Designing a New Uni Frame

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Hey guys,

For my final year at high school here in New Zealand, i will be designing a new uni frame (trials/street/flatland).

Yeah so basically i want to know what people like and dislike about existing frames. What would you like to be improved? What are some problems with the existing frames?

I though it might be a good idea to let people have their say as its better to have more then one critic

The final result wont be completed until at latest, the end of next year

Thanks

2

make it light and strong haha

then for the flat guys they would prolly want a frame that wont break on them :stuck_out_tongue:

3

light and strong was the idea. i know a BMX / Mountain bike manfuracturing company here in Hamilton (New Zealand) that design and make bike frames out of a kevlar type material. its not as likely to delaminate like carbonfiber does when it takes a nock. but almost as light and just as strong. They also make aluminium bike frames, so they have all the knowledge i need

4

seems like you have it covered then…go do it.

5

Round crown would be cool.

6

not for flat tricks, it wouldnt

7

I could possibly design a trial and and flat frame.
Just from what I’ve seen on UDC and other sites all the street specific frames have square crowns. Do street riders really use the flat crown? From what I’ve seen the flat crowns are only
used in flat

8

Usually because most people don’t do just one style of riding.

If you wanted it’s focus to be towards street/trials, go for the rounded crown. But if you want it to be accessible for any type of flat/freestyle, make the crown flat.

9

Cool thanks for that! I think I’ll stick to a flatland frame for the moment. But if I have enough time I’ll try design a rounded crown frame aswell to match it.

10

I wasn’t meaning for flat tricks :wink:

11

I remember reading a while back about round crown frames being inherently stronger/stiffer. I don’t know if that’s true, but if it is a round crown design would make the most sense.

Why not design one frame with a round crown, but have a flat crown piece that slides down over the seat tube, and secures with a collar like a seatpost clamp. This would be a good multipurpose design that would satisfy a great variety of people.

12

Round crowns are stronger, but they don’t have to be ugly. I really really would love to see someone make a uni fork with this kind of crown:

http://tartybikes.co.uk/product.php?product_id=10548&category_id=40

Ripple in the tubing to increase weld contact area. Stronger, and looks good.

Flat crowns demand more welding and aggressive angles for the tubes, so it’s a bit of a compromise.

I wouldn’t recommend a carbon frame if you plan to mass-release it without getting problems in the long run. I just wouldn’t trust a plasticky-feeling piece of tube with carbon weaves ‘bonded’ (i.e. glued in with some strong liquid) into aluminium collars. It would just make me personally feel my frame is a disposable glued together job. Getting high quality carbon tubes is very expensive, and there are many different types, some with glass cores and then some also have thin aluminium tubes pressured into them to help increase strength/stiffness.

That being said, going for a chromoly frame as a first prototype to just get the basic shape is fine.

13

for street i use a round crown, the frame that impact makes is great because its light and since its wide you can actually get your feet on there pretty good if you ever wanted to do tricks that require such things. Its still not the same as having a flat crown but much better than the older nimbus frames. Also i like round crown frames because i dont bust my knees and legs on them near as bad :stuck_out_tongue:

Soooo maybe think about making the frame wide at the top if your going to do a round crown design and then taper it down to a smaller size at the bottom.
thats just my 2 cents :stuck_out_tongue:

14

That is a genius idea.

15

Thanks everyone for your awesome ideas. Who better to ask then the population of unicyclists who know how to improve ideas. Keep em rolling in

16

For trial, street and flatland…
something like the triton disign :wink:
Or Like the carbon concept frame from koxx :wink: If you take a good look at the round crown, you see on the crown little things to make it stronger I think, but it makes also a little platfrom, so maby If you do something like that with bigger ‘things’ for a bigger platform it can be nice… idk (if you don’t understand, I made a little thing in paint ^^) It is just an idea…

and maby combine a seatclamp and frame :slight_smile:

This design is good for trial and street: no pain for knees and it is ok for flatland :slight_smile:

frame design.png
frame design.png375×544 1.14 KB

17

if you scroll down there are some concept web frame designs from koxx one…

i think the red 20" street one would be an awesome idea. sorta like tims design or somiliar to the triton spong. slanted but not completely round, so its good from traisl, street AND FLAT. Also maybe an integrated seat clamp like tim said and some quick release bearing holders :stuck_out_tongue:

18

Your image gave me an idea. Would it be possible to design a round / angled crown frame that has removable blocks / steps that could transform it into a square crown?

I’m thinking the round section of the frame would be a little thicker and have a couple keyholes on each side. The removable blocks would have pegs that would slot into those holes. I don’t know how you’d get the blocks to stay in place (maybe a leaf spring inside the frame?) but that might not be an issue if the holes are keyed well enough.

19

Thats EXACTLY what I’ve been thinking of :stuck_out_tongue: Kinda slide in ‘triangular shaped’ blocks that provide the best of both worlds :smiley:

20

Yep. I thought of the exact same thing!