Thanks to a couple of bolts from Darren Bedford, and about 20 minutes of work, my Summit’s KH cranks are now nubless.
A comparison picture
top: KH140 cranks - now nubless
bottom: KH170 cranks - still have nubs
left: nubless
rite: nubs
I modified my Summit first, because the nubs bothered me more on the short (trials) cranks than on the long (muni) cranks.
Now that I’ve done it, I just need to order a couple of more bolts so I can make the same modification on my muni.
FYI: I wear hightops shoes when riding, so the nubs never bloodied my ankles. But I still want nubless because:
- on my trials: I occasionally catch my heal on the nub, throwing an otherwise good move out of control
- on both trials and muni: the nubs are destroying my leg armor (tearing holes in the ankle area)
Cool stuff.
What’s different about Darren’s bolts? Did you have to add any additional spacer washers on the axle (spindle) to get the cranks to fit snugly again?
And for comparison, here’s Steve Howard’s nub removal gallery
The top of the bolt is rounded and wider (you can see it fairly well in the pics).
The nub part of the crank had to be cut off and ground down - this is the same crank modification as Steve Howard’s. However, I used much cruder tools, and got a very satifactory result. I carefully used a hacksaw and a bench grinder. I ground the surface slowly and intermittently to prevent any accidental “heat treatment” (I never let the part get hot to touch). This took no more than 10 minutes per crank.
No spacers or anything were necessary.
John
I was going to make a announcement in 2 weeks about the new bolts available from
Bedford Unicycles that can be used to replace the ones that currently come on the KH and other unicycles.
These bolts along with a quick removal of the nub on the crank will eliminate the protrusion that everyone has been complaining about for the last year or so.
I have been doing this for over 6 months now.
I have the bolts coming from 2 suppliers and will be able to supply about 300 customers/unicycles.
Anyone wanting to order the bolts that will come with instructions can send a e-mail to me, Darren,
at info at Bedfordunicycles dot ca
The difference between Steve Howards option and mine is… anyone can do my option and the crank stays in the original location/postition. No spacers required keeping the Q factor the same.
Another reason, it’s inexpensive, Just the price of the bolts.
I will also offer the option of removing the nub
for those who wouldn’t want to do it themselves.
Keep tuned for more info soon,
Darren
How much are these bolts and how do you grind the nub down?
David
That’s really nice, I’m going to give it a shot now on my trials uni.
Andrew
Very interesting. The bolt must have a specially shaped shoulder to allow the modified crank to fit on without needing an additional spacer. I assume it’s a custom machined bolt.
Cool stuff. That’s innovation.
Yes credit should go to Yoggi in France who did this converstion 12 months ago. We then passed the modification on to the factory who implemented it on all the newer models. So this modification is only needed if you have an older model or replacement cranks.
Should really put these in our catalogue as well, been a bit slow in implenting that. Well done Darren.
Roger
Way to go to all of you who have made this adaptation possible. Taking the nubs off my Summit have totaly change my relationship with my summit.
Tommy
Interseting? Yes.
Innovative? Yes.
Custom? Nope.
The bolt has a wide flat shoulder. Unlike the stock bolts which push against the inside surface of the crank, the outer edge of the new bolt head pushes against the outside of nub. Everything, except the excess portion of the nub, remains in exactly the same place as before. Therefore no need for additional spacers. Look carefully at the above pics.
My KH24 is equipped with these bolts. I’m not sure if this was a post-production modification that Darren did or if that’s how all the 2004 models are.
Go here to see another (not quite as clear) picture of what mine look like.
-mg