I am thinking about buying a 24 inch 35 spoke light-trail unicycle.Is this a good muni?
My main concern with the “United” trails uni (the only thing united about it being the hub and frame) is the cranks. For less than 2’ rolling drops, or 1’ dead rops, I think the wheel is fine (I’m not riding the Sun rim on the trails Uni, but the steal tank rim on the trainer). However, if you’d like to be the human pogo-stick, you may find cranks lacking in longevity.
I suppose it’s all relative. I’v riden my stock United trainer daily since September. In that time, I’v done some punishing things to the cranks- mostly hopping and gaping, but also learning the kick-up mount (not to mention wacking the pedals while learning new moves). Since the 1.75" streat tire was swaped for a 2.1" nobby tire about a month ago, and the off-road action started, one crank suffers from intermitant looseness. Still, the cranks have not bent (noticeably), and the wheel is still rideable. I’m told, however, that little loose jiggle is death for the crank/hub.
Let’s pretend that most of the damage done to my set up has occured in the last 2 months, and that failure is imannant. Replacement cost of the hub ($25)+cranks($10)+wheel rebuild ($15) and shipping ($5) comes to about $55. This comes to around $330 a year (not to mention medical bills encured from kicking every rock you see on the WALK home). Compare this to the *over-priced high end Profile Hub and Cranks, $350, and you come out slightly ahead fixing the stock hub/cranks- if the Profile only lasts a year. I’m told it should excead that period.
The choice is mostly about money. I’m still riding the United, and it HAS NOT failed, and I feel the value-per-dollar is quite high. I’m not realy sure which side of my argument to weigh in on. 
Christopher
*The price of a Profile front AND back BMX hub (sealed bearings), plus a 3 piece crank (more bearings), comes to about $320. I think the primary difference in cost is the lack of competition- currently, there is only one vendor of the Profile Uni hub…
“rhysling” <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote in message
news:a2l3dq$ok$1@laurel.tc.umn.edu…
> Let’s pretend that most of the damage done to my set up has occured in
> the last 2 months, and that failure is imannant. Replacement cost of the
> hub ($25)+cranks($10)+wheel rebuild ($15) and shipping ($5) comes to
> about $55. This comes to around $330 a year (not to mention medical
> bills encured from kicking every rock you see on the WALK home). Compare
> this to the *over-priced high end Profile Hub and Cranks, $350, and you
> come out slightly ahead fixing the stock hub/cranks- if the Profile only
> lasts a year. I’m told it should excead that period.
Shouldn’t Profile cost $350 full stop, because they give you a new one if
you manage to break it? Also, you have to think about how much you value
your dead time, when you can’t ride cos you’re waiting for a rebuild.
> *The price of a Profile front AND back BMX hub (sealed bearings), plus a
> 3 piece crank (more bearings), comes to about $320. I think the primary
> difference in cost is the lack of competition- currently, there is only
> one vendor of the Profile Uni hub…
According to their website, race front hub is $99.95 + race crankset
$169.95. The unicycle hub /crankset is a kind of combination of the two
adding $100 cos it’s a pretty specialist part doesn’t sound totally unfair
really. They’ve got to cover development for a pretty obscure product.
Having said that, it’s a pity the cheaper splined cranksets aren’t
available for unicycles, but then they don’t come with lifetime
guarantees and might not hold up to the pounding a unicyclist can give
them. Oh and some of the splines on are apparently badly designed, so
that hopping / landing left foot forwards can damage them, or something
bizarre like that.
Joe
I totaly agrea about the value of not walking home. I couldn’t find any mention of a replacement warranty on the Unicycle.com site.
I could see a somewhat inflated price for production costs of a limited run item- but not developement, as the Profile hub implements tech they had already well developed for other products.
Christopher
— rhysling <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote: …Compare
> this to the *over-priced high end Profile Hub and Cranks, $350, and you
> come out slightly ahead fixing the stock hub/cranks- if the Profile only
> lasts a year. I’m told it should excead that period.
> *The price of a Profile front AND back BMX hub (sealed bearings), plus a
> 3 piece crank (more bearings), comes to about $320. I think the primary
> difference in cost is the lack of competition- currently, there is only
> one vendor of the Profile Uni hub…
>
OK but actually the Profile is not overpriced- actually it’s really cheap,
all things considered. Like it or not, there is still incredibly low
numbers of these cranks being produced and the sales margins are very
small. A big reason Profile started making these at all was because they
thought it was a cool project, not because it would make them any money.
Also, add up the the price of Profiles and a bike hub in a bikeshop, and
it will come out to a similar price (or more).
As “Profile imitations” emerge onto the market as the sport grows, that is
when the price will start to go down.
Cheers,
Kris.
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The $179 United muni is only rated to rider weight up to 160 lbs. That
doesn’t suggest strength to me. If you weigh considerably less than that,
and it’s not likely that you’ll gain much weight in the future, that uni
may work for you. Otherwise, I’d consider a Pashley Power Muni or a
Semcycle Deluxe. They’re quite a bit more but you won’t have to replace
parts on them after a few good drops. I’ve seen people have problems with
cranks coming loose when doing a lot of hopping and drops, and they ended
up using a large C-clamp to press the cranks onto the hub, and then using
a thread locker on the nut or bolt that holds the crank on. That fixed
the problem.
Have fun, John
Booger 69 wrote:
> I am thinking about buying a 24 inch 35 spoke light-trail unicycle.Is
> this a good muni?
>
> –
> Booger 69 Posted via the Unicyclist Community -
> http://unicyclist.com/forums
That’s brilliant! If serviceable, quite a bit easyer than setting up a hydrolic press. I’m hitting the hardware store after work, thanx!
Christopher
A heavy duty bar style C-clamp works best. Something like a Bessey 5-1/2" x 12" bar clamp (about $25). The cheaper clamps can’t get enough force and just end up bending and twisting after a couple of uses.
Put grease on the taper and press the cranks on with a C-clamp. Put Loctite on the retaining nut threads and you’re good to go. You’ll need to jerry rig some spacers to go over the retaining bolt that sticks out from the hub. I use a stack of washers or a 14mm socket.
Your cranks should stay snug and tight. Since I started pressing my cranks on like this I have not had any come loose on me.
john_childs