hi, I just found this part of the site about unicycling, and reading
all about the sport has got me interested. Was wondering if I could
try making my own unicycle (I don’t have enough money to buy a
unicycle :x ) . I’ve already thought out an idea, but not sure if it
would work or not. Heres what i mean:
Remove the front forks from a bike, then cut off the breaks and handel
bar. Then replace that with a seat and bolt the shafts of the pedels
to the bolts in the middle of the wheel along with the pedals. I
recon it would make a good use for learning to ride a unicycle, but
would that depend on the wheel size or something?
I believe you would need a way to keep the axle and wheel stationary, relative to each other. A unicycle is direct drive, meaning the wheel turns once for every turn of the pedals. There is not freewheeling effect.
If you wire the gears to the spokes by weaving cable through both you can lock out the freewheel. Even spare shifter cable worked for a while but a braided steel cable would last longer. Hope this helps…
I doubt either would work. On a bike the wheel, front or back, is free to rotate around the axle because the hubs are complicated things with bearings etc.
Good luck if you can make it work, but it won’t be easy. I’d suggest you start saving.
Use axle assembly from a kids 3 wheeler having 2 rear plastic wheels and pneumatic front wheel - for $10 from a local thift store. The small size front wheel may make it tougher to learn to ride. Welded the freewheel assembly to lock the pedal cranks to the wheel, used a seat tube inside the fork tube, with a seat tube clamp. May use two bike seats to make a unicycle seat, or modifying a banana seat…having fun looking for unicycle seat dimensions online. http://www.unicycling.org/airseat/ has the best pics I have seen so far to work out shape/size etc. Anyone have ideas on making a seat?
[QUOTE] Originally posted by UNIquelyCanadian
[B]If you wire the gears to the spokes by weaving cable through both you can lock out the freewheel. Even spare shifter cable worked for a while but a braided steel cable would last longer.
This will not work. It would sort of work if your intentions were to build a chain drive unicycle (giraffe) but even then it would have to much slack and wouldn’t hold up to the forces involved. Remember that the standard unicycle has the crank arms and pedals directly out of the hub and the bearings are on the outside of the hub not internal like a bicycle hub.
And the idea to use a tricycle wheel is also not good because they don’t have good bearings and have realy short cranks, and aren’t made to handle the weight of an adult.
I have built unicycles from bike forks by straightening them with a torch then cutting off the wheel dropouts then welding on bearing holders and then useing a unicycle wheel, but you can buy an entry level unicycle for less money than the parts will cost you to build one.
If you are not yet a rider and have limited funds I would recomend trying to find a unicycle second hand or buying an entry level uni like a sun. You can get a new unicycle for as little as $75 possibly less on ebay.
Definitly get a uni and learn to ride you won’t be sorry.
A new unicycle is cheaper than you think. Unicycle.com has new Sun 20"s for $59 and the really well made 48 spoke Torker LX 20" is either $86 (2003 model) or $96 (2004 model). The Torker has a really comfy seat, too. Don’t make your entry into the sport difficult by wrestling with (and waiting for) an ebay seller or building yourself a substandard uni. Get a good, new uni and learn to step off, not fall off of your new ride. You will thank yourself as soon as you get the box in the mail and assemble your uni.
[QUOTE] Originally posted by Tellurider
[This will not work. It would sort of work if your intentions were to build a chain drive unicycle (giraffe) but even then it would have to much slack and wouldn’t hold up to the forces involved. Remember that the standard unicycle has the crank arms and pedals directly out of the hub and the bearings are on the outside of the hub not internal like a bicycle hub.]
I have made a giraffe to that discription, unfortunatly I used a 27" wheel so it turned into giraffe big wheel unicycle. I sprained my wrist and badly twisted an ankle after a bad fall so I haven't riden it since. However the design did work but would be unridable to a learner.
This is great advice! I spent a good month designing and building a substandard muni after my “flea market special” disintegrated. My prototype never rode very well and ended up costing me way more time and money than it’s worth.
If you’re serious about riding, buy a halfway decent entry-level model (Yuni, Nimbus, Torker, etc.) You’ll save money in the long run as anything less will break after a few months and you’ll have to buy a second uni!
If you’re really interested in building your own unicycle, it’s best to know exactly what you want. Learn to ride first, then take a look at some other rider’s designs (online, or in person). Your work in designing and building your own uni will be easier and much more rewarding if you “do your homework” first!
When I said it won’t work I was refering to building a standard unicycle. I said it would sort of work if you are building a giraffe, but it is a less than ideal set up driving the wheel by lacing the sprocket to the spokes. I have a couple of schwinn giraffes and if you don’t use locktite on the sprocket and lock ring they can spin loose. I finaly welded the sprocket to the lock ring on one of them because even with locktite it wouldn’t stay put. I would think that even if you got the wire lacing tight that it will loosen up over time and start tearing up the spokes.
It’s fun to see what you can make work with what you have, I was just saying it wouldn’t work at all for a beginner.
You may live in an area where people who post to this forum have a spare you can use or buy or who can tell you about the bike shop in town that has good, cheap, Torkers or Suns. Where do you live?
Maybe someone near you has a frame or saddle or cranks or pedals or wheelset they’re willing to part with to get you started building a real unicycle. If you lived in Seattle, for example, I would just give you cranks, pedals, a seatpost, and a saddle.
But more importantly, buy, don’t try. It will be more expensive for you to build a usable entry level unicycle from scratch than to buy one.
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Unicycling Daniel. Like several above, I would suggest you save $100.00 and buy yourself a 20" Black Torker.
However, you can find old 20" and 24" Schwinn Unicycles hanging in the back of many bike stores. $25 to $40 should make one of these antiques your new baby. Many on the UCF now call these old Schwinn’s POS, but they really are sturdy unicycles for learning. --chirokid–
PS: If you get an ol’ Schwinn, MAKE SURE the cranks are tight. --chirokid–
Finished putting together unicycle using axle assembly from a kids 3 wheeler - learned lots of things! Acknowledge confirmation of many things I learned from relevant posts here. Crank too short and also angled out from axle-makes lateral control (as well as front/back) difficult. Seat made from suspended leather saddle seat-good seating is important to control-definitely buy this item! Seat post is too short again making control difficult.
Noted could fit 18" or 20" wheel respoked to unicycle axle then add longer, straight cranks with longer seat post, but noting you guys comments on axle bearing strength etc, believe it now best to learn to ride on standard unicyle for max ease of learning! Thanks for the useful comments and where to locate one!
(Wonder if still worthwhile to make the changes so unicycle can be used by 14 yr old).
