Custom Blizzards

Unicycles and Equipment
1

I’ve seen ‘custom’ threads for pretty much every other type of unicycle, but I haven’t found one for Blizzards though. I think PDC is the only other person I’ve seen here with one though, so this might be a very short thread :astonished:

Anyway, here goes with mine;

For those that don’t know, these were hand made by Joe Rowing in England. He stopped making them a few years ago, and I think mine might be the last 24" one he made.

Mine is fitted out with a Suze hub, Halo Combat rim, Hookworm tyre, 127mm Qu-Ax cranks and DK Iron Cross pedals (Officially the worlds heaviest pedals ever… but also the coolest!). The top end is a Miyata seatpost (covered in black hockey tape), a carbon fibre seat base, a combination of Miyata and KH saddle foam, a KH Fusion seat cover and Miyata bumper & handle. Oh, and the obligatory 8 ball valve cap :slight_smile: The frame also makes an excellent mount for the removable rear light too.

It’s a fantastic uni for just cruising around, and also getting quickly and safely to the pub and back.

STM

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2

And a very nice ride it is too (I think that was the one I rode up to the concours comp at last year’s BUC?). If so, I can confirm its suitability for riding in the dark slightly intoxicated :stuck_out_tongue:

Cue the discussion about whether Rowing copied Hunter or the other way round, and whether one or two top bracing struts is better…

Rob

3

Yeah, that’s the one. This is actually a fairly advanced model though as it has an inbuilt alcohol detection system which actuates the self-balancing mode and eliminates risk taking :smiley:

STM

4

Here’s a couple. Notice the double brake mount for either a standard rim or a Large Marge.

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5

Cool, that double mount is brilliant! I love simple solutions like that.

6

those are sick, where would you get one of those framez

7

As they’re not being made any more. You’d have to find someone selling theirs.

I’ve actually been contemplating selling the one in the picture that doesn’t have brake mounts.

Let me know if your interested. I’d be selling the complete uni though.

8

I can’t take the credit for the brilliance. Pete Perron did the brake mounts.

If I remember, on Monday I’ll post a copy of an email Joe Rowing sent me about his design and construction of the frames. In my opinion they are one of the stiffest and nicest frames out there.

A Rowing steel frame with a GB4 Reeder handle is hard to beat.

9

Do you think it could be possible to buy the Magura mounts on UDC and weld them so a Large Marge rim would fit? and have the 4 brake mounts like yours on the frame?

10

yeah, id be definatly interested, depending on the price, but i couldnt buy it right now (probably not till closeer to the end of winter), so dont feel rushed to make a desision, but definatly let me know if you are going to sell it.

11

That’s exactly what Pete did (he may only have welded on the second pair). I’m not sure if the first set was done by Joe.

12

The 20" version is still listed on the UK UDC website for £185 ($300)

STM

13

would the 20" one be good for trials?

14

Probably*. It’s not good for freestyle or flatland though as the rounded crown prohibits any foot-on-frame tricks. It is machined for 40mm bearings though, so would be ideal for a profile setup, but wouldn’t work with newer ISIS stuff without a bearing change.

STM

  • I don’t ride trials though
15

Here’s the email Joe sent me about my first Rowing uni (the one w/o the brake mounts).

"If that was Frank A’s old one (which it looks like) then it was one of the first sent over to the USA.

It was specially made to order and if I remember correctly it has slightly more height clearance than the other early ones. I believe it will fit a gazalodi although I prefer a halo or kujo as they have a more agile, rounder profile.

Everything on it was produced by myself. the machineing, tube bending, brazing etc.

The material is T45 and 4130 cromo tube and I use special high strength brazing filler.

The seat tube was made for a 22.2 cro-mo BMX post to be used with any of the rail-adaptors or my own carbon bonded rail seats.
That said the standard 22.0 will probably just about fit.

The bearing holders are precision machined to take the 40mm bearings of the profile hub. the standard square-taper hubs will also fit

  • the frame pre-dates the KH hubs and the more recent KH MKII hubs (which I helped design)

The finish is powder-coating, the inside is all waxoiled to rust-proof.

If you’re curious about the design - it was built to my own design as the best MUni that money could produce.

the twin-tubes are to reduce width of the frame whilst still providing plenty of clearance. It had to be steel to allow a little bit of zing when flicking it through singletrack.
The twin stay at the back supports the rear stay in a much stiffer and lighter way than the Hunter.

Personally I don’t use brakes and prefer the challenge of riding without them - Frank didn’t want brake bosses either so it has none.

I have here and still ride my prototype “Blizzard” frame. it has been all over the place - even to Germany with Kris and suffered much abuse without dinging, bending or breaking.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do mine!

Joe"

I believe I will be selling this if anyone is interested. I’ll make a for sale thread one day before too long. Not only does it fit 3" tires, it also fits a Large Marge wheel.

16

PDC what size wheel is the one you are selling?

17

It’s a 3 x 24 Duro Tire with an Onza splined hub/crankset Alex DX32 rim. This setup has had very little use.