29" Discussion thread

[unibob]

Just got my KH 29er on Wednesday from UDC.

After getting some bolts for the bearing caps (none supplied) I took it on the road out front of my house.

After 4 or 5 failed freemounts I hit it spot on and can now frremount everytime.

However, I have had a couple of UPD's which cost my left elbow a lot of skin. I was wearing sixsixone pads too!

I was wondering about dismounts. On my Nimbus ISIS Trials 20" I can just get off to standing but with the upd's on my new KH29 I fell forward onto my hands and knees. (I'm well kitted up with wrist & palm guards too, so no damage there)

Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding getting off?

Also I noticed it was pulling to the right when riding, could this be the camber of the road or is it just me not being used to the larger wheel.

At the moment I have Moment 150's on the 29 but when I get more proficient I might swap them over so my 20 has 150's and my 29" has 127's. Any suggestions on this idea?

[kington99]

Originally Posted by unibob

I was wondering about dismounts. On my Nimbus ISIS Trials 20" I can just get off to standing but with the upd's on my new KH29 I fell forward onto my hands and knees. (I'm well kitted up with wrist & palm guards too, so no damage there)

Can anyone point me in the right direction regarding getting off?

Also I noticed it was pulling to the right when riding, could this be the camber of the road or is it just me not being used to the larger wheel.

You're 4 1/2 inches higher than normal and it's causing you to misjudge your landing. Dismounting a 29 is not atall difficult, maybe try dismounting at increasing speeds on purpose to get the measure of it. Of course a 29 is capable of going over running speeds so some UPDs are going to be impossible to come out of on your foot.

I find the kenda klaw does tend to pull quite heavily on road camber, especialy if you don't have it pumped up hard. It doesn't do it on loose ground though.

[unisteve]

Originally Posted by unibob

At the moment I have Moment 150's on the 29 but when I get more proficient I might swap them over so my 20 has 150's and my 29" has 127's. Any suggestions on this idea?

I can't tell you anything about 29ers, but my experience with 20 inchers tells me that 150s on that small a wheel might be a bit long... I know I hit my 137s on the ground a lot on my KH20. But if it works, do it. Don't let people like me dissuade you.

[jamessd]

At the moment I have Moment 150's on the 29 but when I get more proficient I might swap them over so my 20 has 150's and my 29" has 127's. Any suggestions on this idea?

127s will make a noticeable difference to the way your 29er rides, and you should definitely put them on if you plan on doing distance. Of course, if you ever try any muni then the 150s are what you want.

If the uni is pulling in one particular direction, it is likely that it is the camber of the road like you said - unless of course you have this trouble everywhere you ride...which could mean your seat is not straight.

[semach.the.monkey]

The pulling in one direction could be down to a few things (road camber, tyre choice, type pressure) already mentioned, but most likely it's down to the rider. You may well have been pulling slightly to the right on your 20", but that is nice and easy to compensate for. Moving up to a 29er amplifies this so it'll become a lot more noticeable. But the good news is that the more you ride the better it'll be.

The same is true of your dismounts. Ride a bit more and dismount a bit more, and all of them (including the pretty fast ones you had no idea were coming up) will leave you on your feet.

Oh, and welcome to the 29" club!

STM

[unibob]

Originally Posted by semach.the.monkey

Oh, and welcome to the 29" club!

STM

Thanks guys & girls! It's really great to get the feedback that you experienced riders give out so freely. It is a community in the true sense of the word.

I've just taken my KH29 out for a run tonight around the block and I got on a lot better with it. I found that by holding the seat handle with my right hand I kept going straight, take it off and I was off to the right again. Weird.

I didn't UPD though which was my main worry. The only thing of any note was that some snotty little teenagers shouted "Oi Fall off" Heh heh, I love how original these people are!

Thanks again fellow riders!

[legtod2]

For road camber issues I found that adding air to my tires really helped.

I especially noticed the increased air presure helped for tight turns too.

Get as much practice time as you can with your 29".

Try freemounting, idleing and commuting and get as much practice as possible.

It's a versitile unicycle.

[unibob]

Thanks man!

I aim to spend more and more time on the 29er as I'm doing a charity uni down a local hill (called the Wrekin) in the summer. I need to get used to it or I'm gonna die!

At the same time, I really want to land a unispin on my 20" I've never quite got the bottle to pull it off. I want to do everything at the same time.

Cheers for the tips, they are very much appreciated.

[semach.the.monkey]

Originally Posted by unibob

I aim to spend more and more time on the 29er as I'm doing a charity uni down a local hill (called the Wrekin) in the summer. I need to get used to it or I'm gonna die!

If this is the big hill oposite the golf course, then I'd suggest lots of practice on smaller hills, picking up a cheap set of Maguras from eBay, and life insurance.

STM

[unibob]

Originally Posted by semach.the.monkey

If this is the big hill oposite the golf course, then I'd suggest lots of practice on smaller hills, picking up a cheap set of Maguras from eBay, and life insurance.

STM

Don't worry about life insurance! My wife, who bought me a uni as a joke has now doubled up on all that jazz.

Thought about brakes a bit, are they worth it and are they difficult to use?

Did a 10km ride on Friday afternoon and it was great. Loads of positive reactions and a couple of idiotic reactions but felt more and more comfortabel all the time.

Glad I bought this now.

[sp4rky-m4rky]

Originally Posted by unibob

Don't worry about life insurance! My wife, who bought me a uni as a joke has now doubled up on all that jazz.

Thought about brakes a bit, are they worth it and are they difficult to use?

Did a 10km ride on Friday afternoon and it was great. Loads of positive reactions and a couple of idiotic reactions but felt more and more comfortabel all the time.

Glad I bought this now.

I would say a brake is totaly worth it but only if your doing Muni/XC down steep terain. Road riding you will probably almost never use it.

I made another 29er vid, bit of off-roading..... http://www.vimeo.com/846009

[Into the blue]

I've had my KH29 for several months now and I still haven't worked up the nerve to try the magura brake.
I guess the trails I do aren't that extreme.
Except for once, when I wasn't concentrating and the uni ran away from underneath me before I could back-pedal.
And after a spectacular UPD, as I was lying on the forest floor curled up in a world of my own personal pain, I remember I thought "Hmm, maybe I should have a go at that brake thing one day."

[sp4rky-m4rky]

Originally Posted by Into the blue

I've had my KH29 for several months now and I still haven't worked up the nerve to try the magura brake.
I guess the trails I do aren't that extreme.
Except for once, when I wasn't concentrating and the uni ran away from underneath me before I could back-pedal.
And after a spectacular UPD, as I was lying on the forest floor curled up in a world of my own personal pain, I remember I thought "Hmm, maybe I should have a go at that brake thing one day."

Haha, I use my brake quite a bit, in that vid I was braking quite a bit down most of the slopes, they were quite steep though. They are so much steeper that the vid makes them look, they were close to the limit of my climbing abilitys.

I dont think I have ever realy used my brake when riding on the road, apart from when I see how hard I can hold the break on and still ride, thats fun, feels realy cool

[gkmac]

Originally Posted by Into the blue

I've had my KH29 for several months now and I still haven't worked up the nerve to try the magura brake.

I had brakes on both my 24" muni and 29er for several months before I used them. I use them as drag brakes on long steep downhills to save leg strength, but never to bring the uni to a stop.

Find a steep-ish slope that goes on for a fair bit and ride down it. You need to place you finger on the lever, and very very slowly and very very gently increase the pressure while riding down the slope, until it feels like the brake is about half-way in.

It won't feel like it's helping at all, but then try letting go of the brake all at once and you'll feel a jerk sensation in your legs as they suddenly need more strength to keep the speed down.

Try it several times with different finger pressures on the brake, remembering to apply it very very slowly and very very gently.

[unibob]

Wow 9.7miles on my 29er!

I'm knackerd and I've got a saddle sore arse! I've just been to help a friend out with his pc and he lives 5.7miles away. I set off at 7:30pm and got there at 8:20pm. Not bad for me that.

Fixed his pc, had a lager then jumped back on my KH29er at 10:15pm. Got 4.2 miles back and I had to stop, my underkeks were chafing slightly more than I could take. Walked the reset and jst got in now.

I found I didn't lean to the right anymore, I learnt that if i put the majority of my weight in the seat,I could get some good speed up and give my legs a bit of a rest. I also noticed that I didn't have to hold onto the handle on the front of my saddle as much, and there was less flailing arm action.

I think it's true that Practice makes perfect. Not that I'm perfect, but I only had one real UPD. Some roads I managed to cross without dismounting too, but cos it was dark I had to be careful.

Who knows maybe I'll crack 15 miles next time. Thanks for your support guys!

Bob