Need help building a unicycle!!!

Hey sorry about this i have recently got into Unicycling and am looking to upgrade from my terrible £30 uni to something half decent the parts i have in mind are as follows:
Hub : Nimbus ‘Eclipse’ ISIS Hub £62
Frame : 20" Nimbus X Unicycle Frame - Chrome 200mm £30
Cranks : Qu-Ax ‘Lightweight’ ISIS Cranks - 145mm £15
I feel that these are the essential parts for my Uni and i can pick up all the other gear as i go along i already have a wheel pre-built and will just have to replace the hub my only concern is that on the description for the hub it says “Note: this hub will not fit in a standard unicycle frame without adaption.” Does this mean that the Nimbus X frame will not fit this particular hub straight from the box and are these parts good quality
P.S I ride my uni a few miles a day i do not take it of road but i do freestyle tricks and ride on skate parks this may help you to advise me thanks in advance :slight_smile:

The eclipse hub will not work with that frame. It is narrower than standard. (92mm instead of 100mm)

It might be possible to make it work in the nimbus x frame by bending it but it would probably be much better to just go with a standard hub.

Hey thanks for the fast reply i appreciate it :smiley: yeah i must have missed that part how about the Kris Holm ‘Moment’ ISIS Hub that should work right ?

Yes it should.

Since about 2010, people on these forums, including me, have reported serious problems with KH Moment hubs.

According to your list of parts, you’re ready to spend about £150. Why don’t you look for a complete second hand one? Probably the same price, and the parts will fit for sure.

Hub wise, i would recommend a basic nimbus isis, they are actually stronger than the eclipse hub and cost ~£20 less. What you gain is a little weight.

The Qu Ax LW cranks are tough enough for learning freestyle. I would avoid anything as long as 145, 125 is pretty long and I would actually advise 114, leading to 100.

The X frame is a solid piece of kit. It doesn’t have very good tyre clearance (~20x2.1) but it is a tough frame. Be aware that it only takes a 22.2mm seatpost and therefore uses a smaller seatpost clamp (not included).

Personally though, i would either buy new or second hand. To progressively upgrade the entire of your old uni will cost more than buying at once, especially with QuAx profis costing £140.

Thank you for your fast replies. I have taken into consideration your comments and due to the incompatibilities with the equinox hub and the complaints about the KH one I shall get the standard Nimbus hub as to your questions about me just getting a new uni or a second hand one this is because the parts I listed before came to a total of £100 without the Equinox hub it shall be around £85 meaning it is quite abit cheaper than a whole new uni and with me building it myself it will give me a greater knowledge on how a unicycle works as i said thanks for your comments and feedback i will take it all in :smiley:

Billet?

Has anyone ever tried to machine a frame from billet aluminum and if not why? If I used 6061 or 7075 aluminum used large fillets and rounds at the stress points it should be pretty strong.

I was thinking of using my nimbus 20” equoinx street design for my first attempt. That way I could just take off the wheel and seat post to give it a try.

I thought this might be a fun project for the winter.

I forsee a lot of aluminum chips in your future…

Be sure to take lots of pics of the process and post them here!

I stumbled upon this page a while back while shopping for my first uni:

http://amymakesstuff.com/2010/11/02/unicycle/

A mix of billet, tubes, waterjet-cut plates, etc., and by her own admission some design features turned out better than others. And perhaps it would have been more satisfactory if she had studied a standard unicycle first, but it’s food for thought at least.

I’d say that the “why not” might be the insane difference in cost and convenience compared to buying one welded up from tubes in Asia. :slight_smile:

It is not a cost issue for me. I like to make stuff. Some people buy bass boats for there free time. I get a 2 axis cnc Bridgeport “hobby” mill. LOL

I think it would be a fun project and having a pretty cool one of a kind ride would just be a bonus. :0)

I was mostly kidding there, but I supposed implicitly that the “anyone” you asked about would not include you. You should know well enough why you haven’t done it yet yourself. :slight_smile:

I’ll cop to having run through schemes like that myself. I know only too well how many ambitious “fun projects” I’ve got sitting around already, waiting for me to get in the mood for more of that “fun” and finish them.

But you might get some ideas looking over Corbin’s projects too:
http://www.corbinstreehouse.com/blog/category/unicycling/

Best of luck if you do it, and pictures please as LanceB says.

LOL We are kindred spirits. I recently got rid of my 32 years of on going fun projects (the kids). Hopefully for good this time!

Its is just a thought right now but once the cold weather gets here who knows.

In the mean time I will watch the aluminum scrap pile at work. And thanks for the links. I will soak up all the information I can on the subject.