can u guys help me? i’m looking for a decent muni/trials uni that i can take anywhere. if u know of 1 please tell me. i’m buying another uni this summer. i have a semi-good quality taiwanese uni at the moment. (PIX ON MY SITE 
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i have a budget of $300 CDN. i weigh 100lbs.
thanx 'preciate it 
P.S.>> if ur bored, go to my site www.unisteve.unicyclist.com
For C$300 your not going to get what your looking for. Can I suggest that instead of getting a second uni for trials and Muni, that you spend the money on upgrading the one you have. If you buy good quality kit and choose carefully you can gather enough stuff together to eventually build something even better.
It doesn’t say on you site which uni you currently use but it looks like a 20" or 24" United with main cap bearings. If so then you have a great starting block to build on.
Break down your future uni into parts.
1) Axle
2) Tyre and Rim
2) Frame
3) Seat
Looking at the photo’s you’ve got a few years yet before you need to start worry about having a really strong axle. Best idea is to start with the seat. If it were me I’d blow the majority of the money on a Miyata converted to an air saddle with a Gemcrest leather cover. That will set you back US$120 plus carriage. It’s high quality, the leather will last a good while if cared for and gives you the extra room for more air padding.
Then spend the rest plus anything else I could scrimp together to spend on a Nimbus II frame. It’s cheap but strong and very wide, frankly I consider it an absolute steal. Plus it should be a good upgrade for the united wheel set you already have. It costs £29 in the UK so between currency conversion and postage costs you might manage to sneak in under the C$300 mark, if not then it will not be too much higher.
Do both of these and later when you have the cash you can think about upgrading the tyre and rim but with a cheap axle. Then eventually swap out the cheap axle for the one you want.
All very solid advice, Noel.
I had to aproach this (finacialy) from a simmilar angle. In my case, I was loosing money on cranks and hubs. While a plush sadle would have been nice, I couldn’t aford to keep replacing those parts. Keep in mind I weigh almost twice what you do, Steve.
If you can get the frame Noel recommended, this will definately be the way to go. However, the first item I would get is the wheel set. For price-versus-deribility, the Suzue hub with BFR is great. The BFR isn’t as wide as some of the monsters, but will accomodate both smaller (<2.1) and mid range (2.7) tyres- and is STRONG. This would allow you to use the frame you have, if you must, and upgrade the frame for a fater tyre later. This rim may not be the best choice for a 20"- a Montey style cycle owner may better contrast and compare your rim options in that regard. If your goal is to go to an ultra fat tyre directly, your money constraints may be insurmountable. If the import duety is an issue, you may be able to save some cash by ordering the Suzue Hub and some Bicycle Euro Cranks from the Source, then getting the rest built up localy. I mistakenly attempted to use some cheep cranks as a stop-gap. Never again. I would avoid the United/Coker/Torker family of products.
At the time, I couldn’t aford to keep riding any other way- so the seat got tabled. I’v developed a stong link to the Viscount seat- but only after some time and some minor reshaping of my right hand. The handle on the Miyata is a bit more flexable than what I’m used to. For me, as long as the seat wasn’t an active impediment, it would have to ($$$) take…uh… back seat to the wheel set. This is far from typical though- most sware by the Miyata and may put more value there.
Have you looked into the Bedford line? I’v only hear say on what he offers; it would allow you to save on import duties and shipping, though, and might warant a look. Let us know what you find, if you persue this avenue.
Christopher
BTW
The Bedored site, despite indications that it was within a few weeks of being up and running, is still not active after well over a month.
-C
thanx
thanx guys. Building it in sections sounds like a good idea, but I’ll have to think about it. Thanx again 4 ur help!
Phone Darren Bedford about what he has in stock. I’m pretty sure he’s got tons of stuff in stock. i just got an Alex DX 32 rim built up with a Suzue hub. Great wheelset by the way!
The Norco 20" is only about $200. The other Canadian option that I know of is from Brauns in Kitchener. They just got a Miyata shipment (seats etc.) maybe check thenm out.
I agree with those that suggest getting a good wheelset and hub.
www.brauns.com
www.bedfordunicycles.ca
Good luck