long as you keep up on maintenance…never let one problem get too big:)
I started off with riding a 24" Torker CX, and went through everything that you’ve gone through. The CX is really meant to be for beginners, so it won’t hold up to too much, but it’ll let you ride it for a few hundred/thousand feet over a fairly smooth surface.
Don’t worry about scratches on the saddle, bumpers, or pedals - those happen even on good unicycles. As for the loose nuts, go get a tube of Loc-tite from your LBS (local bike shop). I think I paid about $4 for my tube, and it really does the trick.
I don’t use my 24" CX much anymore (after hopping on it so much, the cranks are lined up at a ~150º angle), but my 20" LX is great (for now). The 20" is very easy to ride and much more comfortable, but much slower than the 24".
—But yes, the CX will last you until you can ride a mile without difficulty (other than that caused by discomfort from the small, hard, baaaaad seat).
just be happy you actualy have bumpers, my first uni didnt have them at all. lets just say i became very good at catching it before it fell. the only things that you will need to worry about are cranks and hubs, but since you arent doing any trials i dont see what problems you should have.
my little begginer norco has lasted soooooo much abuse and i still ride it when im doing freestyle. i’ve done 2 foot drops droped it about a gazzilion times, and oh yes to top it off my dad ran part of the rim over with his truck. how it’s still ridable, i’ll never know
All components that come into sudden contact with tarmac or concrete will scratch or mark. This would be the same for some hand-crafted titanium cranks or a custom-made leather and carbon fibre saddle.
The trick is to stop the components coming into sudden contact with tarmac or concrete. This, Grasshopper, is the great cosmic truth of unicycling.
However, certain types of riding (trials, hops, drops etc.) will place strains on the hub, cranks, and pedals that were not foreseen by the manufacturers of a budget unicycle. When you start doing these things, there will be a case for upgrading your components.
The modern western way is to upgrade equipment to improve performance. There are profound philosophical and financial arguments for upgrading technique as far as your equipment will allow before upgrading the equipment.
There is definitely technique to reducing a unicycle’s contact with the ground. I have thankfully grasped that pretty well and my unicycles rarely if ever directly smash into the ground. In almost ever single skill you can grab the seat before a fall, even a UPD. As John Childs will probably remember, when we were on the Gasworks Seattle Ride I UPDed on a small curb that caught the side of my tire (I went onto it sideways - the wrong way), and even with that super un-expected UPD I caught the seat. A handle makes it easier, which the CX does not have, but my KH seat on my Nimbus doesn’t have a handle and as you just heard I caught it fine. Unicycles are definitely not bombproof (although UDC apparently thinks the DX is…), so be careful with them and that CX will last you a long time. The cranks on the CX are pretty weak, so be careful of dropping it hard on the cranks. Even my nice Qu-Ax freestyle cranks bent when my SemBus (Semcycle/Nimbus) when smashing into the ground and sliding around after I bailed from a steep, fast glide.
i’ve got a 20" and 24" cx. they’ve held up ok for about a year with a little loctite and new saddles. i highly recommend a new saddle, the stock cx saddle will leave you feeling horribly violated if you sit on it for too long. the post clamp is crap, it will never hold very tight. it’s welded on so you can’t really replace it. i broke one of my quick release levers a couple weeks ago because i tried to get it really tight. the bolt still holds though, sort of. overall it will hold up fine if you don’t do jumps or big drops with it. i’ve learned most of the skills through level 4 on a cx and right now i’m working on wheel walking. it’s not built to last too long, but you should be able to learn just fine.
