Hey jtrops, thanks for your always helpful posts! The only thread I found where somebody reported success at fixing this problem, though, it sounded like he had a lot of tools. A crank puller is about as sophisticated as I get these days, and anyway, I bought this uni less than a month ago. One guy on the forum said he had fixed it with green Loctite, but that it only held for one ride. For the vast majority of people reporting this problem, UDC just replaced their hub, but apparently that is no longer their policy.
It’s their published policy to replace anything that develops any kind of problem within 30 days. So they must be redefining a squeaky hub as not being a problem.
Yeah, that’s sort of what was implied to me over the phone, I think. The guy was talking pretty fast, and offered to sell me a replacement KH or Nimbus hub at a reduced price, so I guess he was acknowledging that the creaking hub is sort of a problem while at the same time assuring me that the creak wouldn’t lead to mechanical failure. But a number of people on this forum have suggested that creaky hubs do indeed fail. In any case, I’m not enormously heavy (185lbs), and aside from one-foot idling, I still haven’t done anything on that new uni that I didn’t do on my old $30 learner, so you’d think a KH20FL wheelset with a 2.4" tire… Anyway, thanks for posting that image of the quality guarantee.
“Clicky” is actually a better description than “creaky” for the sound coming out of my hub. Bearing pullers seem to come in an almost infinite variety of shapes, sizes and price ranges. Is there one in particular that you recommend?
I have a very simple and strong one, I’ve had experience with a few other ones. Most of the time they just bend or dont fit between the hub flange and the bearing. I bought mine at the local hardware store.
If I recall, the one I borrowed (free) from AutoZone looked like this:
There is clearly a lot of force involved and I was worried the bearing would just break apart. I recall snapping or creaking sounds as it slowly pulled off. I was nervous the whole time. But it worked for me, for two bearings, so I’d probably do it again this way if I ever need to.
The tool screws down and pushes against the end of the axle. I put something on the end of the axle so the tool wouldn’t hurt the axle hole/threads. I think I just used a flat handle of a small crescent wrench set on top. If you do this work, take care to analyze what you’re doing and make conservative judgments like this to avoid causing more problems.
Yeah, I definitely want to do more diagnosis before even attempting surgery! The sound I’m getting at the Moment, which seems to be getting louder, is mostly while idling with both feet. Each time, there’s a fast “TICK-tick-tick,” with the downbeat happening right when my feet switch directions, followed by a brief silence until the other end of my stroke.
The various fixes posted for noisy KH hubs seem different enough that I would guess they probably repaired different defects. There’s your very encouraging story, there’s the green Loctite school of thought, and this thread starts off by mentioning UDC’s unsuccessful attempts 2-3 years ago at an in-house repair of creaking KH hubs by driving some sort of pin through them or something.
Anybody know of a labeled diagram the insides of these hubs so I can visualize what’s going on?
I sent UDC a video (with plenty of sound!) of me idling on my increasingly noisy new unicycle, and they finally agreed to replace my hub.
Anybody know a good wheelbuilding tutorial for a 20-inch? There is a bewildering array of threads on this topic, and apparently a lot of things can go wrong. I have trued lots of bike wheels, but this will be my first time actually building a wheel from components, so any thread or video link that gives a good overview would be much appreciated.
I got this one that had ‘joints’ in its legs enabling me to bring the pulling-claws to a flat position on the bearing surface as shown. I had to grind the end of the claws so they would fit between the bearing and the hub flange. The puller is quite small as can be seen in comparison to the bearing.
No substitute for jumping in and doing it for yourself though. Set aside some time when you can really think about what you’re doing, and keep a completed wheel nearby to look at for reference.
UDC finally gave me a Nimbus (rather than KH) replacement hub, so I finally got around to rebuilding my wheel last weekend, and now I finally have the unicycle I’ve wanted for the last 10 months: a silent one!
Having another wheel on hand was only helpful for placing the logo on the axle in just the right place, though. Other than that, my attempts to imitate an already-laced wheel led me to put the spokes on in the wrong order. The best thing is just to closely follow the late Sheldon Brown’s instructions.
Building your own wheel is fun and educational, though it takes a few hours the first time through. If I ever have to do it again, it should go a lot faster. Are there any specific problems in truing a wide rim? Sometimes I got the feeling that the two sides of it were separate entities as far as roundness, though in the end, it seems to have come out pretty straight…
On a wide rim if you have a wobble to the left; the left sidewall will tend to be a bit lower than the right side. Once the wheel is trued the sides should equalize. It is important to start with the same number of turns on each nipple on the initial build with a wide rim as it is harder to get a wide wheel “round” before it is true.
On a wide rim if you have a wobble to the left; the left sidewall will tend to be a bit lower than the right side. Once the wheel is trued the sides should equalize. It is important to start with the same number of turns on each nipple for the initial build with a wide rim as it is harder to get a wide wheel “round” before it is true.
Yeah, that is a good tutorial video. Better than the one I looked at. It showed me that my valve stem is not in the right place, but that’s not a huge problem AFAIK, and otherwise my wheelbuild seems OK. Brown’s instructions are meant for a (possibly) rear wheel on a bike, so the right-handed/left-handed rim issue that it mentions is not applicable. The above linked video is better for a unicycle wheel.
Oh well, I’ll keep that video and Saskatchewanian’s truing advice in mind if I find time to rebuild my wheel. It was actually sort of fun the first time…
The label on the hub is an aesthetic consideration, and has nothing to do with wheel quality outside of being an indicator of care and planning.
Lh/rh rim has nothing to do with it being for a bicycle, front or rear. You need to pay attention to it in order to get the lacing pattern to work out with the valve hole in between groups. Also, for lining up the hub label, but like I said that’s not essential.
Oops! The problem was just that I had put the rim tape on with its hole over one of the rim drill-outs instead of over the valve hole. There was actually nothing wrong with my lacing or Brown’s instructions, although later it became clear that having a trued wheel doesn’t necessarily mean that your spokes are tight enough!
There’s a huge amount of online debate about what sort of thread locker to use on spokes. Linseed oil seems to be the winner, but a few people say that if your spokes are tensioned sufficiently then you can get away with just a drop of chain oil instead. I’m gonna side with those people for now because I don’t have any linseed oil around and because my spokes were OK before without it.
Anyway, thanks for all your helpful hints on this thread. A few rugged individuals report having solved their KH hub problem through various repair procedures outlined above, though Nurse Ben reported that even UDC’s attempts (circa 2010) to repair the KH hubs they sold was unsuccessful. To me, it appears that the only surefire fix for a Kreaky Hub is to replace it with a different brand.
