I recently got this beautiful unicycle (craigslist) with a 30" wheel. Yes, a 30 inch wheel. The tire is a Continental ISO size 37-700, and I need a new one. I’m just wondering if anyone has any knowledge about this fantastic unicycle or a line on a NOS tire.
Welcome to the forum. Cool uni.
Certainly an odd ball. Does the rim sticker have any size info on it?
If you haven’t already tried it you may want to just see if a 700c tire would fit the rim. The ETRTO size seems odd, and may be a transitional tire from when the system was first adopted. It could be nothing more than a rearrangement of the standard 700x37c label.
So if in fact it is an actual 700 BSD, you could send a message to Conti to find out if they have any tires to fit. It is odd enough that it won’t show up in a catalog, and may have been a special size for a manufacturer.
If you are commited to the wheel size an option would be to build a franken tire to fit the BSD of the rim. Otherwise, I would rebuild the wheel with a 29er rim like a Rhyno Lite, and fit it with a 45-622 tire. It should be close to the same rolling diameter, and it will fit a huge variety of tires.
Good reply. The usual sources suggest that this is “French” style designation as opposed to ETRTO sizing. Eg:
It’s easy enough to hold a 700c tire up there and compare, and there are lots of wonderful tires in that size if it really is ISO 622. No mention that I could find anywhere of ISO 700 tires, including some sites that are pretty thorough about this stuff.
Nice find, Hotwheel. That’s a very cool uni. Good luck with it!
Wonderful Uni!
it looks in great shape still too!
I ran a 700cx28 in a kh frame and found it harder to ride due to the tyre contact far less with the ground to any other unis.
700x32 is a standard touring 700c tyre size i thought and any 700c from 25 upwards should suit i imagine. For ease and comfort wider the choice the better. 32c would be a much nicer ride than my old 28c @ 80psi.
a 47c may even fit. Search about and you should need too spend too much on a tyre to try. Heres an example for you. Hope it all goes well
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=30218
Looks good there, lots of widths to choose from and a price that’s very easy to take.
Another one that comes to mind is the Panaracer Pasela. Very popular tire, classic tan sidewalls, and I see that they’re made in 700x37c. I have a pair in 26 x 1.75 on my commuter bike, an old rigid mtb with drop bars on it, that I’m loving. They’ve handled single-track trails, a 75-mile group road ride, and nearly everything in between, and I’ve wondered how one would do on a unicycle. I haven’t seen a report from anyone who’s tried them on a one though.
Should be fine. keep the pressure low as possible if you prefer a more nicer easier ride. Given its fairly narrow for a Uni and at higher pressures it isnt that enjoyable and more difficult to ride. It will be rough and each crank turn will affect the wheel direction more than usual i found.
Let us know how it feels with the new tyre when you get one up and running.
Cheers, Darren
Thanks for the advice. Not to hijack this topic but I do very much appreciate that. I wish I had a neat 700c-specific unicycle as the original poster seems to have. I’ll at least need to build up a suitable rim for it, maybe as an alternate wheel for my 26" Muni. I’m thinking it’d be smaller than a 3" Duro.
Will do, for sure.
I ran a 700x28 in a kh26 frame with no issues. Up to 32c will fit but bigger might not clear the crown
Not to steer you from u’d ideas but the ride on a 700c wheel for me isn’t great. Make the tyre volume big as you can and pressure low as possible without losing too much rolling resistance.
Be great to see how things turn out for you guys.
Hotwheel - your unicycle is a Pichlerrad. What you’ve got is almost certainly their Solo 28" model. Their website is in German, but even if you cannot read German there’s enough info there to help identify your unicycle. You should be able to fit 29" (ie 700C) tyres, though you may benefit from rebuilding with a wider more modern 29" rim. The wider the rim the bigger the tyre’s contact patch with the ground and generally the nicer the ride.
I recognised your uni instantly because I used to own a Solo 24" and still own a Picherrad 6’ giraffe.
Thanks for the link, Tony. One thing about this unicycle that I can’t emphasize enough is that the wheel is 30"…700mm bead seat, a full 3" larger than the bead seat on 700C tires. Here is a link to a table on the Conti website, which is the only recognition I was able to get from Conti that the size exists:
http://www.conti-online.com/www/bicycle_de_en/themes/hidden/tips/dimension/rare_dimension_en.html
I believe the manufacturer is Siegmono Cycle in Germany (http://www.siegmono.de/). I have been in touch with Georg, and it sounds like he not only has new tires, but he still makes these fantastic machines. Based on Tony’s link, my guess is that Siegmono is purchasing his fork crowns from Pichler for his 30" unicycles. At any rate, I am thrilled that my quest for a new tire is over, and I appreciate all the information I received here.
On another note, this size really fills the gap between 622 bsd and 787 bsd, and the width makes it a great road machine. I’m really looking forward to logging major miles on this rig.
Wow, I’m really surprised! Great work figuring that out and finding the manufacturer and that elusive Continental “Rare dimensions” table, and the best of luck with it.