I have a Nimbus II (24") that I’ve been using more and more on trails, so I decided to get a knobby type tire. I bought an Arrow Racing LT 2.50 x 24, and it is a complete disaster. The unicycle is very hard to ride, and I can not get it to turn! I can’t believe a tire could make such a difference, and I did try a variety of different tire pressures. What’s going on? I tried another MUNI tonight with an even wider tire, and it seemed to turn fine. Is there some specific kind of tire I should get?
Is your air pressure to low?
I tried various pressures between 25 and 45 psi.
I’m not familiar with the Arrow tire but as an aside my DX 24 came stock with a Kenda Kinetics tire (2.5") that was not a very nice tire to ride on. It always seemed to kick me around and I always felt off balance with it regardless of what type of surface I was riding on or what pressure it was set at. I have a Duro Leopard tire (this is under a different name now I think) on my KH 24 that i just love for any kind of riding. It’s classed as an off road 3" tire and I usually have it set @ 15 psi. (I’m light)
So the short answer would be yes, a different tire can make a big difference to your ride.
Tires with a square profile seem to be harder to control on a unicycle.
I have found that generally tires meant to go both front and back on a bike or more front specific tires tend to be easier to control since they tend to have a rounder profile.
Another thing is rim width. Some tires need a wider rim than others. For example I have a 26x3" Gazzalodi that was absolutely horrible on a 38mm rim but works quite well on a 46mm rim. The Duro tire I had worked just fine on the 38mm rim but didn’t seem to get much advantage from the wider one.
Well, I decided to give that tire one more go, thinking that maybe I just needed to get used to it. I rode for about 1.5 hours on it and it still feels as awkward as ever–impossible to turn, yet unstable going straight! Just to be sure I put the old tire back on, and the Uni handles perfectly.
Can anyone suggest a 24" offroad type tire that will fit a Nimbus II frame? The stock tire is a Kenda NJP which is great for the street and smooth hard dirt, but not hills or slippery stuff.
It could also be too high.
I bought a Nokian Gazzaloddi 24x3.0 about 6 months ago.
I filled it up to 43 PSI (3 Bar) as I did before, when I had a Duro Wildlife with the same dimensions.
It didn’t work at all. I could hardly ride without falling off.
Went down to 22 PSI (1.5 Bar) and since then it worked very well.
It really depends on the tyre. If you can’t find an air pressure that works with your tyre, get a Duro Wildlife. It is very easy to handle.
Edit: Ok, you looked for a 24"x2.5" - and possibly the Duro won’t fit into that Nimbus II frame.
The Duro should fit. The tire that used to cause some fit problems was the Gaz on certain frames due to its extra height.
Does anyone know if the Nimbus II frame that comes with cruiser is the same as the frame that comes on the MUni version?
If so all he would need after a new tire to make it a proper MUni would be a wider rim. A 32h trials rim like this would work really well with the 48h hub.
Can’t help you much more on the tire choice. I haven’t used a 24 much but mostly used 3" tires. The Duro is probably the best 3" tire for a skinnier rim.
EDIT:
And width. Can’t fit my 26" Gazz in my KH frame. It’s almost 3/8" wider than my Duro was.
The space between the forks on my Nimbus II is 72 mm (2.8 inches).
Duro is probably out then. They seem to measure anywhere between 70 and 75mm depending on the specific tire and rim. You are going to want a few mm on each side for clearance.
The 24" Gazz fit the 24" KH frame but it did not fit in the Torker DX 24 frame. (height concern only, it made it width wise) The Duro did fit the DX. I’m not sure though just what type of clearance is present on the nimbus frame.
Sorry to butt in with my personal problems… 
But I was thinking of building my own Muni… the idea was to have the Nimbus II Muni frame with Magura Brake mounts… And I do very much like the Duro Wildlife Leapard tyre… Is this impossible to work and if so what other options for Muni tyres could you suggest???
Thanks and sorry Rpt50 for butting into your thread…
Choomii
No problem butting in. In fact, I should have added a while back that I have found unicycle happiness with a Kenda K-rad tire on my Nimbus II. It really seems to work well for the mild offroad riding I do, and I find this setup much more to my liking than my son’s Nimbus 24" Muni with the Duro tire. That uni is just too heavy for me at my skill level.
Wow, after reading this thread it sounds like I need to deflate my tire a bit. I’m currently on a Kenda Kiniption for pavement, but I usually pump it up to just over 60 psi before every ride.
I believe the tire is rated from 30 - 80 psi, so maybe I should try riding with less pressure to see how that feels. Come to think of it, I can tell a massive difference between surfaces like concrete, brick, and pavement through the saddle. Maybe I am riding too inflated.
I also plan on getting a muni, sounds like riding with really low pressure (at least compared to what I’m used to) is the way to go for munis.
The DX comes w/ a 2.6" tire (mine did anyway). I don’t think Kenda makes that tire in a 2.5. I run it as low as I can w/o hitting the rim, which for me is 13 psi.
I also have a 3’ Arrow Widebite, it’s 66mm wide when mounted on my rim. I could run it @ 8 psi w/o hitting the rim but would get pretty squirmy, I liked it best at 11. It has a much rounder profile, grippier, heavier, stiffer sidewalls, and an effective larger diameter. The extra inertia made it harder to change speeds (both good and bad), harder to turn at high speed, & climb on unless I maintained a moderate constant speed, after which it became slightly easier to climb. The rounder profile made it turn better by leaning, but harder by pivoting, which I attribute to the extra grip. The effective larger diameter increased speed but made steeps harder (which were plenty hard for me already w/ the Kenda).
Overal I preffer the Kenda, since I don’t do drops and the benefits of a 3" tire aren’t worth the downsides for me, so I put the Kenda back on. Also I don’t know if it’s just that I got used to the square profile, in addition to the turning differences, it seemed to deflect off the sides of rocks and follow ruts less than the rounder Arrow. It would be nice to have a bit more cussion, so when I wear it out I’m gonna get a 2.7" Maxis High Roller.