Today I started experimenting with Plasti-Dip on my KH Moments. Plasti-dip is a rubberized dip or spray coating that is removable. I think it originated as a tool coating but I’ve seen people on YouTube coating wheels and even entire cars. This may or may not work on crank arms but I wanted to try it now since I’ll be switching back to these 165mm Moments soon. It is possible that my shoes may rub the coating off but the rest of the coating should be removable if that happens. We’ll see what happens!
Plasti-Dip is a pretty interesting product. I bent a piece of round steel rod into an large S-hook to hang my uni. Then I coated it in Plasti-Dip so it wouldn’t scratch the rim. It comes in a few different colors: http://www.plastidip.com/home_solutions/Plasti_Dip
I did that about 3 months ago. The ends are starting to get pretty ragged now. I will probably cut off the bits on the ends and dip them again soon. It feels nice and grips well with gloves. I tried a few times without gloves and it rubbed off on my hands. If you ride with gloves, I would recommend it.
After work today I put the 165mm Moments back on to try the Plasti-Dip coating. I instantly felt much more confident than when I had the 150mm Ventures on there. I rode so much better today than the past three rides with the Ventures. I’ll probably stick with this crank length for a while.
The black Moments looked great but the coating didn’t last long. I had a feeling this might happen. I washed the cranks with soap/water, put on 5 coats, and let them dry 48 hours but the finish just didn’t stand up to my shoes. After the first few minutes there were small nicks in both crank arms. After riding for 45 minutes there were large pieces missing like you see in the pictures. I still feel like it was a good experiment. I pulled the Plasti-Dip off after I took the pictures and it came off cleanly and easily without having to remove the crank arms.
You could try anodizing or a chemical process similar to the copper patina (I had some in black instead of copper) that they use for stained glass. I don’t know how well either would stand up to wear, but it is an idea. Any coating will probably start looking bad once you start getting scratches in it.
Yesterday I received the rest of the parts to put the brake on my Drak. I’m just trying to figure out if it will help or hurt my learning process if I install it. I haven’t been riding as much as I would like due to the weather…
Kris Holm Spirit 137/165mm (455g) and Starfighter (19g)
Any updates on how you like the Drak? What cranks do you have on now? Decide on the brake? I am interested because I would like to purchase a Drak in the next few months. Thanks.
what kind of riding do you do? I was planning on getting one but decided not to because of what i ride, my rides go from freeride to xc during my rides so a 26 suits me a little better
I really love the Drak! If I had to make the decision over again I would buy the same thing. I would like to have a Kris Holm uni but only because of the name recognition and a slightly lighter weight. The Nimbus is really a quality product that gives me a feeling of almost being indestructible. That is a nice feeling when I send it crashing to the ground all the time. I don’t like to buy low quality products but didn’t want to spend $700 either. The Drak fit that bill perfectly. I have not installed the brake yet even though I’ve got all the shinny parts sitting on my desk. It seems like I should just concentrate on learning the basic unicycle since I’m new. There is a thread around here somewhere on the Spirit cranks, where someone installed an external disc on a Drak. I’ve been using the 165mm KH Moment cranks the whole time except for a brief couple rides on the Nimbus Venture 150s. The Ventures are nice but I like the Moments better because the longer length makes learning easier. I’m not sure if you are a new rider or not but I bought the Hillbilly full finger wrist guards and really like them. Great fall protection and they fit me well.
I used to hate Nimbus having only ridden a handful of older models but now they’re my favourite uni brand. I still like KH stuff, don’t get me wrong, but you’re right; Nimbuses are rock solid. IMHO, a lot of KH stuff is a bit overpriced but you do get what you pay for (Spirits are beautiful!) however Nimbus does offer the best value and the most innovation.
Just my two cents… I mean pence :o (gotta get out of the house more - the internet’s full of Americans)
