I just bought a brand new KH36 and i love it! Only trouble is, I noticed last night that the wheel is not true radially - and must have been like this out-the-box as I’ve only taken it for 1 docile ride.
I’m not experienced with wheels so much and it didn’t feel like it affected performance but i also don’t want to leave it be.
Is this an easy/cheap fix or should I be contacting my Unicycle.com (Australia) retailer?
I do not have a truing stand.
You should contact unicycle.com and see what they say. For the U.S at least they have very good customer service. Not sure about Australia, though I imagine it would be similar.
In this case since you only just received the product, the retailer should fix it, but otherwise if you’d have a unicycle for longer that needs truing, wouldn’t the local bike store be able to do that. Some unicycle wheels might be a bit wider than bike wheels, but truing would be the same I reckon.
I guess thats also something Im unsure of - can most bike shops true a 36 inch wheel or would it require more specialised equipment than the regular truing stand?
You’re probably right. I’ll collect photos and email the shop today. I guess i iust didn’t want to complain about this if its something that is likely to happen after a ride (and should thus be my responsibility).
You probably do, if you use a bit of imagination. I use my frame as a truing stand, and just wedge it somewhere conveniently:
Truing your 36er is a useful skill to have. It is probably less hassle than shipping your unicycle back to the vendor anyways. I need to true mine regularily. I dont even take my tire off, but hold a pencil or something next to the frame with the tip close to the rim. And use a ruler across the frame above the tire to see if it is somewhat centered. Then I use a spoke key and a guide from a google search to true it.
The result isn’t perfect, but it doesn’t need to be either.
Just out of curiosity: how bad is it?
I find with unicycles radial deviations are less of a problem than with b!cycles, since you’re constantly wobbling etc., so it needs to be much worse to be noticeable.
Are you sure the wheel is not true radially? On a 36er a wheel can be true and the tire can be mounted so that the tread does not run true. Check the line around the tire where the tire meets the rim. If it is off you can release the air in the tire and work the tire so it runs true.
