i ended up getting the nimbus 26" muni and i love it. I’m glad i didnt get the 24. On my other 24 it felt to small and i’m 6’3". I can still do some technical stuff and it still surprises me what i can roll over with the 26".
Ah its so tough trying to decide on this matter. I get such conflicting suggestions. I’d really like to be able to try some out, but I have yet to find any physical store that carries unicycles.
The main points that I want to use it for:
- All-round get places, do uni stuff, whatever
- glide, would this be hard to do on a 26"?
- normal mountain trails
- technical trails
- downhill mountain trails
I agree it was a tough decision, but if i was you i would go with the 26" even though you could probably do a little more tech stuff on the 24" but you get used to the size and weight. i like the little bit faster speed of the 26" and how much it can roll over. I can stills hop on and off stuff when it gets technical it just takes a little getting used to. Its mainly just a personal preference.
Some good points, I thank you for the information!
OMFG. that is seriously one of the best unis i’ve ever seen.
that said…36" MUNI FTW
Isn’t that a 29"?
it’s prob a 26"…but 36" pwn for muni 
No problem.
That is the prototype Nimbus Oregon 26" muni running a Surly Large Marge rim and Surly Larry tire, hub is the aluminum spindle disc hub that is available on the Nimbus 36, but it’s not recommended for muni. A steel hub will standard when the uni becomes available, per Josh, in Spring/Summer 2011.
The tire rim combo is very close in diameter to a 29er running a Navegal or Stout, so it’s a lot of muni. That said, you can run a standard 26 x 3" Duro if you want a more all around ride, though having been riding the Larry for the past few months, the only time I have wanted something different is when I ride faster XC trails, in which case I pull out the KH 29.
This uni is everything you could want ina muni, stiff frame, big tire capacity, disc brake, and UDC quality. Only thing I’d like to see is an aluminum frame, but chromoly steel is just fine 
wow thank you so much for the information. It looks like you could roll over cars with it.
That is seriously awesome thats the uni i want!! Wish i had the money for it!
I have got KH 24 and I think it’s really good for technical downhill or even uphill.
I don’t like to carry my muni when going uphill so I’m trying to find easy way to summit. Easy means rather even but usually can be very steep. Last year I improved my uphill skills and off-course leg muscles, too. Now I am able to ride really steep hills, I couldn’t believe before that I will be ever able to do so.
I never used 26 but I understand that rides uphill are much more harder.
Many times when doing XC, or easy downhill I fill to slow or even bored on my 24" wheel but at the moment I think It’s better to upgrade in with geared hub than increasing wheel size.
I do not understand you guys, in my opinion doesn’t matter how high is the rider. In trial, guys use 20" wheels or smaller, high riders do not choose 24" for trial because they are higher than average.
For XC I will choose 26 or biger for sure, bot for difficult downhill I am going to stay with my 24.
Makym, I think the size (height) aspect of riding a bigger wheel has to do with leg length, torso size, overall body type/build “fitting” one wheel size better than another. So big people tend to like bigger wheels, small people tend to like smaller wheels.
Like in BMX, as a kid i was fine riding a 20" bike, but when I got over about 167 cm, my legs started hitting the bars (my hands), so a bigger wheel ultimately led me to mountain biking (26" wheel). Nowadays they have 24" bmx for big kids 
I learned to uni on a 20" and within a week I was riding a 24", so when I went back to learn trials, the 20" wheel size felt very small and akward. Now that I ride a 29/26, even a 24" wheel feels very small and twitchy, so for me at 182cm/90kg I can climb comfortably and faster on a bigger wheel since I have the weight and power to manage a bigger wheel.
If you find a 26" wheel is hard for you manage, it could be your size, your experience, or just that you’re not used to a bigger wheel. I can climb anything on a 26" that I can climb on a 24", but on the 24" I work harder and must hop some, whereas on the 26" I have a more stable platform for climbing and I have more roll over capability so hopping is less necessary. On a 29er I lose some of my gearing advantage, so I can’t ride quite as steep and technical as a 26", but I can ride further and longer because it is more stable and has even better obstacle rollover.
One of my son’s friends is a small girl, only 145cm when she started uni, so even a 20" trials was big, and so until she grew taller she rode a trials for muni, then when she got to about 165cm I cut down a 24" muni frame and she was able to ride that on trails.
There are lots of advantages to the 26" wheel size and really no disadvatages in contrast to the 24" wheel size, but for some reason off road unicyclists have gotten stuck on the 24" wheel size. This was not an issue for a number of years as tire availability was good, but now the tires choices are very limited, so if a person (like the OP) was asking about getting a muni today, I’d advocate for the 26".
I struggled with this same conundrum over in this thread and I’m glad I went with the 26" when I finally pulled the trigger on an Oracle. It all came down to tire selection and availability for me. If it’s weight your concerned with, I would venture a guess that my 26" Oracle retrofitted with a 2.5" tire and Freeride 1.2mm tube would be nearly as light as the 24" Oracle with the 3" Duro had I not fitted Moment cranks and big platform pedals.
Funny to see how this thread got resurrected. Almost like it was a bot. There are better threads on the subject out there, most of which were already brought to the attention of the OP. Anyway, I’m glad I went with the 26" and my trails are mostly technical. Not that I have much to compare it to as I only had a 24" Nimbus MUni for a brief period of time.
I know it’s the oldest question in muni. 24 vs. 26. Or maybe now it’s 26 vs. 29.
Anyway, I thought I had hit muni nirvana with a 24 Oracle paired with 137mm Spirit cranks. Fast (kind of), maneuverable, and trials like potential–even with the shorter cranks.
I had a 29 for a while and just found it too big for me for muni and my small frame (5’7 140lbs). I know I could get used to it I suppose, but my skill level is pretty decent, and I just don’t love the size.
I prefer somewhat technical all mountain muni and I enjoy being spritely on the trail, trying to be creative, rolling hops etc. I enjoy a challenge, and I like to try to ride up as much as down, and I like to hop over roots/rocks etc and do a little trials like stuff on the trail. But, of course, sometimes I just want to roll over things. I like the 24 with 3" duro for it’s agileness along with shock absorbancy.
Today, though, after riding my Oracle 24 for a year or so, I found myself sort of wishing for 150mm cranks for the real hopping. The 137s seemed just a tad too short, and it felt like I needed a bit more leverage, not for the uphills, but for static hopping–though the 137s sure are fun for flats, downhill and rolling hops. Yet the small wheel makes rolling over some larger logs kind of hard. With the 29 I could roll over a lot more stuff (obviously).
OK, so that’s the way unicycles are. There’s not one built for everything, but I am trying to keep my small house clear of too many unicycles/bikes…
It’s got me wondering whether the 26 with 150s is the best all around muni wheel size, if you had to have only one. I’ve never had one in all my years of unicycling-or is it sort of a jack of all trades, master of none…?
For those of you with experience with both a 24 and 26…do you find you prefer one over the other? Why? Do you find you can both hop pretty well with a 26/150 crank combo? Are you also able to roll over things more than a 24? Is superior rolling over ability noticeable compared to a 24? When you are on your 26 do you miss the shock absorbancy of the 24" Duro? (I wouldn’t want a 26 Duro–too much weight). When you are on your 24 do you miss the 26?
Ooooo…finally something I can have an opinion about.
I have a Nimbus 24x3" and a Qu-Ax 26x2.5" both with 150mm cranks and I love them both for slightly different things but with some margin of cross over in the middle.
The 24er is pure fun. I use it for all those new and challenging things like roots, curbs, lumps and bumps, riding through forests…well, woods in the UK. I run the pressure low at ~20psi so it bounces (bunny hops) well and soaks up all the lumps. Being that little nearer to the ground it gives me confidence to try things that I would be less willing to risk on the 26er. I would never be without my 24er.
That said…
When I want to ride the smoother trails, well worn paths and cinder tracks the 24er can seem a little slow. Here I prefer the 26er for a little additional speed and/or a little less effort. Because I ride easier trails and want speed over off-road capability I run the tyre at ~40 - 45psi but it still bounces well for hopping but can be a little more unforgiving if I try anything too lumpy.
There’s obviously an overlap in the middle somewhere between challenging woodland and smooth trails where both do well and as my confidence grows that overlap gets larger.
I’m personally very lucky that I don’t have to choose one over the other and can get to own one of each and would guess that my time is pretty evenly spread across the two. I’ve found that the 24er gives me the confidence to push my learning to ride harder terrain and that, once mastered on the 24er, it’s a simple translation to repeat on the 26er.
I do have more fun on the 24er though…
Your Wheel Size “Sweet Spot” Will Evolve/Devolve
You’ll find my thoughts on 24" vs 26" vs 29" MUni, and the unintended effects of handlebar design here 
: "Official" 24" Muni Tire/Tyre Review Thread .
Present situation: I’m currently mostly riding my 26er (Oracle w/ 26 x 2.35 Hans Dampf tire for nimbleness) on local trails, and I enjoyed riding it at the Moab Munifest.
Why have I returned to 26er MUni from the 29er MUni? Mostly because my regular riding buddy rides a 26er and I want to match my speed with him. But also because my current set-up performs so well, and climbs so easily. And, I do feel more confident when I’m a little closer to the ground. (It’s a long way down on a stalled 29er.) That being said, I’d have a hard time returning to 24" MUni. Why? It’s just so slooooow and susceptible to irregularities in the trail. My Nimbus 24" now sports a Chen Shin Cyclops tire for urban use and learning simple street tricks – and it rolls so much better & faster than my 19". 
Bottom line: 26er MUni is currently my favorite but my 29er is feeling neglected, and I’m missing its inherent speed and rolling ability. (Hmmmm, maybe I’ll ride the 29er this weekend.) 
Happy Trails,
UPD in Utah
That’s funny. Thanks guys for your input.
I always feel like I am looking for the perfect muni. I mean the perfect road machine is the 36. No argument there. And the perfect trick uni is the 19 or 20, but muni?
It’s such a wack-a-mole. You get satisfied with one thing, then another thing pops up. Seems to me the 137s are a bit short for a lot of static hopping, but the 24 is a bit too small a wheel for rolling over a lot of things too.
Do you find you can roll over more on the 26, or do you not find much of a difference between it and a 24? Do you find it’s capable of static hopping as compared to the 24? I really like the 24 because I can climb sooo much better than a 29, but again I’ve never really tried a 26.
The problem is you can’t go to a bike store and try out high-end unis. You just kind of have to borrow them or buy them and compare.
The other part of the problem is it takes your body and technique a while to adjust to a different wheel size or even different cranks sizes. SO even if you could try one out, you really need almost a week to figure it out.
I am in the same boat as you, 29 seems a bit big and doesn’t favor the 24 style of riding (hopping up and down obstacles). 24 was just too small for me, so I sold it. I had a 26 a while back, sold it when I momentarily decided unicycling wasn’t for me, dumb move. I’ve had my 29er for a long time, instead of doing what I’ll probably end up doing down the road (buying a 26) I put long cranks on it (165s), good tire (hans dampf) and a brake. While these things help, I haven’t really gotten back into muni enough to see if it’s going to work out. I’m totally obsessed with learning to juggle while riding/idling, when I get that I’ll hit the trails again (or when I get too frustrated, probably more likely:p).
The good thing is a uni takes up much less space than a bike, I figure one bike equals three unicycles space-wise, so it’s not abnormal for someone who is into biking to have two bikes, that leaves room for SIX unicycles !
It is not abnormal to have SIX unicycles. Must of us seem to end up with 6 or more unicycles after a few years. You need at least every wheelsize from 19 to 36 inch, and one Schlumpf.