help idenify this 24" unicycle

Unicycles and Equipment
1

i found this at a garage sale for 10 bucks,its got open bearing caps and lolly pops at the same time :roll_eyes:

the hub says "made in Japan"and its laced on a steel Araya rim.

the seat collar says WCN on the side and of course it came with no seat.

lolly pop1.jpg
lolly pop1.jpg400Ă—300 33.1 KB

2

here’s the crown picture.

crown1.jpg

3

RE: help idenify this 24" unicycle

> i found this at a garage sale for 10 bucks,its got open
> bearing caps and
> lolly pops at the same time :roll_eyes:

It looks like my old Concord:
http://www.unicycling.org/unicycling/Unidb/qdesc/concord.html

This was probably a generic Japanese unicycle of the time, and sold in
various countries (and various parts of this country) under different names.
For $10 it looks like you got a good deal!

I wouldn’t call it a lollipop bearing system. This is what Unicycle.com
calls main cap, and is similar to the designs on most high-end MUnis.

I hope yours came with a better seat than mine…

Stay on top,
John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com <http://www.unicycling.com>

“This unicycle is made all from lightweight materials. But it uses a lot of
them.” – Cliff Cordy, describing the very heavy new prototype unicycle he
brought on the Downieville Downhill

4

Re: RE: help idenify this 24" unicycle

by the look of it, jagur still got a better deal than you did john :wink:

5

I’ve never seen that bolt sticking out of the crank before. Is that what is known as cottered cranks?

6

That’s not a bolt, it’s a cotter pin. Yes, those are cottered cranks.

Here is a link with more info than you ever wanted to know about cottered cranks. <http://www.sheldonbrown.com/cotters.html&gt;

john_childs

7

Excuse me for a moment, while I display how naive I am…

What’s the disadvantage to cottered cranks? The site John_childs links to says they can be very difficult to remove. Is this why they are not favored? It seems like the cottered design would eliminate the problem of the cranks working themselves loose, right?

I won’t be at all surprised to hear that there are significant disadvantages…I’m just wondering what those disadvantages are.

8

Re: help idenify this 24" unicycle

The interesting thing about the bearing holders on this are that they
combine elements of both “main cap” and “lollipop”. If you look closely at
the picture Jagur posted you can see that the top half of the split “main
cap” holders inserts into the fork like a lollipop style. I had one of
these many years ago. I don’t think you can (easily) remove the lollipop
(or top portion of the main cap) from the frame.

-mg

“John Foss” <john_foss@asinet.com> wrote in message
news:mailman.1026154937.29979.rsu@unicycling.org…
> > i found this at a garage sale for 10 bucks,its got open
> > bearing caps and
> > lolly pops at the same time :roll_eyes:
>
> It looks like my old Concord:
> http://www.unicycling.org/unicycling/Unidb/qdesc/concord.html
>
> This was probably a generic Japanese unicycle of the time, and sold in
> various countries (and various parts of this country) under different
names.
> For $10 it looks like you got a good deal!
>
> I wouldn’t call it a lollipop bearing system. This is what Unicycle.com
> calls main cap, and is similar to the designs on most high-end MUnis.
>
> I hope yours came with a better seat than mine…
>
> Stay on top,
> John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
> jfoss@unicycling.com
> www.unicycling.com <http://www.unicycling.com>
>
>
>
> “This unicycle is made all from lightweight materials. But it uses a lot
of
> them.” – Cliff Cordy, describing the very heavy new prototype unicycle he
> brought on the Downieville Downhill
>
>

9

Re: help idenify this 24" unicycle

With cottered crank arms the force is narrowly distributed across a
relatively small area (the pin). This can cause the pin to deform and the
crank to come loose. With square tapered cranks the force is more widely
distributed. And with splined cranks there is even more distribution of
force.

I am not an aggressive rider but I remember that I was constantly replacing
cotter pins on my older unicycles. Even the smallest drops (less than 1
foot) would cause the pins to come loose. Also, sometimes the axles would
become rounded and the pins would be ineffective. At this point it was time
to discard the hub.

-mg
“nbrazzi” <nbrazzi.7htny@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:nbrazzi.7htny@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> Excuse me for a moment, while I display how naive I am…
>
> What’s the disadvantage to cottered cranks? The site John_childs links
> to says they can be very difficult to remove. Is this why they are not
> favored? It seems like the cottered design would eliminate the problem
> of the cranks working themselves loose, right?
>
> I won’t be at all surprised to hear that there are significant
> disadvantages…I’m just wondering what those disadvantages are.
>
>
> –
> nbrazzi
>
> Patriotism swells in the heart of the American Bear.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> nbrazzi’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/917
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/19198
>

10

Re: Re: help idenify this 24" unicycle

thats what i was saying,its kind of like a hybrid moment in design.

thanx John,i’ve got another weird one to guess at.i’ll post it tommorrow,it actually uses ball bearings if you can belive that!

-jagur-

P.S. nbrazzi,start your own cottered thread:D

11

Re: help idenify this 24" unicycle

In Canada, Norco, Husky and others sold that frame style in the 1970’s and
1980’s. They came in chrome, blue or red. There were two styles over the
years.

The first one had a cap that was removable with the top cap welded into the
frame tube. The top cap also had a Allen key set screws in them so you could
adjust the bearing to center the wheel if they were not welded perfectly. I
have about 6 of these unicycles hanging in my shop to show people the
evolution of unicycle designs over the years. They were much better and
stronger than today’s current rounded crown/lollipop frame sold by Norco and
others. They are also heavier.

The second design had a solid steel lollipop like today’s aluminum lollipops
but had an oval top that went into a flattened round tube of the frame.
These were held on by two bolts on the side of the frame like today’s frame.
The bearings were pressed in like the aluminum ones.

Most of them had NK hubs.
In other counties, they had different names depending on who sold them.

Darren

jagur wrote:

> i found this at a garage sale for 10 bucks,its got open bearing caps and
> lolly pops at the same time :roll_eyes:
>
> the hub says "made in Japan"and its laced on a steel Araya rim.
>
> the seat collar says WCN on the side and of course it came with no seat.
>
> ±---------------------------------------------------------------+
> | Attachment filename: lolly pop1.jpg |
> |Download attachment: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/69340 |
> ±---------------------------------------------------------------+
>
> –
> jagur - Random Member
>
> i feel like i’ve been waiting to long for Ups.thank goodness i did’nt
> choose ground.
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> jagur’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/502
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/19198