No small undertaking
My suggestion is to start small and gradual. Unicycle community is a small population fickle and unpredictable.
Good luck.
Todd
Thank you. Slow and gradual describes us perfectly!
We can only afford small quantities, but large enough like 300 units, (custom isis sizes, rotors and weld on mounts etc…) to make prices come down. That’s not to say there won’t be an initial investment that still makes us nervous, but if success is based on how well a product works and the fact that this is an obvious evolution that happened to motorized and cycling machines, then… we’re good.
I just hope the typical consumer finds a good welder until it’s time to get a bolt on with every system… the devil is in the details. However, as soon as someone tries the system down hills, they are sold. It’s the set up that counts for the end result, and that’s why a bolt on is huge until manufacturers produce frames with brake tabs… that would be bliss, like a disk brake!
we will have a lead time to produce cranks in isis of sizes they have halted production on, consumers may need to find other resources for Sinz for the first 90 days. no biggie. once we get the second quote, we choose fabricator and begin production. Then we pay everyone and sell the parts in as complete a system as possible with instructions. We’ll see.
We had a tester try AC cranks. they were beautiful, but the spider was dished too far into the frame, we used a large spacer that offset it on the axle and promoted wear, alas the final blow was the twisting of the left crank while gapping pallets today. They are hogged out to be light, and are mini cranks for light bmx riders. Sinz is the best crank for the application until we are making our own.
dual hole crank sizes to be determined…
I think if we can make available dual hole cranks, we would have to choose what sizes?
110/130 125/150 140/165 will this satisfy most folks?
When / how do I replace pads?
Forgive me if I am posting in the wrong thread. My fellow Nimbus 36" Impulse disc brake model owners must be having too much fun riding to respond to my post and I can’t say that I blame them. I am having a blast riding 15 miles a day at least 3 or 4 days per week. My question about replacement pads should be prefaced by saying I am not mechanically inclined at all which is why I opted for the turn key solution in the Impulse. Though now that I am totally hooked on that butter smooth feeling of disc brakes, I will probably be turning to Mountainuni when I go to purchase my 29er. Enough (too much) said. The Impulse hydraulic disc brake (Bengal Performance HELIX 1.1) replacement pads are part # PH02. My LBS said he has two brands (Hayes and Avid) that would fit. Now I need to learn how to do the replacement myself. To be honest, I am not even certain that it is time (200+ miles in) but shining a flashlight down in there I can see about a US Nickle’s width of orange pad remaining and I am going to park it when it get’s down to a dime’s width for fear of doing metal on metal damage to the rotor. One thing I am noticing is a clicking sound/feeling when I am really laying on the brake down one of Kentucky’s many hills. It feels almost exactly like it did when the pivotal seat post bolt on my Shadow handlebar came loose but this time only when riding the brake hard. I have read articles about DH mountain bicycles going through a set of pads in a week but I am sure they are much harder on them than I am just trying to slow down a bit to save wear and tear on these old knees. How will I know when it is time to replace my pads? How difficult (for the mechanically challenged) is the process?
The Impulse is a real cool rig, and I’m glad you get to enjoy the effectiveness and progressive feel of disk brakes on your uni! We hope to have quotes back from fabricators and manufacturers soon, so we know how much to raise and get production rolling.
It’s hard to diagnose pads without looking at them. Your LBS will best explain when it’s time to change the pads, since you’re likely getting the pads there. When you are ready, you should have a 5mm allen tool to remove your bearing caps and separate the wheel from the frame of the unicycle. Be careful not to squeeze the brake lever while the rotor is out of the brake.
Use a flat blade screwdriver to twist in between the old brake pads to widen the distance between the pads, so your thicker new pads may slide onto the disk when you are done. On some brakes there is a pin that you have to disconnect and slide out to remove the pads, and some are held in just by spring clips.
Notice a tab sticking out at the bottom of the pad and pull it straight down to remove it. If there is great resistance, figure out why and then try again. Slide the new pad in like the old pad came out, and replace the pin if there was one. Replace the wheel and fasten the bearing caps evenly so the same size gap appears on either side of the bearing to the frame.
That’s typical anyway.
try to go with ISIS interface since that’s what we’re planning on releasing initially.
Any news on the KH frame bolt-on caliper mount?
I think all we need to do with our existing nimbus design is a different bolt pattern for the bearing holder and maybe making it match the bearing holder for KH aesthetics.
I found out someone will be manufacturing something overseas out of my patent bounds (for now), which may compete or truly challenge my 5 bolt rotor, so we’re developing something new. the KH bolt on will soon follow.
I appreciate your interest and patients, this will be a competitive system that works and you will be more than happy with on most any unicycle that features ISIS interface initially. We should have a more streamlined system that has fewer components and should be about the same price point.
I need a tool called a broach. I know that the ISIS is a standard, so someone must make the broach that creates the female interface. They must be available for sale by tool manufacturers, I just don’t want to make a custom one. Anyone in the know?
Hopefully this helps. From http://www.isisdrive.com/isisdrive/tools.htm
"Crankarm Broach and Coining Tools_____________________
Truvativ International has agreed to make their broach and coining tools available for crank manufacturers who are interested in producing their cranks in this manner. The tools may be ordered by placing a Purchase Order with your local SRAM sale representative (check out the SRAM web site for contact information: www.sram.com). Prices for the tools are Ex Works (EXGO, FOR) Truvativ Taiwan and the tools must be pre-paid. Lead time is 50 days from order date and Truvativ will not be responsible for delays to production due to missed shipping dates. For international delivery, we recommend you include a UPS or FedEx account number to ship under in your P.O. This will help avoid any delays and extra costs involved with shipping the tools internationally. Following are the article numbers for the broach and coin tool as well as the contact information for Truvativ Taiwan.
Article No.
Description
Cost (ExWorks)
00.6400.011.011
ISIS Drive broach tool
25000 NT
00.6400.011.012
ISIS Drive coin tool
25000 NT
"
So I was out yesterday riding down the steepest loosest trail I’ve tried yet. Did OK, but I got to thinking about how a stronger/more responsive brake system than my v-brake would sure be nice.
Any news, and particularly on the KH frame bolt-on?
42 MM Bearing Holder
It’s my KH29er that will be the Guniea Pig for this experiment. And will be in process shortly. It’s as much about the 42 MM Bearing Holder as it is the bolt Pattern. Thanks for the prodding, we know this could be a hot item.
there are many sizes of square taper cranks from Sinz that will work well with the MountainUni rotors flawlessly. However, the Isis sizes of Sinz cranks are only offered in 165 and up. Who is willing to buy the cranks chop them down and drill/tap them or have a machinist do that to use our rotors as disk brakes on your unicycles?
because our crank resource has dried up, and the consumer may not have the interest in modifying the cranks we have been reconsidering the rotor concept and are designing cranks right now.
there is already a demand for the rotors and we could still have them made, but that depends on demand despite the limitation of the ISIS crank availability in unicycle sizes from sinz… we’re at a crossroads.
the current road block is the decided un-availability of a specialized broaching tool that we have to have made and are currently investigating it’s manufacture to ISIS standard.
Who still wants rotors?
I would still take 2 rotors and one KH bearing mount, cranks or no.
I am sure that I could figure something out for myself but the loss of the multiple ISIS sizes is a pretty big blow.
you can still chop and tap the size you want, but it would be nicer if the sizes were avail in ISIS. Here’s the mountainuni disk brake with avid juicy 5, going down a mountainside at a mountain bike park…
Finally…
Well, this has been a long time coming! We’ve ordered as many 155mm ISIS Sinz that they had, got spacers and chain ring bolts, and we’ve got a tiny production run of rotors coming. So far, we have about a dozen rotors that aren’t spoken for with steel weld on mounts for conventional fork steel uni’s. More ISIS cranks should be available next month and we should have half a dozen square taper Sinz cranks to offer also.
I’m hot to trot to get the bolt on caliper mounts made, but we have to sell many to finance them. perhaps if a bunch of you could get together and we can make 10 or 20 of them to make the cost realistic. We are updating the design for KH now, I also expect to mill it out a bunch so it isn’t just a block of aluminum. I expect we’ll leave the bolt pattern blank and just drill them for nimbus nightriders and kh to fill the orders.
If you can find the size you need in Sinz cranks at bmx websites in isis (Sinz are the only cranks we recommend because of the depth of the spider) then just contact us for the spacers, chain ring bolts, and rotors. we’re working on keeping the prices low… MountainUni will be releasing the initial batch for sale on this forum, and will likely take pre orders for the next batch via email until the website and paypal are activated on MountainUni.com.
Expect to see MountainUni disk brakes stock on a few cutting edge Ti 36ers soon! (it’s what we needed to jump start the process of production!)
