Don’t forget the Schwalbe Kojak. Almost as light as a regular road tyre but with much bigger volume. I love it!
Martin Charrier (French champion) uses this Super Moto tyre on his G29
The only big issue reported on those 29" 2.0-2.35 schwalbe road tyres is that when it is mounted on Kh 47mm 29" rims it doesn’t hold high PSI well and can blow out.
So I have read that Martin Charrier inflates it at about 30 PSI on his kh rim but on a dominator² rim you can inflate it at 60 PSI without issue and so it rolls pretty well.
Under 30PSI it’s not good (on 29"), pretty road camber sensitive, but from 30 to 60PSI it’s ok.
Schwalbe Big apple 2.35 is known to be road camber sensitive, this doesn’t appear to be the case with super moto, both on 29" and 26".
I have SM both on my 29er and now on my g26 and really like it.
Obviously a 2.0" tyre will be even less road camber sensitive, I had the B.A 2.0 in the first place on my nimbus 29er and I didn’t feel any camber, but the tyre was a bit louder than the SM and I didn’t like very much the feeling of having a tinny tyre under me.
Another road tyre I appreciated on my ungeared 26er was Maxxis Hookworm.
I did like it on 26" but didn’t on its 29" version.
Now that I am used with SM super light tyre, I don’t plan to go back to hookworm (2x the SM weight) especially since I have knee issues, but this is a very good tyre though, with a good rotational momentum.
These are all interesting comments about cranks and tires. Thanks for the discussion.
I’m planning on riding a marathon on my non-geared 29er this summer and I’m considering getting another wheel built although I’m not sure it will be worth the effort.
I currently have a 2" Big Apple on a Dominator 2. The air pressure is usually ~45 PSI. I don’t put more air in it for fear of it popping off the rim. I’ve had no issues with camber after getting the wheel adjusted. It’s now a very comfortable ride. I just moved from 125mm cranks to 110mm cranks and also just ordered 100mm and 89mm.
I think my current set up is fine for touring around but maybe not so great for a race. I have little chance of winning but would like to have a configuration that would help me finish within a reasonable amount of time.
I got the impression from this forum that most serious road riders have specially built wheels with skinnier rims and tires. Like GizmoDuck’s unicycle.
Most serious road riders have 36ers… but some like Ken (GizmoDuck) prefer spinning a smaller lighter wheel. I had a bacon-slicer style wheel (32-630) before I got a 36er and it was a lot of fun, but not as fast as a 36er for me.
Ken is a world class spinner. When I participated in the Lake Taupo Cycle Challenge I was on a 36er doing half the ride while he was spinning a standard (24") race unicycle for the full distance. He was still faster than me :o
You’ve heard my recommendation enough already, and I’m not world-class at anything except maybe time wasting, but I do think there’s a sweet spot in the 35-40 mm range. I still ride mine more than the rest of the bunch put together, Coker included. And it’s low-risk to try. Other than a hub, you can go with whatever bike parts (spokes, rim, tire) are easiest to find for the wheel, and use the frame and cranks you’ve got already.
Even if you can sustain 11 mph, you’ll be slower than all but pre-teen children or the most casual adults on two wheels, so if this is a “race” and not a “family tour” you may have trouble staying within the organizer’s assumptions of pace and role of trailing support vehicles.
I will be doing 25 miles tomorrow on a 26". Its a Nimbus Oracle with Qu-ax 145s and the ride is off road. It is important to remember that a lot of it is just focusing on the objective and keeping the feet cranking. Gear modifications can help but being psychologically prepared to just push thru some of the middle miles is more important. If you are in reasonably good shape, 25 miles isn’t that far.
I agree. With the exception of a few here all the weight weenie and spin circle length talk does not get many unicyclist to complete any real distance rides. And many of the unicyclist who actually finish real distance rides may prefer lighter weight and shorter length but would still finish no matter what they were using.
I prefer heavy tires and wheel sets that maintain some momentum through the dead zone and bumps, play nice on camber, and don’t flat.
I agree that you might be best off spending time getting good at riding distance on what you have. If time limits are a problem on events I get permission to start early enough to get past the cut-offs in time. Or just find the start line and get riding hours prior to any one else. When I ride a gran fondo I try to be past the middle feed/aid station prior to the lead riders.
Ride what you have. Enjoy the training and the ride. Have fun. DO NOT think the best equipment will make up for the ill prepared rider.
JM
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In the first place I was afraid of putting much PSI on my 2.0 BA but after some research it appears that dominator² rims are absolutely High PSI compatible on schwalbe 2.0-2.35" tyres because of how it is designed, which is not the case of kh rims that are more “large muni tyre with low PSI” friendly.
So you can give max PSI a try to see if you like it more (it will roll more easily, with even less camber sensitivity but with a bit less of comfort).
I have been riding my SM 29x2.35 at it’s max PSI (60PSI) for urban rides but I am now planing to ride it with around 30 PSI since I gave it a try few weeks ago and found that it was much comfortable without adding too much rolling resistance and road camber sensitivity.
It seamed also more forgiving with uneven floor surfaces.
[Off topic]
So High vs Low PSI, as well as the choice of tyres and rims are a matter of experiences and preferences but trying different things is absolutely worth it.
I started to appreciate unicycling only after I removed my 5 year old muni tyre (kenda nevegal 26x2.7)for a hookworm.
Before that I was struggling against road camber all the time and didn’t really enjoy riding my 26er, this was something like 6 months ago and since I started to try other kinds of tyres unicycling has became a real pleasure and an obsession, I now own 5 of them 
[/Off topic]
Yeah, just got to find someone to build the wheel or a class to learn how to do it.
Hmmm, maybe I’ll try 50 PSI. I think there have been some reports on this forum of it blowing off the dominator 2 rims.
This plus an already built wheel beside me for reference was enough to get started:
There are “secrets of the wheelbuilding masters” and I’m sure I don’t know most of them, but lacing up a serviceable wheel isn’t magic. With actual parts in front of you and some time to think about what you’re doing, you’ll see how the pattern goes before long.
Learning to build a wheel is a worthwhile experience.
What he said. 
It’s a completely different feel.
I go almost as fast on a 700c/75mm lightweight unicycle as on a heavier 36"/110mm unicycle. I enjoy both. The 700c racer feels like it wants to glide forever with little effort. The 36" is stable and comfortable. I like travelling with a 29’er because it’s lightweight and compact, and suitable for both on/off road. The 700c and 24/125mm are a standardised wheelsizes for Unicon racing, which means I don’t have to cart a heavy/fragile Schlumpf 36" to the other side the world.
Building a wheel
I just signed up for a wheel building class! 
Time to decide on the rim.
Rhyno Lite
Velocity Blunt SS
Velocity Dyad
Or something else.
I got the 114m cranks a week or so ago. The adjustment from 125m to 114m was not bad at all. I notice the most change going downhill. I had to really get on the cranks quick to keep the wheel from getting out of control.
On the speed side of things I must be a very slow rider. I think I just get afraid of a face plant as the speed increases. So, I tend to go at a moderate cadence.
On the 125m cranks this gave me an average speed of 4.4mph with max speed hitting 10-12mph (this is all measured by my Samsung exercise app using GPS… I don’t know how accurate that is because I don’t feel like I really hit 10-12mph… it could just me that 1/2 second when I almost fell and my acceleration peaked HA HA).
Anyway - the 114m cranks have increased my average speed to 5.5mph with the same cadence.
So, I’m going to keep using them and train for the 10k ride in August.
speed is directly proportional to cadence
Sounds like the 114s are working out well for you!
I hat to be nitpicky, but that can’t be: with direct drive of a unicycle, speed is directly proportional to cadence, so your cadence must have also increased if your speed increased. The shorter cranks make it easier to turn that higher cadence (at the expensive of power/torque).
yes - you are correct. I guess what I meant to say is this…
150m cranks I felt like I was running a full speed just to get close to 4mph
125m cranks with a comfortable cadence and hit 4.4mph
114m cranks with a comfortable cadence I can hit 5.5mph
so, I guess you are correct - as the path that my foot moves in gets smaller it is able to complete that circle more quickly.
Hey, wfcentral, did you go? I’d never been before, but since I got a Nightfox a couple of weeks ago, I let my buddy talk me into it doing the 25 miles yesterday, and it was fine. I used the stock setup and had a blast. I’ll probably go next year, so if you’re interested and would like someone to ride with, PM me.