Maintenance Tips
Wheel Truing
Wheel building and wheel truing can be considered fine arts and I won't go into much detail, however these basics should get even a raw beginner through making rough adjustments in an emergency. If you're looking to true your wheel more precisely either take it in to the local bike shop or learn how by visiting http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html .
Basically, the wheel consists of spokes either side of centre connecting the rim to the hub. If the rim is bent to the right in a certain spot, then at that spot you need to find the spokes connecting to the left of the hub and tighten them. Use your thumb (resting on the legs of the frame) as a marker to see which spots are out of true.
When you find the spot, tighten the appropriate spokes. If you've got these spokes facing down, you'll need to turn the nipples (the bits on the rim end of the spokes) anti-clockwise to tighten them. They generally won't need to be turned very far. Try turning them about 1/4 of a revolution for rough adjustments. Don't just tighten one spoke...you'll usually have to tighten at least one more either side (to a lesser extent).
Generally speaking you should avoid loosening spokes. Spokes can come loose after a while of riding but very rarely automatically tighten. :)
It's a good idea to take a spoke spanner with you on most rides, particularly muni rides. They are only small and are a really useful addition to your tool kit. Knowing how to true a wheel can save you a lot of trouble when you're out on the trail.
Andrew Carter
Cleaning Out A Water Logged Unicycle
To dry up a water-logged unicycle without having to completely remove the wheel then tyre and tube, etc try the following. This is a lazy method, however...be aware that it's probably not the most effective way of drying out a unicycle.
Get as much air as possible out of the tube first, then pull the tyre to one side while it's still sitting in the rim. Wedge sticks or pegs or anything else that seems appropriate between the tyre and inside edge of the rim so that air and sunlight are allowed in. If you are using rubber rim tape, pull that completely off the rim so it doesn't catch any water beneath it. If you're using higher quality rim tape it should soak up the water and then dry off once you leave the unicycle out in the sun for a while. Let it sit in the sun and rotate the wheel every now and then, then push the tyre to the other side and put the pegs, etc back in. This will save you a bit of hassle if you're running a tricky-to-remove tyre and don't want to remove the wheel. I've done this a couple of times after riding through water about 20-30cm deep and the unicycle still remains rust-less throughout. If you've been riding through water that's higher than the hub for some strange reason, then you may want to consider putting a bit more effort into cleaning your unicycle.
Andrew Carter
Fixing Creaking KH Cranks
If your KH cranks are creaking first check if they’re just making a noise or if you can actually feel them move as well. If you can feel them move your problem is a little more serious. First try tightening them, if they still move either the cranks are slipping on the splines or the axle is slipping inside the hub, if this is the case I can’t help you.
If you can only hear them creaking then it is very simple and easy to stop.
First undo both the bolts on the crank, the big one and the pinch bolt, then slide the crank off the axle, it should come off fairly easily, but don’t be afraid to apply even force. Then get some grease or similar substance i.e. Vaseline. Rub the grease, Vaseline etc all over the axle, don’t use too much but lightly cover the entire axle. Slide the crank back on the axle, put Loctite on the bolts and then tighten the crank back on as tight as you can, Allen-Keys with long handles are best. Do this with both cranks and creaking should be a thing of the past! To make this even more effective use Anti-Sieze instead of grease, it will only cost a few dollars at any hardware store and one tube should last a life time. For more information on complete KH setup maintenance click here.
Peter van Boekhout
Tightening Bearing Caps
My rule of thumb is to tighten the bearing caps finger tight. I hold the allen key with my finger tips. If you make a fist around the allen key you are going to get it too tight. It just needs to be tight enough so that there is no slop.
For my unicycles that have nuts, rather than allen bolts, I use a nut driver and hold the nut driver with my finger tips. Again, I don't make a fist around the nut driver. Just use my finger tips. A nut driver is like a screwdriver but it's designed to turn nuts.
If you have problems with the main cap bolts coming loose you can use Loctite threadlocker on the threads. I haven't needed to use Loctite on my main cap bolts. They stay tight enough without it.
Here's a little exercise to see how tight the bearing caps need to be. Hold the unicycle upside down. Loosen the bearing caps so they are completely loose. Now spin the wheel and watch how long it spins, how smoothly it spins, and how smoothly it comes to a stop. Now tighten the bearing caps down really tight and spin the wheel again. It won't spin as long. When it comes to a stop it will do so with a little bit of a jerk and may even snap back a little bit. That's too tight. The correct tightness is when the wheel spins almost as freely as when the bearing caps are completely loose.
Having the bearing caps too tight won't instantly ruin the bearings. It will cause the bearings to wear out faster than normal. It will also cause more drag on the wheel.
On a freestyle unicycle indoors in a gym it is easy to feel the extra drag on the bearings when the bearing caps are too tight. On a muni it is harder to feel that additional drag because the wheel is heavier and you're not riding on a nice smooth surface. But the extra drag is there and if you're real picky you can feel it as you're riding.
John Childs