How many times has this happened to you: You’re out riding, having a grand old time. You come back to your car and you find that your tire is completely filthy, covered in mud. If you put that in your car, the backseat or trunk will be filthy? Whatever can you do?
Well finally, there is a solution— The Tire Diaper! No longer will you need to deal with a dirty backseat. The Tire Diaper wraps around the tire and keeps the mud inside, where it won’t bother anyone. What an amazing invention!
How, you may ask yourself, can you get your hands on one of these fabulous devices? Well, for only $50.00 USD, plus postage and handling, I will custom make one of these babies and ship it to your door! Act now and I’ll throw in a set of Pedal Socks absolutely free!
Or if you prefer, here are the instructions. It’s actually really easy. Anyone who knows how to sew should be able to make one, and the materials cost less than $5.00. My apologies for making multiple posts. I don’t know how else to show all the steps necessary.
Materials needed:
3 Yards of some heavier-duty material
110 inches of 1/4” elastic.
Large size sew on snaps
Step 1: Go to your local Wal-Mart or fabric store and pick up 3 yards of whatever material you think will work.
Step 2: Cut out a piece of fabric about 90 inches long and 20 inches wide.
Step 3: Fold the material in half (so you have a piece 90 inches long and about 10 inches wide) and sew a seam on the matched up edges the entire length of the material.
Step 2: Cut out a piece of fabric about 90 inches long and 20 inches wide.
Step 3: Fold the material in half (so you have a piece 90 inches long and about 10 inches wide) and sew a seam on the matched up edges the entire length of the material.
tep 5: Cut your elastic into 55 inch pieces. Take a safety pin and pin it through the end of your elastic. Slide the safety pin (with elastic) through the half inch seam. When the unpinned end is almost entering the seam, safety pin that end to the fabric. Continue pulling the safety pin end until it comes out the other end of the fabric. The fabric should be bunching by this point. That’s a good thing. Do this with both sides.
Step 7: Fold the material over (about half an inch), sew it in place, then fold it over again (maybe about 2 inches or so) and sew it. You now have a finished end.
Step 8: Wrap the fabric around the unicycle tire and see how much it overlaps. You should have a long section left. Fold over a half inch section, sew that, then fold over the material so that it will overlap by a couple of inches. Sew off this end as well.
Step 10: It’s done! If you did it correctly, it should easily slide over your wheel and snap into place, keeping the dirt inside and off your seats/carpet, etc.
I tried this out today (purposefully rode through some muddy spots), and the only thing that needs to be done is the frame may need a little wiping off before you put the tire diaper on or you’ll get the cloth dirty as it revolves past the legs or crown. But it works!
I also made some Pedal Socks to keep the pedals from banging into everything. I worry a lot less about where I set my unicycle inside now.
Paco, you silly goose. I have used a large trash bag as well. The lawn variety works best. As kington99 said, it covers everything. Then you toss the bag and use the next one in the box.
That is a neat setup, but I just leave an old blanket in my vehicle. When I have a dirty Muni (or anything else), I just pull out the old blanket and put it down before I put the dirty item inside my vehicle.
That’s what I figured. Really, the way to keep the unicycle from making a mess would be to wrap the entire uni in a garbage bag or blanket, like people have mentioned. The parts that seem to cause the most problem with dirt and mud are the wheel and the pedals, as the frame can be cleaned pretty easily with a paper towel. The reason I invented this is again because I have one closet where we store our unicycles, vacuum cleaner, and coats. A plastic bag wouldn’t be as aesthetically pleasing and a blanket wouldn’t fit.
The other options are definitely easier, but who here would complain if they won one of these at the Moab MUni Fest?
Paper towels wouldn’t stand a chance against proper British winter mud, you’d be better off with a shovel. I’m slowly but surely stealing Wales and bringing it back to my house on the wheel, frame and cranks of my muni…
