One tip to resolve a loose cotterless crank that cannot be tightened. Get an aluminium drink can, empty the contents, cut out a rectangle of metal. Wrap the metal around the hub connector. Put the crank on. Hopefully crank is no longer loose.
Don’t get me wrong, I completely agree, and if I knew it would last such a short time I wouldn’t have bought it. On the flip side, it was the right time, place and price and so I bought it on impulse. If I hadn’t then I probably wouldn’t be riding today.
First ride
Am I wrong in thinking unicycle brands found at bike shops or unicycle.com are of a higher quality?
I think a beginner should buy a used Club, Solo, Torker or other basic unicycle and not an Aldi Crane. My $50 uni can easily be sold for the price paid. While learning my uni has bounced off many surfaces and it still works like new. I use very fine steel wool to clean the rust and I have basic maintenance skills. The Cranes I have seen seem to have poor welds and I believe made from poor materials. Why thrash a cheap uni and throw it away when you can have fun and keep the unicycle or share the love of unicycling with a stranger.
I originally thought, if it is a second hand uni and you don’t pay much it doesn’t really matter. I paid ten dollars for my first uni at a garage sale. It did the job of getting me started and the cost was negligible compared to the thousands of dollars my collection is now worth.
I was quite surprised one day when a young guy I met on the street rode it and said it was a really good uni. Then a girl who lived up the street gave me her’s “for parts” after having given up, and I understood. I only kept the saddle, post and tyre to upgrade my original uni which had a terrible saddle. The rim and frame were rally rusty, the cranks were bent and it had broken spokes.
Rule of the thumb for me would be, if it has a steel rim then forget it. The manufacturer was totally focused on cost and didn’t care about the product.
I still have my original no brand uni that apparently came from our local bike shop as I have seen the same one there. I think it was like $175. It is good for kids. How I ever learnt on it surprises me now.
How did you go Blaze?
Thank you for asking! Currently I have it on the backburner, as since I got back everything has been crazy, which is both good and bad, as I wish I had more time, but I’m glad things are working out with my entertainment business.
I’m performing at the Gold Coast Show, just got my busking license for Surfers Paradise, and I have an upcoming audition for Penn and Teller’s Fool Us. Right now getting things ready for the audition is my highest priority, but hopefully once that’s done and I get more of a system in place for the rest of my business, I can start to get a little bit of free time again.
Ok cool. Glad to hear you haven’t thrown in the towel!
Regarding time.
After I got my balance, I would ride everyday to go to and from the train station for work.
I also do short rides ride to and from the car to volleyball training and games. Doing little things like that helps. And if you have some space near your kitchen, it’s possible just to try some skills out inside the home (if nobody is too precious about anything in the home).
So, there’s generally a way to get the time in.
Good luck with your audition, and maybe you can be busking with your uni sometime! As a performer… You’d need to learn to idle… and I’d suggest juggle too…
So… unicycling, juggling, magic and comedy. All in one 
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