I’m pretty new to Uni, I recently bought a KH 29 mainly for getting into some Muni later down the road, but also for riding around town. Since I have been mostly riding on the road I decided to get a big apple tire for it and save the kenda for the dirt. I just got the tire today and was all excited, slapped it on, finally got the rugrat to bed so I squeeked out for a little ride around the block. wtf? I had no idea it would change the ride so much. I went from being able to mount almost all the time to 1 out of 10! The few times I got on I was all over the place. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but was just blown away at how much if a difference it made. It really wants to go fast, alot faster than I was used to on the knobby tire.
For those of you out there that use this tire, how much pressure do you run? I had it set up around 50 psi first, then let some air out and that hepled me a bunch.
I use the Big Apple tyre with a Yuni 29er and run it around 50 to 60 psi. If you are going over lots of bumps in your riding, the lower psi might be helpful, but I find the higher number to be good for speed and ease of gliding along (so to speak).
I also have the KH29 and use it (when not muni-crazed) with a BA tire. I pump the tire up hard as rock - like 50 psi. It makes you feel the bumps more, but decreases the heck out of the rolling resistance. It turns the KH29 into a decent road racing machine, which I like for hill climb races which I enter.
I have a Yuni 29er with the Big Apple tire. I have been riding with pretty high pressure which makes bumps an issue. I recently switched from 127 cranks to 150 cranks which gives me more control but it seems to have lost that “road uni” feel.
What size cranks are you using?
The Big Apple is the only tire I have used on my 29er so I have nothing to campare with.
I rode the big apple for 6 months on my 29er before buying a 36" cycle. It works best for me at around 50-52PSI on good road. The only gripe on this tire is its “ability” to grab the road crown and drag you down with it at lower PSI. I found the tire to wear down quickly if you go on long rides but maybe that’s just me and riding a lot. Either way, there’s no logical way it could compete with the lifespan of a thick tire like the 36" wheel TA so its still a good road tire for a 29er
My 29er has the BA tire and 150 cranks. I like a little softer ride so I run mine at about 40-45. Helps cushion the bumps but I found that it tracks much better at 50-55. I put up with the tracking issues in favor of the softer ride.
I run my 29’er with 127 cranks and the BA at 50 psi. Like some of the other folks here I prefer the relatively crisp tracking at this psi over the softer but less precise lower psi.
I have the 2.35 version, and the dual hole KH moment cranks in the outermost hole (150’s ?). I’m sure it’s like everything else in this sport, the first time you try something new it seems much harder, and gets easier fairly quickly (at least the basic skills do anyway) with practice. I just need to get used to the new responsiveness of the ride.
I had been experimenting with different tyres on a 26" uni before I decided to move up to a 29er. The first one I borrowed had a 2.5" Big Apple on it and I fell in love with it. Then a few weeks later I bought a 29er that had a 2" Big Apple, and loved that too.
I couldn’t tell you what pressure I run it at, but it’s about as hard as I can get it with a hand pump. With 110mm cranks and the right tracks on my MP3 player, it goes like a bat out of hell!
I also have a KH29 with a Big Apple and did the same thing and started out with a high pressure. I recently dropped the pressure down to like 35 to 40 psi and it is a lot easier to ride. Bigger foot print and also more suspension effect. If you think about it, the whole reason for running a large volume tire is the ability to run a lower pressure for a more cushy ride, same as for a bicycle.
Well…not the whole reason. Larger volume tires mean larger overall wheel diameters, which on bikes doesn’t mean much but on a unicycle means increased speed, as you go farther with each pedal.
It isn’t the only reason. The larger tyre gives you a bigger wheel, more flywheel effect (more like a coker), and more ‘travel’ from the suspension effect that it gives you, so you never bottom it out.
I’d kind of agree though that larger tyres are nice because you can run lower pressures, but 50PSI is already a really low pressure for a road tyre, compared to a typical road bike tyre at 100-120psi.
At 30 PSI, the big apple is sluggish in turns, feels like riding through treacle, is much worse on crowned roads. At 50 PSI, it feels really fast and nimble in comparison. It feels very different to a muni tyre to ride, which is what makes it feel hard to ride to people putting them on KH29s, but once you’ve learnt to ride it, there are tons of advantages to running higher pressures.
I am lucky. I have two KH 29ers, one with a Big Apple and one with the Kenda. They do feel and ride like completely different unicycles. The Kenda is incredibly grippy and doesn’t like bitumen. The Big Apple is best without too much pressure, loves pavement and goes like crazy. Just depends on what you want. I ride different unis all the time and on a good day balance wise (or week) you can just jump from one to the other. On a not so good day balance wise (or week) the only similarity is the fact that they are UNICYCLES.
If you ride and change often, it becomes less of a problem.
So…the KH with a Big Apple is great.
Cheers
Mal www.unicycle.au.com
I’ve been using my KH29, 150mm cranks, and BA2.0 tire, and training for the whitefacerace.com 8 days from now.
I just back from a training ride up a road 3 miles long which climbs 1100 vert. ft. on this rig. IMO the BA2.0 is lighter and pulls less off the crown of the road, thus makes it a better climbing tire. The 2.35 is better for just swooping around, personal roller-coaster riding.
Today I rode with the inner holes on my kh moment cranks (140mm?) and about 40 psi in the tire, that worked pretty well for me. That was my first time riding with the inner holes on the cranks, felt way different, much better for riding on the road. It felt like my seat was too low when I switched to the smaller crank setting, is that normal? Do you raise your seat when using smaller cranks? I’m definitely getting the hang of it now, wish I had some time to go out and ride
The inner holes are 125mm I believe. And, yes, you have to raise your seat with shorter cranks, because your foot doesn’t go as low to the ground on the downswing of the pedaling circle.
wtf? I had no idea it would change the ride so much. I went from being able to mount almost all the time to 1 out of 10! The few times I got on I was all over the place. I’m sure I’ll get used to it, but was just blown away at how much if a difference it made. It really wants to go fast, alot faster than I was used to on the knobby tire.