I mostly ride Muni (36 XC and 24 Downhill for about 3 years now), but I’d like to improve backwards riding, pendling, hops and such, so I’d like a basic trials unicycle. I don’t need the very best, just something that won’t break.
I’ve read some of the similar threads, and I think I want 140mm cranks for trial (not much street).
I don’t think I’m going to do so much wheel walking and such, so I think the semi-rounded crown on the Athmos looks good.
Oh, I’m not so heavy: 165 lbs at 6’1" (70kg @ 185cm), but I do ride stuff hard and I’d like to (later) try 2-4ft drops (right now more like 2 ft).
Alternative would be the Nimbus Trials Signature Black for about €50 more: http://www.einradladen.com/webshop/387mm-20-Inch-Nimbus-Trials-Signature-Black
The main difference is the square crown and machnied bearing housings
(plus somewhat better cranks and an aluminum seatpost: is this better than steel or just lighter?)
I don’t know if that’s an option for you (I’d guess probably not) or if other Unicycle.com franchises offer similar things, but for what it’s worth you could take a look at it.
The qu-ax has a double clamp and a stronger seat post. But most of all it looks really, really nice. :D. The extra weight would not bother me that much.
The problem with this thread is that no one can really help you who has not ridden an Athmos! All I can comment on is some of the parts you mention:
Nimbus aluminum seatposts are very solid, as is the Impact Reagent (aluminum) frame on my uni, but my only experience with steel frames has been on much cheaper unis, so I can’t really make a comparison.
If you work on “pendling” (“idling” in English!) you will soon get to one-footed idling as well. You should be able to do that on a semi-rounded frame. One-footed idling is fairly easy on a flat-crown fork and almost impossible -unless you’ve already mastered it elsewhere- on a fully rounded one. My impression is that flat crowns are only a problem for trials riding when you get into some very advanced tricks, and I’m not even sure which ones. The crown of my Reagent fork is so square that it almost points outward, but it has been very helpful for learning one-footed idling and riding. I have sometimes wondered about the toxicity of the aluminum that gets on my shoe from so much one-footedness, but that’s another story…
I am far too much of a beginner to appreciate the best trials unis, but I would also not recommend buying the cheapest one. You need it to be pretty sturdy, and 48 spokes sounds good to me, but I don’t know much about Qu-ax, as they are very rare in the US.
looks good, but I don’t want to deal with customs and all. And my next trip to the US isn’t until May and I don’t want to wait that long But thanks for the info.
Similar situation here in the good ol’ US of A. I’d love to have a 2015 Impact Gravity or a KH20 but not willing to spend that much money. I’d say keep an eye on the Trading Post, eBay, CraigsList, etc… but folks tend to hold onto to those high end brands. I’m probably going to settle for a Nimbus and it sounds like your Impact Athmos makes the same kind of compromises. Yes, steel is heavier than aluminum. And yes, the Dominator2 rim is only 42mm wide whereas the aforementioned “top end” rims are 47mm. I’d really like a Monty Eagle Claw 20" x 2.6" Trials Tire because, again, wider is better. If not, perhaps a Maxxis Creepy Crawler only because I’ve seen a few people talking bad about the “bounce” of the Cyko-Lite on Facebook. And, I’m in it for the bounce. MUni is my primary discipline and I’d like to be able to hop over bigger logs on the trail.
Wow, it’s times lie this when I realize how long I’ve been out of the US. And all of my unicycling experience has been here in Germany.
From what I hear, Qu-ax seems to be moving away from the 48h to 36h, as some people seem to think it’s overbuilt (i.e. too heavy). As I’ve yet to have any spoke problems on my 24" or my 36", which both have 36h, I think 36 should be fine.
But yeah, I’m not so concerned about wieght, but I want something that’s going to hold up.
Yeah, sounds pretty similar. Actually the Athmos has a 47mm rim (which I see as a plus over the Nimbus that is €50 more).
Yeah, I’m up in the air as to which tire. First I was thinking Creepy Crawler, then the Cyko-Lite and now maybe the Monty Eagle Claw Pro Race, although it seems so new that the verdict’s not really out yet. From what I gather on the forum:
the Creepy Crawler has great grip but wears fast, is heavy and has a weak sidewall. Most trials riders seem to like the square profile. And lots of trails riders seem happy with it (i.e. the standard for the last few years).
the Cyko-Lite is inexpensive and light and long-lasting but the grip is poor (great street tire). Some don't like that it's a little rounded.
the Monty Eagle Claw Pro Race looks promising with great grip and even lighter while also being wider and supposedly more volume. Hopefully it has good bounce with the extra volume. However, it seems unlikely that the sidewalls can be so rigid at that weight and width. And initially a lot of people seem to complain about the round profile (but maybe that's in direct comparision to the normal Eagle Claw which weighs more: there almost has to be some disadvantage at that weight savings). I'm thinking you can run it at not super low pressure but still have great grip and then have good bounce with the volume, but that's only my speculation.
Right now, the normal Eagle Claw doesn’t seem so easy for me to get (and not available at the German unicycle.com where I want to order).
And of course, as I’ve hardly ever ridden 20" and only have experience with the super-heavy Wildfire Duro 3.0 monster on my 24" (plus the 36" tire but that’s so different), it’s hard for me to guess what I want.
So I just ordered the Impact Athmos from Municycle.com!!
As the extra costs for a different tire as well as different cranks were pretty high, I decided to start simple with the Cyko-Lite and also hope that the basic impact cranks hold up.
So I didn’t change a lot and just traded the seatpost for a 400mm and upgraded to QX plastic pedals with metal pins.
