i’d say millions 
I don’t think the resale market for anything other than beginner unicycles is especially good. If you buy a mid-priced model and decide to upgrade later, you either have an extra uni lying around (which ain’t bad I guess) or you take a wash on selling it. Either way you’ve spent more than what you would have spent had you went with the higher-end model to begin with. So it cuts both ways.
$1000 unicycles
I own multiple $1000+ unicycles. If you have the $ to play with, I say get the best you can. If you don’t have the $, get the best you can (it will probably work fine most of the time).
I have found you get what you pay for.
-Bronson
That is correct, and the “standard” hub in a Wilder has a heat treated axle that I have not heard of people breaking (I am sure someone has?).
I wanted the lightest muni that would hold up, and I have not regretted buying my Wilder with the heat treated axle and Kooka cranks. Saving a couple of hundred dollars also helped my decision, and the fact that I could easily change to a Profile if it ever became neccessary. I don’t do any big drops that don’t have a good transition, and I am almost always rolling when I drop off of something. Also, I weigh 175 lb, someone heavier might break my setup.
Less weight, less money, and no squeak. I’m happy so far.
Scott
Re: How many of you own $1000 unicycles?
Your pictures of this one: =
is really fantastic! I have NEVER seen that, nor did I could I have =
imagined that kind of design! It’s awesome looking!
Re: Re: How many of you own $1000 unicycles?
Check out <www.creativegeckos.com> Ed has some very creative unicycle designs.
Re: Re: How many of you own $1000 unicycles?
I just got back from a unicycle tour around Tasmania riding this great cycle (worked out great). I will post some of my experiences soon.
Ed has some cool and functional designs. Please check out his site.
-Bronson
The Wilder 6160C cost me around NZ $1000 for Shipping and GST alone. It was an expensive purchase but the satisfaction I get has justified it so far. I considered buying a new computer with the savings I accumulated, but it would have gone out of date in a year or two. The unicycle should last me for many years to come.
In my estimation I could have almost purchased a fleet of 22 cheap taiwanese 24" unicycles for the amount of money I paid for the Wilder. The disappointment of a cheaper axle snapping was motivation to save for a decent one.
I recently spent about $1500 AUD on a KH24.tw .
This $450usd was veeerrryyy expensive, the most expensive part getting it over here and through customs.
Worth it?
I dont smoke, I dont drink (too much), I dont own a car or a house. My food an accomodation is payed for by one scholarship, and my university fees are payed by me when i start work…all the money I get from my holiday job is mine to spend…I thought about it, and well, its worth it. Itll last me for ages and the amount of enjoyment I get out of it.
A friend of mine estimated he spends over $500aud on cigarettes each year. Thats an expensive way to commit suicide.
I think its justified as long as its something keeping me fit, healthy and strong. Which the kh sure does!
I currently own 3 unicycles worth + $1000 (That’s NZ dollars which means they aren’t worth as much in $US but our pay rates mean I had to work the equivalent number of hours to buy one)
Once a unicycle gets over $1000 I tend to stop keeping track of how much money I spent on it. It’s just too scary realizing how much money I would have in the bank if I hadn’t been buying unicycles and spare parts.
After some serious soul searching (as well as seat-cushion change searching), I joined this club as well. The physical justification was easy…I busted my converted POS Savage in Moab, so needed a new ride. The mental justification was more challenging, but boiled down to the following:
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I had done a lot of flat trail riding, but the terrain in Moab showed me my Muni skills pretty much sucked. I walked as much as I rode.
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I found the above unacceptable, so my commitment to myself is that by next year I’ll be able to ride 90% of the trail. For that to happen, I need a vehicle that’s up to the level of training I’ll be putting in on it.
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I remembered a lesson from college days when I was learning to play the guitar. I had this cheap POS epiphone, and was working forever trying to get my “barre” chords down without any note buzzes. No progress, no progress, argh! Frustration. Then one day I met this cute girl who let my try her Guild. Turns out I had my barre chords down and just didn’t know it because the neck and frets on my guitar prohibited playing without the buzz. Lesson: If you want to improve, you need an instrument that is better than you are.
I reckon I can ride my Hunter 'till I’m too old to ride, and not get better than it is. Something to shoot for…
Wilder 6160A Lightrider currently shows as available at Unicycle.com. On the one hand, you can say you want to keep it light and avoid the Profile crankset. Is the crankset itself so heavy? I don’t think so. What makes my Wilder heavy are the Sun Doublewide rim and the 24x3 Gazz tire. Most of the weight of the cycle is in there, almost cancelling out the weight savings of the frame.
But it’s not all about lightness either, is it? My choice of the Wilder is based on its good looks (especially in red), and the fact that it’s one of the most rigid and technically advanced MUni frames out there. It’s not particularly good for one-footing and it’s not designed for brakes. I do my one-footing on different unicycles, and find it acceptable to live without the weight of the brake 99% of the time for the 1% when it would be really cool to have.
tomblackwood said…
Thats the motto i’ve lived by for quite some time now. I don’t enjoy playing a cheap guitar, don’t like taking trips on obsolete motorcycles, and don’t really care for taiwan unicycle frames!
BTW, current guitars are Seagulls, current motorcycle is a Triumph TT600, and current uni’s are…
Sem deluxe 26"
Hunter 24" muni
Sem deluxe 29er
Coker (oops, the only frame i’m not really happy with)
Quality is worth paying for!
Chuck
6160A’s only take 35mm bearings?
How does your Wilder compare to your Mk5 Carbon frame?
Leo
The problem with this is that you’re not always paying more for quality and also that writing off all taiwanese unicycles as being useless is missing the point a bit. Personally I reckon the higher end taiwanese frames are at least as good quality if not better than the American or UK made frames.
For example, I’ve got a coker, a pashley, a DM, and a nimbus II (Yuni) .The coker frame is the old fashioned cheapo taiwanese frame, ie. pretty terrible but does the job, the Pashley frame is British made, alright quality, but dying now due to a design flaw in the bearing holders, the DM is quite good, the welds look a bit shonky, it weighs a lot, but it sure isn’t going to break, but the best frame I’ve got is the Nimbus II, a taiwanese frame, it’s well put together, stiff, doesn’t weigh too much and generally just works well.
The Onza frames and the standard KH frames are both Taiwanese frames too and having ridden the Onza frame, the Nimbus II frame, and a few of these handbuilt frames, I’d say that as far as the ride quality goes, there’s nothing to choose between them all. You’re basically paying for something that looks nice and has a big sticker on the front.
If the cheaper splined cranksets that are coming out live up to their promise (and get a larger range of crank lengths), then I reckon that soon there’ll be no point at all in buying any of the really expensive unicycle parts other than looks (and for the few people who are actually breaking profile cranks who want the lifetime guarantee).
Joe
Re: Re: How many of you own $1000 unicycles?
If you are seriously interested, contact Scott Bridgeman at Muniac.com. He makes the Wilder cycle.
Joe
Sweet. The extra weight is worth it for me in knowing that the rim is not going to buckle and the tire will cushion my landings. At least you are not adding the weight of a heavy frame on top of those components. I agree its not the best for one footing, but it is still fun. The first few times I tried to one foot the Wilder it immediately threw me off. After getting used to the long 170mm cranks I can one foot on it ok. I havent practised doing (one foot) tight circles and figure eights on it because it seems to only want to do wide circles.
I know you were probably talking about different frames, but I think the Wilder is more than just a nice look with a big sticker. It looks nice, doesn’t weigh much and it has several small stickers. There are plenty of other things you could spend the same money on and have nothing to show for it, for example alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and gambling. These things might temporarily give you a good time, but they can make you unhealthy and do not have any long term benefits. If you buy an expensive unicycle it is like an investment for good times to come. Hopefully some of the money that Unicycle.com makes from us will be spent on continuing to produce the best and widest range of Unicycling products available.
A late answer for Leo:
I don’t have a weight comparison, though if I had to guess I’d say the Wilder frame is about twice the weight of the carbon frame. This means it’s still way light! But that’s only a guess.
The Wilder frame is ultra rigid, which the carbon is not. The carbon will flex side-to-side, but not much. In general, both frames ride nice and rigid. The big difference is in the tire size. Fat tires don’t fit in my carbon frame.
Hopefully, I won’t own a $1000 unicycle after I get a uni.5!