Riding Backwards/ Crank Arms

Unicycles and Equipment
1

Recently, i purchased this Unicycle
from unicycle.com.

Nimbus X Flat crowned chrome frame with main-cap style bearing holders with 22.2mm seatpost tube
Kris Holm saddle with front lift handle and rear bumper guard
Unicycle.com Wide 36-hole (standard)
Sun double-walled silver (36 spoke)
Marwi 14-gauge stainless steel spokes with brass nipples
Bicycle Euro black steel cotterless crank arms
Chrome-plated plastic crank arm dust caps
United Deluxe 9/16 pedals in white with smooth surface for gym floors
Odyssey GI seat post clamp
Maxxis Hookworm 20 x 1.95 tire
Wheel hand-built in the USA by Kovachi Wheels (www.kovachiwheels.com)

I have a few questions…

  1. What is “splining” and how does it affect a unicycle?
  2. Does riding backwards damage the crank arms of certain unicycles?
  3. If it does, will it damage my new unicycle or can i ride mine backwards?

The manual that came in the package warned me not to put the seat on backwards as it could damage the crank arms if i rode it like that. Although the manual appeared to be just a general unicycle manual, not one that pertained directly to the unicyle i purchased.

I would appreciate any advice or answers to my questions as i am trying not to damage my new unicycle.

Thanks for your help guys.

2
  1. splined is where instead of havind sqare taper(like yours) it has a join kind of like a star. like this.
  2. riding backwards wont damge any unicycle.
  3. For help on how to ride backwards look here.
3

if you ride a unicycle backwards, the pedals unscrew. but occasional backwards riding shouldn’t do anything unfixable. splining is a crank arm to hub system that uses a series of grooves (splines) on the hub, and matching pattern on the crank arms to make a stronger system than cottorless. it is generally used for muni, trials, and street. you won’t need it if your doing freestyle. hope this helps.

edit:beat me to it blackbike.

4

splined hubs don’t all look like that though, some have 8-10 splines and are have more squared splines