This may be a stupid question but, does it matter if you get your unicycle wet? Im wondering if it will damage the bearings when i ride in the rain or wash my uni.
thanks
if you submerge the bearings a lot, or in dirty water, etc… they will seize up. When the grease gets washed out by water, etc…that’s not a good thing.
Rinsing your uni off will do no damage, and is helpful for preventing rust…if you have your uni out in salty roads in the winter, etc…
I never dry my uni’s off after I wash them off…it’s all good.
You can take them apart and regrease them , or you can buy new ones.
Look at the picture of all the dirt and crud that comes out of the bearings…that’s bad.
Both my muni’s bearings failed after riding thru only about 3 short (10’-15’) and 1 long (50’) creak crossings. The muni has a KH wheelset, the bearing had metal seals (I’ve replaced them with rubber sealed bearings). The last muni ride included riding about 50’ with the hub submerged; the creaking was quite obnoxious by the end of the ride. I suspect that just splashing or spraying the bearings is much less hard on them than is submerging them (particularly, submerging them while rotating).
After removing the bearings, one was so stiff I could not turn it by hand at all; the other can still be turned by hand, but does not rotate smoothly. I have not tried rebuilding them (yet) - I figure it’s worth giving that a try so I might get a “free” spare set of useable bearings. – Thanks for that link, Sofa.