After some research and a bit of advice from Ben, I purchased an Oracle 29. The thing is amazing. Coming from a 24, I was rolling over and through stuff I never would have dreamed of before, not to mention the speed increase. I couldn’t be happier with the wheel. Free mounting is still a bit inconsistent, and I don’t really know how to use the brake properly (my first uni with one). Had a few good spills, hearing the disk ping had me worried but it is well protected I guess. As has been said many times, the size of the wheel is very impressive, somewhat intimidating at first. Here it is:
Oracle frame
Nimbus gel seat
Tektro Auriga brake
Ardent 29 X 2.4
Dominator 2 rim
Oracle disk hub
Studded plastic pedals
KH moment 150mm
Pete at UDC Canada let me exchange the stock venture cranks for the moments, and was very generous with his time (UDC shop is in Calgary so I was able to pick it up in person.)
A friend where I work has started learning to ride. I let him use my old 20" to start with, and he wanted to pick up a used one of his own. I checked the local craigslist, and found this one in a consignment store nearby. We drove out at lunch time, offered $50, and it was a deal.
I never heard of this brand before (“Summit”), but it has a UDC sticker on the seat tube and an old KH seat. It’s got real old-school cottered cranks, so even though it’s got a real fat 20" tire, it’s not going to be doing many big drops. But for a learner I think it’s a great find for a great price. I rode it around the parking lot, and it rides real well. Cool stuff.
Not the greatest picture but those don’t look like cottered cranks to me. They look like pre-Isis splined cranks with pinch bolts. And that looks like it might be a 20" x 2.5" tire (aka 19" wheel). I think your friend did well.
Hey Schmolagin,
Thanks for that info! I’m pretty new to this, so I wasn’t familiar with this brand, but after reading those posts, it looks like it was a pretty good early trials model. I thought it looked like a good one! Good info on the early splined axles. (And yeah, I told him that if he ended up not wanting to stick with unicycling, I’d take it off his hands for the same price. I’m so generous…)
Thanks!
LanceB
Yes, sorry for the misspelling, Shmolagin. I typed what I saw and didn’t notice the extra letter either. I guess German-origin names like Schmidt and Schmeling are familiar enough for us to fall into using that letter combination.
Those threads had some comments about that model maybe being a little bit heavy but it seems like a great starter, one that someone with an interest in trials or street riding could go a long way on. And I think it’s a little funny that 2004 model year unicycles might as well be from the stone age. I don’t think of that as being very long ago.
If the cranks should happen to be damaged, or if they’re really long for some reason as that text seems to suggest, those can be had for all of 12 GBP plus shipping of course.
I didn’t thoroughly look at all those threads but I know the first KH trials looked identical. I don’t remember if It was just a very similar design or Kris rebranded them like many bike companies do before he had his own design made.
I briefly tried a Summit and it was surprisingly light, esp considering it’s steel. A pound or two lighter than my 20" freestyle (also steel).
This was built from parts. Thanks to Nurse Ben and Saskatchewanian for advice. It’s a Kh 36 frame with a 26 in wheel for Muni. The reason for this uni experiment was to have the ability to travel with a 26 29 and 36 with out having to haul 3 unicycles. In the near future I will be lacing up a 36 and 29 wheels for it. I’ve been riding it for a week and I rode Muni today and it works awesome. I was a little worried about knee strikes but that is not a problem. It’s stiff light and strong. A brake system will come soon. I’m in love with it and the 3 wheel concept.
