I know of a kid who can ride a 20 inch uni very well and wants to start riding a giraffe. The parents tried putting her on a Torker tx, but she was several inches too short.
I know you can cut the seat post for a regular uni, but that doesn’t apply to a giraffe - does it? I mean there is no reason to cut it. They already have 125mm cranks on them, so going short might not be in option for control reasons. So it looks like we might have to cut the frame. I did that to my 29 Nimbus. Can you do it to a giraffe? Does it matter if it is a torker or nimbus? Is there something that is different about cutting a giraffe? They are thinking of buying a giraffe to cut it down. I just want to make sure it can be done as easily on a giraffe as a 29.
Secondly, which one would you recommend? The torker or the nimbus? I like the nimbus and it is on sale. I have pushed both through parades as spares for riders on giraffes. The nimbus I pushed seemed like it would be a smoother ride.
First I should say for the record that I have never seen a Torker TX in person, so my input is only from the pictures, and from years as a bike mechanic.
In theory there is really no reason not to cut down the seat mast on a giraffe; however, there are a number of problems that can arise in practice depending on the specific construction.
From the pictures it looks like there are two possible problems with cutting the seat mast on the TX.
First it looks like it has a pressed steel clamp. Often times these are welded to the frame, and so you may need to plan on a replacement seatpost clamp after you trim the uni to fit.
The second problem that is maybe more serious is that the seat mast appears to bulge to a larger diameter a couple of inches below the clamp. It is very hard to tell if it is just some trick of the light, or if there is really a bulge. If there is a bulge you will want to cut below it so that you have enough support for the seatpost, and here’s the problem. The post you have won’t fit the new diameter, and you may have a difficult time finding a clamp/post that fit the larger size tube if it isn’t a standard size.
It sounds like you may have a TX that you can examine to see if these are real problems or if they are just ramblings of some old guy on an internet forum. You could always call Josh at UDC to get his take on it. He is very helpful.
i have seen and attempted to ride the torker giraffe, my brother actually just bought it used for $25 off a kid, the seat looks decent but is terribly uncomfortable. Yes you could cut it down if you needed to, but if you raise the seat back up you could bend the frame on a bad upd. If i was to choose between nimbus and torker… nimbus every time, i have never been disappointed on a nimbus with the quality for ride of it… torker for the 2 i have ridden… they are just a cheap unicycle…
Thanks everyone. I also talked to unicycle.com and they were very helpful and pointed out the similar issue with the Torker TX in cutting the seatpost. They recommended the Nimbus becuase of the stronger metal and no taper.They said it could be cut with a new slot also added.
Thanks for all you help. I think they are sold on the Nimbus.