I’ve decided to graduate from my 20" SUN to something more substantial - probably a KH something-or-other; a bent rim from too much hopping was the main indicator that a change is needed. I’m only going to be able to convince the wife to let me shell out for this once (a least this year ), so I’m sweating what to get. Urban is what I’ve got on hand mostly, but on the weekend I mountain bike some of the state parks here in TN and I’ve been itching to go Muni. The KH 24" is probably what I’m going to go with, b/c it seems the most versatile in that respect.
The question I’ve been kicking around is whether not it would be possible to buy a separate 20" trials wheel and use it when I want light and agile, and on occasion when I head for the mountains, swap out it out for the 24" wheel.
Not being expert enough on such things I was curious if any folks here had insight into that. I’m sure components are compatible, the real question is performance issues.
No unfortuantely. If this were possible then girls would not like boys because they would be to busy spending awesome time with their magic uni. A 20 inch frame means it can fit a 20 inch wheel. Nothing more or less than that. What you can do though is a buy a good cheap frame frome your LBS and buy a mountain tire and you’re all set! Good luck!
He is meaning to get a KH24 and to buy a seperate trials wheel and put the trials wheel in the KH frame I think. This would work okay, it may be an idea to get a KH Street Saddle for when you use it for trials. Mybe you should consider getting 2 nimbuses instead. A Nimbus Muni with moments is around the strenght of a KH.
It’s a good idea - just make sure both hubs are ISIS then you’ll have 42mm bearings in a 42mm bearing holder. You could always try to sneak a frame, post & saddle into the home at a later date…
It can be irritating to switch over the frames: I’ve often not bothered going for a ride because the most suitable uni has been cannibalised and was in pieces (shameful, I know).
Just don’t do what MUniThomas was thinking of, and buy a 20" and try to fit in a 24" wheel!!
I second that. A 24in Nimbus MUni and a 20in Nimbus Trials Uni collectively will cost about the same as a KH MUni (probably less when you factor in the 20in wheelset you talked about getting). The jack of all trades is the master of none, so even though the Nimbus Unis are not quite as nice as a KH, they will each at least be custom built for a specific purpose.
Also, I went from a couple of Sun unicycles (a 20in classic and a 24in flat top) to a Nimbus, and it was a definite upgrade in quality! I don’t think you would be disappointed.
Yes, it would work. It might not be ideal, but then again, even with 9 unicycles, I don’t always think I’ve got the ideal one for the job! Using a 20" wheel in a 24" frame would limit you on some tricks (wheel walking, foot on frame stuff), and if you have brakes fitted you would need to remove them as they would (probably) rub the tyre.
I used to have a muni that was a combination of a 24" wheel and a 26" frame, and that worked just fine. I wasn’t swapping wheels over on a regular basis though.
Yes it will work, if you match the bearing size and axle width. Axle width in this case boils down to the space between the bearings, so both wheels will fit the frame.
Practicality-wise, you’ll probably hate it. Switching wheels is messy, and it’s a pain. Plus you’ll have to check and readjust the bearing bolts once or twice after every wheel change (after some riding). Add up your costs. Would it really cost that much more to just have two unicycles? Probably not, especially if you skimp on the components for one or the other.
However, if you live in a tiny apartment, I mean really tiny, it might be worth it to save a little space. I’ve gone through life requiring a garage in every house I’ve lived in (nine since my parents’) because of my growing unicycle collection. But I’m okay with that…
Yes it will work, if you match the bearing size and axle width. Axle width in this case boils down to the space between the bearings, so both wheels will fit the frame. And tire clearance (make sure both tires aren’t too wide).
Practicality-wise, you’ll probably hate it. Switching wheels is messy, and it’s a pain. Plus you’ll have to check and readjust the bearing bolts once or twice after every wheel change (after some riding). Add up your costs. Would it really cost that much more to just have two unicycles? Probably not, especially if you skimp on the components for one or the other.
However, if you live in a tiny apartment, I mean really tiny, it might be worth it to save a little space. I’ve gone through life requiring a garage in every house I’ve lived in (nine since my parents’) because of my growing unicycle collection. But I’m okay with that…
For a time I was considering doing something similar with a 29" frame to have the possibility of using 24", 26", and 29" wheels for off-road riding. I came to the conclusion that it wouldn’t be worthwhile to me for most of the same reasons John stated. If you have spare wheels parts lying around and can build up a wheel cheaply then it might be worth it to try out a different wheel size, but for actual and regular use a separate uni seems more practical and not much more expensive.
+1
I guess we all had the same idea at some point. It just doesn’t work from a financial point of view. Once you add up the price of a (new) wheel set, cranks, tire, tube you already reach the price of a full unicycle. You may as well buy a full unicycle and get a “free” frame, saddle and seat post. Of course that’s a different story when you already have a bunch of spare parts lying around.
I doubt that I will ever break a uni frame, but from what I have ascertained via the forums the Nimbus MUni is as strong as the KH. The thing that put KH out of the running was the cost, and that it is apparently heavier than a comparable Nimbus. The Nimbus 24" MUni is listed as 6.7kg vs. the 6.9kg KH24 on UDC.UK. While I have a problem with the quality of the welds on my Nimbus I am not worried about their integrity. I’m sure that the KH is a higher quality piece, but I am not sure it’s worth the expense. Maybe one day when money isn’t an issue I’ll reconsider.
if unigeezer can do trials on a 36er, you should be able to handle a 24" ; )
I learned on a 20, went to a 36, and could NEVER see going back to a 20 for anything except freestyle gymnasium tricks. . . and even then I may try to swing a 24 around instead. . . I’ll make that decision when I get there though n.n’
I think that it is a geed idea buying a KH24. No better unicycle on the market!
If you also buy a KH20 wheelset you can swap it into the 24 no problem. You might want to have a complete wheelset - that means hub, rim, and tire without saying - but also cranks and pedals. It would be a a real hassle to switch pedals and cranks too. Also - for MUni you will want different length cranks and different pedals.
With the crown of the fork being higher when you have the 20 inch wheelset in there might be move of a chance of your inner thighs hitting it. However the KH frames are nicely rounded so it should not be a problem.
Don’t settle for two Nimbuses. If your heart is set on a KH and it is a sweet unicycle you will always regret not having it!
On the other hand you are the man of the house don’t let the wife limit your fun. I would switch my wife before I let her limit my Unicycling decisions!
Keep in mind that you buy a KH and that is it for years. It lasts that long!
By the way Barak is a very Israeli name. If you are from Israel give me a call I will be happy to help you out and let you try my three KH’s to make deciding easier! 054-6997845
My 26" MUni frame has held many wheels and it is great to experiment but swapping wheels really is a pain.
Before I had my 36 I would keep swapping between a 27X1 1/4 and 26X3 wheel depending if I was commuting or going for a MUni ride. I used the skinny wheel almost exclusively and I think only got out to the trails 3 or 4 times that year.
Later I have tried a 24" wheel in my 26" frame to see whether I would like the 24" wheel size or not. I didn’t really like it but bought a 24" frame anyway so I could do more back to back comparisons. It was a whole lot nicer comparing the two wheel sizes with two completely diffrent unicycles but I still did not like the 24 and sold the wheel and frame (not trying to scare you away for a 24, I just prefer a 26 for MUni)
I now have my original wheel with shorter cranks and a Hookworm tire that I throw on for a urban commuter but I generally don’t use it, if I had a second frame for it that would change though.
So in short having multiple wheels for a single frame works but is not very convenient.
BTW I forgot to add that riding the 20" wheel in the 24" frame will not be an issue. The fork crown will be in exactly the same place it would be if you were on a 24" wheel, so it won’t bang your legs. Up until the late 1980s, Miyata (the best brand of unicycles at the time) used 24" frames for all its 20" and 24" wheels.
However if you want to do tricks with the 20" wheel, the higher fork crown will be an impediment. Not so much for basic tricks, but more and more so as you get more advanced. You’ll want your feet to be lower down and closer to the tire.
I agree with everyone ^ that the parts will fit. It sounds like a miserable hassle to swap all the parts out. Way cooler to have a 19 and a muni hanging on the wall, with the preferred seat at the preferred height. Call us lazy but the forum is made up mostly of people who want to ride more and wrench less. If that’s not you, maybe it will work. I knew a guy who spent 3 hours every Saturday washing and waxing his car. Hopeless case (in his 60’s, with a bland car), I never said nothing about it to him cause he looked like he was having fun.
So if the OP is a happy wrench spinner-polisher type, it might work. Otherwise, get 2 uni’s. Then do the grab and go. Ride, ride, then more riding. No wrenching and adjusting and all that crap, until you really have to.
Hmm. Much to ponder. I had not considered the crank length differences. A separate set of cranks and pedals would be really helpful. But by then the cost has gone up even more.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but the 24" works well for muni and doubles reasonably well for urban/freestyle. But a 20" wouldn’t work so well for muni.
Given I’m in the late stages of newbie’ness (forward, idle, reverse, and a little hopping), I’m not going to be doing any crazy freestyle for awhile. Trail riding is a good next step, I think, and I can build some of the technical skills that will make urban riding fun.
So get a good 24" I can grow into, and when the skills build I can shop around for a good quality, second-hand 20" trials unicycle. Nimbus has me intrigued. But I think I’m inclined to buy a KH rather than risk needing/wanting to upgrade later.
I’m based in the States. Recommendations for the best place to order online? Nashville area doesn’t have any shops carrying KH.
~ Barak
BTW Unicorn, Thanks for the offer to test ride. Very generous of you. I’m French/Irish descent - My parents had a thing for Biblical names. I have a USA passport, but I grew up globally. I live in Nashville, TN for now.
I’m not sure what the deal with Unicycle.com being out of stock of a lot of KH uni’s is??? Anyway, Amazon.com has em.
If your primary focus is going to be offroad in addition to wanting to do some trials and street, you will be perfectly setup on the kh24. It will do all that no problem. I find the 20 to be more like a toy due to it’s size, but I totally understand why the street and trials riders love it. For me I figure if I can do it on a 24, it just makes me a better rider down the road, and there isn’t too much a 20 can do that a 24 can’t do. I won’t ever be the caliber of street/trials rider where I need a 20, I’m gonna leave that to the young ones.
I don’t want to mix things up anymore, but I’m going to throw this out there too: Have you thought about 26"/29" ? I’m not sure what kind of trials you have around there, or what kind of off road riding you want to do, but if its cross country trail riding these are also very good options.
Run that fat tire soft and it will chop an inch off the height of every stone.
KH prices can vary a lot month by month. Not so long ago you could buy 07 KH unis online for 400 $ ish. Best deal ever on one of the best unis ever.
Now, with 09 KH priced 600 $ ish, the cheaper Nimbus look good to me, if I wanted a good muni and was looking for value. Wait a while, and follow the forum. Google a bunch before buying anything. A deal where you can buy a KH 24 for 400 $ may appear soon. Or maybe not, anyway, it has happened, and this is the place to learn about it when it does.
), so I’m sweating what to get. Urban is what I’ve got on hand mostly, but on the weekend I mountain bike some of the state parks here in TN and I’ve been itching to go Muni. The KH 24" is probably what I’m going to go with, b/c it seems the most versatile in that respect.
