Well we’re going to make them for 42mm bearing isis because the spacing with crank spacers is consistent, and we haven’t tested a bolt on with square taper yet. We will be prioritizing KH because you can’t just weld on a mount, and weld on mounts will be available for nimbus and nightrider. but if the demand is there at the price point for the quantities we can afford, we’ll make them for Nimbus Isis and then start experimenting with square taper. We need them to be consistent, work well, and sell well before we can afford to experiment. However if you can get bearings that allow you to use ISIS in a 40mm frame, then you get 2 upgrades!
I’m running square taper with 40mm bearings and shims on a Nightrider frame with 42mm bearing holders. I understand that ISIS makes the spacing more predictable, and that there are a lot of ISIS uni’s out there right now. Those two factors make your decision to support ISIS first very reasonable.
I went with square taper for my uni because I honestly believe that splined cranks are super overkill for a road going machine. I like the fact that there are many cranks available for square taper, many cheap or free. So, at least for me, moving to ISIS wouldn’t be an upgrade. I will probably go for a weld on mount after all.
As for the mount, I think if you weld it on with the intention of putting two or three washers between the adapter and the mount that would be the place to adjust for the inward creep of the square taper cranks. As long as you move the washers from the inside to the outside of the welded mount you wouldn’t need shorter bolts as you adjusted for the creep. This might also have the benefit of placing the bracket a bit more centered on the tube rather than outboard towards the rotor.
Exactly, and agreed. The rotor is also spaced on the crank for creep, you can pull spacers from in between rotor and crank and shift them to the outside of the crank as it creeps in. So, you can space both the caliper and the rotor! the issue is that sometimes the cranks go on so deeply, that the chain ring nuts scrub the frame, and spacing the rotor can pull the chain ring nuts away from the frame. the cranks that were meant for 113, and 107mm chain lines keep the spider further away from the frame than those for 117mm bb’s for instance, and the crank can be spaced further with a crank spacer, and that modified square taper design the cranks went on further as well. square taper is cool and really won’t creep too much even with wear. the Schlumpf ISIS without crank spacers is the difficult hub with creep.
Who will buy their own cranks, and who will buy our rotors only with the cranks we offer?
I am lazy… I want “one stop shopping” and will try and buy everything from you guys. 
Could you rhyme off the available lengths again? Are you only offering the production sizes - 160-180mm? Nothing in there is useful to me, although neither is their previous shortest, 135mm. I guess I’ll be drilling either way so I might buy from you, depending on how that affects shipping cost.
I know you don’t plan on offering dual-hole right away, but if you were, that’s where I’d be at.
Hmmmmmm that’s right. I probably won’t get cranks from you if I can’t get 150’s. I found a source for other sizes of Sinz cranks at $50 a pop. If I can’t get 150’s from you, I will probably get them there.
disc caliper measurements
Hello,
This is CrazyChrisVT back again under a different name. Hey, I’ve been following this disc thread with keen interest. I haven’t been uni’ing very much, but have been biking alot, sorry to say. That includes insane downhill biking.
Anyway I can provide caliper measurements… I have here right now, and I’ll list just the brake/rotor combinations. Let me know if you want some measurements.
I’ll cut to the chase and say right now the Hayes So1e offers the “skinniest” caliper, of what I have.
Avid BB5 (mech) - 185 rotors.
Avid Juicy 5 (hydros) - 203mm rotors (on a hoggish Norco Shore Two!).
Hayes So1e (hydros) - 185mm rotors (a TERRIBLE brake but prolly more than enough for Uni).
Avid BB7 (mech) - 203mm rotors.
And I’ll chime in on the mech vs hydro debate. Both are very powerful. Mechs tend to be more “grabby” than hydros. Hydros tend to have better modulation (ie, when I go down Sugarbush on the Norco, I ride the brake the entire way and the Juicy 5’s are lovin’ it.)
The Hayes So1e brakes are probably more than enough for Uni, but they did fail at Sugarbush, sending my son on a nasty brakeless ride for a bit.
Also BB5s need to be adjusted all the time, but then again on a Uni they probably wouldn’t need very much attention.
I can provide measurements and photos if anybody is interested.
disc caliper measurements, again
Correction: the bike with the Hayes So1e’s is running 160mm rotors. Not that it matters.
We have a specific 180mm rotor that is used in place of the stock rotor. the unique bit is that the rotor fits the crank. You get your 160mm version of brake (the 160 mm adapter works best) and bolt it to our weld on mount and install it.
the avid mechanical brakes may be too wide for use on some unicycles, but I agree that they are wonderfully powerful. I also agree with the modulation and progressive feel of hydraulic brakes.
So, you know… the reason I’m asking about cranks so much is that since becoming sinz dealers, they have changed their Isis line up and getting the sizes that we initially wanted has dried up. Unfortunately, the Sinz work the best.
I tried some AC cranks which still make a wide variety of sizes, and the dish of the spider is too close for the frame. I compensated by using a 1cm crank spacer vs the stock 8mm on the nimbus we used… the crank is now “clunking” and wearing out because it’s not supported by enough axle. So, Sinz it is.
Despite being dealers, I have purchased 3 150mm cranks from other dealers in ISIS for the last few projects. Until we commission Sinz to make 110, 125, & 150 for us custom, with a minimum order of a whole lot… we’ll recommend that you get your sinz wherever you can for now. other cranks are a gamble, and we want one stop shopping, so folks get stuff that works together and have success. consumers success will be our success.
regarding dual hole, one of our extreme testers has broken a dual 125/150 at the 125 hole while riding 150s. He had done some hopping and dropping, but it was on a set of stairs that they finally quit. Liability is no joke and dropping or doing street is not a good idea with dual hole Sinz. I may not dual hole at all. question is… who makes dual hole cranks in all the sizes that unicyclists like, that we can commission to make cranks other than Sinz? Hmmm…
Very cool if it’s strong. Does it add Q?
It’s a photo-paint fantasy. I don’t think KH wants to forge a spider on his moments. The q on his cranks and the Sinz we use are the same. His crank is thicker, so I don’t know if they will pass the caliper anyway. It would have been cool, but he would have had to change forge tooling to do so. He could tap them for 6 bolt rotors, but that will only work on ISIS, since the bolts would bottom on the frame with square taper cranks without crank spacers. That would also lose the adjustment of the rotor on the crank with chain ring spacers like our rotors use. Getting the bolts away from the bearings allows for much more room.
Regarding that KH mock-up, it would be cool if you could make a spider that replaced the crank stop/spacer. I can’t think how you’d stop it rotating though, short of tapping a thread in the back of the crank and putting a bolt in (bit like a BMX crank). It’s a shame the splines don’t go all the way down the axle with ISIS - would have worked with the old-type splined hubs if you just made a splined spacer/spider/disc.
Rob
yeah, and the bmx style is fading in the uni world. it’s overkill except for trials and street, and expensive… Sinz really put us in a tough spot. We’re going to have to have custom sizes made. 110/125/150 and not in dual hole. The crank with spider works so well and keeps bolts clear of the bearing holders where there is no room for them. we’re going to have to wait 90 days for the cranks as well, and we’ll have hundreds of them! I hope hundreds of people want disk brakes.
Courtesy of Sinister Jay…
here’s where I’ve found online that still MIGHT have Sinz 150mm lengths:
http://americancycle.com/product/sinz-expert-crankarms-2291.htm
$49.86
New York
607-748-4800
looking…
http://www.ebikestop.com/sinz_expert_crank_arm_set_isis_150mm-SEC-13.php
$48.99
Colorado
719-955-7867
ships in 3-4 days.
http://www.go-ridebmx.com/SPD/sinz-expert-isis-cranks--80002AAB-1233705717.jsp
$59.99
Utah
801-474-0081
ships in 3-5 days.
http://www.suburbanshred.com/index.php?_a=viewProd&productId=20
$54.99
Colorado
719-630-1831
no answer
http://www.acebmx.com/cranks-crank-arms-c-1_87/sinz-expert-crank-arms-p-551
$59.99
New York
affiliated with american cycle
http://eastcoastcyclery.com/categories/cranks/index.htm
$59.00
New Jersey
908-333-5245
no answer…
Brakes for Bedford 29"
I am curious what is available for a Bedford 29" unicycle.
It has the square tapered crank.
Saw some picture in this thread of other 29" unicycles.
Are you still at the testing or proof of concept or in the process of offering product to the general unicycle population.
once we produce rotors and you can get your hands on Sinz isis or square taper, and we stock spacers and chain ring nuts/bolts, we’re ready. the bolt on stuff is for aluminum in the short term until unis start offering tabs for our rotors. if your bedford uni is steel then we have weld on mounts that we’ll be producing with the rotors. we’re waiting on stock. we also have to order custom sinz crank sizes in isis that will take 90 days lead time. we’re waiting on a second quote for the rotors from the fabricators and we’ll submit a business plan to a bank, get a loan and go go go… so fabricator quote, bank loan, production, website ecommerse, and sales begin… We are close… soon! no date yet. sorry to tease for so long, some snags along the way, but steady as she goes. Starting to think about getting into the crank biz by 2012! Thanx for the interest, and we’ll hopefully have one for you soon!