Yep my Hunter 36" should be on the way soon as well.
With the coming of the KH 04, 05’s and the like, it seems the “pro-level” (read = expensive) unicycles have faded from the spotlight. I realize that hand-made unicycles still are around, but they haven’t become very common. The relatively mass-produced unicycles seem to be on a par with the quality of the custom frames, yet at a cheaper price?
Anyway, I was just wondering if that ISIS hub produced on a largish scale?
Mass-produced frames will clearly dominate the market, now and for the future. But there will always be a side market for hand-built frames, just as there is for bicycles. I’ve owned something like 10 bicycles in my adult life, and for the most part they were all interchangable except for my Marinoni.
It’s worth noting that the atomic weights of aluminum and titanium (26.98154 and 47.867 respectively). Aluminum is lighter, and appears to be less brittle.
Chissakid, aluminum is much weaker than titanium, so while it may be less dense, you need more of it. Brittls depends on alloy and hardness. Titanium is much less prone to fatigue and cracking than aluminum when welded correctly. Aluminum bike frames are notoriously stiff because if they weren’t, they’d break super fast.
A disc-brake muni seems like a mixed blessing. I wouldn’t want to walk out of a trail because I smashed my rotor on a rock during a missed pedalgrab.
i wouldint want it for my muni but for a coker it would be amazeing. you wouldint have to worey about how true the rim is or the brakeing surface.
but then youd have to have dished wheels
but then youd have to have dished wheels
so
Gerblefranklin, thanks for your reply. When Scott Bridgman was looking for material to build a frame, he chose aluminum. I asked him about that, since Ti seems more in vogue. He wanted a lighter-weight frame, he said, which he welded together himself, and then heat-treated it in his shop. He’s a custom fabricator in New Jersey, so he could have chosen any type of metal. The result is the hollow Wilder aluminum frame.
Our experience, and the few folks we’ve talked to who have a Ti frame have had problems with cracking, requiring re-welding. These riders are really hard on their cycles, so it could be that no material would have held up. Carbon fiber has also been problematic. We’ll keep on experimenting with all of it anyway. 
Let’s not put forth the Wilder frame as the paragon of unicycle strength. I think it is pretty well understood that, for material of a given strength, titanium is lighter than aluminum, all else being equal. Titanium is quite a bit harder to work with, so it may be that the average TI weld is not as good as the average AL weld, just because more people are comfortable with AL.
In any case, the frame material does not make a whole lot of difference in unicycle performance.
Ti done right will always be stronger and less brittle than aluminum. but its a expencive and dificult to work with material.
so your wheel would be off to one side. harder to balence.
I recentlly dished my wheel on a muni ride. (not on purpouse) and it was harder to stay up right
If your rim is not centered relative to the bearing attachments, it will be harder to ride, but even with your wheel dished to accomodate a hub brake, it will still be centered relative to the bearings. The affect on how it rides would be negligible.
Seeming that you can now get the newest KH 24 Freeride frame (markedly improved from the earlier alum. models) from Bedford for $150, and since this frame will never hold you back no matter the terrain, and is compatable with a Profile or KH splined hub (the wheelset is probably more important than the frame), spending an additional 600 clams on a titanium frame seems a bit eccentric, even if you have the money. Up until Eyal (Rabbi Rock) got an alum. KH a few months ago he was on an old steel KH vintage 2001 and cleaned everything everyone else could do, usually easier than the rest of us on our fancy Wilder’s and alum. rigs. And you should see Mango’s frame–if you can call it one–and he gets down everything as well.
So for performance, I believe the KH line is as good as any. But as someone pointed out, there will always be reasons to go for a custom, if only because you can.
JL
I would be dished so that the rim is centered relative to the hub just like on a bike. So whats the problem?
oolalala the pic look lovely
Tholub,
I agree with you on the performance issue. I could ride the lightest gear on the trails and still not keep up with my boys. But the overall weight has a lot to do with rider endurance.
I used to ride the steel-framed DM Vortex with a 28-inch Gazzaloddi and brakes. It weighed about 18 pounds. The rolling power was great, but jumping over obstacles, especially after I’d gotten tired, was difficult. My oldest son, Casey, didn’t seem to tire–ever. So I got on his Wilder with a 24-inch Gazz, total weight about 12.5 pounds. Huge difference. I rode a Wilder until last year, when I switched to a Kris Holm and installed a Gazz. I agree with Vivalargo–the KH line competes with the best. It’s aluminum, lightweight and affordable.
We lost Scott Bridgman to the motorcycle industry, a great loss in my opinion, but he still has his machine shop. Did the Wilder owner contact him about repairing the frame?
I think that frame is cooked, John, and so does Scott Wallis, who I sent it to for inspection. Fun while it lasted.
BTW, I’m all for a titanium frame–I just don’t want to pay for it.
JL
I think as the materials get more exotic, your number of prototypes and amount of testing needs to increase. Actually the exoticness probably has little to do with it, just previous learning using the same material. There are very few examples of Ti , CF and Al frame designs out there, which means less expereience with the materials. The strengths and weaknesses of steel are well known, and there is a much larger population of people out there who know how to weld and otherwise fabricate it. The numbers get a lot smaller with the other materials.
That horrible picture Tholub posted shows the possible death point of any Wilder frame that gets the seat pulled or pushed on a lot. Very scary for me as owner of the same frame! That’s probably an example of fatigue, something aluminum is more prone to. So maybe my Wilder won’t last forever? 
In regards to its stiffness, I think aluminum is probably one of the best possible materials for unicycle frames. We need them to be stiff. Your unicycle’s frame twists a lot, between the pedaling forces and wheel wobble below up to the seat above. A non-yielding (stiff) frame will lose less energy in this area, which translates directly into better performance.
My CF frame came apart as a result of those twisting forces. The design of the frame was sound; it was just an error in the assembly process that left a weak spot (which Roger repaired wonderfully). But a carbon frame, with normal tubes and lugs, is pretty twisty. A monocoque (sp?) carbon frame could eliminate the flex, but would be a quantum leap in difficulty and labor to build.
Actually I’ve seen a frame like this. A Japanese guy brought it to Unicon IX in Germany. One of the most beautiful unicycle frames ever made, I’m sure. He said it cost the equivalent of a “small car” in his words of very limited English. I should find my pictures of that and scan them. I’ll add that to my list of things to never get done…
Anyway, what about titanium? I know it’s a popular material for bike frames, and is supposed to have a nice flex to it which can make for a more comfortable ride compared to a stiff aluminum frame. Ti is a lot harder to work with, and I’m sure the examples of Ti frames mentioned above were all experimental (only 1 or 2 made) models, so one can assume they might need further development.
In other words, all those materials could probably make great unicycle frames, but there hasn’t been as much research with them. The KH frames represent probably a very long process of prototype and testing, and are probably the most efficient design out there, not just the cheapest. The Wilder frame was the result of several prototypes as well, but probably didn’t have nearly the amount of testing the KHs have had.
I had a ti frame for a while. It was sick! the unicycle I ride In defect was ti, It used to be Dans.