Geared Muni - 24 vs 26

General
1

I have been riding my 24 geared muni for a couple of years now. I decided I wanted to have a backup hub, and I wanted to try the 26 wheel size. So now I have both a 24 guni and a 26 guni. I have been on two 4 mile rides and a 10 mile ride on the 26.

KH24 frame, Schlumpf hub, 24x3 Duro, 150 Moments
KH26 frame, Schlumpf hub, 26x2.4 Maxxis Ardent (folding bead), 150 Spirits

First Impressions

The Good:

The 26 is WAY lighter. 2.5 to 3 lbs lighter (light weight tube vs DH tube). I flatted on my first ride with the light tube, so I switched to a beefier tube. Technical climbing seems to be much easier on the 26 (need to get back out on the 24 to confirm this). Low gear riding is much better with the bigger wheel.

The Bad:

Going fast in high gear. The 26 is more squirrely and not as smooth on the rocks. But my biggest problem is stability. It keeps lurching to one side or the other. I ended up doing a fair amount of arm flailing when this would happen at speed. My back is sore from fighting this. This is a bit puzzling. I never had these problems on my 29er which is not as wide as the 24. I got home and looked at all three tires. I think the profile of the Ardent is the problem. It has that high center ridge, whereas the 24x3 Duro and the 29 Stout are much more gently rounded.

I guess I need to try a different tire before I come to any final conclusions. Any suggestions?

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2

I don’t like the looks of the profile of that Ardent tire. Tires with a narrow center ridge tend to push you to one side or the other; I like tires with a more rounded profile, whether they’re fat or not. Definitely try something different.

3

You’re not the first one to complain about the Ardent having a tall centerline and being twitchy.

But keep in mind that you are comparing a well worn fat tire to a brand new mid fat tire, so there is break in and adjustment that needs to happen, also getting the right tire pressure could help; higher pressure for skinnier tires. I’d ride it for few weeks and beat it up a bit, then make a decision.

Another thing is adjusting to a wider Q factor on your cranks, not sure if you noticed, but the Spirits are significantly wider, and wider cranks will throw off your stability and make you sway side to side a little bit more.

I rode an Ardent on my 29er and my 26guni, and I have a 2.6 wire bead Ardent on my Large Marge wheel. The tire works fine for me, not sure that I had a problem on my guni, at least I can’t remember it being wierd or squirrelly. I will say that the high center line and the offset edge knobbies are not as stable as some other tires I have ridden.

Lightweight tires:

Maxxis High Roller, I have not ridden one, same casing as the Ardent, but it has a symetrical edge knobby and a lower profile center line knobby. I think it’s what Kris is specing on his KH26.

Maxxis Advantage, I have ridden one, it’s a nice tire, same casing as the Ardent, sort of a double centerline knobby, so it’s more flattened through the middle. I did find the Advantge to be a little edgier than the Ardent, not sure why, bikers love this tire.

Schwalbe has some lightweight tires that are worth looking at, but beware anything that has “race” in the name and definitely get the Snakeskin sidewall. Expensive!

Good but heavy tires:

Duro Savage 2.6", essentially a Duro Wildlife Jr, I had this on my KH 26 when I sold it, great tire, rides like a narrow Wildlife, a little lighter, a little faster. It measures out to about the same size overall as the Ardent. 2.4

Duro Wildlife 3", rode this tire on and off over the years, great tire, heavy, rides just like it’s 24" little brother.

My fav tire:

Schwalbe Hans 2.35, I ride this tire on my 29er, it is also available for the 26" in wire bead Pacestar, folding bead Pacestar or Trailstar (stickier), and SG (Super Gravity). The 2.35" measures at as the same size as an RR 2.4, so bigger than it’s stated numbers. I love my Hans, it’s the best tire I have ever ridden, low pressure or high pressure, dry or wet, it is amazing.

I ride the Pacestar, it is at least as sticky as a Duro. The Trailstar is a softer compound, same casing and tread, but it will wear faster. The SG (Super Gravity) model is new, not sure if you can get it yet, but it is the Hans Dampf on steroids, and it’s the one I’d get if I was riding a 26"; it’s not available in 29" :frowning:

4

Thanks Ben. I’ll take a look at those options. I am hoping for something a little lighter than the Duro. I used to ride my 29er with the Stout and was happy with it. Looking at the pictures I took, the Stout has a similar profile to the Duro.

5

The Hans Dampf also has the same profile as the Duro, nice and round, and at 850gm it’s half the weight of the Duro 3" and a solid step up in durability to the Ardent. The SG Hans Dampf would be a little heavier, 950gm, but it’ll be a true DH tire.

6

The Hans Dampf Super Gravity looks like a great option - thanks! So popular they’re out of stock.

7

I am one of those people who really didn’t like the Ardent. I gave away my 26x2.6 wire bead after only 3 rides.

I am sure that after many rides it would “wear in” once the centre knobs are half worn out but I was not willing to half wear out a tire before it had nice riding characteristics.

I have seen a couple Hans Dampfs in real life and they look like a great tire, though I have never ridden one. I already have way too many tires but if I were to get a new one for general off-road use Hans would be on the top of my list.

8

It was actually kind of embarrasing to be flailing around on a piece of trail that I normally fly through. The Ardent has to go!

9

i can vouch for the HighRoller on my 26" Oracle. Much lighter than the Duro that came standard. I think they make a HighRoller II now.

10

One of the best 26" tyres is the 2.4 Continental RubberQueen (Called trail king in some areas) and is highly recommended on here (pretty much unanimously sited as the tyre to get) if you do a search, it uses the legendary Black Chilli compound so grips well in the wet and is hand made in Germany. it has a square profile so crowns less than any Tyre I have used.

It is about the same weight as the ardent as well

I would ride nothing else on a 26" and love it as much as the incredible Hans Dampf on my 29er

Rubberqueen small.JPG

11

Both the High roller and high roller 2 are great tyres for muni- the super tacky and 3c compounds are very grippy. The High roller 2 2.4 measures out to roughly 58mm on a KH rim and is a good tyre very grippy :slight_smile:

12

Sounds like a good option too. Here in the desert, I never ride in mud or wet conditions. Always dry and rocky. I wonder which tire is best in those conditions?

13

Since you love the Hans Dampf on your 29er, why not on the 26?

14

I rode the Hans Dampf at Fruita, Moab, and Albuquerque, it was great for those conditions, which are very similar to what you ride in Tuscon. The Hans Dampf will be the most expensive tire you’ll buy, but prices are coming down a bit; maybe not for the SG :smiley:

Another thing that sets it apart from some other tires is that it is quite fast, so a good tire for a guni.

Yeah, I could be a shill for Schwalbe, but an really like this tire.

Cuz he spent all his money on unicycles and his wife would get suspicious if there were a bunch of tires hanging around the house :wink:

16

She has been very good about it so far, even when the new Impact 24" appeared after I had sighted a “delivery of Uni bits” arriving today rather than a “I have bought a new Uni” :stuck_out_tongue:

I did tell her about the impending 36er as I would have trouble dinging that :stuck_out_tongue:

As for not running the 26" Hans, I believe that was because when I had my 26er they only did it in a heavy performance version (wire bead) for the 26" size (I only learnt they dod a folding one from this thread not riding that size Uni anymore). If I had another I would give it a try as I like the snakeskin sidewalls on the Schwalbe tyres.

Grip wise I have ridden in the utter filth that worst of the UK weather can generate on both tyres (different wheel sizes admittedly) and I can’t say I noticed any difference between the rubber queen and Hans Dampf.

Given that I ride rocky flint and lost one Rubber Queen in the first month to a sidewall cut and that you can now get the 26" Hans in the folding kevlar bead format which makes it lighter than the Conti I would probably go for the Hans to be honest, but if you are not riding sharp rocks either would be fine grip wise :slight_smile:

17

He’s riding sharp rocks, pretty much that and sand, maybe some pine needles here and there, but water, what water, Tucson is in the desert :wink:

18

Just got off the phone with a LBS. I have a Schwalbe 26x2.35 Super Gravity Pacestar tire on order and probably arriving this Friday! Hope it’s worth the $85. :roll_eyes:

19

Oof, that’s quite the price tag. I hope it’s awesome. Personally I’ve been super happy with the 2.4 lightweight ardent both on and off road, and I’ve put a good number of miles on it (600+). It might be the fact that it’s worn down now, but I didn’t ever seem to notice it.

20

I recently made the jump to a KH26 GUni from my KH24 GUni I’ve been riding for many years. Over the last several months of riding on the KH24 I’d been using the Felt Berm Master (24x3) which I really liked as it’s a good hybrid tire: plenty of traction off road but still a good rolling profile to ride fast on pavement. So when I went to my KH26 I wanted a similar hybrid tire. So far I’ve been using the Maxxis Holy Roller (www.amazon.com/Maxxis-Holy-Roller-Urban-Bike/dp/B0021GE4WQ) and really like it so far. I wish it was a bit wider; taking some getting used to, but I think for my type of riding a BMX/Urban tire is the way to go. Not a perfect tire for all conditions but it does pretty good across the board.

21

I had one on my bike. I think the nobs would b too shallow for Muni. In the pic they look a lot smaller than the Berm Master’s.

You could take one of the meatier tires like the High Roller (avail in 2.3, 2.5, & 2.7) & cut off like every other side nob, since I don’t think u really need them for most Muni.