Ducttape said:the whole unicycle I am budgeting for it to cost around a total of
1,200, but I'll start when I have about 1,500 in my bank acount so I
have some wiggle room, I am only a third of the way there.
Nathan's post makes me think I ended up being harsh, and I'm sorry for
that. However, given that you're seriously considering spending this
much money, it's not unreasonable to play a little "hardball" with you
so that you don't just pour it down the drain.
If you wanted to build your own complete 36" uni using all good-quality
but basic, easily-found available parts (examples: hub, spokes, rim,
clamp, etc) including a commercially available, proven steel frame
(say, Hunter), you might be able to do a pretty good job for $1500 if
you have a machine shop buddy or skills plus shop access. This is for
good-quality stuff (no "placeholder" parts) and assumes that your
skills are pretty good. Of course, your costs will vary with choice of
parts, brakes or not, etc.
Why not do this instead of the Ti thing? If you dropped the $1500 on a
Ti frame alone you might not even get a frame that is usable. In the
process of doing a complete uni with steel frame, you'll learn a heck
of a lot about the nitty, gritty, ugly details of trying to do
something which seems so simple on the outside. You also have a much
better chance of ending up with something you can actually Ride with
Pride and say "I did it!". You'll also have a more solid base for
Titanium Excitement.
Do some searches here in the forum and you'll find Andrew Carter's, Rod
Wylie's, and other people's experiences with this kind of thing.
In one sense, one can think of a unicycle frame as a structure which
ties together the more important elements of wheel, pedals, saddle.
You really ought to know a lot more about those things before you can
design a frame from scratch, let alone get a Ti one right the very
first time. If you don't have a wheel or saddle that you are confident
deserve to be integrated with a custom Ti frame, then you're not likely
to develop a frame that will somehow match something that somehow comes
along in the future.
Basically, your skills, tools, insight, budget, and unicycle components
should be of roughly the same caliber. As the caliber of each of these
improves, your ability to produce a complete unicycle will improve. If
you are lacking in any of these areas, then your project will suffer
and be brought down to the level of the lowest caliber item.
Best to you in your endeavors.
--
U-Turn
Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
------------------------------------------------------------------------
U-Turn's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/691
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/53841
