I’m new to unicycling but ready to try my hand at a muni. I’m right at the 150 lbs the muni is rated for, and am wondering if I can trust the Nimbus 26" to not collapse after repeated drops of 10 inches, or if I should go for the higher rated Yuni (12’ at 170 lbs). Anyone have any experience with either muni? I don’t mind spending the extra $$ for the Yuni, but if the Nimbus is a solid machine it’s silly to spend the bucks. I don’t ever expect to go extreme (ie, nothing over 2 feet). Also, I’m curious as to why the Yuni is rated for higher drops yet it has a 22mm diameter seatpost instead of the 25.4mm. Any thoughts?
Well I have 26" Nimbus MUni and it has worked almost perfectly. Besides when I dropped little over 2 feet with it and the crank bended.
Now I have repaired the crank and I´m still using it for even little dropping, but for heavy jumps it isn´t the right uni.
I’ve had a Nimbus II 26x3" for just over a year and I’m very happy with it. My riding style is more cross-country than big drops, but some of my usual routes are very stoney with a few small drops (probably no higher than 18" though). It’s not given me any trouble - the only annoying thing is the nuts on Kris Holm style saddles are a joke but I just replaced those with normal nylok nuts and problem gone (some people use lock washers under the original nuts or just stick them in place with loctite). One other thing I changed was the pedals, but they come with better ones as standard now.
If you’re not planning on big drops then I’d recommend it - otherwise look at something with a splined hub.
I can’t comment on the Yuni - I don’t think they’re available outside the USA.
Hey, thanks for all the advice. I will definitely take a close look at those KH saddle nuts. I think if I did any drops over 18 inches I’d bend something more than my hub, and it would probably involve quite a bit of pain… I think I’m too old to EVER need a splined hub (after a 5 1/2 foot drop I’d need an ambulance!!) I’m just looking for a muni I can ride without worrying about replacing parts.
Lol, now you see people always say that about taking big drops when they start out, before you know it you’ll be launching off the top of 'phone boxes. I’ve had the Nimbus 24" Muni for three years, back from when the hub was much weaker. I ripped the end off the hub after about a year, I never did anything that extreme but i did hop alot of stuff up to 2ft. The current hub is much better, i think you can buy the nimbus with confidence that it will see you through for the type of riding you have described, just rolling off 18" drops is unlikely to damage the hub, even in the long run. Can’t comment on the Yuni i’m afraid, wrong side of the pond.
The Nimbus frame is wide and hits your shins when standing up and jumping, but if you have leg armor it should be ok. I recommend the Yuni because it looks stronger and better over all.
I’ve got no intention of riding off huge drops - can’t see the point really - but I do ride mostly on very rocky trails (so hundreds of 6-8" drops really) and don’t worry about going off steps of up to 2 feet, although most of them are only 12 to 18". I think mine is probably new enough to have the stronger hub though, so that might count for something. I’m not a particularly violent rider, but I would be afraid of damaging the rim of a smaller-tyred cross-country unicycle on the rocks round here. The Nimbus 26x3" is an excellent machine for where and how I usually ride. If I break the hub I’d upgrade to a splined one, but so far it’s looking pretty well matched to my riding style. If I was “jumping off phone boxes” I’d have bought a different muni (and probably have broken my back by now). It all depends on how you ride, but the Nimbus is taking more than I expected - I’m very impressed.
I don’t have any problems with the frame hitting my legs - in fact I reckon the wide crown is a good thing because it gives a decent amount of tyre clearance. But I am quite tall and don’t do a lot of hopping.
I would think people who are into big drops and loads of hopping wouldn’t be looking at a 26" anyway though.
I don’t think pure drop heights in muni mean very much. Anyone who’s ridden muni trails knows that even a small 4" drop with an uphill landing can be qute a rough landing. I do do 6+’ drops during muni rides, but I think that fast singletrack and the occasional missed drop is mroe of what stresses equipment. The thing about big drops is you know they’re there and can carefully pick your line for minimum stress. In fast muni, you don’t get as many choices and sometimes have to just brutishly pedal to make it over a line. I believe that this leads to many stresses on both the body and the equipment.
I ride a 24" Yuni frame and don’t mind it. I have taken it through hell, hitting it with hammers, standing on it, launching it down hills, floating it in streams, jumping on it, bashing it against rocks, and it only shows some dents and scratches, performing just as well as day 1. Part of this is because it’s not particularly stiff. I can flex it enough to rub the tire on some climbs. Furthermore, with an hs-33, the tubes visibly twist with heavy braking. In spite of all this, it’s a dirt cheap, excellent frame, good for riders of all levels and styles. The same does not apply to the Nimbus II. This is a decent frame for getting into muni or trials, but the crown is just a crime against unicycling. The Yuni frame is enough of a knee-basher, the Nimbus two is just excessive. Go for the Yuni, without a doubt. If you plan to continue with muni at all (which you will), you will thank yourself.
You should seriously consider the 24" wheel. There are reasons 95% of the muni riders out there are on them. Versatility, maneuverability, and weight come to mind.
At this point I plan on doing mostly cross country, which is why I was looking at the 26". If I start feeling fiesty one day and decide I must start doing high drops (and test my dental plan!), is it possible to put a 24" wheel on the 26" frame… or is there something inherently wrong, dangerous, contrary to gravitational physics, or just plain stupid about that?
The knee knocking thing mostly only happens to short people.
It’s fine to put a 24" wheel on a 26" frame, the frame size makes hardly any difference. If you start wanting to do big drops or trials on your muni, you’ll probably want to upgrade the wheel anyway.
I’ve had a chance to ride trails on 24"x3, 26"x3" as well as my normal 26"x2.6" and to be honest, it doesn’t make much difference on most trails until you start doing big drops (24" better) or wanting to ride really fast (26" better). You’ll be happy with the 26".
No that would work fine - it would just look a bit less tidy with an extra inch of clearance above the tyre. Some people don’t like the Nimbus II frame because they hit their knees on the wide crown, but I’ve never had a problem with mine. It could be that it’s annoying if you’re a shorter rider or do a lot of hopping, but my knees have never hit the frame even when standing up riding up steep hills. If you’re planning to ride mainly cross-country it should be fine. The other option for fast cross-country is a 29er with a lighter tyre (some people even use a Coker), but I like the big 3" tyre on the rocky stuff round where I live.
As for hub strength, mine seems to be strong enough for the riding I do (no problems after a year of use) and it sounds like your riding will be similar. Apparently the UDC chromoly hub that comes with the Nimbus was strengthened a bit just before I got mine, so I can’t comment on the older ones. For heavy muni a splined hub (and probably a 24" wheel) would be advisable, but for xc/light muni the Nimbus holds up fine. I spent ages wondering whether I needed a splined hub before I bought my muni and decided I probably didn’t - and I don’t regret that decision.
Rob
Edit: Sorry, Joe has already answered most of that while I was typing…
Don’t mean to threadjack, but I just had a look at the Yuni munis on the US UDC site and the frame looks identical to the Nimbus II… what’s the difference? Is the crown just slightly narrower or something? It’s hard to see in the pictures on the site. Perhaps it’s just the extra 125-odd dollars missing from your wallet that provides the extra leg clearance
