So over the weekend I was talking to my dad about making one, so we did. The way it’s made is a round piece of plywood (furniture grade), with a notch around it, so the rim (which was taken from a cheapo bike, at least the rim was made in America) which had a pointed middle would pop into place. Then for the pedals we got 1/2x20 nuts (right and left threaded) and used a chisel to make the spots where the nuts went in. And after that we used two 2" diameter washers (with 1/2" middle holes) and 3 drilled holes (well 6 because we messed up the first ones). we used bolts through the holes and tee nuts on the other side to hold it all in place. The last thing was a clear coat of paint and a yellow 700x23 Bontrager race-lite tire. And here’s some pics.
Looks very nice and aerodynamic! How’s the weight? The wood always tends to make those things heavy (my 24" UW uses 3/4" plywood). The downside of heavy is the beating your pedals take when it falls down. The bigger wheel size should make it easier to learn on.
Nice job. That is a very nice looking UW. I saw the vid and it looks like you are picking this up fast. Did you come up with the pedal mounts on your own, or did you see the pix I put up last week?
I guess I missed that. Still yours looks far nicer than mine. Maybe if I made mine look better I would be able to ride it as well as you. Just kidding.
Here are the pix of the mounts that I made for my UW. He used the same basic setup. You have to scroll down a bit to see the photo’s, I hadn’t taken them when I originally made the post.
Thanks I couldnt find your thread but had heard about it. I think Ill do the same but spot weld the washers to the nuts for added strength against them developing play in the wood.
Did you guys find the wood precut in the circle or do you have some nice powertools?
Basically it’s like an extension table made from HDF with a pin at the radius of my circle. You make a hole for the pin in the plywood, and place the hole on the pin. Then you just need to rotate the plywood, and the pin keeps the radius constant. If you don’t want a hole in the middle of the circle you can put a screw into the plywood, and have a matching hole at the radius in the HDF.
I don’t have any good power saws so I’m going to swing by Home Depot and see what they have to offer.
Maybe Ill get lucky and find a prefab tabletop or maybe they can cut it for me, if not Ill see if one of my local contractors around here can hook me up.
Ive already got some old 26" wheels and tires around.
Thanks for the heads-up on pedal thread pitch, Ill be sure to bring the pedals I have in mind with me when buying the nuts.
On another note anyone just try riding a Uni wheel with no frame attached?
Or does the fact that the cranks are on the on the hub make it diff from pedals attached directly to the rim?
Sorry if this is a dumb question, I can see it being different but dont really know why
What if you modified his idea with use of a router? You could put a screw in the middle and tie the router to the screw with a cord/string and then keep it taught to maintain the circumference? If not a router, possibly the same idea with a jig saw (power obviously) or if you have steady hands even a sawzall (REALLY steady hands)?
you could loop the string around a washer that will fit around the screw even, this might give you a smoother cut
you mean like cutting out “spokes”? I imgine the way plywood is made you could cut out quite a bit since the grains are crossed and glued. Whats nice about plywood too is that even the thick stuff has a bit of flexibility to it so if you put a lot of pressure in an area that is cut around the wood might flex before breaking.
