Hi everyone,
I’ve been riding about 3 weeks now and am getting reasonably confident. I currently have a cheap 20" uni that my friend has lent me. I want to buy a decent one and have ridden my friends 24" Nimbus II. I like the extra speed and feel of the bigger wheel but still want to be able to hop around pretty well and do other things than just go off-road.
I guess my question is whether I would be able to get reasonable at hopping and have fun on benches and obstacles etc with the bigger wheel?
Hopping on benches and obstacles is more trials than freestyle. Freestyle is basically trick riding without obstacles or props of any kind, something like flatland BMX. I have the Nimbus II 24" and I use it mostly for freestyle and sometimes also for moderate distance riding. It works well for freestyle but I don’t how good it would be for hopping onto things as I haven’t done much of this. I do know, however, that a lot of people can do trials fairly well on a 24" wheel. If you want to do mostly trials though, it might be a good idea to get a 20" trials unicycle, and get a 24" wheel later. It really depends on your priorities.
i did all my trials for the first 8 months on a nimbus 24, and i was able to hop very well, and other trials/freestyle type tricks as well. then i got a 20" once i found that the 24 was inhibiting me somewhat…
I know a few people that have no problem hitting up the trials on their 24"s. It’s a little heavier, but other than that you should be able to do trials well on a 24" wheel.
The main challenge–at least for me–with doing freestyle tricks on a 24, as opposed to a 20 incher, is that your feet are cocked much higher on the frame for one-footed stuff and higher on the tire for wheel walking and gliding. Wheel walking on my KH 24, my knees are up by my chin. And the higher the feet, the more delicate the balance. A larger uni is also likely to have longer crank arms, and that also makes things a bit more challenging.
Add in a sloppy, low-pressure tire (I run 100 psi on my freestyle uni) and you have an additional challenge.
But with practice you can do most all your tricks on a 24–it just takes time.
Some people may be confused reading the quite different recomendations regarding the Nimbus II 24".
This is because there are two different unicycles which are referred to by that name. The both have a 24" wheel and both have frames called “Nimbus II” but one is a freestyle unicycle while the other is a Muni.
The Nimbus II 24" Freestyle unicycle is more useful for freestyle tricks. For example learning to ride backwards, seat in front, one footed, wheel walking, trying different mounts etc. While a 20" is the preferred size for freestyle riding a 24" is a little more useful if you want to commute short distances (down to the local shops, to school, etc). It is also large enough that you can put a knobbly tire on it and do some simple offroad riding. I would not recommend doing too much trials riding on a freestyle unicycle. They are not intended for lots of jumping although you can definately learn the basics on one.
Link to Nimbus II 24" freestyle (currently not sold in NZ) http://www.unicycle.co.nz/View.php?action=ProductDetail&Code=OZNimbusII24
The Nimbus II Muni is designed as an offroad unicycle and also works well for urban trials (jumping off steps and the like). It is possible to learn some freestyle tricks but it definately lends itself more to offroad riding than to short commutes or tricks.
Link to Nimbus II Muni: http://www.unicycle.co.nz/View.php?action=ProductDetail&Code=NimbusMuni24