I started uni-ing only 8 months ago on an old 24” cycle (no idea the brand) that I found for $50.
It’s limping along and could die any day now.
I’m approaching panic at the prospect of not unicycling- cold turkey! Withdrawl scare’s me
It’s got cottered cranks that won’t stay tight. One cotter pin’s already been stripped trying to tighten it.
I talked to unicycle.com and he said if it’s the cranks that are worn, they can be replaced. But if it’s the shaft that’s worn, it’s not worth fixing. I haven’t pulled the cranks yet (won’t be able to till this weekend),
but I’d like to have a Plan B in case the shaft is bad. So, any ideas on how I can save this beast? My wife can’t afford to buy me a new one right now. How about welding the arms on? Mickey Mouse, but I’d have a ride. Or would the arms pull out of alignment from the heat?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
[QUOTE=sailingreg;1420632]
I started uni-ing only 8 months ago on an old 24” cycle (no idea the brand) that I found for $50.
It’s limping along and could die any day now.
I’m approaching panic at the prospect of not unicycling- cold turkey! Withdrawl scare’s me
It’s got cottered cranks that won’t stay tight. One cotter pin’s already been stripped trying to tighten it.
I talked to unicycle.com and he said if it’s the cranks that are worn, they can be replaced. But if it’s the shaft that’s worn, it’s not worth fixing. I haven’t pulled the cranks yet (won’t be able to till this weekend),
but I’d like to have a Plan B in case the shaft is bad. So, any ideas on how I can save this beast? My wife can’t afford to buy me a new one right now. How about welding the arms on? Mickey Mouse, but I’d have a ride. Or would the arms pull out of alignment from the heat?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
If you want to weld the arm back on it won’t hurt anything. Make sure that the arm is on straight & properly lined up with the one on the other side and apply a small bead of weld (tack weld) to the end of the axel & outside of the arm. Just enough to hold it in place. This way if you want to remove it you can take an angle grinder to the weld & pull the arm off.
Yeah, I was going to weld it solid since the pedal hits the concrete pretty hard often and I thought it’d break loose if it wasn"t really strong.
But I could try a couple of tacks and see- can always add more if I have to.
I often overkill things, burning bridges in the process, so I appreciate the measured advice.
I had an old Oxford uni that I bought new in 1964. In 1971, the cottered cranks and axle were so wasted that I welded them together on both sides. I finally got rid of that uni in 1999 so the weld lasted for 18 years. The cranks were not on perfectly straight but it didn’t matter. You will eventually dispose of the piece of trash that you now have (like I did) and get a new uni for probably under $100 that is inherently far superior to the one you have now, so don’t worry about warping anything.
my first unicycle was with cottered cranks. One side stripped out also. I welded it several times, it also came loose again each time after several weeks. Then I bought a torker lx and never had a problem again. If you jump on your unicycle or do drops chances are that welds will not last. I think you will be better off buying a new or used cotterless crank unicycle.
I went ahead and welded up both cranks this afternoon.
No patience to pull the cranks- this fixed whatever was ailin’ ‘er.
Had a chance to try it out and may be my imagination, but it felt more solid than ever- even when the pins were tight.
Rock solid. Great!
Can’t see myself ever doing any jumps, so hopefully it’ll last.
Buys me some time to determine what to upgrade to.
Really appreciate the experienced input- it was all helpful.
Thank you guys.
I tried a new pin and the crank wouldn’t stay tight-over a period of a couple weeks, the pin kept pulling through until it bottomed out and the crank still loosened up.
Problem solved permanently, I hope.
Butchered- but cheap, fast and effective.
