Questions from a new rider.

General
1

I started riding a few months ago and i have some questions. I learned on my roommates 24" Torker LX and I just got my 26" Torker LX in the mail tuesday. I like riding muni and around town, hopping up curbs and stuff, which leads me to my first question:

My axle (I think it’s my axle) is already bending a little, from hopping I would assume. Is it possible to upgrade to a better axle, or did I just buy a crappy uni.

Also whenever I ride, my pants always rub against my groin and it gets really sore. Any recomendations? Different underwear? New seat?

And last, will I still be able to have kids, or does unicycling blow my chances out of the water.

Any advice would be awesome.

Thanks
-Wayde

2

I’ve been learning on my 24" torker Lx… The lx series has a pretty good rep, I’m surprised to hear the axel is breaking… I believe you can replace it.

Now, being female I don’t have the same issue as you, but I would think that wearing cycling shorts would help. They have a well padded crotch, and you can wear them under your shorts so you don’t look silly.

-Carolyn

3

exactly about the shorts as carolyn said. I actually bought two pair of shorts that look like baggy shorts, but have the pads sewn in as well.

I’d be surprised that the axle is bending already, you haven’t done near enough on it to break it… it’s renowned as a good starter uni.

p.s.-- Ninjas are better than pirates.

4

While Pirates do have the backing of The Flying Spaghetti Monster, Ninjas have Real Ultimate Power!

5

I don’t mean this in the offensive sense, but how much do you weigh?

Something else to take into consideration is that the 26" LX has 170mm cranks, so it takes less force to bend the axle with those as opposed to the 125mm cranks on a 20" LX.

6

I weigh 170ish. I was wondering if it was because it has longer cranks.

Are all axles universal for the most part?

7

I too weigh 170 =p

With the longer cranks, it will be easier to bend, specially with out them being splined.

The axle\hubs arnt universal, there are many different kinds, IMO, the KH hubs are the best, but profiles are really good too =p then most cotterless hubs (square-tappered) are pretty much the same, except some can be somewhat better, but not too much, for a strong hub, splined is the best way to go =p

8

Do I have to buy a whole new wheel then?

9

nope, you can just buy new cranks, or a new hub, depends what brakes, for everything (most of the time) you only need to replace what broke, in some cases you do need to buy a new hub\crank set, but usally its one or the other =p

10

im pretty sure you can still have children cause con tray to popular myth the semen is created somewhere other that the testes(hey gild/gilby im using the corect terms here) and the testes are just there to create testostorne or atleast thats what my dad said

11

I think your dad is pulling your leg mate!

Unicycling has pretty much killed my chances of having kids! Lol! I crushed my balls soo much when i was learning. Now i only crush them on high drops when i land wrong!

Rock on!
Edd

12

yeah i thoght some thing was up when he was telling me

13

The LX is probably not intended to be a heavy-duty MUni. I would vote that it is probably a combination of the big wheel, long cranks, your weight and the hopping that is bending your axle.

As for the chafing…“real” bicycle shorts are expensive. I find the chafing happens when you sweat. For everyday riding I wear “compression shorts”. They are cheaper, tight fitting, spandex type of material and do not have the extra padding. Rubbing takes place between my outer shorts (usually cotton cargo shorts) and the compression shorts instead of against my skin. Look for compression shorts in the sporting goods department of your local discount store, usually next to the athletic supporters.

14

Unicycles don’t have separate axles and hubs like bikes do. You can replace the hub, but it means rebuilding the wheel.

I think it is unexpected that a Torker LX hub would be bending just from hopping curbs, even with beginner’s technique. The component I would most expect to fail would be the cranks; is perhaps the crank itself bent?

15

yea i have foolishly taken my lx hopping down steps and nothing is bent or broken…a defect mabye but there may be many factors 2 the bendation…i took mine on muni but noithing super rocky… as far and the kids thing…yes your balls can get hurt from unicycling if you mess up but i have never heard of any one going sterile or any thing like that

as for chafing i dont have as much problems with hit unles i wear shorts…if i wear long pants i never have trouble

if your going 2 buy a new hub for the lx i dont think you need splined as i think some one else said i dont think its worth puting a splined hub on a lx but im not an athority either

i guess you could call up unicycle.com about it and see what they recomend they are pretty nice and cool

hope i helped

warren

16

i think you can still have kids but they may end up like your boys will…deformed! but seriously, crushing your balls wont make you not have kinds it will just hurt for a while. and about the cranksa nd hub, if its bending already then take it easy on them or if you have the money, upgrade.

17

well, i’ld say yes. unless you can meet a girl who also rides. somehow i doubt the uni makes the same impression on females as say a white '06 cadalac escalade with 26" chrome spinners (not that i would trade my torker for a gas guzzler like that anyday, but at least i’m out of the denial stages.)

18

that’s one more of us and one less of them

19

update: today i tried hopping with my feet switched around to see if the cranks woud re-align and they did, then i hopped regular and they went back, so i think it is the cranks and not the axle, which is good because i dont want to rebuild the whole wheel.

also, i rode about 4 miles today wearing softer cotton pants rather than jeans, and the chaffing wasn’t nearly as bad. maybe i’ll invest in a pair of those compression shorts.

so the problem isn’t destroying my reproductive organs. thats good news.

thanks for all the advice everyone.

-wayde