Yes, seems like a good idea with the advantages being:
you set the right tension just right once (e.g. with a screw with locktight) and then just open/close and the tension is correct (on my Schlumpf I use a torque wrench to get it just right)
fast & easy to open/close
As mentioned, the bike industry has had lots and lots of tries before the multiple standards have developed. I think I remember a system from Marzocchi or some fork company around 2005 or so that had something lke that: on both sides of the fork there was a quick release where one end was a pivot, the other a forked section that the quick-release fit into. I think the bike industry didn’t like it because it was “heavy” when counting 10s of grams (other systems only had one clamp with fewer parts).
If you don’t need it then you don’t need it. But some of us live lives or ride in ways that it would be very beneficial, whether it be for transport, easy flat repair in the field, wheelset and tire changes, easy torque adjustments, no small parts to fiddle with or get lost, weight savings (hopefully) because of needing less tool, etc etc etc.
Without innovation you’d still be riding unicycles that broke a hub on every 1ft drop, I don’t understand the resistance to improvement of designs. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it” is old fashioned and out of date. I believe in the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, or constant improvement. That’s what we do as humans, we constantly improve and streamline our lives. Do you want to go back to churning your own butter? Would you rather light candles every night or turn on a light switch? I don’t own a car, I ride a motorcycle every day, whether it’s 20 degrees or 111. If I borrow a car and it has AC and seat heaters… ooooh those are nice. Do I absolutely them? No I don’t, but I sure appreciate it.
Yes, I can undo 4 allen bolts, yes I carry all my tools on me every ride, no I don’t need it, yes I do want it.
Why, when I was young, we didn’t even have bearing caps. If you pulled up on the seat, the wheel fell off. If that was good enough for me, then I don’t know what these young people are complaining about.
Seriously, I’ve never had problems with bearing cap screws coming loose. Between the short and long end of an “L” shaped hex tool, I think a precise enough tolerance can be gotten while hand tightening. I can not imagine how a quick release could be lighter. Using the word “simpler” is not really accurate. Maybe “more convenient”. The tab on the quick release could be broken if the bottom of the unicycle struck something. And if there were any deformation over time of the cap or the base of the frame, then the quick release would not engage with a the same torque without further adjustment.
I will leave it to the fan boys to experiment with this immature technology. Until then I will keep using old world methods to secure my wheel, such as wrapping the bearing caps with twine and beeswax.
Uh, yes, to fix the most common mechanical failure, the tube, it is convenient to be able to quickly remove the wheel without tools. Which is why every decent bike comes with quick-release wheels.
I have had a quick-release bearing holder unicycle for some 14 years and none of the things you are worried about have been an issue. And it’s been in conditions more extreme than most unicycles ever experience, such as being repeatedly immersed in salt water for periods of over an hour.
And I have problems with bearing cap screws coming loose all the time. On beat up, dirty MUnis with crap all over the threads, the range of tolerance between “too tight for the wheel to spin freely” and “too loose to stay fastened during hard riding” is quite small.
Seems like most of you like to add extra steps to fixing a tire, at least 50% of the time you can get away with leaving the wheel in the frame and patching it right there…
(While we are on the topic of bearing caps: A spoke is strong enough to replace the bolts holding bearing caps in, zipties are not sufficient. It will still move a bit, but it’s rideable even up and down hills. Now you know.)
I patch tubes on the road/trail sometimes, but on my bike I always bring an extra tube and just swap it in if I get a flat. Then I throw it in a drawer in my workshop and patch a whole bunch at the same time.
Cool hack! Yes, another issue with bearing cap bolts is that they can drop out while you’re riding or get lost while you’re working on the wheel.
OK, thats a good one too!, but you all seem to miss the point of a quick release on a uni/muni. Same frame with disc brake, different wheel/tire combo for different rides and less space to transport them all. Works for me the last 11 years!
I like that idea. Although now you’d have eight pieces of hardware not to lose when you’re trying to fix a flat on the road. Might be worth it on my knurled-bearing Schlumpf so I can really crank it down.
I was mostly joking I do swap wheels on my bicycle all the time, and can see wanting to do it on unicycles in the future. Even the small amount of time it takes to swap parts around gets annoying when You start doing it one or more times per week.
I’d have to look up for the pictures. System worked good, but I’d honnestly rather have a system with one bolt than an actual quick release lever. It never got loose or never got caught in my disk while riding. Took less than a minute to switch a wheel. Pretty fun, but I like my 4 ti bolts better
I was kind of wondering about what a quick release would look like. In an older thread I see:
There is also an off the shelf parts list for this one (looks like the same one in service above):
Looks like it is doable and road tested but for some reason has not become very popular. Maybe just too much work to replace the fully serviceable standard bolt on bearing cap.
yes Jim, that’s what I copied, only I made my own screws with swivel links and slotted the stock bottom caps so I have a quick swap out of wheels with the disc. I copied it in 2008 when I was looking for stronger hub ideas because of the breakage of square taper hubs and had only made one frame at the time. I was making my own disc hubs then also and got in the habit of bringing a spare.
That’s the one I have on my Kinetics unicycle. The thing that makes it a little fiddly is that the lever is not attached to the clamp; it has a bolt with a sleeve and washer. When you open the clamp the bolt and washer move around and the whole assembly usually comes off. Then getting it back in is, not exactly difficult, but fiddly to get the tension right.
If it worked a little more solidly I think it would be a pretty obvious improvement.
I do swap wheels on my bicycle all the time, and can see wanting to do it on unicycles in the future. Even the small amount of time it takes to swap parts around gets annoying when You start doing it one or more times per week.
