My summit is life. I’m all about trials. But that son-of-a-gun is just way to heavy. Does anyone have any suggestions about what i can do?
Would a new frame make that much difference weight wise?
You should get stronger. It was the same for me (except I have a KH, but close enough), but after using it for a while it got much easier.
i’m living on salads at the moment in a serious attempt to lose a couple of k’s.
in rock climbing, power to weight ratio is really important and i figure it’s easier to get lighter than it is to get stronger.
but i am lazy.
yep…
my husband just a got a new summit, and I took his old one with the KH saddle, that thing is HEAVY! We went downtown last night to do some trial riding… and took a LOT of getting used too… I still didn’t feel up to some of the stairs and drops because of the weight! We were thinking that maybe we could drill holes in the side of the forks… it may not make it a lot lighter, but it does seem that it would allow air to flow through it more, which may make it lighter… I know a new saddle would, but that KH is so comfy… I think I either need to gain weight or get stronger!
If you think or do of anything that helps let us know!
God Bless!
Much of the heaviness on a Trials uni or MUni is in the tire, tube and rim. Lighter tire = less performance. Lighter rim = more chance of a taco (though 19 and 20" are pretty hard to kill).
You might be able to shave some weight by changing pedals. Also, if you have more than 3" of seatpost inside the frame, you can cut that off. Switch to aluminum seat post. A Miyata seat with carbon base is much lighter than a KH, very strong, and still comfortable enough.
For best seat results, get rid of it completely. Use a piece of tubing running front to rear, welded to the post, and a T handle welded to the front of that. Make it out of aluminum. If you’re a wuss, tape some foam on there for sitting. Most Trials riding is done standing up though, right?
Whatever you do, don’t make holes in the frame unless it’s a Schwinn or Semcycle Deluxe. A tubular frame is made of thin steel. It would be very hard to remove enough tube wall to be able to feel the difference, and then your frame would be more likely to fold.
Start with the seat and post, then maybe pedals, then tire/tube/rim. Are Profile or other hollow, tubular cranks lighter than solid cotterless cranks? You might be able to lower that weight by upping the $$. Otherwise, you’re just going to make the thing weaker. If a cycle is broken, it doesn’t matter how much it weighs because you won’t be riding it.
Trials bikes are heavy. A Trials unicycle will always be heavier than a regular 20" unicycle. This is for a reason.
the Summit frame is differant,its not tubular.the legs are square and wide,drilling in the middle would be easy and as long as they were’nt to big i think it would be fine.a little ugly if not done with good tools though.
i like my idea of cutting a long slot on the back of the leg better though.i would have done it,but i didnt cause of resale value.
My Steve Howard unicycle, set up for Trials, is 10.5 pounds.
The setup uses one of Steve’s beautiful black aluminum frames, a Thomson seatpost, Kinport adapter, Velo Seat, Suzue hub laced to Arrow rim, with Monty Tire, Dotek 140 cranks and Easton Cully pedals.
The Suzue hub and Dotek cranks aren’t built for great strength. One of Steve’s custom hubs would be better–but I haven’t broken anything yet…
Steve’s muni frames are incredibly nice. I marvel at the craftsmanship each time I pick it up.
David Maxfield
Mitchell, SD
I dont know about that a good trials bike weighs arround 20 lbs (19 lbs for a Monty x-light Mod) My friends Garry ficher bike stock weights about 23lbs. Im not sure what a typical bike runs but I think its more near 30lbs…
Mike
Re: summit too heavy
The summit frame is an earlier prototype frame of the KH20 that I didn’t use due to it’s heavier weight, and trials unis will continue to get lighter as equipment improves.
However, it’s more important I think to just get used to the weight, as trials unis will never be as light as freestyle unis. Also, it doesn’t make that big a difference for hopping vertical: the world sidehop record for a 16 lb 24" MUni is within a couple of inches of the record for a 20" trials uni.
Mainly I think this means working with the weight of it. For example, for basic hops that are done properly, the snappiness of the tire bounce should make the uni weightless in the air, so it doesn’t matter how heavy it is. Gaps and awkward hops are a different story- definately it’s nicer to have a lighter uni there.
The original KH prototype was the heaviest of all, although it was never produced. The manufacturer inadvertently made it with fork blade material that was identical to the tubing used in the KH crank arms. I think it would have survived a nuclear bomb blast!
Kris
I was just wondering that how though the carbonfibre unicycle really is? Has anyone broke it?
Not sure if you are talking about carbonfibre seat frames, or carbonfibre unicycle frames. Both have broken before, although the seat frame is really strong. The Roger Davies CF uni frames are designed to be very lightweight, not bombproof. They are amazing frames for this reason although not really appropriate for heavy abuse.
Kris.
I was talking about the unicycle frame. Just wanted to know how much it can take abuse. Carbonfibre is usually really strong. I bet that with my riding it would last forever.
I have a Roger Davies carbon frame. It’s real strong, but it wasn’t built for Trials. This frame is built of relatively thick-walled tubing, with lugged aluminum crown and bearing mounts. Unicycle frames are subjected to a tremendous amount of twisting force which, if anything, would be the weak area on a frame of tubes and lugs with epoxy holding it together. The frame is sick-light.
But like we’ve said, the main weight in the unicycle is not the frame, it’s the wheel, seat, and seatpost. The area where you can make the most improvement should be the seat and post.
A monocoque (one piece) carbon frame would be pretty awesome, but it would also be hella-expensive.
Not sure what that has to do with unicycles. There are an awful lot more choices in the bike market, but I thought Trials bikes were heavier than other types of bike? There is the obvious desire for as little weight as possible, but it’s balanced by the need for it to hold up to all sorts of pounding.
In any case, a good Trials unicycle is going to weigh more than an equivalent good non-Trials unicycle, such as a 20" Freestyle uni. The Freestyle uni can afford to use some lighter parts that aren’t as strong.
Changing the tire and seat can really make a difference. The 24x3 Gazza is really heavy but its also a good tire. There’s at least a light version available for the Gazza 2.6. I can’t remember if you can get it in 24" size but atleast you can get it as 26" version. The bad thing about this is that it pinches flat more easily.
No it won’t carbon fibre has a life… and it is a lot shorter than you would like. 2 year is what is considered for optimium strength. What normally goes is the joints if there are any due to the disimilar materials. The tubing in my frames I don’t think will ever go, what ever abuse you give them, but joints they go all the time. The reason I didn’t do the saturday afternoon ride at BMW was I was going to get some epoxy adhesive to fix my Mk 2 frame which had gone at the joint. 
It did the snowdon run 18hours later, no problem and fixed for another 2 years now.
Roger
If it only takes some fixing every two years or so it’s not too hard to maintain.