My new UDC Titan was waiting on the doorstep when I got home Friday. I put it together and set it up Friday night. Saturday was a test ride of a mile or two. Today I took it out on a rolling bike / ped path. There were a few short steep climbs. I did about 5 miles. I would have done more but the wind was a bit much.
I had expected the 36 to be a beast to mount. It was not that bad. I assume that is because I’m coming from a 29er. I was trying to describe the feeling of riding on the 36. It is like gliding. Or riding butter. It is just so smooth and stable.
I just wanted to say thanks to all the folks who have posted 36 related stuff. You all helped me pick which Uni to buy and convinced me to try the 36. I’m glad I did. I can’t wait for the pre-work ride in the morning. Although, it will be a while before I try any 36 Muni.
I’ve been riding a 29" Nimbus with a Maxxis Ardent tire and 125 cranks for both Muni and street. I had a hard time deciding between the Titan and the Coker Big One. I ended up going with the Titan because it seemed more “upgradable” than the Coker and it came with the Nightrider tire which I got the impression from reading posts here is preferred by more folks.
As far as impressions go. I like it. It is super smooth. There is some pretty bad pavement on my normal morning ride, I thought the 29er handled it well, but the 36 just roles over it like it is not there. I found myself riding over a few spots I normally go around just to see what it would be like. Totally doable. Which means the Titan will likely see some Muni at some point.
Everything about it seems pretty solid. I’m not sure how I feel about the pressed as opposed to machined bearing housings, but they seem to work just fine. My size 13s tell me some larger platform pedals are probably the first upgrade. I imagine I’ll ride the stock pedals until they fail. Hopefully they will last into the Summer. I think the Coker comes with essentially the same pedals, so that is a wash. I’ll have to put a few more miles on (I was up at 5:30 this morning for a 4 mile ride) before I decide about the seat. I went with 150 cranks and I would definitely do that again. The extra leverage and control is helping with my 36er learning curve.
All in all, I really like it. I’m sure I’d feel the same way about any 36er though. I opted to go cheap and simple (no handle bar or brake) to see if a 36er was for me. So far the answer seems to be yes. So I’ve got something I can learn on and upgrade a bit, but enjoy the whole time. The folks here on the forum who say “get one, you won’t regret it” are right on.
Probably because I was stepping up from a 29, I am able to get up on the 36 relatively easily. The third attempt was the trick this morning in the dark and early. I’ve even managed a first try mount once yesterday, but to be fair that was headed down a slight incline. I just do the static mount. The learning curve for mounting will depend on experience and skill level as well.
Ah, the truth comes out. James and I went Muni riding on 29ers and he pulled his Coker out of the truck and I tried mounting it holding onto the truck. I can’t mount holding on to things. I sat on it briefly. He made a comment about how I’d get hooked on the 36 and have to get one. So even though I don’t know him that well, the 36 is really all his fault. Ok, not really, but he contributed.
I’ve ridden all of the 36ers except the new Nimbus Oracle, and they’re all well made. It’s such a small market that the low quality no-name brands don’t even bother. I know this is kind of a useless statement since it doesn’t help you narrow down the choices (maybe I shouldn’t be posting it all :p), but at least it will help you be confident that you’ll like whatever you get. There are no bad 36ers.
For me and my son, it was Bondo (Scott) who came riding by our campsite during a Summer ski trip in Colorado, this was in 2008. My son spent the next 48 hours trying to ride a Nimbus 26 muni that was way too big for him, but he got far enough that I agreed to buy him a cheap learner…and the rest is history!
If you have the time, James too, maybe we can all meet this Summer at the Bellingham munifest, June 7-9! BungeeJoe is putting it together, he’s a monster 36er rider, goes big miles with clipless pedals
I’d love to meet up in June, but I will be in Ireland with no Uni.
aarons -
I have to agree that there are no bad 36ers. There are basic ones (Coker and Titan) nice ones (KH, Oracle) and way cool custom ones built by folks like Ben, James (Unishark) and others.
I’m considering this uni, and like you trying to decide between the Titan, Big One, and Qu-Ax, but keep going back and forth. Would still like to get something durable…
Killian, when I purchased my 36 last year I didn’t want to spend too much on something that I might not get on with so went with the Titan (36 Trainer in the UK). I asked for the frame to be swopped out with a Nightrider frame using bearing shims and enabling decent brakes.
The good things are…great tyre…wide hub(stronger wheel)…good rim. And the Nightrider frame means I can upgrade the hub to isis if I get really keen.
The bad things are…poor saddle(now upgraded to kh freeride)…heavy steel seatpost…plastic cheepo pedals(now upgraded)…heavy steel cranks(now upgraded).
I also had to centre, true and tension the wheel out of the box.
Due to a lot of difficult family stuff I didn’t ride it much when I got it prefering quick blasts with my 29er. I have been riding the 36 more this year (at least an hour a day). At the moment I see no reason to upgrade from the square taper hub.
I have not seen any quality issues so far. My wheel was true right out of the box. The pedals are cheap. I knew that going in. They will probably be the first upgrade. The saddle is hard, but I generally wear cycling shorts with built in padding, and have not noticed it being any worse than the Nimbus Gel on my 29er. That will likely be the second upgrade, but for now it works fine.
On the frame, pressed bearing housings are less precise than machined ones. There could be play between the housing and bearing. I don’t know if I’d be able to feel that. Instead of an allen bolt and threads on the frame side of the housing they use a keyed carriage bolt (a small flange fits into a slot that radiates from an un-threaded hole) and 10 mm lock nuts. In theory this is a less durable set up than the machined housings and allen bolts. In practice it seems to work fine. It is also less expensive to manufacture. So, folks like me can get an inexpensive 36 and get hooked.
I’m not a small guy (6’2" and 230lbs). If anyone is going to test the durability of this kind of set up it will be some idiot like me who decides to Muni on it. I’m not really worried about it failing. It does look less stout than the machined housing on my very similar Nimbus 29er Frame. Hope that helps.
Well, poo! I’m really thinking this will be the one I go with. Everything on it is what I’m looking for, especially since I’m going to be upgrading quite a bit on it (brake, shadow handle, KH seat, venture cranks). If the bearing holders are the only potential issue with it, I think I might just get it and quit flip flopping.
Thanks for answering my questions MTUni. Think I’ll be picking one up… (unless I change my mind again).
