I’m not really interested in setting speed records and I doubt a few pounds of weight would help with that anyway. What I’m after is a more nimble machine that can turn faster and react more quickly to pedal input.
I wouldn’t normally be counting grams, but since I’m building a lightweight wheel, it makes sense to me to look at other areas where I could save weight in the build.
As for the rest of the unicycle, I’ve already got a handle saddle and light pedals so I’m not going to be cutting a lot of weight there.
I can already stop and turn my 14 pound $150 UDC 29er on a dime even with cotterless cranks
And a used bmx brake . It is as nimble as any uni I have ever rode on the street or bike path, (not muni or trials) that includes my nimbus 29er that was alot more expensive and intended to replace my udc. Honestly I like new and more advanced equipment as much as the rest of us and I love to wrench and tinker any chance I get but we are talking about a machine with one moving part that is as simple of a machine as it comes. I love my nimbus 29er and can see that there is a higher level of refinement and quality and I do like the isis hub and cranks better but I have to say I can not ride it any faster or with any more control than my el cheepo UDC trainer.
Back to my original point, I’m trying to accumulate data on actual user experiences that will show the benefit of upgrading to a high tech light weight wheel in relation to weight, speed and cost.
As these wheels are being built and it seems there are quite a few in progress right now it will be interesting to see what a complete wheel actually costs with spokes hub and labor. It will be even more interesting to find out about user experiences and if it is all worth it
I own a Braus CF rim and it’s a game changer. Acceleration is much easier, which is very useful when riding in a city. Turns are much simpler, too. This could save a bit of speed if you’re already at your max speed because of lack of strength - which is probably not the usual case of casual unicyclists.
It also helps to jump so it’s great if you want to jump on and off sidewalks.
Is it worth the price? It probably depends on what you’re looking for and how much money you want to spend into unicycling. In my opinion, it is a must-have.
I have two 36" braus carbon rims. The first one with an RGB frame and a handlesaddle L, I use it mainly to ride in town. Before switching to the carbon rim, I preferred a G29 for rideability and acceleration. The second rim is on a G36 with a custom flansberrium frame for speed training. The least I can say is that since the switch to the carbon rim, turns and accelerations are easier, and the crosswind is less painful. And I’m waiting for the confirmation of the IUF, but a priori I set the new unicycle hour record with this unicycle 15 days ago.
It’s not only the weight gain, it’s also a gain in rigidity.
Thanks to toutestbon and maxence for your replies. I recognize both of you through your posts and respect your opinions as advanced and experienced riders. It’s nice to read about how these wheels effect your riding I feel that if those of you riding carbon fiber wheels could write more descriptive posts on rider experiences post build it would be beneficial to all interested. It would also be nice to be able to hold one and compare in person pre purchase, not sure how that could happen.
Best of luck, maybe in the near future the upscale unis will come with a carbon fiber wheel installed.
For the French unicycle magazine, I was asked to do a small article about the 36" and in particular about carbon rims (this thread allows me to update the existing material). I also wrote that there were rumours about a brand offering whole unicycles with carbon rims, I hope it will happen soon.
If you happen to be in the U.S. zip code 20879 you are welcome to stop by and see mine, it is scheduled to arrive today. Not sure how long I will have it though - I’m attempting to return it for the hooked version.
Declaimer: I am not a rim or tire designer but based on my seat of the pants calculations I believe that a 36” Nightrider tire will likely blow off a Nextie CF hooked or hookless rim when inflated to the rated pressure.
Based on the measured tire bead steel area and elasticity of steel I figure that the tire bead diameter will increase about 4mm when inflated. If that increased diameter is not uniform around the entire rim/tire I’d estimate that one part could easily push out 4mm and that would result in a tire blow off.
I believe that the Nextie CF rim section where the tire fits should be much deeper and have a hook similar to a Stealth 2 rim to be reliable.
What is the section of a Braus/Alchemist Carbon fiber 36" Rim? Is it deeper? Has anyone had a tire blow off of it as they have on a Nextie rim?
I would hate to see a bunch of people buy a rim that is not reliable. Is there a rim/tire designer here?
I could see Mad4One doing this, or perhaps KH in order to differentiate themselves and try and regain some ground as the “top end model” which they used to be.
Or maybe Qu-Ax to further push their “super light” selling point with the RGB 36".
On tyre design, my understanding of the tyre design is that the “dip or ridge” is simply due to the production of the tyre and doesn’t actually play into keeping the tyre on the rim in the way that you think. The bead itself pushes into the area below the bead hook and the bead hook will depress into the rubber above creating that dip.
I also suspect that the BSD is larger than what’s advertised (advertised for what tyres are designed to fit rather than the actual dimension), and outer diameter is larger then larger than expected from those images based on how difficult people found putting tyres on the hookless version.
Anyway, I also don’t have one in hand to check or test, and if the tyres do blow off I’ll simply send the rim back.
Not what I expected. Alice Yang replied: If you return the rim to us, the shipping cost and customs duty are really high. We don’t recommend to do this.
She did not specify what the actual costs are. Looks like I’m building this wheel and selling it in the future when the hooked is readily available.
Yes, the Bead Seat Diameter (BSD) could be different then the Stealth 2 rim. However I do see that the advertised BSD of the Stealth 2 rim is listed at the same 787mm as the the CF rim. The other thing that will make a tire hard to mount is a shallower dip in the center of the rim. The CF rim has a much shallower dip in the center (compared to the height of the edges) then the Stealth 2 rim.
Who would buy it? Unless a new tire comes out that is compatible (in which case you wouldn’t need to sell it), or it works reasonably well at moderate tire pressures (again then you might not need to sell it), I don’t see anyone wanting to buy it. I think we are stuck with these rims.
I think there is a lot of (interesting) speculation in this thread both about the hookless and the upcoming hooked version of the rim but only one actual example of a tire blowout on the hookless rim as experienced by @WeaponizedBacon with a tubeless setup.
I would be very frustrated if that happened to me and I would probably also have shelved the rim (at least for a while).
I would be happy to buy it if it was within Europe and I was on the lookout for a light 36" setup. I have the original Nextie hookless rim (+stretched SV19 tube +Vee Tire T-Monster) and have ridden it weekly for the last two months. I run it with <3 bar so I’m not pushing the limits. It makes for a great lightweight and responsive 36" for my use which is mainly cross country / light muni.
It would be nice if some of the others (@Tripthebalance@Rowan@pierrox others? ) that also build a wheel with the hookless version could share their “long term” experience. Just so this thread does not turns into a thread about how incompatible the hookless Nextie rim is…
Havent ridden mine a lot since building, but no problem so far. I don’t like over pumped tires, I’m usually in the 2.5/3bars max range, which is plenty hard already - I’m 76 kilograms.
Under 2.5 bars, the Nightrider Lite tends to fold a bit on sharp turns, due to its thinner sidewalls, unlike the regular Nightrider which works well even at low pressure.
Alice said she will show the rim comparisons to the engineers. Pretty sure that the actual steel bead is what hooks into the rim, and that the little indentation (dip) is created by pressure from the point on the hook and not built into the tire. My concern is that the walls between the hook of the nextie are only 3.5mm, but the bead height of the nightrider is well over 5mm.
I just got a rather odd and troubling email from Alice regarding the nextie rim/nightrider compatibility. She is still waiting for the engineer techs to get back to her but she added: “maybe you could find another brand of the tire to fit our Hooked 36-inch rim.”
My reply back was to say that most 36er riders, both for unis and bikes, use the nightrider tire, and I explained that all other brands, which are few, use wire beads that are pretty much the same. Bottom line is they have to make the rim to conform to the tire, not the other way around!
