just a question from a noob as I don’t know anything about tubeless tires. What happens when your outer tire punctures like maybe from a nail.
Doesn’t the air come out then? and if you had a tube then any holes in the outer tire are not important. Naturally you will have to stitch up an inner tube if it is punctured which is the reason to go tubeless, but aren’t you just moving the problem to the outer tire?
You run the tubeless tyre with some liquid sealant inside (although the tyre should seat and be airtight without it). The sealant flows round inside the tyre and if there is a puncture the released air forces it into the hole where it coagulates and seals it — obviously it can only seal reasonably small holes.
If you look on YouTube you’ll find videos of folk showing how to fix bigger punctures in tubeless tyres with plugs. They typically show puncturing the tyre and it sealing itself, then having to make a much bigger hole to demonstrate having to use a plug.
This is a good one: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9hj0gz-UC6o
Good explanation above, but thought I’d add that it really works and is so much more than you would expect. Small holes like from a thorn or nail will seal up right away with absolutely no problem. I once had a huge hole, something close to the size of a dime and although it spit fluid out for about 15 minutes, it eventually sealed!! (I had to top off the air as it lost a lot but it worked and I could finish the ride after only pumping 3 times — as opposed to taking the wheel off and all the work to change the tube)
Only bigger tears and rips are a problem. A few weeks ago I managed to get a vertical tear on my sidewall of 2-3 cm (although not completely torn through with some threads holding intermittently). Actually the fluid managed to seal the hole after a day: on the initial ride it would squirt fluid, then seal, then the tire would compress the sidewall when I rode over something big like a rock and it would open up again. After pumping it up again and leaving it overnight, then turning to get the fluid on it and leaving it again, it sealed. I went on another muni ride and holds. But I’m worried not that it will leak but that the sidewall is now too weak and might completely tear through… Unfortunately a plug will not work well on the sidewall. I saw some videos where people sew the sidewall up with dental floss and then add rubber cement and then seals up with Stans fluid, but I’m not so sure I want to do all that work…
But in general tubeless is awesome. And if you have problems, usually it’s not during the ride but at home when mounting the tires (with a tube it’s easy to mount but then you get flats on the trail).
Jumbo Jim 4.0 tubed - for the moment
So, I finally have it all together, with some pre-existing parts added to a new frame, Nimbus rim and the 36H hub.
Given that the rim is not designed for tubeless, I went with a Jumbo Jim liteskin that I had and am running this tubed for starters because I am keen to take it out.
Maybe at a later point I will try to set up the Nimbus rim tubeless ghetto / split tube with lots of padding to raise the centre part of the rim so that tyre can move out and seat against the rim when being inflated.
Update on my first ride: I did 5k yesterday on mixed tarmac, gravel and grass. It is a big change from my 24" 3" previous muni, and there are lots of new impressions for a newbie like me. However, at around 1 bar, there was noticeable - but manageable - self steer on road camber and it did of course go much easier over the rougher ground. I am well pleased so far.
Hi tinkerbeau
That’s great you have your hatchet all built up now and you have got out on it😀
Mine is coming on too with my rim and hub spoked up now and I just need to tension the spokes.i have gone for a maxxis fbr 4.8 120 tyre which will be tubed.
I have my brake in the form of shimano six and ice tech 180mm disc.
I’m in no real rush to get mine finished as I enjoy building but will get some photos up at the weekend.
That’s badass! Nice job, best looking hatchet I’ve ever seen.
I’ll agree with Anton there! Those cutout rims look amazing with some bright tape under them 
Looks good! BR 710 has 32 holes, have you built it with 32 hole hub? Noticed that you are running it tubed, but is that DT Swiss rim easy to set up tubeless, ie is it tight enough against the bead of the tyre?
thanks for the positive comments on my hatchet which i am pleased with although i have a couple of finshing touches to do to it,once i am happy with seat height i am going to shorten the brake hose and run it through the seat clamp which will keep it out of the way and look tidier.
at first i thought the yellow rim rubber was a little OTT but then the whole uni is really and it would be a shame to hide the cut outs with black rubber.
yes aali i have built the rim up using a 32 hole hub from municycle.com as recommended by kunstrasen from this forum (many thanks).the rim is able to be run tubeless but i am running tube as i have never had any dealings with tubeless,i might look into it but i am a bit old school and like a simple tube.
I agree with everyone – it looks excellent. I like the touch with the yellow stitching on the seat matching the yellow on the tyre and wheel and also the yellow in the Hatchet logos (they come in red don’t they?). You probably don’t want to take it out in case you drop it – I suppose you’ll get over that soon enough though 
!
I still haven’t done anything with mine – haven’t had the time unfortunately.
Hi drd did your frame come with the stickers in an envelope? Yes stickers were red but as they weren’t on the frame I got them re made in yellow when I saw the quax eleven saddle,hopefully I have not overdone the yellow theme!
Apart from a clicking shimano saint pedal (brought secondhand) which will annoy me my hatchet is ready for a ride once I’ve sorted pedal, I hope I don’t drop it too soon as it would be great to look as it’s does for a while.
That’s a shame you have not had time to build yours yet but I hope you get round to it soon.
Saint pedals use 24 very tiny 3/32" loose balls in each pedal. Very easy to lose on disassembly and they are hard to get.
I have just ordered balls from the USA for my two pairs of Saints. The shipping cost to Australia was double the base price of 100 ordinary chrome steel balls so I decided to try out a set Silicon Nitride balls as well. They are far more resistant to wear and much lower friction than steel.
It will be interesting to see how they stand up to the shock of the pedal hitting the road.
That’s interesting to hear that’s the size of the bearings incase I need new bearings when I pull them apart.ive serviced many pedals over the years and have little trays for pulling pedals apart so hopefully il catch them all!
Pedals were only cheap so if I trash them then il get something else.
Just looked on eBay and 3/32 loose bearings are readily available
Yes. I found them easily on eBay but in the USA.
Had no luck locating them in Australia.
I can confirm that 3/32 bearing balls are not easily available, I asked from a couple of Shimano official bike repair shops and they did not have them although many Shimano pedals indeed use them. Had to order them online. This was a couple of years ago.
The frame came with the stickers attached, it is funny that your’s didn’t – I wonder if there is any connection with that and the brake caliper problem you had (eg. they didn’t put the stickers on frames with an issue).
I’ll need to get around to ordering some bits. Lack of time is pretty much normal and just a way of life it seems 
With respect to pedals I’ve taken a bit of a thing for Hope F20 ones so I’ll probably put a pair of them on the Hatchet. I’ve got a pair on my 29’er muni and 29’er mountain bike – bought first for the unicycle since they are machined from solid and the end of the pedal axle is within the pedal body so I figured they could take a bit of a beating with dropping them etc. I liked them so much on the uni that I bought a pair for the bike. The grip with a pair of 5.10s is very good. Hope also do a service kit for them with new cartridge bearings and seals should that be needed. The downside is the price, but I like Hope stuff… (and I essentially got the first pair free with Tesco vouchers which pleased me very much at the time!)
So building up the Hatchet will probably end up costing me quite a bit more than buying a whole one, but that wasn’t the point. I’ll just buy the parts over some time and build it up – I like doing that; I get the fun building it, then riding it, and end up with something built just the way I want it using nice stuff – or at least that is the plan 
I only really started thinking of a fat uni when I saw UniMart’s YouTube video and it looked a whole load of fun rolling over things: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ub5R6Oa_YB4
hi drd,
i did wonder if stickers not being stuck on was due to other issues which was why i asked the question of you and your thinking the same as me makes me wonder if i have been supplied a sub quality frame.can i ask where your frame came from? mine was from unicycle.com.
your pedals sure are pricey but like you i enjoy building and having something different to an out of the box unicycle which makes it feel great so whats a little endulgance!
i was not really aware of fat unis until i saw one on ebay for sale and thought that wicked,i cant stand fat bikes but for whatever reason do like uni!
i did watch many hatchet videos on youtube but didnt come across yours,they sure are having a lot of fun on theres.sadly i do not now anyone local to me that rides unicycles as all my biking friends think one wheel is crazy.
Hi m00ms
I got the frame from UDC here in the UK, it looks absolutely fine, but then you only probably noticed an issue with your one when you mounted your brake.
Yes, it is a complete and utter indulgence, not just the pedals, the whole thing… That said, I’ve found there are definite physical and mental health benefits to this unicycle thing, and many indulgences are perhaps not quite so ‘wholesome’ 
Like you the whole thing gives me enjoyment and can be a distraction from other stuff going on in the world.
I don’t have any desire for a fat bike either, the first I was aware of fat tyred cycles was actually a fat recumbent trike that ICE did a few years ago. Then again, I didn’t have any desire for a fat unicycle until a few months ago!
hi drd,
lets hope that you dont have troubles with yours when you get to bulid it,my brake is fine now as it would appear that the IS mount is ever so slightly off where it should be,i am a little disapointed if the frame quality is slightly off but the frame looks great in everyway now so i quess i will never know.
your right the whole thing is an endulgence and currently mine is hanging up on a bike stand and it makes me chuckle when i look at it or spin the wheel! have you decide on rim,hub yet? if you do go the dt dwiss 710 route i will pass on tips i found with building mine if you want.
i hope to ride mine very soon as i have serviced and repalaced the pedal bearings now,the pedal is super smooth although it still made a tiny click so i have put the pedal on my mtb so i can go and get some miles in on the pedal tomorrow to see if that helps settle it or i will have to get some other for it.
