looking for a trials uni

General
1

can anyone reccomend a good first trials uni? i can spend up to £150, I’ve been looking at a Nimbus Trials Unicycle , but if anyone can reccomend a better one for about the same price i’d like to know

thanks

2

It may seem too expesnive to you but I think you should buy something of higher quality than that. If you like unicycling and plan to take your trials to a reasonable level, buying a lower quality unicycle that breaks will just cost more money in the end when you get the better unicycle becayse the other one is broken.

As far as I see it the best way is to get the ultimate unicycle you can afford (if it’s worth it to you) and then it pretty much shouldn’t break. That’s what I did and it’s gonna come soon. Next step for me is a helmet :smiley:

3

That’s a good uni, if you don’t mind upgrading after a few months. Should last if you’re nottoo heavy and don’t do super high drops. You can always replace the cranks and eventually the hub. But if you’re gonna go hardcore right from the bat, I’d do what Robbie suggests and get a KH or Onza.

4

I agree with Robbie. Their seems to be a huge gap between uni parts and their breaking points. in one hand you have cheap stuff that will break in a matter of hours, and in the other hand you have parts that will last seemingly forever but at a major blow to your wallet. for a trials beginner I would recomend the cheaper unicycles, because you are not sure how much abuse you will put to various parts. then when you figure out exactly what parts you are breaking you should venture into the quality/expensive parts.

I started about 4 years ago on the then popular 20" schwinn frame with the suzue hub, euro cranks, monty rim, monty x-lite tire (which is the worst tire ever). and a basic miyata seat.

hope this helps,
mike

5

I would like to add that I am also looking for a trials uni. If anyone is interested in selling email me at theobieone3226@aol.com. I need a splined setup.

6

if your in the uk, someone is selling a Nimbus Trials with very light use, for around £75 i think he wanted. PM me for contact details

7

I agree with this to a point. However, I also like to factor in the resale value of the equipment you buy. If you decide you don’t like trials, trying to sell the less expensive uni will probably end up costing you more because A) you’ve already put trials-style wear and tear on a (relatively) weaker unicycle and B) the price you’re going to want to ask is too close to the new price of the unicycle. I would reckon that a bombproof unicycle holds its value much better.

Also, if you get into trials and you break a cheaper one, forcing you to upgrade, you’re potentially out the entire cost of the unicycle. If you’re getting good enough that you’re afraid you’ll break it if you go any farther, you’re going to want to look into getting rid of it while it’s still a rideable cycle. Again, I’d personally be wary of buying a unicycle that someone abused to just under its breaking point.

I’d suggest going with a splined setup and if trials isn’t for you, sell it to TheObieOne.

8

I wouldn’t go quite that far, the nimbus won’t take 6’ drops, but you can get away with quite a lot. I’ve done a good few 3’ drops without much problem., but I’m not that bothered about big drops. Nice to be able to do them, but the technical stuff and going up seems more of a challenge to me.
Having said that, if you do want to do much serious trials the nimbus will eventually break so if you can increase your budget by £50 you’ll get a far stronger uni.

John

9

go nimbus all that way, im still riding mine, i bought it because i did not know if trials was for me so im having to upgrade to stonger hubs which on the whole is making it coast about £10 more than a Onza or KH so its a fair deal.
As for riding its taken plenty of bashings and drops and is still working fine, i think the biggest drop that i landed was about 4" and if u ask me thats plenty big enough.

So, if nimbus had a fan club, Id be in it.

the juggler

10

There are more then two levels of quality when it comes to unicycles. For a long time, the Suzue hub was not only the standard, but just about hte best hub to have. Only in the past few yeas have better affordable hubs become available. The unicycle.com hub that comes on the Numbus is better then the Suzue, but not as good as say the KH. This in not a uni that will break in a matter of hours. Like someone has said, it won’t take 6 foot drops, but I have done 3 foot drops on my Suz hub with no damage.

If you use this uni as a light trials machine, about the only parts you will have to replace are the cranks and the pedals. Both are much cheaper then getting a bomb proof uni right off the bat.

BUT… if you are planning to do some hard core stuff, or you have the money and are willing to spend it, you should get a better setup. Perhaps a KH, Onza, or something with a profile.

That’s my 2 cents
Daniel

11

I would kike to note that I have never broken a SUZUE hub. when I had it i weighed about 180lbs i succesfully landed numerous over-head-high drops. but I have never seen a square taper crank not bend on me on any drop over 4-5 feet. I have tried euro, lasco, idol, and black widow cranks all of which have been severely bent within hours of riding.

my profiles on the other hand have withstood a drop measured at 7 feet 11 inches, this from a rider weighing over 200lbs.

again, a beginner won’t be doing drops over 4 feet so I would still recomend the nimbus.
-mike

12

The big ones cost more to your wallet at the start, but getting a cheap one ends up more expensive as you buy a bad one, it breaks and then you have to get the good one in the end. It’s more expensive and you don’t get to own the good one for however long it takes you to break the other one, meaning less time on a good one. The option was clear to me, which is why I bought a Profile setup for me uni.

13

If you live in Europe, you might want to check out the Qu-ax unis.
www.municycle.com
There have been some complaints about heavy frames and to wide frames, but you could just by a wheelset and a Nimbus II frame. A bit expensive to order if you do not live in Europe, but good to check up on anyway.

Rusty

14

Municycle.com will change the frame for the Nimbus II equivalent if you ask!

15

which one of the qu-ax’s would do for jumping off things?

16

This one is a 20" trials uni with a splined hub. They do the onza as well, but that’s a bit more expensive.

John

17

whats a splined hub?

18

‘Normal’ hubs have an axle which has square ends which are slightly tapered, so that the matching taper on the cranks fits over the axle and holds it in place. Splined axles have 8 or more slots (splines) cut along the the length of the axle, and the cranks have ridges that fit into the splines on the axle. It basically means there is alot more contact area between the two so it transfers forces better. I think it makes the effective diameter of the axle bigger as well, which makes it less prone to twisting.
Basically a hub / crank combination which is a lot stronger than normal hubs and cranks, but also about three times as expensive.
Seeing as photos are better than words,
this is a splined hub and this is a normal hub.

John

19

thanks, i’ll get that uni then