First uni recommendations

I am interested in getting an uni, my uncle and a cousin both have one and I think I would like to learn to ride. I was looking at getting a Torker lx 24", I have heard from a couple other forums that they aren’t pieces of junk and could be good to learn some more advanced stuff on later. If I ever get serious about riding I would either go for touring or trials so I think even though a 24" is harder to learn on but it would give me more used to touring if I wanted to. Any recommendations or ideas? I don’t want to break the bank on my first uni, I just need one that won’t fall apart. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Welcome:)
The LX is a great learner.

Sonds like you’ve picked the ideal size for you.
20 - tricks, learning, and light trials is easier, but it’s slow and doesn’t roll over bumps well.
24 - The above is a bit harder, but it’s faster, and rolls over bumps better.

  • on either of these you could cheaply put on some different sized cranks and make it better for distance or light MUni (shorter longer)
    Caution: the seat on the LX is like a well shaped brick. You may want to upgrade it (or modify), which will likely require a new post.

Yep, the LX is a good start. The next step up from that would be something like this: http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=1057 which has a splined crank set and a better saddle. However, if you know that you want to do touring or trials, why spend lots on a 24? Actually, you could consider starting with a trials cycle. It would be a bit more expensive, but save money in the long run. http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=1090 would be a good trials uni, but its more expensive…

But if you just want to learn for now, get the Torker LX. Unicycle.com has them in stock.

I think the best deal now is a Torker ax. A newer design with stainless spokes, alum frame and an ok seat, it is a bit lighter then the Lx and costs 5 $ more if you buy it here. UDC charges top retail price for there unis.

http://www.niagaracycle.com/index.php?cPath=82

This place has an excellent seller rating on Amazon.

Either a 20 or 24 is nice. Personally, I would suggest a 24 now, and buy a splined 20 later if you get into trials.

thats a good deel

If you are thinking about doing some light MUni on it, I would not get the AX, plus the rounded crown will make some tricks harder.

The best buy for LX’s is on e-bay.

Thanks for all the feedback, I really have no idea what I’m doing. I’ll think about the ax, but I would like to try a little bit of everything, so I might stick with the lx.

If you ever come up to dallas let me know. There’s plenty of us up here that ride

yup the LX is a good idea. that was my first uni and it was a good learner

The lx is fine

It has a lot of fans on the board, and has been around longer then the ax. Either one is fine. I like the lightness of the ax.

You can use an ax for light muni, even if you are 170 lbs like me. I ride my ax 29 everywhere I do my KH’s and it holds up fine. I don’t jump off anything more then a foot though. Unless you are a lot heavier then me , an lx or ax will hold up fine. If you want to jump off of tall things or are a heavy hopping mad man, these KH’s seem the best deal on the web now.

I hear many parts on the lx and ax are the same. You are paying 5 $ more for the stainless spokes, alum frame and large diameter alum post, alex rim etc.

I wish I knew someone with an lx so we could compare seats. I think the ax seat is ok, good for 10 miles, some say the lx seat sucks, but the ax seat may be identical for all I know. Not everyone likes the same seats.:slight_smile:

I’ve got a couple cousins in Dallas, I might contact you next tie I’m there UniSLAB. But I have a terrible memory about stuff like this :stuck_out_tongue: .

If you have a good feeling that you will stick with uncycling, I would strongly recommend spending the extra to get the uni that Eroick mentioned above (torker lx hub replacement. There is absolutely no compatible replacement LX hub available for purchase. The closest thing (the Suzue hub at UDC) will require new spokes because the flanges are too tall. This sucks. The Torker AX is even worse because virtually no part on that uni is standard (esp. the seat post width!).

The good thing about the UDC uni Eroick and I are recommending is that all its parts are compatible with other standard uni/bike parts. You can upgrade/fix everything on the UDC Nimbus uni until you have a completely new uni. I hate owning stuff that I can’t fix, and thus I will avoid Torker in the future.

Just my 2cents.

  • Mark

I would love to get a nimbus, they look like they can take a few hits and I hear they’re pretty good. However, I don’t know if I can justify spending $250-$300 on something that could be a complete waste of money for me(No offense, its just I can’t ride at all yet and I don’t know if I will stick with it or not). Plus, being a broke colleege student, I don’t even have the money for a torker lx yet :frowning:

if you want a cheap one go for a torker cx. its what I started on and its definitely affordable, then when you learn to ride you can upgrade to something more durable. I’m not gonna lie, the cx is by no means durable, I snapped the axle just learning to hop up stairs, but a 24" wheel seems easier to learn on

I have a toker 24" for sale if you want it, its in great shape.

Hard to fix a Torker ?

Although the ax seatpost is officially listed as 1/2 mm smaller then a KH post, I found my KH posts fit my ax 29 perfectly.

The size 17x40x12 mm bearings on the lx or ax are a standard size found at any bearing house, for 1 $ here.

You can buy a whole new Torker wheelset , new hub, spokes, rim and bearings, all assembled here for 31 $ Or less then half the cost of a pair of Nimbus cranks for ISIS. Here,

http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_info.php?products_id=5498

New Torker cranks are 10 $/pr. , but any kind of cotterless cranks will fit.

I think that post/clamp size on UDC may be a typo. On the 20, 24, 29 the post is 26.8 mm and clamp a diff size on each.

In the past they’ve said the post and seat are the same as the LX, which is 25.4 mm and the clamp 26.8mm.

The reason why I think the LX would be better for light Muni is you can fit a larger tire than you could on the AX.

Maybee you should use your uncle or cousin’s to learn on while you save up for your LX or a better uni. Again, a 20" will probably be easier to learn on for you, even more so if you put on some longer cranks. (My 20 w/ 150 cranks was easier to learn than the stock 127’s for friends and for me to learn backwards)

Instead of doing what I did, getting something like the Nimbus II, I wish I got a LX and saved up for a Kris Holm.