Kal, if you are machinist and mechanic, it sounds like you got it covered. Good luck, what does UDC say about the clicking? I been a lot of things (Ski tech, bike mechanic, industrial mechanic, industrial QC, some motorcycle, vw, and go kart wrenching) and that is why I find problems like this irresistible. I love machine shops. We had one next to the industrial turbo shop I worked at.
BTW most of my family is from near Kalamazoo. They are all out by Gun Lake. I don’t have the most common last name so it was cool to drive down the highway and see my last name on a bunch of mailboxes.
Definitely keep us updated. I hope you figure out what it is so you can have some peace of mind with what the noise was.
If your hub is the latest one with aluminum shells, the noise comes probably from some clearance in the splines between the aluminum shell and the steal axis as Kris HOLM explained me some months ago
I’m having the same problem with a creaking-clicking sound on my new 2010 KH 24. I ride with another guy in our group that mentioned it to me also. I haven’t talked to him for about a month, but I have tried tightening the cranks, graphiting the spoke crossover areas, checked the bearing holders for proper tightness (just tight enough to remove play yet allow free wheel spin). I have removed the cranks based on previous threads about grease and anti seize. I’ve now tried both. Still the creaking. The spacers are tight against the inner bearing race when I have the cranks tight - as I believe they should be. I do not get the noise when I sit on the seat. Only when I stand on the pedals or put pressure on the pedals. I have changed the pedals. Still the noise. I have less than 80 miles on the uni. I bought it new in Dec 2009. I am using a Park ISIS crank puller. I reinstall the cranks using a rubber mallet alternating with an 8mm hex key to get the them tight. I check the cranks after each ride to make sure they are staying tight. I am baffled. Hub to bearing holder clearance is OK. Could the noise be coming from inside the axel/hub? I haven’t disassembled the axel yet. Hub
There isn’t much maintenance to a unicycle which makes it more frustrating when you can’t find the source of the noise. I had this happen on my Nimbus 24 and KH 36. The Nimbus just needed wax on the spokes. The 36 was bugging me. It was worse when going uphill. I had my husband check to make sure everything was tight. He’s a lot stronger than me. It turned out it was the seat. We tightened all the seat bolts and that took care of it. Good luck.
My father used to have a friend who was an old diesel and general mechanic. The guy drove a beater truck that looked and sounded horrible, but never broke down. I was riding with them one time and my Dad asked the mechanic what he planned to do about some random noise coming from the truck. Without a pause, the guy reached over, turned up the radio, and kept driving.
Not very useful for the OP’s situation, perhaps, but it’s still a good story.
Rumor has it that the KH skunkworks was working on an echolocating unicycle. This special cycle was accidentally shipped and became lost in the vast shipping system of UPS. KH has secretly planned to lock up all worldwide sales once blindfold echolocating unicycling becomes level 12. You must have that prototype uni.
The design centers around a special click that is tuned to 768hz. One of the earliest things to learn about echolocating unicycling is the Blue Shift that indicates an impending UPD. I’m sure UDC will launch a design contest for a special blindfold.
There are two MIB’s here in the pub already. Please don’t let on that I let this information out.
Well I have taken it apart (again) and checked and double checked and still no luck. I cannot FEEL anything when riding, so I have decided to put my mind at rest and just ride it. If KHU figures it out great, not a big enough problem to ship it back or bother UDC about, so I am gonna just enjoy my bad@$$ unicycle and go on.
OK - I like turning up the radio idea. Some rock’n’roll should blend right in with the creaking hub.
Seriously, has anyone disassembled the hub to see if lubrication between the axel and hub splines might solve the problem? I’m on vacation in Santa Cruz right now and plan to ride Nisene Marks tomorrow, creaks and all, so I’m gonna see about tearing the hub apart when I get back home. If grease works on the cranks it seems like it ought to work inside the hub too.
Is KH working on a fix for this? I didn’t see any info on his website.
I’m home from Santa Cruz. Unloaded the uni and took it apart. I pulled a bearing on one side (with a puller). I’m going to attempt to attach pics that show metal flakes that have collected between the inside of the bearing inner race and the hub/axel spline interface. The shiny flecks of metal wipe off easily with a finger. I wiped about 1/2 of them off before taking pics. It looks to me like the shiny stuff (aluminum, I presume) is being shaved off in the process of work stress between the hub and the axle. That’s why the creaking only happens when the axle is loaded with work. Like standing on the pedals for more power when cranking, or when hopping up and down. If I ride smooth on flat ground with no force on the crank arms I have no creaking.
It looks to me like the hub metal is wearing away under load. The creaking noise is the indicator of that problem.
What I’m not sure of at this point is who to talk to about it. I bought the unicycle from UDC. Should I contact them or go directly to KH Unicycles?
With all due respect, you didn’t tell me how to address the problem or who to address it with. You did state (as above) that KH knows about it. Is he doing anything about it? Is UDC?
I do appreciate your feedback. At least there is awareness of the problem. The next step is who is fixing it, when are they fixing it, and how are they fixing it? I couldn’t find any feedback on those questions.
I’not using latest KH2009/2010 hub spec but 2007 type, so I had no additional exchange with Kris about that.
Sorry but I cannot find the Email from Kris with the information ! You should contact him directly at kris@krisholm.com to have details about future improvements.
I’m curious - have you tried riding much after clearing out those shavings? If the noise stops after clearing out shavings, it might indicate that the shavings just came from initial metal break-in/mating, with subsequent noise from the shavings rubbing? So if you clear out the shavings then go without further issues, it may indicate you don’t have any further problem. Or, if the noise continues and you get more shavings, you’ve confirmed you’ve got a significant problem. Either way would probably be good info to have as you pursue communication with Kris.
I contacted UDC and have been working with Josh. He is pretty sure that it is a crank arm / axle spline interface problem stemming from spacing. I have a 4mm space inside of the bearings and a 6 mm spacer outside of the bearings (between the crank arm and the bearing). A millimeter or two on the spacing can make a difference. Based on conversations with Josh and measurements sent to him the recommendation is to send my wheelset back and have them take a look at it.
Concerning the metal shavings; Josh says that it is typical to have a few residual metal flakes when the hub is pressed onto the axle. That makes sense to me. I was looking for a possible trouble spot and jumped on something that looked like a possibility. The metal flakes are probably not the problem. I’ll keep this thread updated with info as I get it.
