my mom got me this cool antique uni recently, and i was wondereing if anyone had any info on when it was made and waht kind it is.
it has a 16" wheel with a solid rubber tire
it doesnt have any real spokes just rods welded from the hub to the rim.
the cranks are just a piece of metal bent going from the axle to the pedals.
it has a shwin style seatpost and lollypop bearings
the saddle is just a metal base now but it orginaly had some white vinal and (i hope) some padding.
the thing is remarkablely rust free and still has semi-smooth bearings.
its red although i dont know it that is still the original color…
i will post pics soon.
if you think you know how old or what brand it is tell me.
That sounds almost exactly like my mother’s Unicyle from college 'cept her’s had a 20" pnumatic tire. I learned how to ride on one of these, but before long it was worn out. My mother’s was a JC Penny unicycle, pretty cheap.
Sounds like my old Troxel. The frame is split like a Schwinn, with the round tubing “squished” at the top to make a crescent shape. The wheel is built like a tricycle wheel, with 16 spokes, which aren’t welded at either end but aren’t like “real” bike spokes either. The bearing holders look like Miyata ones, but with only one bolt.
If this matches your unicycle it’s probably either a Troxel or similar tricycle-technology unicycle from the 70s or 80s. To save any future riders the agony of trying to learn to ride on it, please back over it with a car as soon as possible.
i’d love to see some pictures, and backing up with a car onto it seems a harsh death for uni… make it fun, do a 6 foot drop with it or sommit like that. That would be awesome.
Oh all right. Just as long as nobody ever tries to learn on it. There used to be pictures of mine on a page at unicycling.org called Unicycle Models. Since Gilby cleaned up the site I don’t know if it’s still there, or gone for good?
Ah yes, the Wayback Machine! I looked it up. Go here and click on Troxel to see the Troxel.
I’m thinking about trying to fix my mother’s with a Miyata wheel and bearings just for sentamental riding. Gotta make it complete with some supershort 89mm crankarms (this made the learning experience terrible). The stock setup is so worn out the tire rubs against the frame…almost on both sides…
does it have a super narrow seat? it sounds like my friend’s old 70’s vagabond it was a sixteen inch, red, lollypops, sounds the same, send me a picture or post one when you get the chance!!!
but the seat has like a rail adapter type thing on it. i mean shit you can even adjust the angle of the seat with it! if you wanna do that on a new uni it can cost like 60 bucks !
Not here, and especially not at an antique store, where some dealers will try to pass off anything as an antique. If the buyer doesn’t know how old it is, hopefully they can be fooled into thinking it’s older.
The unicycle looks like a Troxel, but has some variations from mine. The wheel looks a little beefier, and the cranks are definitely longer! My seat still has the plastic over the top.
one wheely wrote:
>>Antiques have to be over 100 years old
and johnfoss responded:
> Not here, and especially not at an antique store, where some dealers
> will try to pass off anything as an antique. If the buyer doesn’t know
> how old it is, hopefully they can be fooled into thinking it’s older.
The idea of antiques having to be over 100 years old is a new one on me.
I know that some of the toys I used to play with as a kid, which
originally belonged to my dad when he was growing up in the 60’s, are
now considered antiques. I also have the remains of a rather nice
antique geometry set (brass protractor, compasses etc in a wooden case),
which was new when my grandad used it at school in the 20’s. It might
be worth something now if my uncle hadn’t lost most of the bits when he
was at school
Anyway, I reached for dictionary.com, where one of the definitions for
“antique” states:
“8. any work of art, piece of furniture, decorative object, or the
like, created or produced in a former period, or, according to U.S.
customs laws, 100 years before date of purchase.”
So, the 100 year definition is for legal purposes only. Note also, one
wheely, that definition No 3 in the same dictionary.com article mentions
25 years or older in the case of automobiles.
–
Danny Colyer <URL:http://www.colyer.plus.com/danny/>
Reply address is valid, but that on my website is checked more often
“He who dares not offend cannot be honest.” - Thomas Paine
I had a Norco that I got when I was 10, so that would make it 29 years old now. My parents bought it for me and I learned to ride using it. It was a sweet frame, even by todays standards. Main cap bearings, seat with front and rear bumper bars that ripped off after three days, a seat you had to keep bending back or folding over to hold the foam and cover. It was sweet though. I had the frame and stuff until a few years ago and then the it was lost in a move. Pretty heavy, but definately cool.
Yeah, that isn’t the one I have, but it is very similer. It does indeed look like a Troxel. The seat and pedals on yours are different that what we have. Seeing that seat, I guess the rectangle seat with foam and pleather ain’t that bad, lol.
