Trying this again, as my first post never showed up.
Does anyone have any recommended alternatives for buying uni equipment beyond one’s LBS or unicycle.com? Ideally, would be nice to know of a source or two with decent online cataloging, selection, and customer service. Maybe the size of the market doesn’t support this yet, but thought I’d check as I haven’t been able to locate any alternatives.
Thanks,
Tom
www.bedfordunicycles.ca
I don’t know what shipping to USA is like, but it’s certainly a fantastic service for us Canadians
edit-his site hasn’t been updated for a while now, but if you email him, he’ll give you all the advice you need
But we’re all anxious!
Wow, pretty thorough listing, although you’re correct on the site; clearly he’s not trying to compete on technology.
It’s good to see some alternatives…now if I can find a similar source in the US, I’ll be really happy.
I’m buying an orange uni from Darren which I will be naming the Tangerine Dream (remember them?) Darren quoted me $25 shipping from Toronto to Seattle.
Re: Purchasing Alternatives
You are spoiled, my read-haired friend 
What is your gripe with Unicycle.com? They are aware of things to improve in their online system, but it is loaded with information, and it works. Their customer service is the best in the business.
Darren’s site is also great, though not sure how it works for ordering from the USA. There is also Semcycle, though you can’t order online, and The Unicycle Factory, though you definitely can’t order online.
There are also the vendors in Europe, such as Pichler and Siegmono, not to mention Roger Davies and Unicycle.com.uk.
So many choices! And you can usually order something and have it actually on its way to you within a day or two. Not like the old days. In the old days, we’d have to wait six months for a Miyata seat. Slow shipper? No, unless you count the distributors. They would only order them once a year, and never enough. Fortunately that’s no longer the case.
Not only can we now get the parts that used to be witheld from us, there are also lots more parts, and unicycles, being made just for us. A lot less trying to make bike parts work for other jobs!
Anyway, compared to a few years ago, being a unicycle buyer today is a paradise. Call an 800 number or click on your computer, and you can have most of what unicycling has to offer delivered to your door within days. Amazing!
Meanwhile, I believe Unicycle.com is working on a system to keep better track of the specifications of parts available. Wouldn’t it be nice if every component came with a listing of its dimensions? Bearing size and “spread” for frames, actual dimensions for tires, bearing width and exact size for axles, and sizes for all seat posts and seat tubes? That is on the horizon.
What else would be useful for customers?
Re: Re: Purchasing Alternatives
Yeah, I’m probably spoiled since I didn’t live through the “war years”, so can only compare my experiences with those I have when spending my money on other goods and services.
Actually, no complaints with the online aspects of any of this…I don’t expect (and don’t really want) to buy a uni without talking to a human first. Nor is it my intent do start a public gripe around any particular business, either uni.com or LBS. It’s just when I decide to “vote with my pocketbook” I want to find out where the other voting booths are. 
John, for some reason the PM feature doesn’t seen to be active for you (but is for the other respondents to the post…). If you want to PM me or let me know best way to contact, I’d be happy to provide some background that may be of interest.
Tom
for johnfoss:
my gripe??
rotflmao!!!
in order to avoid needlessly slanderin’ uni.com, i will not post my gripe…
you are, however, correct in stating that unicycle buying is slowly emerging from the dark ages. until a couple o’ years ago i had no idea i could purchase a uni that was not made by schwinn. now, if only i can get parts that actually work straight out of the box, we’d be makin’ progress…
for harper:
damn! {cheshire} i was gonna have me new coker frame powder coated Int’l Orange an’ call it TD. que sera…
maybe i’ll stick with Lachrymose.
for all:
have a wonderful day…
doc
Re: Re: Re: Purchasing Alternatives
Yah, and before the war years, it was really bad!
War years = Miyatas, Semcycles, big wheels, etc. available, but nobody knew about them. And everything else that wasn’t a Schwinn had a really bad seat!
Pre-war years = No Miyatas, Semcycles, big wheels. Just Schwinns, and Japanese unicycles (which were better than today’s Savages).
Pre-pre-war = Pre-1967, no Schwinns. Commercially made unicycles very rare, and probably very hard to find.
Understood. No sweat.
For everyone in Tom’s situation, that’s why my email address is loosely disguised at the bottom of every post. I prefer email when possible, because it’s easier to track, store, and look up.
Re: Purchasing Alternatives
On Mon, 12 May 2003 23:53:07 -0500, harper
<harper.ncpim@timelimit.unicyclist.com> wrote:
>Tangerine Dream (remember them?)
Got three LPs from them, safely hidden
Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.