Biggest weight loss on your unicycle?

General
46

Hey Terry, that makes sense now, but in that get up the uni was no longer good for much other than easy road riding.

Weight loss and the resultant change in functionality, they need to be discussed in tandem

I was weighing tires last night, so just for perspective:

Maxxis Ardent 2.6 wire bead, this is the fattest and heaviest Ardent, 1275gm
Duro Razorback 2.6 wire bead, a narrower version of the 3" Wildlife, 1465gm

These two tires are very comparable in volume, the Ardent is jusy slightly larger. The Duru has thicker rubber in the sidewall and tread, feels slightly stiffer when flexed by hand. The Ardent has a more resilient feel to the casing, likely due to having a higher TPI (thread count).

So 200gm difference in two tires that are very similar.
An Ardent 2.4 has a hair less volume than the 2.6, slightly thinner rubber, a higher TPI, and has comparable volume to the Duro 2.6, and weighs 825gm.

I am running the Ardent 2.4 on my 26 and 29, planning to swap in the Ardent 2.6 on the 26er when my new wheel arrives, but the only reason I’m doing this is because the Ardent 2.6 has a 3D sticky rubber and is slightly beefier.

Snake Bite = Pinch flat, when the tire pinches the tube against the rim and cause slit like punctures on both sides of the tube, usually the result of hitting a hard edge or doing a big drop with insufficent air pressure. Can be minimized by running heavier tubes and tires, but low pressure is the primary culprit. Last time I had one was when I ran the Racing Ralph with a thin tube and lowish pressure; I hit the edge of a wooden bridge at speed.

A Duro 26 x 3" is ~1600gm
A Gazz 26 x 3" is ~1800gm
A Surly Larry 26 x 3.8" is 1450gm
A Vee Rubber Devist8er 26 x 4" is 1850gm.
(If Vee Rubber made a Devist8er “light” in a 3- 3.2", with a 20-30% volume and weight reduction, ~1400-1500gm, it would be an amazing muni tire and it would fit in a KH/Nimbus muni frame.)

47

That set up was exclusively for my Fargo hill climb, which was on a street/road, but I wouldn’t call it “easy”! :smiley:

49

That’s another sketchy topic (helmets), but well worth the wheight IMO, for not getting turned into a vegtable or worse by a moderate hit, it just has to happen once. Some are a lot ligher than others.

Reducing the weight of your gear (ie type of shorts, pack, tools) can cut the weight, I think it would take several pounds to make a noticable difference, but a bit here and there can add up.

50

At least for MUni, I don’t really mind the extra weight of the LM rim and/or the Geared hub, or heavy tubes, tires, etc. It makes me a stronger rider, and gives me added stability and cushion for drops and rolling the tech stuff better. To quote Kris’s T-shirt logo, “if unicycling were easy, it would be called mountain biking.” :slight_smile:

51

The other thing is the longer you have heavy equipment the stronger you will get and when you decide to take the weight off you’ll be flying

52

Most unis weigh around 13lbs

Its good to learn on a heavy unicycle because it teaches you control. Over time you will know what will be good to save weight on. I prefer saving weight on tubes. Others like the bigger tubes. Some would say to get an aluminum seat post, although they break faster, so others like the chromo seat post.

Weight is really up to the rider and his or her knowledge of how they ride. The best advice is to ride with what you have at the moment and learn on that. Like Mike said once you get a light uni then you’ll fly on it! :slight_smile:

Also PLEASE do not ride without a helmet because its too heavy, a helmet will save you some serious injury. Its good to learn how to ride with basic safety equipment so you don’t get hurt! When youre injured you cant ride the uni anyways!

Goodluck!

53

I think that the weight of the unicycle and the riders weight have two very different effects on riding ability. For example, making your unicycle a pound lighter would definitely allow you to spin it faster for unispins, but wearing lighter clothing and making yourself lighter would not make the unicycle spin faster, and would probably make a very small difference to performance.

Making the rider lighter definitely has an effect on riding, but it’s not the same as unicycle weight.

54

Agreed.

I spent the last week in Oregon, riding an Oregon, 17.4# of beastly muni with a super fat tire, it was hard work at times, but it also worked very well for all but the slimiest riding. The whole time I was riding the Oregon in Oregon, I though to myself how much I miss my 29er that weighs a measley 12.4#

So then I get back home and go out on the 29er, oh my, some adjustment to style was needed!! It was harder in some ways, less cushion made it a rougher ride, but being lighter and having a narrower tire also made it twitchy. It took two rides to get back into the swing of things on the 29er.

This has made me think more about the advantages of having a smaller wheel, fixed 26", for certain uses/places, like when I’m tired and going out to ride tech stuff; the 29er takes more space and focus to ride on tech stuff. The Oregon is a beast, and though it rides well, it is a lot of muni to throw around and does tend to wear me out quicker.

And yeah, not wearing a helmet is a great way to lose weight. When I was working in nursing homes, there were always a few people who were wasting away to nothing following a head trauma injury. Dumb, just plan dumb.

55

My aggressively milled Moments lasted 5 months for me. They snapped on a steep hill climb with a “PING” but it was otherwise uneventful, thankfully.

Time to buy some Spirits, which Kris said are 424g. That’s 20g lighter than my milled Moments anyway!

broken_moment.jpg

56

Blimey! You must be pleased you didn’t get badly injured!

57

I general it sounds like the sum of all parts.

I haven’t thought much about weight until I rode an old heavy uni and I realized swinging and stopping weight requires more energy and thus a reduction in the fun factor. after reading the replies it seems a little here and a little there really adds up in the end.
TK

58

Yes, I am. It’s easy to imagine how that could tear into your leg.
I’m also grateful it didn’t happen during a race or an out of town ride.
Still I’m kind of pissed not to have a working muni for the long weekend. But I might find one to borrow.

59

So I take it that it was the Bust on that particular ride.

60

lol :smiley:

61

Wow! They sure were pretty before this happened, though iffy-looking. I would have expected them to bend before breaking. I guess they were, but only a little bit in each direction. Aluminum is so stiff. Then the fatigue built up, and SNAP! I guess we now know which is your dominant foot? :slight_smile:

Biggest weight loss on my unicycle? Well, recently I went to Unicon in Italy. While there, I noticed the (heavy) 24 x 3" tire on my MUni was coming apart near the bead. Fortunately it held up for the XC race, MUni Obstacles and two rides down the Downhill (“Normal”) course. I left that tire in Italy, and was able to pack about three more pounds of stuff into my checked luggage!

62

I’ve lost about 15 pounds since I started getting serious about riding Muni. :smiley:

63

Those sure were some pretty cranks, maybe leaving a little webbed area in them would make them last a bit longer. I had some drilled out BMX cranks snap on me as a teen while doing drops off a loading dock. That didn’t go so well, kinda stuck the crank end into my leg, woops :roll_eyes:

So, biggest weight loss recently was getting a lighter tire for my 36er, 1500gm vs 1800gm Nightrider, also lost another 200gm going to tubeless on the same 36er, so lost a total of 500gm of rotational weight :astonished:

I think a lighter 36er tire is possible, maybe 1000-1200g, but it would need to be road only as at 1500gm I feel like I’m about as light as I can go for off road without excessive sidewall collapse. A tubular 36 x 45-50c would be sweet, but I think we’d need a narrower profile rim; which could also drop the weight further.

64

Racing Ralph 36 x 2.25

I recently spliced two old Racing Ralph 26 x 2.25 to make a 36 x 2.25, using this Tutorial.

http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92354

The Racing ralph is about 800 grams in 36 inch, versus the 2000 grams of the nightrider.
Also changed the tube for a 29 er tube (250 vs 450 grams),

So a total weight saving of 1400 grams on the outside of the wheel.

Needles to say that this action totally transformed the ride.

I hope the tire holds, I have done 3 rides now and it is still OK, fingers crossed.:smiley:

65

Twente Muni, any pics of that tire? The process? Splice connections?

I can’t stop smiling with fascination that people will splice tires! So cool!

66

My weight is about 58kg, the biggest weight saving on the muni was changing the tube and the pedals (Wellgo Magensium). Sure changing the smoothness of the ride.

Greetings

Byv