I’ve used quick-release on other things, so this isn’t my first experience with quick-release clamps. Other applications tend to be less finicky (i.e. bicycle wheels). I’ve watched videos and all that (looking for imprints on hands, etc.). I also already understand to only tighten it with a wrench, and not by twisting the handles.
All that being said, I feel I have to tighten them to the point that they aren’t usable as quick-release anymore. They get tight enough to eliminate up and down seat movement, but not side to side in an UPD.
Anyone else suffer this too? Any fixes? Thanks in advance for any insight.
I got a double quick release on my 29" nimbus muni. I don’t like it as I had to tighten it so much its useless as a quick release. I ended up putting that quick release on a 20" freestyle uni. Feels less hazardous that way.
I don’t like them either. I find I have to tighten them up to where I can’t use them without great effort and then I’ve got a bigger, heavier and weaker clamp.
Ditto to all of the above.
I would add that quick release is good for the beginner who is throwing the unicycle down hard (because it actually moves on impact) and also questions their seat height settings so constant adjusting is easier than wrenching it every time.
I’ve used double bolt with great success as well as single quick release with equal success, but don’t have experience with anything else. If you crash hard enough the saddle is gonna move a little, that’s just life, but on a simple UPD it shouldn’t move.
The clamps I really like are the M41 triple clamps. They just seem solid as a rock and I’m pretty sure any weight penalty is trivial. They seem to only be available for 27.6mm seat posts however.
Seems like I’m lucky that I got a Tune Würger quick-release with my second hand muni which operates smoothly and holds pretty strong - even though it might not be as strong as a 2 bolt clamp (I could certainly still tighten it more if I wanted). I like having this quick release because it enables me to reduce the size of the uni without any tools when getting on a train. There are a few UPDs where the saddle moves a little bit but then at least it had the chance to absorb some of the energy without breaking something.
So I’d say it really depends on the specific quick-release, they are not all the same.
The odd thing for me is that I have several unicycles with quick-release clamps that work great, but one that cannot be tightened enough. I’ve tried greasing the contact area of the lever which helped a little, but it’s not enough. Maybe I’ll try a different clamp…
Might be unlucky tolerances on that uni, if the fit of the seatpost into the frame is a bit on the loose side, you need to clamp harder.
For whatever it’s worth, I’ve personally never really gotten along with the Nimbus double quick release too, I could never get it to work well and pretty much just used the allen side to tighten it…
If you lubricate the quick release it usually operates easier and closes tighter, a drop of oil where the cam/lever contacts the the clamp. Maybe something to try.
I have one on my 32" and it’s no problem. But it is not easy to close it tight. As @anton005 said, a bit of oil on the mecanism helps. And when I tighten it, I do each lever progressively. I can’t do one lever all the way then the other lever. Unless I want to lose the skin of my palm.
I have a generic QR from Decathlon that I find stays super well.
my Nimbus double clamp one always lets the saddle move on a UPD but I have grease in my frame neck as it’s best practice for bikes.
I also have the 3 bolt Mad4One clamp and it doesn’t let anything move, but if you need to do adjustments the 3 bolts are kinda inconvenient. But I’d rather have to take extra time on the limited amount of adjustments I do over every fall when I muni.
I have only tried the 2 bolt Mad4One clamp and I had to tighten it so much the threads stripped and I couldn’t fix it with a tap. Might be due to the grease reducing friction though.
