I remember reading over on MTBR where someone said that they thought with all of the new wheel sizes coming around (29 and 27.5) eventually people will choose wheel size based on how they will fit the bike, rather than the wheel’s riding characteristics.
Kind of an interesting point of view IMO, since I still believe that different wheel sizes have benefits regardless of fit.
Black Zero? When will this be available in the US? I’m sure you’ve answered this a million times, but I noticed that on every unicycle with a Zero, a T-bar is ‘recommended’. What is your opinion on using it without a handle, for those that don’t run a handle using a Freeride or Street saddle? Sorry! :o I’m also curious as to why you don’t adopt the same pivotal mount on the other ‘original’ saddles.
I do want to say though Kris, that I think you guys made some very positive advances with your gear. Going to the one piece hub is great to see, as well as black saddles. I’m also very glad to see someone that put a 29er frame with better clearance for the Knard tire.
Re fit - I agree with you that wheel size is about a combination of fit, riding style, and terrain.
Re the recommendation of a T-bar with the Zero. With curved saddles, essentially you are blocked from falling forward by the front of your crotch. The Zero takes this away, replacing it with saddle angle and some adjustment in rider position. But there is still less support out front. A T-handle really helps to keep your weight back. Just because you don’t run a T-bar on the curved KH saddles doesn’t mean you necessarily won’t want one on the Zero. For muni the setup replacing the plastic handle with a T-bar is great.
Re switching to a Pivotal mount on the other saddles. That would require a new saddle frame and injection molding is expensive. Between the KH saddles there’s around $60,000 in tooling and design cost, not including my time. That’s a barrier in a small sport - it takes years to recoup the investment.
I pretty much agree this is a good plan - my brother is shorter than me, and when he rides his old 26" MTB he looks relatively normal. When he tried a 29er, he looked ridiculously small. Those extra couple inches really add up when you account for the increased framesize/geometry.
There are also a couple of 36" MTB’s out there with full-sized frames (as opposed to the Coker/Qu-Ax cruiser 36er bikes that have super low-slung frames to allow for shorter riders) to accomodate giant-sized riders.
Obviously with uni’s its a bit different, our wheel sizes more or less determine our speed, but I think between a 24" and a 29er, riding MUni, your speed’s probably not going to be crazily different anyway, so you might as well choose a wheelsize that suits you as a rider rather than fussing over which one ‘performs better’ on certain terrain. Some people are completely able to fling a 29er all over the place like it’s a small wheel, and some are able to blast a 24" along fast, smooth single-track.
Well said Piece Maker. Like everything much of it comes down to talent, experience, fitness , and technique. Great riders can ride anything better than I can even if I have the best equipment. But sizing is important. I’m a decent rider and tried a 29 because it was all the rage a while ago, and I hated it. Maybe I could have stuck with it, but I wasn’t having fun. It just didn’t seem to fit me well. Too big to be manunverable, too small to go long distances on the road.
I’m looking at the new KH26 to replace my Oracle 24, which I find just a tad small and heavy, especially when climbing hills. I actually like it fine on flats and downhill. I use my Oracle for both muni and for short urban rides, where I like to jump over obstacles and generally have fun. It’s my go-to uni. But the tire options are limited, and as I said it’s heavy and just a little too small for muni.
So how would the new KH26 fare with the flat saddle for the urban riding I do? I suspect the bars would get in the way, yet they seem needed for muni…
Great news and great timing (since I was about to get a new uni)!
@danger_uni: With the hydraulic brakes, how common is it to have a leak in the hose while doing muni ? In case it is needed, what is your recommendation to protect the hose ?
I don’t muni more than a few times a month, but I also crash my muni all the time on concrete. I’ve ridden hydraulic brakes for 3 years and not once had a leak. #jinx
A T-bar is going to get in the way if you do tricks. But it’s good if your main goal is getting from A to B, including technical stuff. The key is to make sure the “T” is narrow enough - if you find it is at all in the way then a narrower configuration is probably better. The straight T-bar has been reduced from a 150 mm T to a 120 mm T. For mounting right in front of the saddle you could cut it as narrow as 110 mm. Allow for an adjustment period, for sure.
Kris, I use a tbar on my Oracle 36 and love it, but of course I’m not jumping stuff and being wacky on my 36. Just getting from point A to point B.
Most of what I currently do on my 24 when riding it in an urban setting is rolling hops. In muni urban hops and side hops up a hill when the going gets tough.
That being said, I’m sure you do some pretty technical riding on your 26 with the bar, so I should be fine in an urban setting too.
With rolling hops it’s key to have the pulling position as close as possible to the front of the saddle. A few centimetres make a big difference. So with a T-bar replacing the plastic handle on a Zero saddle, it really needs to be as high angle and close to the saddle as possible. This means narrow - a “T” width no more than 120 mm.
The new grippy bar-ends also help because you can put your pinky behind the back of the grip.
With an adjustment period to get used to it, this setup works fine for rolling hops during “normal” riding including technical muni.
That said, if you are riding trials and the entire purpose is to do the highest rolling hop you can do, then the plastic handle still gives the optimal hand position.
Kris,
Are there any advantages to the flat saddle for muni and/or short urban riding other than comfort? I find that for muni I rarely experience discomfort probably due to the fact that I don’t ride long enough and I am often not in the saddle during climbs anyway. Short urban rides are, well, short.
I do experience discomfort on my 36 after about 10 miles or so, probably because I am in the saddle most of the time.
If the flat saddle with bar setup is really only advantageous for comfort, then it’s probable that I would order the new KH26 with my old stand-by, the fusion street saddle and not the flat saddle. I would do this because I don’t currently ride muni with a bar anyway and would want to avoid the extra expense and it being in the way when hopping. I assume UDC will offer this option.
“Sitting” on a unicycle saddle is also not just about sitting. On hilly roads and even gentle trails, a rider might stand, sit, or unweight the saddle more than a dozen times in a hundred metres. Each time a rider unweights they shift forwards in the saddle, typically to the middle when unweighting and the front when climbing standing up. The lower curve makes it far easier to shift forwards and backwards. The lower front nose increase standover clearance when standing, and the slim mid-section and vertical sides reduce chafing when shifting from side to side during a climb.
Wow thanks for the info Kris. I am always astounded by the quality and innovation of your products. Yeah I know flat saddles were being hacked before yours…But still, the fact that you are willing to spend the time to bring professional products to market is a boon for the average unicyclist.
On top of it all your helpful and patient personality has been a real asset to our sport. I can’t thank you enough for the pleasure your products bring me every day.
Do any of the new wheels come with the foss tube? It looks like the 36er comes with the standard rubber tube from what I can see in the picture. There are apparently 2 different rims depending on which tube you have because the hole size for the valve is different. (The older tube needs a larger hole, the foss tube needs a smaller hole).
I recently did a wheel build for my nightrider pro and ordered the stealth 2 rim, which, when ordered with an oracle or by itself has a small hole for the foss tube, but when ordered with the titan has a large hole for the rubber tube. I ended up having to shave the rubber from the sides of the schrader valve of the old tube to get it through the rim. I imagine it would be a larger problem if you wanted to run the foss tube in a titan.
Is it possible there is a rubber grommet to prevent blowouts if it runs the old tube stock and you plan to run the foss tube?
Personally I like my old trusty rubber tube, but something to be aware of. It took me by surprise when I started putting my wheel back together.
The stregth of the frame and hub are wellcome, nos with the zero saddle the unicycle looks really PRO!
I have to try the handle setup for muni… Do you recomend it for daily use? How does it take falls?
About the tire I couldnt agree more, here in the rocky mountains the old 26" tire was to weak to stand drops. I´ve been riding lately it with a knard the change is huge!!
Thanks Kris for improving each year, with the new saddles and handles we are almost ready for long ristance riding… we just need the geared hub to be on stock again! (you have no idea how much stress is causing this absence!!)
The KH36 is spec’d to come with the Foss tube. Rather than shaving the valve I’d recommend drilling the hole larger to accept the rubber tube if you want to go that route. It could never be done officially (at the source), but I do know some riders who have also had success with a 29x3" Surly innertube, more so than riders who have tried a regular 29" tube to reduce weight.
Ha ha, I know lots of people are waiting. Will get there on the geared hub.
Yes I like the handles for daily use.
The new rubber Kraton grips are good for falls although I didn’t personally have problems with the previous bar-ends.
I think Europe has lots of stock in the straight T-bar from before, so it might be a while before the newer bar ends makes its way onto the market. That’s not necessarily an issue because they are easy to find aftermarket too.
Is a fair point. Having disliked the Zero on my muni where I just have a plastic handle, I’m now growing to like it (love is still a bit further away…) on my road guni where I use a T-bar, and it’s probably not coming off that. Maybe I need to try a T-bar on the muni, as for anything serious I’ll be using the handle all the time, and very happy for an improvement there. The trouble is I do still ride quite a lot of really easy stuff, and prefer to ride hands free - that and the muni gets ridden far more than any of my others as it’s my utility uni I use for just riding around. It seems the Zero isn’t ideal for hands free riding.
Yes I would agree with that - the Zero is not ideal for riders preferring to ride hands-free for extended periods.
For the same reason it is not ideal for complete beginners who are unable to ride while gripping the front of the handle.
One of the toughest things about product design is when priorities directly conflict with each other - it comes down to the rider’s balance of priorities. Some riders will be willing to tolerate some front saddle pressure to be able to ride mostly hands-free, and others will be willing to lean more on a front handle with a low curve saddle to avoid it.
Oh, that’s bad news to me since I have my brake lever on the boom of the T and position my braking hand in between the bar ends. This won’t be possible with the narrower new T-bars. Maybe I should buy another old one as a spare before they’re gone.
