Hey,
I think you are cutting off a large part of your potential business by not stocking shorter cranks. 36er and xc muni riders (like myself) will have to go elsewhere to get our cranks instead of getting the whole system from the same place. I’ve seen other online stall fronts have lengths down to 135mm.
Also, Are the bearing cap mounts for KH frames available yet?
cheers,
mark
This has been discussed, it’s near impossible to find Sinz cranks smaller than 155’s right now. MountainUni is kind of a slave to what’s available. If you can find them, snag them, they are probably old stock.
If you can get shorter Sinz cranks, do so! MountainUni will get you everything else. You’re looking at closeouts of sizes that are no longer produced and can’t be had from Sins. We can commission smaller sizes, 100 at a time… But that’s costly, doesn’t give us any more control over the crank or dual hole. Sinz is still the best choice for now…
PM Mountainuni1!
Its a bummer that the crank you have optimised your design for is no longer getting produced. With the crank not tried and tested for Muni use I don’t think i would like to make the switch to the mountainuni disk system if the components can’t be replaced. Hopefully another crank can be found to fit the needed specs of the system- hopefully one with a full range of sizes too. Best of luck with it
mark
Hey,
It’s really cool to see the developments here. I think there’s pros & cons of both rim and disk brake options, and of hub or crank- mount disks, but in any case it’s very cool to have the crank mount disk option out there and being used. The crank mount disk has been talked about for many years and it’s really great that Mountainuni is actually doing it. The first instance I know of, for it’s discussion, was around 2001 when Profile cranks were more popular, because they have the chainring bolt on the crank that, with a long set of parallel splines, could potentially have been used to mount a disk. That’s just talk and Mountainuni’s are action though =)
Finally, after thinking about it for years, KHU has been working for the last year or so, on cranks with disk mounts. Schedule is not worked out for that and it won’t be available any time soon, but eventually it should work out the availability problem for cranks and compliment what Mountainuni is already providing. I’d like to emphasize that I’m keen on what Mountainuni is doing and see a good niche for a U.S.-made system as well as for disk mounts for frames without disk tabs.
Cheers,
Kris
In addition to what KH wrote (which is freakin’ awesome!), it is plausible that MountainUni will have created enough capital to bite the bullet on some smaller Sinz units. They have mentioned that the option is out there but they would need a minimum order of 100. Hopefully, KH will create disc mounts on his frames that are compatible with the MU system AND, it sounds like he’s keen on developing disk-mountable cranks. We will all win; another scenario where an innovative idea comes to fruition!
We need control of the crank, it’s sizing, durability, pedal positions, rotor mount… Something not yet on the market. We’ve been working on that since Sinz dumped all the sizes. Your product likely won’t be complimenting our 5 bolt rotors, but compete with the next Gen MountainUni system. We may get that 2 market as you do. We’re all watching eachother on this subject! Good luck!
i’ve to say, that i’m very thankfull to the mountainuni guys and also to jogi, because they put alot of effort and money in those projects!
good the hear that kh will jump on that, but i hope he’ll respect and estimate what you guys did here!
by the way, dear mister holm, how about making the T-bar more suitable for the brake at the (normal) handle, something like this or even closer:
Hi Turtle - thanks for the feedback =). Will send a separate note back so as to keep the thread on disk brakes.
Nice to hear Kris is working on the disk break thing too. Although I am pretty satisfied with my HS33 at the moment. Once disks get more common place I might reconsider it, though. I do wonder what will become of Mountainuni once Nimbus and KH offer their own versions… Maybe they should figure out some sort of a deal to collaborate? It’s none of my business anyways, but it would be a shame seeing Mountainuni go belly up because of Nimbus and KH.
About the brake lever positioning question I have this recommendation, it isn’t directly under the seat but I got very comfortable with it also in technical muni conditions (the spooner might not fit for those levers though):
As mentioned I do see a good niche for U.S. made aftermarket components, so I don’t see that as happening. Or at least, as long as no one has any illusions of getting rich in the unicycle industry =). We all have great hopes but really it is quite ridiculous how small our sport is compared to anything else in the bike industry.
In any case, it will be important to make sure that disk tabs on KH frames were compatible with attaching the Mountainuni system, so anyone could use it if they wanted to. As mentioned, these won’t be out for quite a long time, though.
Kris
Brake Choices
Thank you for the endorsement Kris. I’m happy you’re interested in expanding Brake choices for the community.
DISC TABS = An easy way for the uni community to adopt & take advantage of technology upgrades 
We’ll make sure we discuss disktab locations with you. Much respect for the market and products you’ve created to date. It’s admirable and of high quality. I should know, your KH29er is my primary ride in Winter. As for getting rich, a day job has done sufficiently in keeping me far away from that goal.
More Brakes are “out the door” this week, thanks to the Forumers.
my “new” setups:
Pic 1: XC plus
Pic 2 & 3: XC pure (5.4 kg)
(there is still a DH version and the 29" geared, pics will follow later)
I wouldn’t think it would be too difficult for some company to just design a different brake lever, not talking about a brake system, just the lever itself, to be better suited for grabbing on a uni. Because turtle, that lever solution you have with your t-bar uni seems to be sacrificing quite a bit of leverage, are your brakes just really sensitive so it doesn’t matter?
Are there issues with designing parts to fit into other companies equipment? Like patent issues?
yes, that would be cool. but why do you think my lever is sacrificing quite a bit of leverage? i don’t think so, it so far it works very well, also because for the dinsc brakes there is way less force necessary
edit: do you think i’ve got less way to move the lever? thats not the fact at all, its quite the same way when you look exactly to both pictures
The Ease of Modulation with Disc
Good point Turtle and I’ve noticed the same. The difference between a Maggie Piston Brake and a Disc, is a very smooth modulation, and a significantly smoother pull on the lever. I have also thought that with downhill momentum, is it seems very easy to keep the brake engaged lightly for longer stretches, when that continuous speedcheck is necessary.
It’s nice to see you are posting the pics! I like how you are using a single frame with multiple wheels. Looks like you have all the spacers between the rotors and cranks, are you using different hubs on each wheel? Have you changed the spacing between the rotors and cranks to get each wheel to consistently align the rotors into the caliper on the frame? It seems that after the initial set up, the wheel swaps take very little time.
I like the Schlumpf hub on the 29" wheel! Have you tried the geared set up? I will warn you that braking while shifting is not ideal with this system, release the brake during shifts.
The crank arm lengths seem long. How long are the cranks? Were the 155 Isis cranks not available? If you drill and tap at a shorter length, which has been done before on the Sinz cranks, I do not advise doing drops while riding the longer pedal position, as the cranks may stress and crack at the shorter pedal position. It’s best to drill and tap the Sinz and cut off the rest. I’ve been running dual hole 150/125 on my 36er with no issues for a year, but I have not been doing drops more than curbs and I don’t Muni it.
I am very excited that this system works with Triton and eventually Kris Holm Unicycles when he welds the caliper mount tabs on. Mountainuni is re-working the bolt on for retrofitting current KH and Nimbus rigs, building stock, and working on the website… there is more to come! Thank you for your patience, worth it though, wasn’t it?
