I’m thinking of buying a 20" Uni, but I’m not sure what to get. I’d like to be able to do both trials and freestyle with the same uni, but that may be problematic. I want a comfortable seat. I want a reasonable price. I’m 240 lbs and I might be taking stairs or 1 foot drops “one day.”
HOWEVER, all that is in theory, and really, I don’t plan to push my unicycle skills that quickly, because just riding around is generally enough for me.
The HONEST truth is that I want a relatively small unicycle that i can use to unicycle from my car in the remote part of the parking lot way down to the WorldCom facility … presuming I still have a job of course. Ahem. Oh, and I also plan to unicycle back to my car as well. Thats it really … now there is no light for riding in the day so I figured now is the time to uni between my car and my cube.
Still, I’d like it to be suitable for the other stuff, “in case.”
I looked around on Unicycle.Com and I couldnt find the Stealth Torker you mention. I did search the forum here and I read all the stuff I could find about them but other than a Bike Shop in your neck of the woods, I didn’t see where to buy them from.
I called them. Amy was there but too busy at the time (according to the dude that answered). He told me that they would have them very soon, say next week or so, and that I could reserve one. I didnt want to reserve one until I either spoke with Amy or knew the component list and the price, so I will call back, perhaps tomorrow. I may try to circumvent him (he was helpful but I wanted the inside track) and get to Amy tomorrow.
Maybe a 20" with a Monty or Onza tyre (the 2.5" wide tyres) unicycle.com sells a bunch of these at varying prices.
Montys are great tyres for trials, make some freestyle tricks like wheel walking much easier and are generally fun to ride. Downsides are that replacement tyres are a bit more expensive and the unicycle itself will cost a little more to begin with.
Because of your weight if you get seriously into trials you will most likely need a splined axle and cranks. Even if you just get good quality cotterless cranks they cost a fair bit and you’ll be stuck with 140mm length cranks (great for trials, not so great for freestyle tricks).
I predict if you get a standard freestyle unicycle you’ll be bending cranks pretty soon after you start seriously attacking steps. Something like Thun cranks (bicycle euro) will probably stand up to 8 to 10 inch steps for a while but no more. (I’ve bent thun cranks on little 2ft drops)
I would be tempted to look at the Summit, or to wait till the KH 20 comes out. If that’s a little out of your price range, buy a freestyle unicycle, something like a Torker or semXL.
You can always upgrade the seat, buy a good rim if your current one breaks, replace cranks if they bend, etc.
If you find your interest in trials grows the new KH 20 pro (with the splined hub) will be the best way to go but you may like to leave that till a while down the track and buy something more suited to freestyle now. You can always sell old unicycles second hand for a reasonable price.
Buy a reasonable one, then upgrade it bit by bit as your experience and tastes develop. It would be a pity to buy something specialised and expensive only to find that your preferences lie elsewhere.
Right now, I’m having most fun on a Nimbus I 24 with short cranks which is actually the cheapest of my modern unicycles. I would never have chosen this from a catalogue, though - in fact I only bought it on a whim, then put shorter cranks on it to differentiate it from my 26.
And why a 20? If you are going to ride from car to work, a 24 will be 20% faster all other things being equal.
Mike Wilkinson, President, 24 Inch Unicycle Marketing Board
I want the 20" because a) I already own Three different 24" unicycles and b) I’ve always wanted a 20" and c) the 20" sets me up for doing some skill development if I want to, and d) its just different for me and e) I want the ride from car to work to be longer.
