Some few weeks ago there was a discussion here about wheel and axle failure due
to fatigue/heavy use/abuse.
My local bike mechanic (who is learning to be a unicyle mechanic as he maintains
my family’s fleet of unicycles) told me about a super strong wheel called
“RaceLace.” They are built by a company in Seattle (I think). I don’t know
anything about them.
–Scott, Jody, Vjera, Luke, Hope, Thad, and Simon Arnold
o o o o o o 7 unicyclists, Lane County, Oregon /[]\ /[]\ /[]\ /[]\ /[]\ /[]
o (Simon can finally do it)
|\ |\ |\ |\ |\ |\ /[]\ E-mail: jodya@efn.org
O O O O O o o http://www.efn.org/~jodya/jodya.html
Scott Arnold wrote: >My local bike mechanic (who is learning to be a unicyle mechanic as he >maintains my family’s fleet of unicycles) told me about a super strong wheel >called “RaceLace.” They are built by a company in Seattle (I think). I don’t >know anything about them. Anybody heard of them? Check them out at: >http://www.winkelwheel.com/ and let us know.
It looks like a cool idea, a different spoking pattern that will add strength to
an existing rim and axle. Unfortunately the major problem most of us MUni riders
face is breaking axles. I think the only long term solution to this is to go to
a larger diameter axle, which will also mean custom cranks, which will mean
expensive.
Miyata’s got a cool new suspension MUni under development. You can see pictures
at http://www.miyatausa.com/muni.html It looks cool. If they can actually
deliver it for around $400 it will be great! Unfortunately it still uses the
standard Miyata Suzue hub. It’s a fine hub, but like all others will eventually
break under serious MUni use, especially with long cranks.
Troy Harding wrote: >Anybody know anything about the wheel upgrade on the Telford muni? Is it much >stronger than the standard wheel? Is the axle still the weak point?
Geoff Faraghan has had a Semcycle axle re heat-treated using a more extensive
process, to make it stronger. Bruce Bundy has been beating on it and it
hasn’t broken yet, but I think it’s only been 2 months or less, so nothing
conclusive yet.
Whatever happens, it will be the strongest unicycle axle on the market, because
he’s taking one of the strongest ones and making it stronger.
Until a new breed of axles comes along, the axle will remain the weak point of
the wheel. Another place to watch out is with narrow rims. For mountain bikes,
rims are narrow because it makes them lighter. This is fine for bikes, but
becomes a problem when you try pecking (hopping) sideways up something steep.
You can see & feel the tire trying to roll off the rim, so go for a wide rim.
George Peck recommends Snow Cat or Phat Albert.
Andy Cotter wrote: >The caption above the prototype MUni at the Miyata USA web site says: "This is >a product of Miyata U.S.A. and Greg Herbold" This leads me to believe that >Miyata in Japan has nothing to do with the MUni and it is a customization using >some Miyata stock parts.
I think you’re right, and I like it. If this unicycle were being developed by
Miyata in Japan, we wouldn’t hear anything about it until somebody from Japan
brought a production model to a UNICON. Then we would spend a couple of years
trying to get some imported to the U.S.
If Miyata USA is making it, they have a web page, an 800 phone number, and for
those of us in this country, it’s a lot more convenient.
>It may be a really nice MUni machine. The price of $400 is not unreasonable. If >anybody buys one I would like to hear what they think about it.
I agree. I’m going to contact them to see if they can bring something to the
MUni Weekend.
Anybody know anything about the wheel upgrade on the Telford muni? Is it much
stronger than the standard wheel? Is the axle still the weak point?
On Tue, 22 Sep 1998, Foss, JohnX wrote:
> Scott Arnold wrote: > >My local bike mechanic (who is learning to be a unicyle mechanic as he > >maintains my family’s fleet of unicycles) told me about a super strong wheel > >called “RaceLace.” They are built by a company in Seattle (I think). I don’t > >know anything about them. Anybody heard of them? Check them out at: > >http://www.winkelwheel.com/ and let us know. > > It looks like a cool idea, a different spoking pattern that will add strength > to an existing rim and axle. Unfortunately the major problem most of us MUni > riders face is breaking axles. I think the only long term solution to this is > to go to a larger diameter axle, which will also mean custom cranks, which > will mean expensive. > > Miyata’s got a cool new suspension MUni under development. You can see > pictures at http://www.miyatausa.com/muni.html It looks cool. If they can > actually deliver it for around $400 it will be great! Unfortunately it still > uses the standard Miyata Suzue hub. It’s a fine hub, but like all others will > eventually break under serious MUni use, especially with long cranks. > > The search for the unbreakable wheel continues… > > jf
Interesting design. I wonder how the suspension affects hopping. I imagine the
rider would have to jump a bit higher to get the wheel to the usual height. The
Telford design doesn’t have that problem (the front of the seat isn’t
suspended), but it’s too tall for me with the suspension post.
> Miyata’s got a cool new suspension MUni under development. You can see > pictures at http://www.miyatausa.com/muni.html It looks cool. If they can > actually deliver it for around $400 it will be great! Unfortunately it still > uses the standard Miyata Suzue hub. It’s a fine hub, but like all others will > eventually break under serious MUni use, especially with long cranks.
The caption above the prototype MUni at the Miyata USA web site says: “This is a
product of Miyata U.S.A. and Greg Herbold”
This leads me to believe that Miyata in Japan has nothing to do with the MUni
and it is a customization using some Miyata stock parts. As far as I can tell,
the Telford MUni, which sometimes uses the Miyata axle and Miyata seat, is as
close to a Miyata MUni as this one.
>From my latest vist to Japan and having a chance to visit the Miyata
factory, I would be very surprised if Miyata came out with a MUni. Japanese
riders are not currently into the sport of MUni and Miyata itself has seen a
dramatic decrease in unicycle sales in the last couple of years due to cheaper
models from other Asian countries cutting into their market. Therefore, I would
be surprised if Miyata would be getting into such a niche market where they
can’t sell something by the thousands.
Having said all that, the MUni on the Miyata web page does look interesting. It
may be a really nice MUni machine. The price of $400 is not unreasonable. If
anybody buys one I would like to hear what they think about it.