I stumbled on this uni which someone is looking to sell. Can anyone identify from these not-so-clear photos what it is, when it’s from, and whether it’s of any use now, given the state it’s in? I see the pedals have some kind of protective bumpers along the edge, and the seat is a KH Fusion Street, so clearly it was once owned and ridden by a keen unicyclist. Sadly not for a while I think.
I love the thought of buying and renovating it - I’ve got room for a 20", and it’s so unusual looking. However I wouldn’t actually see it until taking delivery of it, along with 3 other rusty unicycles, all in pieces, and it may be beyond reasonable use.
This looks like a collection from. A family that had a kid Interested in unicycling back in the 90’s. They want this stuff out of their basement. This is no great hord that you will make money on. I have always been interested in owning an Oregon frame
The hub and cranks are Profile. They were top of the line 25 years ago and came with a lifetime warranty. A problem is that shorter, normal unicycle lengths are not available.
Thanks for the input - and @JimT for the lead on the hub (I see from old posts that you have one with shortened cranks). I had thought it was an Onza hub since I’ve never come across the Profile one before. The Onza hub and cranks were available on an Onza brand trials uni on the UK UDC website back in 2003/4 - see this courtesy of the Wayback Machine. The listing says ‘Splined BMX style “bomb proof” hub, 140mm CrMo cranks’.
Still can’t find a similar frame in internet searches, although some bigger (24" +) frames with the Hunter brand seem to have been around at the same sort of time with similar use of doubled up thinner tubing for the forks - eg this one from this post.
Screenshot from those links for ease…
That red frame is a dream! I so, so love the V frames. Don‘t think they offer much in technical terms, but they are a true pleasure to look at. Too bad they aren‘t en vogue anymore.
Well I’ve established today that the person selling the unis picked them up from the local recycling centre shop and knows nothing about them or unicycles in general. How wonderfully random and optimistic of them to do that!
I suspect the two unis on the left (with 48 hole square taper hubs I think) came from the same person, maybe along with the interesting one on the right with the unusual frame and Onza or Profile hub and cranks. The cheap junk one at the front right probably came from someone else.
Black one to left and the rusty one (I am less certain of that) are Nimbus X , they are superb. Mega strong CRMO frames and great unicycles even now. I believe that the mystery one was made by Joe Marshall in the UK, I can not remember what he called them, but in it’s day was considered very good.
Before tossing either in the bin, please try dipping aluminium foil (folded over on itself multiple times to make a thick pad) in vinegar and then rubbing the vinegar-soaked aluminium on the cro-moly frame of the second Nimbus X. You may be amazed at how much of the rust comes off, and how much chrome comes back to life.
Some time and effort can restore what looks like a lost-cause uni to a desirable uni. I did similar on a couple unis turning them into starter unis I can lend out for beginners to learn on. The chrome ended up better than I expected. Obviously not new but still in good condition.
The worst one was on par with those in your photos. Take your time and don’t try to rush through it. Ask questions if/when you’re not sure what to do or how best to do it. At the end you have a unicycle that is well cared for and has character. Remember that any ridden uni has dings, scratches, dents, and imperfections.
I did the aluminum foil trick on my 20" CyclePro rim that had a light layer of rust on it, and I’d say it worked excellently. Of course the rust had done it’s work in a couple small spots where it corroded away some of the shiny coating, but it worked wonders for the appearance!
I also used Coca-Cola for the liquid medium instead of vinegar, though I don’t know how much of a difference it would make… Maybe if I get another rusty uni to restore I’ll find out
Thanks Roger, that’s really helpful (to me or whoever else wins the auction - hopefully nobody’s reading this ;-). The guy selling them says he’ll be breaking them down to post - I guess he’ll be the first to try extracting those seatposts!
I’ve asked him for some more pictures of the unusual (Joe Marshall?) frame and its hub/cranks (Onza?), so will hopefully have more info on that soon. Turns out we’ve just moved to the same part of Nottingham where Joe lived when he did Ride the Lobster - how unlikely is that!
Just realised there’s a Joe Marshall who makes custom motorcycle frames in the US. I had assumed you meant that this unicycle frame was built by Joe Marshall the unicyclist from Nottingham - or was it the other one (or another one again!)?
I have some more photos of the mystery uni - it’s an Onza hub and cranks - flanges look OK but not so sure about the bearing clamps and bolts, or the yawning gap next to the bearings - do Onza bearings fit a standard 42mm bearing cap?
Well today I took delivery of an exciting parcel from Torquay - the delivery man had noticed a hint at the contents sticking out near the bottom of the packaging…
Now I’ll have to see what can be saved and restored. Further updates will hopefully follow in due course - maybe more suited to the ‘Latest Projects’ thread than the ‘Post a pic of your shiny new unicycles’ thread!