I have been trying to make progress on my MUni project while working 60-70
hrs per week. I have had a dickens of a time getting service from the local
bike mechanic, though. I don’t know if he has an attitude about unicycles
(or unicyclists) of if he’s merely lazy and incompetent.
First he was too busy to pull out a catalog and order me a rim (none in the
store). So I bought a rim and a uni hub and brought them to him to build a
wheel with. After a lot of hemming and hawing about how it was not a
standard rim/hub combination and telling me how he'd have to proceed by
trial and error to get the right length spokes and that it would therefore
cost more, he agreed to take the job. I made it clear I would not balk at
paying up to 3 times the normal fee for a wheel build in view of the unusual
nature of the job request. "Can you do it?" I asked. "Sure I can do it, I've
built thousands of wheels."
I finally had to break down and build the wheel myself. After saying he
could do it, he sat on my hub and rim for a week and a day then tried to
barrage me with a bunch of lame excuses why it was impossible. I took my
parts, told him I was tired of hearing excuses and left the premises
posthaste.
The spokes I mail ordered came today and inside two hours I laced it up.
This is the third wheel I have ever laced and the first two were done about
5 years ago, so it took me three tries to dope it out.
This ain't rocket science, folks. I plan to have a friend take a picture of
me holding the assembled unit which I will mail to this expert wheel builder
(with the caption "I did it myself").
A friend of mine at work says his buddy will probably true it "for a six
pack of beer" as he trues his own bicycle wheels at home. I took the
advice so abundant here on the mailing list and selected a Mavic PSP 231
rim, 26" 36 hole, a Semcycle Deluxe hub and DT Swiss 14 gauge stainless
steel spokes with brass nipples. I laced the wheel 4 cross. Since the rim
is so narrow I will leave it Presta and keep a Presta adapter with my
frame pump & tool kit.
Now I must look to having a frame built or adapted and get some cranks. Any
advice on this? I want strong high quality 175mm cranks but want a design
that won't be too hard to remove the chainring spider from. I have seen
some high quality cranksets with the spider riveted or bolted on the back
side of the crankarm but so far they have been in the $200-$400 range, too
pricey for me.
George Peck said (in my copy of the video Rough Terrain Unicycling") that
the hub I have selected WILL break eventually from hopping and jumping. He
showed several to prove it. He recommended either a Bullseye 4 shoulder or a
Phil Wood hollow splined axle as an upgrade when the stock parts eventually
break. I don't understand this since these are bicycle component brand
names. Must be custom built. Anyone have details on this?
Also, where can I get some of those cast aluminum pedals the freestyle
bicycle people use? They are all aluminum with a paralellogram profile
as viewed from the side. I haven't seen them in the shops around here.
Mail order?
I welcome your advice and suggestions.
Dennis Kathrens