Some 36er riders can climb quite massive hills (mountains even) with 114s, so it is very possible. I love my 114s, BUT in rolling terrain with some bigger hills I prefer the 125s still. What may feel uncomfortable on a 29er does not always translate to the 36er. You can start out with your 114s and see how they feel, but if you dont have the technique or the ability or if you just plain hate climbing with those cranks, it is easy to swap over to the 125s. I think that 125s are one of the most versatile sizes to use on a 36er, you can climb mostly any hill you will encounter on the road, and they arent that bad for light XC. 150s on the 36er feel too sluggish for me.
As far as your options…
In my opinion, a 36er is a LOT more fun than a 29er. When I got my 36er I didn’t touch my 29er for a year. I now ride my new KH 29er offroad quite a lot though, I find the 29er to be tons of fun on muni tracks, but if it isn’t too technical or is easy XC, the 29er becomes boring again.
I would recommend not buying a cheap 36er. You want to have a new nightrider rim and you want to have 14g spokes. The nightrider tire should be alright in the snow (I have no experience with that though). Buy a nice 36er like one of the new nimbus nightriders. You can lock up both the frame and the wheel if you are going to be moving to the city soon.
Of course, nothing compares to riding a geared unicycle, they are superior for speed, but they do cost a lot more and are not always the best option for the city.
I find a 36er better for highly trafficked areas than a 29er. You have surprisingly a lot of control on a 36er in traffic, and you are higher up on it than a 29er so drivers are more likely to see you.
Save up for a nice 36er, and once you ride it you will probably not use your 29er that much.
EDIT: to answer one of your other questions: A good rider with leg strength and a little bit of practice should be able to control the 36er very well. I really have no problem controlling a 36er, they are very maneuverable, even more so than a bicycle for me.
I would say C and D are your best options so far. Nimbus Nightrider, KH36 or Coker The Big One for a 36".
Option E would be to have a 32" wheel built for you…
I actually started a thread about this idea here a couple of weeks ago: [THREAD]68182[/THREAD], it is a discussion + poll about the introduction of a new wheel size in between 29ers and 36ers. I think that maybe 32" would be ideal for that kind of riding and also for cokermuni stuff. Check it out if you’re interested.
At this point, I can climb ALMOST any hill with 114’s and will only go to 125’s as a last resort, I even do a little LIGHT XC with 114’s. I love my 102’s for fairly flat stuff and smooth hills. I think that after some practice you’ll be fine with 114’s. 114’s have been mave favorite since about 1 month after getting my coker, and fine for almost all hills since about 3 months in. (Now 102’s are my favorite, but that is for rolling, not hilly terrain) As for control, remeber when your 29er was HUGE, and now you can manuever it through everything; you’ll be just fine. I would go with a fixed 36er over a geared 29 (but not over a geared 36) for most riding (not racing though, the guni wins there).
What do you guys think of having a 36 as your only unicycle? At least for a month or so? I’m without a uni right now and I only have the budget for one.
When I only had 2 unicycles I had a trials and a 36 then my trials broke and I had my coker as my only unicycle for 2 months while I waited for my trials to be fixed and I loved it, you can practice going super fast and then place obstacles in the way and make little courses to navigate then just start adding moving obstacles and it gets even more interesting and you learn to really control you’re 36’er in odd conditions… in other words DO IT! you wont regret it for sure you can do a lot on a coker.
I finally made the jump to purchase a 36er. Do you guys find that the quality of bike shorts you wear has a large impact on your comfort? Or are all bike shorts created equal?
I used to but then my riding technique improved as I racked up the miles and I hardly ever wear my bike shorts. Unless the ride is going to be more than 50 miles I just wear normal clothing.
To each his own, but I think wearing normal clothing for any ride under 50 miles has more to do with the “mystique of Ducttape” than it does great riding technique. The best distance riders I know toss their bike shorts on for 5-10 milers. Looking at the photos from all the different unitours, I don’t see people breaking out the jeans whenever there’s a short day.
To the question on differences in quality in shorts, I think there are some, but it’s also just a process of finding what works best for you. I have a bunch of different kinds, but only one pair with the real chamois leather. This pair–properly lubed up with Chamois Buttr–is by far the most comfortable for long rides. When I can’t wear them, I try to use a pair of Andiamo Skins as a base layer, then a pair of baggy MTB shorts over those. That setup works pretty well too.
Probably has a lot to do with the “mystique of Ducttape”… Actually a lot of things have to do with that… I’m a bit Bass Aakwards. I have some crappy padded bike shorts which might contribute to my lack of wearing them except on super long rides as well.
Just got my first coker Sunday! The oringinal all steel big one…21 lbs/9.5 kgs. with the handle bar. So stable it doesn’t feel like a unicycle. So comfy with my KH saddle and cushy tire. Learning to freemount all over again. FUN!!!
I love my Coker Bigone(the new model), I just came from a 38.52 km ride, I was going up hill for the first 18km. It was pretty fun, there was a 2km non-stop up hill, it was cool.
That sounds fun! I’ll keep you in mind. We live 40 miles West of the city. My wife and I have been wanting to take the train in and ride along the lake front. She on a bike, and I…now apparently on a coker. It would be best on a day that’s not too crowded, as I wouldn’t what to take someone out…
I’ve been riding a 28 inch for a year. Can freemount it every time, idle some, and go a short distance backwards, and just got on the coker a few days ago. I’ll keep practicing freemounting…yesterday it took me 3 tries…this morning it took a half hour. My brain is rewiring.
Just picked up my Coker yesterday. Did about 10 miles over a few different trips out yesterday and did a 8.5 mile run today with a short break at mile 3. You sure get a lot more attention on this big wheel. Not sure how fast I’m going, still need to pick up a cycle computer or take the one of my triathlon bike. Free mounting isn’t as hard as I thought it would be, but by no means is it like getting onto my 24" Torker LX.
New to this thread. Does a Nimbus 36" with a TA tyre count? I had an old-style Coker Big One until a couple of years ago.
Took the “Yard” back into the forest today. The TA tyre has no fore and aft grip at all in mud. It has been raining torrentially for much of the week (what with me being off work and everything) and in places it was like riding through Teflon paste.
Strange effect, though: the tyre has grooves that run around the circumference, and every few inches there is a tiny flap of rubber, breaking the grooves inot long thin sections. As I was riding on soft wet mud on top of a harder surface, I could hear little “suck suck” noises as these little air pockets broke suction with the wet mud. I thought I had a puncture at first.
I did just under 10 miles, with an average speed (by GPS) of around 6mph! Found some bits of the forest I’d missed on my many previous visits.
The big wheel seems to provoke more inane comments than a smaller one.
When I used to train hard, I aimed to do 12.5 actual miles in an actual hour, and the best I managed was 12.95 miles in one hour, and 22 miles in just under 2 hours. This on Big One with 150mm cranks. But that was lap after lap on tarmac. And I was younger then.
Today’s ride was a mixture of wide forest trail, single track, unmade ground, and mainly on wet mud. Hugely tiring, but great fun.
