basically, my friend who happens to be a cyclist borrowed this old schwinn unicycle from another friend who had it collecting dust, and eventually the wheel buckled from his weight/going off a curb/rust. so he went off and bought some fancy tube framed uni.
so now i have an old schwinn that has a 24/1.75" tire, and a cottered crank. i’m a car mechanic, and i knew i’d have to get the old busted-up wheel off of the fork anyways, so i took it apart, sandblasted it, and painted it. i’m still learning (went 10’ last night, wee) so i know it’ll get busted up anyways.
the guy at a reputable bike shop took one look at the crank and said he couldn’t help, and i’m not finding much searching on the internet. i had HOPED to get this thing ridable for cheap…but i didn’t realized the cottered crank would pose such an availability problem.
so, as the title states…where can i buy a wheel for this thing? …and cheap enough that it’s not a lot more appealing to buy a whole new 'cycle?
Keep maximum parts: Find a 28-hole rim, use new spokes & tire. Downside of this is you still have the outdated cottered crankset and 1/2" pedals. Not good for hopping/dropping.
Keep new frame: Get a whole new wheel, with cotterless hub. If Unicycle.com doesn’t have any old Schwinn cotterless hubs try The Unicycle Factory, (765) 452-2692 (Indiana). I bet he has them. Downside is having to buy new cranks, pedals and tire, but you get to keep the crappy old Schwinn seat!
darn, i was hoping to learn and at least see if i’d use it enough before plunking down a sizable amount of cash. oh well, at least i’m lucky enough to keep trying on my friend’s.
the wheel buckled pretty dramatically…saw my friend go down the curb and crunch wheel buckled in, then my pissed-off friend proceeded to smash the wheel further. i do still have the crank, but since i figured i was replacing the wheel, when i was using a hydraulic press to press the cotter pins out i bent the “round part where the spokes attach to” a bit. it could probably be remedied, but the pictures i’ll post in a few will show you it’s condition
You can always order a whole new wheel for a Schwinn. I did that when I bought an almost identical uni to yours. It came with cranks and new bearings; I think I had to put on the rim tape. My LBS ordered it. It was around $50 total, so no breaking the bank. Give your LBS a visit and see if they can order one; your Schwinn dealer’s probably the best bet, if you have one.
