Latest from the Muni Monster Garage

General
1

Over the last few months I had the pleasure of building a custom muni for John Long (Vivalargo), which he has dubbed the Flying Toucan. He had specific ideas about what he wanted, but was also open to any ideas or concerns that I had. His main goal was to have a light weight muni, but it needed to withstand the stresses of an aggressive riding style combined with the often brutal terrain of the Santa Barbara area.
Here is what we put together:

Light Ryder aluminum frame built by Scott Bridgeman
CNC brake mount installation and crown lowering by Wallis Design
Yellow powder coat

Wallis Design seat assembly
DeRail carbon fiber/Kevlar base with stainless steel threaded inserts and hardware, DeathGrip handle, CF rear bumper, modified Gemcrest leather cover, Molded carbon fiber brake lever matched to DG handle shape, WD stainless steel offset brake lever mount, WD Velcro air pillow

Dave Stockton wheel assembly
DX32 rim
Black 14/15 spokes DT Swiss
Black brass nipples
Black 170mm cranks
Black Profile hub
Salsa polyester rim tape
“World’s Strongest” wheel build
Specialized 24 x 3 standard weight tube

Wallis Design “FootHold” crown cleat
Thomson Elite 25.4 x 330 mm seat post
Magura HS33 brakes, black, with black anodized caliper clamps
Salsa Flip-lock seat post clamp
Shimano MX-30 platform pedals, with custom black paint
Tire – Shown with a Gazz, but I shipped the muni without a tire at John’s request.

The wheel that Dave built is extremely nice. Highly tensioned and very true, with top quality components. He was also able to accommodate us on the all-black component request.

Photos are in a gallery at http://gallery.unicyclist.com/VivalargoMuni The pictures were taken hurriedly just before it went in the box, and wish I had gotten some different shots. Too late now as I hear the SB rocks are already taking their toll on the pretty yelow powder coat.

The brake installation was the same process I first used on Rod Wylie’s (teachndad) and is detailed in that gallery: http://gallery.unicyclist.com/Wilder-brake-project

Many thanks to John for being great to work with, being very patient, and having confidence in my abilities and judgement. I hope you get many hours of pleasure from your Flying Toucan.

Scott

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2

Muni Monster Garage :smiley: Well done Scott!

Does crown lowering mean what I think it means? Sounds like major surgery. Maybe this should be titled "Extreme Muni Makover"
  • Frank
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Beautiful!

4

Soo cool!

5

The spoke lacing looks very odd in that photo.

6

That is very impressive!

Scott is really great to work with. I’m glad he was so kind as to include me.

Good riding, John!

7

Yes Frank, the legs were shortened (ouch, that is extreme) to lower the crown slightly, making it a little more comfortable for gliding. Not that I could test that feature. It was really no big deal to do it and only added a few minutes to the welding operation once I had it fixtured up for the brake mount welding anyway.

Scott

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Yep, the Flying Toucan has taken some solid hits from the last two weekends, but this rig rocks! (It also has 165mm cranks, not 170s) Anyone who contracts a build from Scott will amazed with the outcome. His stuff is flawless.

JL

9

Wow, what a build! I particularly love the front cf handle, and the curved brake lever. Scott, do you have a ‘regular’ price for these items??

10

I was unaware of Profile making 165mm cranks. Is this something new to their catalogue or are they 160s?

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Profile lists 165mm Race cranks in their online store at ProfileRacing.com. It’s a standard available size for them.

They list: 160, 165, 170, 175, 177, 180, 182, 185, 190

The 145mm size for the trials uni is a nonstandard size for Profile. The other sizes are standard for their BMX and MTB cranks.

12

I would also like to say that Scott builds an amazing MUNI. I had the great pleasure of watching him design and assemble the flying Toucan. He has a great eye for detail.

One of the things that I noticed while working with Scott is that he really took the time to design a muni that was SOLID, LIGHT, and very user friendly.

The seat, handle, and brake system are amazing. If you ever have the time or good fortune to take Johns MUNI for a spin be prepaired to UPGRADE. Once you have experienced it, it is really hard to compair with anything else I have tried.

Good work Scott! Great choice in MUNI’s John!

Your Muni is ROCK SOLID!

PS. I heard that It might be possible to put a KH wheel on a WILDER frame. Maybe Scott or Jay-Are will show some pictures of the next MONSTER MUNI GARAGE creation…

13

Absolutely beautiful! You mentioned custom black pedals…were they bought as a different colour and coloured black later? I really want blue Odyssey Jim Cielencki pedals but can’t get them as sealed ones so I was considering buying sealed black ones and powder coating them blue. Is this do-able?

Andrew

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wow… thats awesome.

Chase

15

Thanks for the great comments.

Unisk8r,
The DeathGrip handles are $65, rear bumpers $30 and both are guaranteed against breakage for 3 years.
Magura threw me a curve by changing the lever assemblies for 2005, so I have to develop levers for that style also, and it looks like the price will be about $20 each.
The lever is made to work with the offset mount shown, and those are $25 at this time.

SteveOwe,
Thanks for the vote of confidence.:smiley:
Steve’s enthusiasm comes from having recieved a similar custom Wilder from me which he has been abusing mercilessly. I MUST start getting references before adopting these munis out.
And yes there is one with a KH 05 hub also. Maybe these guys will post some pics of them, if they will get off of them that long.

Andrew,
The DX pedals come in a gray finish. I didn’t think it was practical to disassemble them and have them powdercoated. Instead I solvent cleaned and scuffed them , masked the axles, and sprayed them with automotive 2 part black epoxy primer to get the best adhesion, then with a coat of automotive black enamel. They will get beat up, but will be easy to touch up.
You certainly could strip the Jim C’s and powdercoat them if you think it is worth it.

Scott

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Wow, Scott, that’s amazing. I am now even more desperate to get good at TIG welding (I’m slacking, only about 3-6 hours of practice per week).

I love the carbonfiber job. I’m curious, is that something that can be learned in a regular metalshop environment, or is it something to leave to the pros?

One nit to pick. DOn’t demean yourself by comparing to monster garage. I have a coworker who was on one of the monster garage shows. I forget which. He said it’s awful, and most of the people never end up doing anything. I saw one where a guy was using a carbide bit on a lathe, and the oil on the chuck ignited. As an example of the total incompetence on that show, rather than leaving the lathe on, the guy turned it off, letting the fire spread to the oil bath. What a fool. The first thing I was told with a carbide bit is that if the coolant somehow ignites, leave the lathe on, back off the cutter, and let the fire burn its self out.

17

very nice!

scott has radio active green, Rod has purple cush purple and now out comes the yellow jackets? what exactly is the mushroom of choice in that garage? :slight_smile:

i think thats thats the angle, looks like normal 4 cross to me.

yes, and has excellent resale value :wink: doh!

yet they still drill the right arm for a chainring in 145mm :angry:

andrew brings this up alot on AIM, he really want those blue!

vivalargo ,

the DX pedals are nice but the tiny pins are really hard to find in the US…i would start looking for a few extras right now so when you bend one (and they bend easy) you will have the extras on hand. they also can be really hard to get out without smashing them in vice grips. i couldnt ever find replacements, i had to put a small bearing in the hole and screw the smaller pins down on it, that was better than a flush spot. Scott could probobly tap the holes to a bigger standard size as a last resort. thats what i wanted to do but eventually desided to save for the Aircorps but my Magniesium DK’s still rock on so i never ordered.

18

I’m glad you like the CF parts. Working with composite materials is very tedious, and requires different equipment than you usually find in a metal shop. Simple open wet-layup work can be done with just a little study and simple tools, but as you get into vacuum bagging, oven curing, etc for more advanced parts, the learning curve and required materials and equipment can be somewhat daunting. A big part of composite molding is pattern and mold making. You may do better to stay with your machining education and become involved with composites on that level if you are interested.

As for the Monster Garage reference… Humor, Irony…the thought that you could make a big production out of something as simple as a unicycle.
Those shows are entertainment, not tutorials. Fire has great entertainment value.:slight_smile:

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Thanks Jagur. Wilders were meant to be wilder. All my customers have chosen their colors with no coaching from me.:slight_smile:

Yep

Some people actually keep and use their unicycles

He brings it up almost as much as you bring up the Profile chainring lug issue. :wink:

McMaster Carr has them, and I sent a spare package of 100 with John’s muni. They have all lengths, 8mm is best. I can tap the pedals for larger set screws, unfortunately the small screws grip better because they sink into the rubber of your shoe better. Of course they also chew it up. Everything is a tradeoff. Mainly, the DX pedals are very light and very dependable.

Scott

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Yellow Wilder

My red Wilder doesn’t seem so special any more:(

Fantastic work! Maybe after the house is built I’ll come pestering you for help with mine.

Dan Welburn