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Mojoe
December 6th 03, 06:02 PM
I was thinking about getting a trials unicycle this winter, but since my
knees have been aching from too much hopping around on my muni, I
decided to go with a freestyle unicycle instead. I’m a newbie at
freestyle skills, having just learned one footed riding and idling this
fall. To me, freestyle skills are a lot harder to learn than muni/trials
skills because I really can’t be sloppy in my technique, or it just
doesn’t happen. Where in trials/muni, I seem to able to muscle my
through the moves until I get them perfected.

My favorite frame builder, George Barnes, agreed to build me a freestyle
frame with enough clearance to fit a trials tire in case I decide to go
that route later on. The frame consists of the following parts:

40mm bearing holders machined from shaft locking collars
Ovalized 4130 cromoly fork legs
Laser cut flat crown, set a 20 degree angle
Laser cut rear gusset, without the GB4 logo (George was out of them at
the time)
14 inch long seat tube for 1 inch seat post
The frame has been powder coated metallic black

Additional components are as follows:

GB4 1 inch seat post
Black seat post clamp (borrowed from my 29er)
Viscount seat, black
Wellgo pedals, sliver (borrowed from my 29er, until I get some Twisted
PC’s)
Bicycle Euro steel cranks, black, 125mm
Unicycle.com wide CroMo hub, 36 hole
Wheelsmith spokes, 14 guage, 184mm, silver
Wheelsmith nipples, silver
Alex DX32 rim, black, no eyelets, 36 hole
French rim strip, cloth, white
Generic 20 inch tube
Maxxis Hookworm tire, 20x1.95, black

Comments:

I love the fame! The metallic black powder coating is beautiful and
flawless. The long seat tube looks great and the 1 inch seat post is
perfect. One thing I’ve noticed with my two GB4 frames, compared to my
other frames, is that with the GB4’s, I only have to loosen the seat
post clamp and the post slide right out. With the 22.2mm seat posts on
my other frames, I have to twist and pull and really work at it to get
the seat posts out of the frame.

The 20 degree sloped, flat crown is wonderful. It just feels so natural
to place my foot there for one foot riding and idling. I’m trying to
learn one foot wheel walking and the crown provides a more comfortable
perch than my Yuni frame’s crown. The long seat tube allows me to get
my seat up high without having so much sat post sticking out of the
frame. The frame feels more solid than my Yuni frame. I never noticed
how much flex my Yuni frame had until I rode this frame.

When choosing my spoke length, I rounded down to 184mm and there are a
couple threads showing on the spokes. Next time I’ll know to round up to
a longer length of spoke. I’ve built a bunch of wheels, but this was the
first wheel I’ve built with all new components. Normally I would have a
new hub built into a used rim and spokes, so this was my first
experience buying spokes. The DX32 rim is really wide and it looks great
with a freestyle tire. Plus, it was only $21.99 at aebike.com.

That’s all I can think of for now. I’ll post more comments as I think of
them. Now I just have to get out and improve my freestyle skills.

I have pictures posted at;

http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albus97

Some of them are a little blurry though.




Later potaters……… Mojoe


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--
Mojoe - DILLIGAF

Nothing to see here... move along.
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joona
December 6th 03, 06:09 PM
I think that this unicycle is a total piece of crap and you should send
it over to me so I can destroy it properly;) And remember to send a
trials wheel too.

That's just an awesome uni you've got there. And probably not a cheap
one.


--
joona - )-O <--Neat

Mad as a moose (or atleast Minimoose)
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bugman
December 7th 03, 04:44 AM
Interesting Camera mount. How does it mount? If you could take a
picture with how it is used, that would ne useful. It seems to me like
you just hold it, but I could be wrong.


--
bugman - Equilibrium Challenged

"Trying to maintain balance by wild arm and body motions is something
like trying to balance a wet noodle"
Jack Wiley _The_Unicycle_Book_
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Mojoe
December 7th 03, 05:55 AM
bugman wrote:
> *Interesting Camera mount. How does it mount? If you could take a
> picture with how it is used, that would ne useful. It seems to me
> like you just hold it, but I could be wrong. *


Yep, you just hold onto it. It's for following behind the person
unicycling when you want them low camera angles. It just makes it easier
to hang on to the camera. I should get a wide angle lense for my camera,
but I haven't yet.

I saw a camera mount similar to this one at Danscomp.com for $40. George
said he could whip one up in a few minutes, so he did and had it powder
coated metallic black and shipped it to me with the frame.

I'm sure you could clamp or duct tape it to the front of a muni for some
cool muni-cam action shots.



Mojoe


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Mojoe - DILLIGAF

Nothing to see here... move along.
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