The threads on my Schwinn giraffe were stripped so I started tearing the thing down and guess what happened when I popped the caps off for the bearings!!! I am in need of bearings and caps, and most likely the tapered cone on both sides since they are a little eat up. Anyone know where to even look for this ? Do they sell a complete set/kit for a rebuild still?
Newbie on this site and to unicycling for the most part so any help would be appreciated.
Jason
Check with Tom Miller at The Unicycle Factory. His number is 765.452.2692.
Not sure what the schwim giraffe uses, but I changed my performer giraffe over to a sealed unit - link here:
Never had to do anything with it other than pumo up the tyre & ride it since then
Once you get off the phone with Tom (may take a while), if that didn’t work out you could look up that other axle and see if the width is a match. Measure your Schwinn frame and then you can email Unicycle.com with the question if it doesn’t appeaar on the product page.
Note that if you make that switch, you will need a new rim and tire (and spokes). The Schwinn uses a 28-spoke wheel vs. what I believe is 36 on the Nimbus. The upside of this is you will be able to find tires. The Schwinn uses and odd size that was very common back in the 70s and 80s, but is now very hard to find. 20 x 1 3/4" is not the same as 20 x 1.75"!
Another reason why using a different hub may be helpful is if you have the older Schwinn hub. These were built like a Track hub, with the sprocket just threaded on, and held by a lock ring. Those could come loose under heavy use, which is a bad thing on a Giraffe. The later version had three hex-head screws holding the sprocket. If you see three hexagonal heads with standard screwdriver slots in them, that’s the newer kind, which is better.
Your local bike shop might be able to help you out. Shimano uses the cone and loose ball system still. They could find something that’ll match the Schwinn hub. Worst case they can build a new wheel for it!