Help me build a tough street unicycle

Unicycles and Equipment
1

All,

OK, I just got my Hunter in, and its great for off-road, though I need for my seat to come in, and I need more experience. Its a blast, though.

However, since 95% of my riding is going to be street, it is time to at least start looking at building a street unicycle.

Here are my issues:

I weight 240 lbs.

I want to just be able to ride around my neighborhood, and possibly other neighborhoods as well. I live in Mississippi, but I still have some pretty decent hills where I am at.

I want to be able to do drops up to a foot, maybe. But curbs (<8 inches) are fine for a while. I want to have the unicycle be strong enough to handle idling, hopping up curbs, still stands, hopping in place, and other things relating to basic “getting around”, but I want to be able to be rough on the cycle as I learn more things.

I think I prefer 26" for being able to go just a little faster, but I’m not sure. Maybe I should just get a 28" Pashley later for longer stuff in town, and go for 24" for the strength?

I have ridden Tommy’s SemCycle 26" and its smooth, so I’m looking at the Sem, Sem XL, or Sem XLW maybe. I am open to other options.

What hub / crank combination should I get?

What tire size to I need?

What rim will handle my needs (weight, plus hopping and dropping)?

What good, flat street tires exist for unicycles, and should I go for a wide one? What is the widest?

Which would be better for my needs, 24" or 26"? Which of the above questions will this answer force me into? What are the pros and cons of each?

What kind of seat should I get? Miyata air seat? And can somebody explain the wilder bracket thing, or does that even apply to the sem frame, or other frames?

I want a tough little ride that I can push hard, learn on, and enjoy.

I know some of these may be answered in my off-road post from before, but I wanted to start asking in a fresh thread.

Maybe after I pay out money for my taxes, I will be in a position to buy, depending on where I’m at. So, I’m looking now.

Thanks in advance,

Lewis

2

I still think you could do all of the things you want on your United trainer … even with Sophie on your back.

I have owned a cheap 24" Zephyr for about four years. It was the only one I owned until a few months ago. I weigh in at 180, the same as two 90 pound weaklings. I learned to do all of the things you mentioned and more on that Zephyr. If your United breaks, you’ll know what needs attention. The guys that are busting wheels and cranks and axles are jumping off of more than just curbs. I have the same potential energy at 12" that you have at 9"…they’re both curb heights. Of course I am agile like a cat and land like a butterfly taking nectar from a lilly.

You’ve come a long way fast, Lewis. Keep up the good work and keep looking to the future.

3

I think you know the drill. Splurge on the wheel. Skimp on the frame if you need to control costs. The problem with street riding is that ledges, big curbs, and stairs are too tempting. You’re gonna want to hop up them or ride down them so beefy cranks are a must for a hardcore street uni and a big guy.

A 26" wheel with a street friendly tire would be great. With 160, 150, or 145 cranks the wheel would pedal nicely for some good street riding. A 26" wheel is fast enough to keep you from feeling like a hamster on an undersized wheel. I used to cruise around on my 26" Pashely with 150 cranks. It worked well. A 26" wheel is the best compromise for hard street riding. A 24" is too small. With a 28" you are limited in tire selection for fattish 2" tires.

I think the DM ATU would be the ultimate urban street uni. If the DM ATU still comes with the flat crown that would be even better. Put a 26" slick on it and it would eat up the sidewalks, curbs, stairs, ledges, potholes, and everything else. The Dyno Fireball 26x2.25 slick tire would be the bomb. The 26" Dyno tire is easier to get ahold of than the fat 24" version, I still see the 26" Dyno in local shops. The Ritchey Mobey Bite 26x2.1 also would be a good tire.

Profile has the most choices for crank size. The DM only comes in 150, 170 or 175. With Profile you can get 145, 150, 160, 170, and 175. The DM ATU with the Profile hub and 145 cranks would be awesome. I think unicycle.com would be willing to swap hubs on the DM.

I hope you don’t start holding up convenience stores to support you unicycle habit.

john_childs

4

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

Lewis,

I’m going to build another 24" uni, for the street. If you can afford
it, get the Profile hub. I’m building mine with a 36-hole Suzue hub and a
Sun Doublewide rim, and some steel 150mm cranks. The weak link seems to be
the rim. The single-walled rim on my 26" Sem XL bent quickly with minimal
drops and hops, so I’m getting the widest (and one of the toughest as an
added coincidental bonus) rim I can to fit a 24x3" tire. The only reason
I’m not doing the Profile hub on that one is because I just don’t have the
money.

My suggestion to you would be to get a Sem XLW with a Sun Mammoth rim and
Suzue hub. I hear the hubs are strong, and if it breaks you know that the
type of riding you do requires a Profile hub. If the cranks bend, you can
always drop the cash on some good cranks to bolt to the Suzue hub. Just
make sure to press them on well.

Harper’s advice to run your United until it breaks is good, as well. You
can always lace up a tougher rim when you bend the flimsy stock rim. If
you want a 26" though, it may not fit the frame.

If you’re looking to ride some distance stuff, you may want to look at a
28". I’m thinking about putting one together. I hear they’re great for
relatively long rides because of the large wheel, but they’re not as
cumbersome as a Coker. I don’t have any saddle time in a 28", and very
little on a Coker, so others with more experience will be able to elaborate
on that better.

John

Animation <Animation.1631z@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in
news:Animation.1631z@timelimit.unicyclist.com:

>
> All,
>
> OK, I just got my Hunter in, and its great for off-road, though I need
> for my seat to come in, and I need more experience. Its a blast,
> though.
>
> However, since 95% of my riding is going to be street, it is time to at
> least start looking at building a street unicycle.

5

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

Hi there,

I’ve just built myself up a speedy little street / muni racing unicycle,
which could possibly fit most of your needs, although I’m probably going to
disagree with every else who said 26" wheel, long 150 cranks or whatever.

What I’ve got:-

700c wheel (which is sometimes incorrectly I think called 28" - 28" is a
different size you can’t get any more)
made from:-
Mavic T261 tandem/touring rim (48 hole, pretty wide)
Suzue Hub(48 hole)
lots of spokes (bog standard stainless ones) built 4 cross

Nimbus II 28" frame - this is fat enough for a really really monster tyre on
your 700c wheel, which the original Nimbus 28" wasn’t. It seems pretty solid
and has nice friendly bearing holders.

110 Bicycle euro cranks, imitation wellgo pedals, possibly soon to have
zefal half toeclips

Now as for tyre selection for this, there’s a great selection of skinny
tyres and hybrid tyres up to about 40mm wide (1.6 inches), but also there
are now 29" mountain bike tyres, which are based on the same rim size and
superfat cross tyres, eg the bottom one on this page and the IRC 29er tyres
(not up on their website yet, contact your nearest gary fisher dealer for
them)http://www.cambriabike.com/tires/cyclocross.htm

I’ve got a plain miyata seat, consensus seems to be get an airseat if you
can be bothered.

The whole setup (with a 38mm hybrid tyre) weighs a less than my Pashley 26"
(with Nokian tyre) partly because of the big difference in tyre weight and
is almost as fast as my Coker.

If you wanted to make this stronger, you could:-

a) use a heavier stronger rim, eg. Sun Rhyno 700c, other fat tandem rims
b) use fat spokes
c) get the super duper profile hub,
I wouldn’t do this personally as it limits the spoke count and crank length
and and a 145 / 150 cranked 700c wheel is well slow. But then I’m spoilt by
the coker as far as speed goes, so maybe you might not find it so slow. I
also wanted the same hub as my 26" wheel so that I can switch them in the
frame.

d) get someone to make you a frame

If you really want the ultimate super duper unicycle, I hear Dave Mariner
(www.unicycle.co.uk) made some bigger wheeled unicycles for people, if one
was to persuade him to make a 700c wheel with big clearance and the same
crankset as the dm atu that’d be pretty solid. I’d guess DM can do custom
models internationally although that might push the cost up. Again I’m not
sure if his splined cranks come in short sizes or not.

Given that lots of my riding is getting to places, I’m probably a bit more
fussy about speed than most, if you’re not fussy about speed, or you want to
do some urban stuff, stairs etc. you might be better with the 26" wheel
profile hub things people are talking about.

Joe

6

Re: Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

Joe,

I’d love to here reviews on how this performs; as fun as off road Cokering is, this set up must be more manageable. Besides off road handling, I’d like to know how it impacts your distance rides- more or less energy expended pushing this smaller, lighter wheel? How much slower would you say your cruzing and top speeds are? Are those 110 Bicycle Euro cranks a bit short for off-road?

Check out this link on the hole 700c thang:

700c just as bogus!

and

More of the Same

Looks like we ‘should’ refer to the actual rim at beed, not a volume convention that once applied racing tires.

:wink:

Christopher

7

Harper,

Actually, I am already getting there. After taking my United off-road once or twice, it now creaks / squeaks when I ride. Also, somehow I have managed to strip out the Miyata seat post, so that I can’t clamp down on it anymore. So, effectively, as of this moment, I don’t have a street unicycle, because the post is so loose that just the act of mounting it twists the seat, mush less pedaling it. The Hunter I dont like for street, so I have my old Schwinn but I can tell it can’t really handle my weight, in part because of the tire (I may invest in the wheelset replacement). Also, the Schwinn seat doesn’t seem tall enough.

So, at least for now, I can’t ride. sniff I discovered it just last night, after making this post initially. I am hoping that maybe Chris will be able to look closer and tell me solutions, but who knows?

Thanks for the visual. I didn’t know butterflies fell off of unicycles.

:slight_smile:

As for coming a long way … you should see Tommy. Then again, he has a daughter to compete with. He is already hopping, spinning, and other cool stuff, and he started when I did. :slight_smile: Then again, he has been cycling bikes all his life, so he takes to the whole thing pretty naturally.

Still, I’m happy with my progress … I’m just sad I can’t really ride right now. I was pissed last night … I was all set to ride for at least an hour … after 10 minutes of the seat twisting constantly, I quit.

Maybe I could use my uni as an ultimate wheel. For about 20 feet, i was balancing only using my feet on the pedals … the seat was somewhere, but it wasn’t offering any support, because it had slipped (the post) and fallen way down below where my crotch could actually sit on it. :slight_smile: haha!

Oh, and to everybody else, yes I read your comments and I will think about my options. Thanks! I kinda want a 26", so I think I will do that. Later down the line, I’ll get a 28", maybe in the fall.

Lewis

8

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

“rhysling” <rhysling.179vn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:rhysling.179vn@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
> > The whole setup (with a 38mm hybrid tyre) weighs a less than my
> > Pashley 26"
> > (with Nokian tyre) partly because of the big difference in tyre weight
> > and
> > is almost as fast as my Coker.
> > *
>
> Joe,
>
> I’d love to here reviews on how this performs; as fun as off road
> Cokering is, this set up must be more manageable. Besides off road
> handling, I’d like to know how it impacts your distance rides- more or
> less energy expended pushing this smaller, lighter wheel? How much
> slower would you say your cruzing and top speeds are? Are those 110
> Bicycle Euro cranks a bit short for off-road?

At the moment it’s slower than the coker still, although this might be me
not being used to high cadences, because if I could move my legs at the same
speed as I am on the coker (150mm cranks) I’d be going at about the same
speed. I’m going to commute on it for a bit to get used to the cranks.

It’s great fun on road, I haven’t had a chance to ride off road yet, indeed
I don’t have an offroad tyre for it yet, so any tests are going to be
somewhat biased by the hybrid tyre. I think more energy than the coker
because it doesn’t roll over everything, but idling is easy and you can do
twist turns on the spot with relatively no effort compared with the coker,
still standing seems a bit easier on the short cranks too.

Joe

9

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

“rhysling” <rhysling.179vn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:rhysling.179vn@timelimit.unicyclist.com…

> Check out this link on the hole 700c thang:
>
> ‘700c just as bogus!’ (http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire_sizing.html)
>
> and
>
> ‘More of the Same’ (http://tinyurl.com/1dh)
>
> Looks like we ‘should’ refer to the actual rim at beed, not a volume
> convention that once applied racing tires.
>
I know they’re all don’t have much to do with the size of the rim / rim tyre
combination, but 700C is better than 28"/29"/27" because they can all mean
different things to different people, whereas 700C is a standard size which
means the same to everyone.

Joe

10

All,

OK, I’m deciding on some things now, and I have a couple of specific questions to add to this, to guide me along my way.

I am going to go with a 26" rim, tire, and frame. I am considering the SemCycle XLW, mainly because I have ridden on that frame before and I liked it. Also, it is “wide” supposedly.

  1. What is the widest tire the Sem XLW can accommodate?

  2. Are there any other good wide street unicycle frames I should consider instead of the Sem XLW?

[ I don’t want to spend huge cash on the KH, Hunter, or DM frames in the off-road section (the Pashley is reasonable but I don’t know how wide it is). ]

  1. What are some good, wide (2.1+) street tires to be considering? Obviously, this is impacted by question #1 (and maybe #2).

  2. Which makes more sense for my weight (240) and the purpose of the cycle (street riding, maybe rough at times): the Sun Doublewide or the Sun Mammoth?

[ I notice both come in 26" whereas the Sun BFR didn’t seem to, at least on unicycle.com in the parts section of the catalog. ]

Thanks for helping with these (and maybe more later) 4 questions.

Lewis

11

Re: Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

The 700c is a standard LABEL, -it is no longer a standard size, being applied to a wide range of closely related sizes… and is thus no better than the 28"/29"/27" label. Why no use ACTUAL sizes?

Christopher

12

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

How easy is it to swap wheels in and out of your Hunter frame? That’s my
solution with my Telford. I swap between

  1. a Monty wheel with 150 cranks,
  2. a 26 inch Sun Mammoth with a Gazz Jr, and175 cranks,
  3. a 700c with Continental Top Touring 48 tire and 150 cranks.

My 700c is strong but light weight, and the top touring tire gives a lot of
cushion.

David Maxfield
Bainbridge Island, WA

13

Re: Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

David,

I don’t really see that as a solution for me. For one thing, I want to be able to just “pick up and go”. Also, I like having a different unicycle for each occasion. In addition to this, I am lazy when it comes to things that use tools (I view having to unscrew the nut on the brackets as tool use, thats how much I hate using tools).

Anyway, I want to build the very best wheel for me for each situation. The frame I am likely to get it only $55 (Sem XLW) and the seat done as an air conversion is $99, but the wheel and parts will be $500 or so. So, I say, why not just spend $150 more and have 2 unicycles?

I guess I have got the unicycling bug bad. I’m irked I can’t ride right now … well, at least not in comfort. I could ride the hunter on-road with that horrible United seat. :slight_smile:

Lewis

14

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

“rhysling” <rhysling.17dcn@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:rhysling.17dcn@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> The 700c is a standard LABEL, -it is no longer a standard size, being
> applied to a wide range of closely related sizes… and is thus no
> better than the 28"/29"/27" label. Why no use ACTUAL sizes?

no 700c is always 632mm bead diameter. 700c tyres will always fit on 700c
rims which is the important thing. The rim itself may be a bit wider or
narrower, but the bead seat is in the same place.

Joe

15

Lewis, the Sem XLW will fit a 26x2.6 tire. You probably won’t find road tires bigger than that, so you should be OK with the Sem. I have a Sem XLW 24x2.6 Gazz and love it. It’s my only uni and I just started in November. I rode it 18 miles on the road once and it and the 24 inch Gazz was not ideal.

The BFR is not vailable in 26 inch because it is basically the same rim as the Mammoth. The BFR or Mammoth is very strong and would be plenty wide enough for a road tire.

The Sem XLW is a great frame for the price. When I buy a Hunter, I will make my Sem into a street machine.
Joe in Iowa

16

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

“Joe Marshall” <news@joemarshall.org.uk> wrote in message
news:1015590144.765029@ananke.eclipse.net.uk…
> If you really want the ultimate super duper unicycle, I hear Dave Mariner
> (www.unicycle.co.uk) made some bigger wheeled unicycles for people, if one
> was to persuade him to make a 700c wheel with big clearance and the same
> crankset as the dm atu that’d be pretty solid. I’d guess DM can do custom
> models internationally although that might push the cost up. Again I’m not
> sure if his splined cranks come in short sizes or not.

Dave shortens regular 175mm cranks to get 150mm and makes his own splined
hubs so
32//36/40 or 48 holes would be theoretically possible.

Bear in mind though, that doing one-offs is a lot less efficient than even
small batch runs.

Leo White

P.S. Joe, you forgot to borrow my spare 29" tyre !

P.P.S. When you’ve got used to 110 cranks are you going to put some on your
coker?

17

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

>
> 700c is always 632mm bead diameter. 700c tyres will always fit on 700c
> rims which is the important thing. The rim itself may be a bit wider or
> narrower, but the bead seat is in the same place.
>
622mm !

18

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

> 4) Which makes more sense for my weight (240) and the purpose of the
> cycle (street riding, maybe rough at times): the Sun Doublewide or the
> Sun Mammoth?
>

Mavic 321 - 36mm wide, no braking surface and made from a VERY strong alloy

Leo White

19

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

I like your DM ATU specs. I have a DM ATU that is “modified” to accept a
24x3 Dyno Fireball tire (http://community.webshots.com/user/curriedgoat). I
have 150 cranks on it and it commutes nicely (although the primary use is
for trials). I find the creak of the Profile cranks annoying enough that I
would prefer to stick with the DM ATU hub to have a nice quiet ride. That
said, I am experimenting with different types of grease to hopefully prolong
the creaking on my Profile setup. I am not sure the exact cause of the
creaking, but it seems that if you ride in water (like through streams and
in the rain) the grease gets washed out a bit or contaminated. I have
recently put some grease that is named something like shnot and it is really
thick.

Anyone out there been trying to eliminate the creaking on their Profile
cranks.

-Bronson

“john_childs” <john_childs.16tfy@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:john_childs.16tfy@timelimit.unicyclist.com…
>
> I think you know the drill. Splurge on the wheel. Skimp on the frame
> if you need to control costs. The problem with street riding is that
> ledges, big curbs, and stairs are too tempting. You’re gonna want to
> hop up them or ride down them so beefy cranks are a must for a hardcore
> street uni and a big guy.
>
> A 26" wheel with a street friendly tire would be great. With 160, 150,
> or 145 cranks the wheel would pedal nicely for some good street riding.
> A 26" wheel is fast enough to keep you from feeling like a hamster on an
> undersized wheel. I used to cruise around on my 26" Pashely with 150
> cranks. It worked well. A 26" wheel is the best compromise for hard
> street riding. A 24" is too small. With a 28" you are limited in tire
> selection for fattish 2" tires.
>
> I think the DM ATU would be the ultimate urban street uni. If the DM
> ATU still comes with the flat crown that would be even better. Put a
> 26" slick on it and it would eat up the sidewalks, curbs, stairs,
> ledges, potholes, and everything else. The Dyno Fireball 26x2.25 slick
> tire would be the bomb. The 26" Dyno tire is easier to get ahold of
> than the fat 24" version, I still see the 26" Dyno in local shops. The
> Ritchey Mobey Bite 26x2.1 also would be a good tire.
>
> Profile has the most choices for crank size. The DM only comes in 150,
> 170 or 175. With Profile you can get 145, 150, 160, 170, and 175. The
> DM ATU with the Profile hub and 145 cranks would be awesome. I think
> unicycle.com would be willing to swap hubs on the DM.
>
> I hope you don’t start holding up convenience stores to support you
> unicycle habit.
>
> john_childs
>
>
> –
> john_childs
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> john_childs’s Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
> View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/16788
>

20

Re: Help me build a tough street unicycle

“Bronson Silva” <bsilva1234@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:a6arg4$o03@dispatch.concentric.net…
> I like your DM ATU specs. I have a DM ATU that is “modified” to accept a
> 24x3 Dyno Fireball tire (http://community.webshots.com/user/curriedgoat).

Sacrilege ! What have you done to your poor frame!!!

Surely that might invalidate any warrenty :wink:

Leo White