Could be a cadence thing maybe? I know when I’m doing ultra high revs on the 36" Unguni, I really hate being stuck so hard to the pedal I can’t adjust my foot position without slowing down. Maybe with a higher gear it’s different. Having said that, I don’t run MG-1’s on my 29" Schlumpf. I haven’t ridden the 36" Schlumpf enough to know how grippy to go yet.
I used Odyssey Twisted PC plastic pedals on my 29er Schlumpf, and thought that was just fine, except it was little slippery during the time trial when it was pouring rain.
I’m thinking about it. I will put my geared 29 away for the winter to avoid the salty roads, and will probably move the hub into a 36er during that time. My only hesitation is that I really enjoy traveling with the 29guni, great for taking on planes, trains and automobiles. Not as easy with a 36er.
I know there are some other riders up here in the Northeast waiting for hubs, although I think they are going to put it into 29’ers.
ro
I have the same light. It works very well. I use it for night muni and guni rides and it is really bright. Riding muni at night still feels a little edgy, which is probably why I like it. There have been lots of reports about mountain lions around the area behind my house where I ride.
I also use the MG-1s. They are light and extra grippy but I like them that way.
I got confused about the pedals. The MG-1s are good, but the pair I had didn’t last all that long. I guess maybe they are a little fragile. The ones I meant that we’ve been using a lot lately (besides the Azonic A-Frame Lites) is the Azonic Fusion pedal. These are magnesium, very light and long lasting. They list for $40 but you can get them for under $30 at several places. I just bought a couple more pairs at http://www.jensonusa.com for $27 ea plus shipping.
—Nathan
I have used Azonic A-Frame pedal after tip from you Nathan. I have not managed to get the light pedal here in Norway. But the A-Frame pedal is my favourite Uni pedal.
When getting high revs on the Coker the weight on the pedal is very important. When going from A-frame (685 grams) to Wellgo MG-1 (395 grams) my speed increased maybe 1 to 1,5 km/t!
For me the bearings on the Azonic pedals is getting very loose after time. On the Wellgo the bearings getting tight.
I have replaced bearings on pedals. Converted bearings from NBK-686Z to SKF-6862RS. Quite a heavy price for SKF bearings here in Norway. After going to SKF *RS bearings I have never had a problem with the pedals again. Raiding in snow, rain and sometimes we even have sun here up in the North 
Weight of the pedal is important. My notes show that the Azonic A-frame Lite (Mg body, Ti spindle) weighs only 205g per pedal. It looks like from their site that they no longer make the Lite version. I did a search and found them available for $196 at motorhelmets.com but that was the only place. They were selling for more like $230 here in local shops back in 2006 when they came out, and I spent about $175 online. At the time I thought it was crazy spending so much, and then when the bearings died I was so pissed. But replacing the bearings was easy (SKF of course!) and no problems since then. Finally in the last month I have had trouble threading them into some cranks since I have removed and reinstalled them SO many times in 2 1/2 years. Oh well.
The Azonic Fusions that I just bought a couple of pairs of for $27 each weigh only 234g and they’re pretty grippy. I just can’t use heavy pedals like the Snafus etc for Cokering. Maybe it doesn’t matter so much on the GUNI but I’ve just been using the Fusions on that one.
—Nathan
I have to bring this thread back up. I have had my geared 36 for a few months now and it is so brutal on your muscles. I rode about 45 miles on Sunday on slightly hilly terrain with some wind and I hit the wall about 5 miles before my trip was done. I am definitely improving how far I can go with it and keeping my average speed up as my legs are getting huge from riding this thing, but the fact that Chuck did a century ride with his geared 36 with some hills involved is pretty crazy! I probably won’t have the muscles to do a century with the geared 36 for at least another few months.
I find the geared 36 more fun to ride and it doesn’t give me joint pain, BUT riding an ungeared 36 is SO much easier on the muscles. I always felt like I could ride forever with an ungeared 36, but with the geared 36 it is tough. I think that if I was going to attempt a century ride I would do the first 50 miles geared with 150mm cranks, and then move the pedals to the 125mm slot and ride the rest ungeared.
Also, it may help to do what Chuck/Ken did and use a 29er tube to reduce the rotational weight. I am sure that will make it feel a little less like weight lifting haha, but then again…it doesn’t seem as puncture proof and I would hate to get a flat.
I feel like the ideal configuration for a century would be a geared 29er set up similar to Tom’s with a big apple 2.0 tire and light weight 125mm cranks. The light wheel would make the miles a lot easier on the legs and it would be faster than an ungeared 36. What does everyone here think about that? If you disagree please state your ideal century configuration.
Anyway…I just needed to add that Chuck is a beast.
My ideal century configuration has two wheels.
The gear ratio of a geared 36 is more conducive to super-long riding than that of a geared 29. (Both are a lot better than an ungeared 36). But the 36 is a freakin’ tank, with something like 2 pounds more rotational weight than the 29. Because of that, and the lower gear ratio, the 29er can push up many hills in the high gear where the 36 has to shift to low gear and slog up. And on really steep uphills, the 29er in low gear is way easier to deal with than the 36 just due to weight.
Overall, though, I’d say that the 36er advantage on flats and downhills will outweigh the 29er advantage on minor and major uphills in the context of a century. (The 36er has an advantage on intermediate uphills, where the 29er’s low gear is too low).
But overall, it’s more about the rider than the cycle. Chuck would still kick your ass on a geared 29er.
I’ve done the Round Taupo (100miles, 1600m climbing) ride several years now. The fastest I’d done it was 7hrs43min on a Coker/110mm Unguni.
Last year I did it on a Schlumpf 29". Was on track for beating my old time until I blew up and started cramping about half way, and limped home in about 10hrs. Had to stop at Burger King and spent about an hour there chomping on everything I could get down. It was probably the wrong gear for it…the hills are best done on a Coker, the flats were a bit faster on the Schlumpf 29", but probably not fast enough. On a flatter course, the Schlumpf 29" would have blown away the Unguni Coker.
Do you think you would have hit the wall and cramped earlier with the geared 36er?
No, it depends on the course. I think the hills are a little bit too shallow for 145mm/36" Schlumpf in 1:1, and a little bit too steep for a 145mm/36" Schlumpf in 1:1.5.
Maybe having 125mm cranks would work, but I’ve never ridden that on the 36"Schlumpf
I signed up for the Triple Bypass this year. It is Colorado’s most renown road tour,120 miles from Evergreen to Avon over Squaw (11,140 ft.), Loveland (11,990 ft.), Swan Mountain and Vail (10,560 ft.) passes, with over 10,000 ft. of gain in elevation. I never would have attempted this without a gear, just because the amount of down hill and near-flat terrain would have taken too long. With a gear, however, it seems within reach. It is a very popular ride…3500 spots sold out in a day and a half! I’ll be the first uni to attempt it, and I’m certainly making no promises, but I never would have thought about it before the GUNI.
WOW!!!
Super fast!!
if you used the metric system, it would be a lot easier to do a century;)
The downhills are very nice on the geared 36. What is the furthest you have gone in a day on the g36 so far?
This is bad-ass.
Hard enough on a road bike! Good luck!!
You guys will be riding within a block or two of my house, They usually have a break station at the high school. I’ll have to come out and cheer you on, maybe ride a spell with you. I don’t think I would be able to do the whole thing, or keep up with you for long!
Have fun!
I’ve done a couple of 60 mile rides. My typical Saturday ride is about 40. I’m going to need to train some more. My goal is not Chuck-speed…just to finish by the cutoffs.
Bondo-That would be awesome to see you there. Hopefully we’ll get a ride in before that.
[QUOTE=osmundo;1203512]
I signed up for the Triple Bypass this year. It is Colorado’s most renown road tour,120 miles from Evergreen to Avon over Squaw (11,140 ft.), Loveland (11,990 ft.), Swan Mountain and Vail (10,560 ft.) passes, with over 10,000 ft. of gain in elevation. …QUOTE]
crazy! good luck!!
ro
Amazing and congrats, Chuck. It’s interesting how a century ride in this side of the world means 100km, not 100 miles.
I broke 50 miles for the first time with the geared 36 (and first time with any unicycle since RTL and my knee injury) and my legs were really feeling it for the first half of my trip as it was almost all slightly uphill and a headwind. Going back I had severe saddle soreness…some of the worst I have ever experienced. I think this is partly due to the fact that I am not riding as often, but I also think it has to do with the T7 and KH Freeride combo. I am going to swap out the saddle/handle for my carbon fiber freeride + GB4 set up and see if that helps at all with saddle soreness.
I finished the ride with my legs still feeling like they could do 25 more miles, but the rest of my body (neck and especially my ass) couldn’t go another mile.
It is still my goal to do a geared century this year, so I hope I follow through with the training for it and find a better seat/handle set up for the geared 36.
On the 25 mile slight uphill ride I was constantly thinking how nice it would be to be riding a geared 29 instead…I may switch out the hub to a geared 29 before NZ for travel ease and versatility…who knows!