Tech question revisited

General
1

Here’s a question for those of you who build your own unicycles: when you buy a
hub (like a Suzue or NK), do they come with axles and bearings already fitted?
Or are these bought separately? I was just fooling around with my uni the other
day, and couldn’t see a way to remove the bearings from the hub. I thought they
might be press-fitted, so I decided to just put the thing back together instead
of risking damaging it. The hub is an NK (old one) made for cottered cranks, if
that makes any difference, and the uni has clamshell-like bearing holders
(similar to those on the Telford). The reason for my question is that, with the
arrival of summer, I actually have a bit of time for leisure, and have been
playing around with the idea of maybe making a unicycle, which led me to wonder
what the component parts look like in their raw form. Thanks for any info you
can provide.

Peter Kittle Department of English CSU, Chico Chico CA 95929-0830 ph:
530/898-5305 fax: 530/898-4450 email: pkittle@csuchico.edu www:
http://www.csuchico.edu/~pdkittle

2

Hi all–

I asked something about this last week, but didn’t get a reply, so here goes
again. I’ve been messing around with my crappy old uni, trying to figure out how
it works and all. I took the cottered cranks off the wheel, and that left the
hub (an NK) with some sealed cartridge bearings, marked “6203” on them, attached
to the axle. One of the bearings is fine, but the other is a little rough when I
spin it. So, my questions are:

Is there a way to remove the bearing from the hub and replace it? Or do I need a
new hub? When I inquired about this at my local bike shop, I got “Oh, gee, I
dunno” for a response.

If I need a new hub, what kind of price might I expect to pay for an NK or a
Suzue deluxe? Do they come with bearings fixed to the axle, or is that a
separate item?

I suspect that my path of least resistance would be to just call Tom Miller, but
I haven’t gotten round to that yet. If anyone has any answers, I’d appreciate
hearing them.

Peter Kittle Department of English CSU, Chico Chico CA 95929-0830 ph:
530/898-5305 fax: 530/898-4450 email: pkittle@csuchico.edu www:
http://www.csuchico.edu/~pdkittle

3

Re: Tech question revisited

“Kittle, Peter” wrote:

> Hi all–
>
> I asked something about this last week, but didn’t get a reply, so here goes
> again. I’ve been messing around with my crappy old uni, trying to figure out
> how it works and all. I took the cottered cranks off the wheel, and that left
> the hub (an NK) with some sealed cartridge bearings, marked “6203” on them,
> attached to the axle. One of the bearings is fine, but the other is a little
> rough when I spin it. So, my questions are:
>
> Is there a way to remove the bearing from the hub and replace it? Or do I need
> a new hub? When I inquired about this at my local bike shop, I got "Oh, gee, I
> dunno" for a response.

You either need a small 3 leg puller (Clutch ones often go down small enough) or
you buy a purpose made unicycle bearing extraction tool. I know that John at
unicyclesource has just ordered some from DM.

Cheers

Roger

4

Re: Tech question revisited

Kittle, Peter (pkittle@csuchico.edu) wrote:

: Is there a way to remove the bearing from the hub and replace it? Or do I need
: a new hub? When I inquired about this at my local bike shop, I got "Oh, gee, I
: dunno" for a response.

: If I need a new hub, what kind of price might I expect to pay for an NK or a
: Suzue deluxe? Do they come with bearings fixed to the axle, or is that a
: separate item?

hi peter

Last year I replaced the bearings on my Sem trainer uni, I worked out what the
bearings where with the help of a bike shop then orderd them from a local
engineering supplies company ( the guys on the trade counter were very help
full, I took the wheel in to them in case they didn’t talk the same catalog
numbers as the bike shop). Any way, about 2 weeks later my bearings arrived and
the bike shop fitted them for me ( I had not got the right tools) total cost was
around 20 pound for bearings and 10 pounds labour. Certainly cheaper than a new
hub and wheel builder costs.

These days I don’t ride on the beach, thats what finally killed the old
bearings, not the 5 years, hard riding or the trip over the lake district. Just
plain old salt water. sarah

5

Re: Tech question revisited

> Is there a way to remove the bearing from the hub and replace it? Or do I need
> a new hub?

A three prong bearing puller, as Roger said, will work, but don’t get a cheap
one. I’ve bent the prongs trying to get my bearings off and the bearing puller
became useless. Replacement bearings have cost me about $10 each at a local
bearing distributor.

> If I need a new hub, what kind of price might I expect to pay for an NK or a
> Suzue deluxe? Do they come with bearings fixed to the axle, or is that a
> separate item?

The 36 spoke Suzue hubs that I’ve gotten have come with the 6203 bearings on the
hub. They cost about $30 at Osells (612-788-5200). TUF or MiyataUSA may also
have them.

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