Was practicing on the tennis courts last night and noticed a small ball bearing on the ground. It appears smaller than what I expected in a unicycle hub. It is 3/16" (4.7mm) - see pic.
My UDC 24" seems to be ok: the hub is intact, still riding smooth, no grinding, no noises from the hub.
Unis are simple machines but just to be absolutely sure - there are no other parts of a uni that have ball bearings, right? No other parts that could have come loose and ejected a bearing?
If so, this must be some freaky coincidence that I found a small ball bearing on a tennis court while practicing.
Check your pedals. When I tried to use department store mtb pedals on my 24", the bodies cracked after a few hard drops onto the pavement. The dust caps began to pop off and small ball bearings like that would drop out.
It could have come from someone else’s pedal too of course.
pedals have smaller bearings than that. It’s been a long time since I’ve repacked a pedal, but I think they are more in the 1/8" range.
I can’t think of anything on a Uni that would have 3/16" bearings except for the sealed cartridges. I agree with Shmolagin, coincidence. It’s probably from some department store bike front hub that was never adjusted.
It’s the wear indicator for the TRP Spyre brake. When your pads are worn, they shoot out the ball bearings so you know you need some new pads (and a new caliper).
