4 weeks ago
8
Last year, erstwhile I was learning to thrust my unicycle connected airy off-road trails, the near crank-arm started to wobble faintly. As I continued riding, the wobble got much and much pronounced and erstwhile I stopped, I saw that the crank-arm bolt had worked itself astir wholly loose. Since I hadn't carried my other ample Allen cardinal (M8), I couldn't hole it connected the spot, truthful I had to halt mid thrust and thrust backmost home. Once home, I rapidly tightened up the bolt, but erstwhile I took it retired for a trial ride, I recovered that the wobble rapidly returned, nary substance however overmuch I torqued up the bolt. A section motorcycle store diagnosed it arsenic a busted crank arm, and since unicycle crank arms are not the aforesaid arsenic bicycle crank arms, I needed to bid from the unicycledotcom affiliate successful Sweden. When I checked their website however, I saw that they had nary stocks of the 125 mm cranks that I had connected my unicycle, and erstwhile I called them, they said they had nary thought erstwhile it would beryllium backmost successful banal either. I remembered past that I had a acceptable of 150 mm cranks that I'd ne'er used, and I thought I'd springiness them a shot.
Getting the crank limb disconnected is nary antithetic from a bicycle; you request a crank-puller instrumentality and earlier long, the 125 mm cranks were off. When I inspected them however, thing seemed amiss, truthful I was a spot puzzled. When I tried to instal the 150 mm cranks, I realized what was amiss; the screw seemed to beryllium partially stripped, but the spread connected the hub was successful overmuch worse shape, arsenic the thread astir the entranceway was destroyed, astir apt erstwhile I rode a spot aft the crank limb had loosened and started to wobble. Frustrating arsenic this was, determination was thing I could bash with a trashed thread till I got my hands onto a thread tapper, to hole the stripped thread.
A sojourn to the section instrumentality store ('Biltema') the adjacent time gave maine what I needed, an M8 thread tapper, and earlier long, it worked its magic, and I could get the bolt into the spread again.
The M8 thread tapper.
The M8 thread tapper, up close.
When I installed the 150mm cranks, I discovered that the crank arms were mode excessively agelong for my height, arsenic my legs couldn't adjacent scope and interaction the pedals erstwhile the crank arms were successful 12-o-clock and 6-o-clock positionn. The saddle was already each astatine the lowest imaginable presumption without the saddlepost hitting the tire, truthful if I needed to little the tallness immoderate more, I'd person to saw down the saddlepost. Since I didn't privation to bash this, I decided to bid 114 mm cranks which were inactive disposable connected the webstore. There were shorter than the 125 mm cranks I'd ridden the 24" unicycle with, but I was utilized to riding with 110 mm cranks connected my different 29" unicycle, truthful it should beryllium okay, I thought.
The reddish instrumentality is the crank puller. The achromatic crank arms are the 150 mm quadrate taper cranks portion the chrome ones are the 125 mm crank arms that were primitively connected the uni. On the uni successful this representation are the caller 114 mm cranks.
The caller cranks arrived successful grounds clip and arsenic expected, I was capable to thrust rather good with them, though the thrust characteristics were rather different. In fact, I liked it amended than with the 125 mm cranks, arsenic the smaller tighter ellipse my feet made seemed a batch smoother than before. The atrocious quality though, was that the wobble was back, adjacent with the caller cranks, letting maine cognize that the occupation had ever been the hub; it was simply not susceptible of withstanding the torque I applied astatine the crank limb immoderate longer. While the thread tapper had helped, it was inactive a nary go, truthful arsenic a last Hail Mary, I applied immoderate superglue to the threads connected the crank limb bolt and drove it successful rapidly and tightened it earlier the glue set. Left the uni to beryllium for a portion and past tried it retired gingerly, wishing I'd not perceive the dreaded creak that signified that the bolt was unraveling, but the glue and the bolt held, astatine slightest for now. I rode for a portion till I bushed myself out, and called it a night. Here's hoping that the hole holds for astatine slightest a portion longer, arsenic this is simply a unicycle that I similar to thrust connected the snow, and similar the characters successful the bid 'The Game of Thrones' often pointed out, 'Winter is coming!' 
