If anyone is interested I’m going to have a go at making some hubs around
easter - these will be much bigger than anything around at the moment and
will require me to make new cranks too - I’m boosting the axle diameter by
using needle bearings instead of the usual - these are thinner- hence
thicker axle. if they work I’ll knock-out some for others too.
Joe
I’m not optimistic that needle bearings will work well on a uni. When you pedal real hard on a uni the frame puts a lot of twisting force and lateral force on the bearings. Needle bearings generally are not good at handling those kinds of forces.
One of my big challenges with my unicycles is keeping the bearings from slipping on the axle. I have been using Loctite sleeve retainer to keep the bearings in place. How would needle bearings handle the forces that can cause a bearing to slip or rock on the axle?
john_childs