Semcycle offroad and age

General
1

Mary Hartman wrote:

> Does anyone know if a Off Road tire fits on a 26" Semcycle? Is this a good
> Uni to take off-Road?? -Mary

Mary - I have a 26" Semcycle XL on which I’ve installed a Ritchey mountain bike
tire. It wasn’t exactly easy though. The XL is very narrow between the stays
and even though the tire is a relatively small 2.0, I still had to snip the
knobs off the sides of the tire with large wire cutters before it would turn
without rubbing.

There are SO MANY different sizes of mountain bike tires out there that I’ve got
to think that something would fit without modification. I used the Ritchey just
because that’s what I had laying around.

As far as the Semcycle’s off-road worthiness - I’ve had mine just about 1 year
to the day. I’ve been riding offroad since around July and have had trouble
keeping the seat post from rotating in the lower frame. I’ve tightened the clamp
so tight that I’ve collapsed the seat tube a little and it still won’t hold. I’m
just about ready to build a new heavy duty clamp. I’ve also made an “air seat”
(discussed at great length on this list) that’s really great.

My Semcycle came with cranks that were much too short for offroading. Early on I
installed 170 mm aluminum cranks which helped considerably. Just recently I
installed 177.5 mm cranks and am very happy with them. They help going uphill of
course but I really notice the added control I have riding down steep stuff.

Another subject …

JustsayMo schrieb in Nachricht wrote:

> I’ve heard it’s one of those thing that if you don’t learn it as a kid,
> you’re out of luck?

and Martin Roell replied:

> No no, anyone can learn it! :slight_smile:

How true!! Like I said, I’ve had my Semcycle exactly one year but had never
ridden a unicycle before then - I’m 43. Mind you, I’m still a beginner but I can
pretty much ride anywhere I want on pavement, free mount and ride some pretty
rugged trails. I still don’t hop much and can’t idle very long.

As a matter of fact, I’ve noticed that many of the folks that post to this list
and are just starting out are in their 40’s. Is the desire to ride a unicycle
when approaching middle age just another manifestation of “mid life crisis”?

If that’s true then I suppose my learning to riding a unicycle in mid-life is
better than divorcing my wife, buying a red Corvette and marrying my 25 year old
secretary!

Steve Howard Pocatello, Idaho

2

RE: Semcycle offroad and age

> As far as the Semcycle’s off-road worthiness - I’ve had mine just about 1 year
> to the day. I’ve been riding offroad since around July and have had trouble
> keeping the seat post from rotating in the lower frame. I’ve tightened the
> clamp so tight that I’ve collapsed the seat tube a little and it still won’t
> hold. I’m just about ready to build a new heavy duty clamp.

Rotating seats can be a problem in most unicycle designs. An alternative is the
kind with a bolt thru the post, but this limits your range of adjustability (to
1" notches on Schwinn and Semcycle).

I’ve tried many clamps over the years. On some unicycles, the original clamp had
to be cut off (making the post shorter) because it was welded on. My favorite
clamp is a GT brand BMX clamp that has two bolts, and two different inner
diameters. I don’t know if it will fit the Semcycle XL but you should check at
the bike shop. The bottom half clamps to the frame, while the top half clamps to
the seat post. Crank down those bolts and your seat ain’t goin’ nowhere.

jf

3

RE: Semcycle offroad and age

The GT clamp fits the XL just fine. I have found the single diameter one to work
fine, but it is hard to get tight enough with just the allen screws. I
pre-tighten it with a woodworkers clamp.

            -----Original Message----- From: Foss, JohnX
            [<a href="mailto:johnx.foss@intel.com">mailto:johnx.foss@intel.com</a>] Sent: Monday, January 18, 1999
            11:41 AM To: 'Howastev@aol.com'; UNICYCLING@winternet.com
            Subject: RE: Semcycle offroad and age

> As far as the Semcycle’s off-road worthiness - I’ve had
mine
> just about 1 year to the day. I’ve been riding offroad since
> around July
and
> have had trouble keeping the seat post from rotating in the
> lower frame.
I’ve
> tightened the clamp so tight that I’ve collapsed the seat tube
> a little
and
> it still won’t hold. I’m just about ready to build a new
> heavy duty
clamp.

            Rotating seats can be a problem in most unicycle designs. An
            alternative is the kind with a bolt thru the post, but this
            limits your range of adjustability (to 1" notches on Schwinn and
            Semcycle).

            I've tried many clamps over the years. On some unicycles, the
            original clamp had to be cut off (making the post shorter)
            because it was welded on. My favorite clamp is a GT brand BMX
            clamp that has two bolts, and two different inner diameters. I
            don't know if it will fit the Semcycle XL but you should check
            at the bike shop. The bottom half clamps to the frame, while the
            top half clamps to the seat post. Crank down those bolts and
            your seat ain't goin' nowhere.

            jf