26" GUNI advice please

Do you use your uni on longer climbs? I am asking because I think on a 26" 150s are a bit short for uphill riding.

I’ve gotten pretty used to the 150s on my 26" for climbing, and over all I like the ride; a little bit faster and I can still ride most of the technical bits of terrain as I could with the 165s. Keep in mind I’m riding a 26" single speed with the 150s, if I were to but my KH/Schlumpf hub in this set up I think the 165mm cranks would be a better choice for me as I know, from my experience of riding my 24" with 150mm cranks and KH/Schlumpf hub, that a bit longer crank on that larger 26" tire would probably be a bit more comfortable in high gear. UnGUni then a 26" with 150mm cranks seems good, as a GUni I’d go with longer cranks…

I am glad that my thoughts about crank length were not that wrong (I ordered 137/165 dual hole cranks with my 26" GUni). I want to do lots of climbing on this uni (like riding up 12km at a grade of 10-12%) as well as downhill. I like to have a lot of control without having to use the brakes most of the time. On my 24" uni I am fine with 150s and for the larger wheel 165s seem to be perfect then. Even if it is still a bit slower in low gear than the 24" with 150s, I prefer control over speed (keeping in mind that I have a higher gear for higher speeds) :wink:

Sounds like the 137/165 cranks could be the answer, although I’ve never heard them mentioned.

I own a schlumpfed 36er, and have ridden geared unicycles in a number of configurations. Generally speaking, I think they’re great.

However, I think you should be aware that there is a learning curve.

Jumping on a geared unicycle isn’t exactly like jumping on a unicycle with the equivalent virtual wheel size. They are harder to ride, and require more mental energy, especially when you are new to them. Also, shifting is challenging, and presents yet another new skill to learn.

Given that you’ve only been riding for 18 months, I strongly recommend finding a geared unicycle you can spend some time with before you commit to purchasing your own.

I’ve been unicycling for over 7 years, and riding geared unicycles for several of those, and I still find geared riding to require significantly more mindfulness, and often prefer the simplicity of an ungeared cycle.

I don’t hope to discourage you, only to make sure you’re aware of what you’re getting into. Geared unicycles are highly flexible and unbeatable when it comes to speed.

Good input there, thanks.
I’ve had a brief go on a geared 29" and to be honest didn’t really like the feel of the mechanical complexity - the simplicity of a fixed uni is major draw for me.

However the type of riding I do now is typicaly 10 - 15 miles at a time, often in the company of my wife on a MTB, over loose tracks, bridleways, knarly rooty singletrack, bike path and some road work. At the moment on my 29" I often wish I had my 24" for the technical bits while later on wishing my 29" had a bit higher cruising speed. I’ve been toying with the geared option for a while now and as I want to start doing some longer full days and weekends I think I need to try it.

I’m expecting yet another steep learning curve!!!

I was glad to own a 24" geared uni before selling mine.

I was just too wimpy for it. I was afraid of shifting into neutral so I never even tried shifting on the fly. Also while I’m sure I had a good hub, that additional resistance in high gear taxed me close to my limit. I could feel that the geared hub wanted to go fast, it seems the faster, the easier, but fast is not my style, I ride slow. I felt I was constantly speeding up then slowing down, never really felt I was just cruising along. I expect that I didn’t ride it enough to get the knack of it.

In my opinion it doesn’t matter if you ride unis for 6 months or 5 years before purchasing a Schlumpf hub. I am riding seriously for about a year now and I can ride quite technical terrain. So why not add another challenge and go geared? I really loved the feeling in terms of speed of the short 137mm cranks on my 24" uni but I had not enough control. So a Schlumpf hub seems to be the ideal thing for me. Stay controlled with longer cranks and have the option to ride at high speed when the terrain allows to do so.

So once you’re past the learning curve, what is easy to ride on single-track - a unguni 36 or a guni 24 in high gear?

Since I have both, I can say, unequivocally that an unguni 36 is by far much easier to ride on XC type single track than a guni 24 in high gear. The two are very different.

The bottom line is the response time.

With the unguni 36 you have instance response to what your doing with the cranks as this is a direct drive situation. Also the larger wheel tends to roll over the terrain easier than the smaller 24. The entire set up is heavier so you loose a bit of nimbleness. Also as you’re higher off the ground you really have to start worrying about over-head clearance (at least I do as I ride forested trails I need to worry about over hanging branches!).

With the guni 24 in high gear, something that isn’t appreciated until one has ridden a geared unicycle in high gear is that there isn’t the same instantaneous response as the direct drive (i.e. single speed unicycle). You push on the cranks and there is some lag before the effect is felt. I think this is the biggest thing to get used to riding in high gear. So this lag makes it more difficult to ride similar terrain as the unguni 36. Then again it’s a matter of practice and experience, like everything else. That is just from my experience; I’ve also had a blast riding down some XC single track in high gear, especially over areas I know well. However I do have to concentrate on what I’m doing much more than I would with an unguni 36er on the same terrain. Remember too that a complete revolution of the cranks turns the wheel about 1 1/2 times so that can mess you up when your anticipating the bumps and dips on the route (at least at first).

I love both experiences and wouldn’t give away any of my unicycle family. Though if I could only have one unicycle I’d stick with my KH24 GUni…

Depends I guess, maybe not easier or harder, but different. It might not be that a 24 GUni in high gear is easier on a section of trail compared to a 36’er, but it can be faster (as well as slower of course)

Sometimes for example the extra height of being up on a 36’er and/or the narrow tire (compared to a 3.0 on a 24) can make things ‘harder’ or more challenging. Also crank length too, speed, conditions (wet/dry) etc and of course the nature of the track itself and how much you ride.

Generally though GUni in 1:1.5 has much narrower envelope of balance/control vs single speed (1:1) imo. To feel as comfortable in 1:1.5 as in 1:1 takes a while, takes more energy, commitment etc. Another neat thing is the more comfortable you feel in 1:1.5 the even more comfortable 1:1 feels :slight_smile:

i love both 26" G muni and 36" - and its really different.
with the 36 ist wonderful rolling but often you have twigs in eyes and face because you sit higher than most single trail profil
with 26 geared i feel better better jumping / dropping over steps and stairs and i feel faster…but actually don´t know whether I am…

I just tried out my first GUni and it’s awesome but it’s also pretty difficult to ride (I didn’t even have 36er experiences). After about 20 tries I managed to not UPD instantly when starting in high gear. The funny thing is that I quite fast adjust to the new situation but when I switch back to low gear it seems I have never ridden a uni before :smiley:

EDIT: Riding in high gear is a lot scarier than I thought it would be :wink:

I know it’s a personal thing, but for me, I NEVER start out in high gear but always low gear and then shift on the fly into high gear. Why?

  1. Forces you to get comfortable with shifting on the fly which is critical to getting the most out of your GUni experience if you are used to shifting all the time.

  2. It IS very difficult to start out in high gear, however if you’ve already got some forward speed it is much easier to continue riding into high gear.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I used to have much more difficult a time down shifting than up shifting. I’m much better at the down shift as well now.

But, it’s all good really… Have Fun!

Those were my first tries on a GUni ever, so I think it’s ok if I have to start in high gear for now. BUT I will go out now and try to shift while riding because it really is uncomfortable to accelerate from a stillstand in high gear. It is really cool to have another thing to learn which can not be classified as a trick :smiley: Learning to shift somehow brings back the emotions I first had when I started to unicycle. :sunglasses:

I agree. I did mess around with starting out in High Gear when I first got my GUni, but soon realized that it was far easier to be riding and shift into high gear. My problem was I was terrible at down shifting! Much better now, but it does take practice! :slight_smile:

I have already read the whole “shifting-techniques” thread and now I am ready for practice :smiley:

I am curious. Can you idle in high gear? I have not tired a guni.

Scott

It’s theoretically possible, but the gear is big enough that it’s probably not worth it. Even a 24" GUni has an effective wheel size as large as a Coker–and most Coker riders don’t do much idling other than twist idling.

When I’m commuting on my GUni 29er, I’ll downshift approaching traffic lights and upshift afterwards. It took me many months of practice to be comfortable enough shifting to do this in traffic conditions.

You can hop. It feels a little weird.

Your level of experience matters a lot when it comes to riding a GUni. While less experienced riders can certainly learn to ride a GUni, it’s a more difficult transition than it is for the experienced cyclist. That, combined with the fact that the risk of injury is higher because of speed and reduced control is the basis for my statement.

Age and commitment matters too. A younger rider who spends hours a day on a unicycle will develop skills and balance much faster than an older rider.

Regarding idling, like Tom said, it’s technically possible, though very difficult and requires more space. It’s also pointless since its much easier and more practical to hop/stand-still.