hey guys, i was thinkin of riding this years la marathon on a uni. i currently own a 20 and a 24 inch, plus a 20inch giraffe. i was looking on unicycle.com for some distance cycles, what are your favs? i was thinking either a coker or something with a 29". whats your preferred tire widthe and crank length? thanks
I don’t think most organized foot races would be too happy about having a unicyclist involved. You probably should ask first; maybe you can go with the wheelchairs.
If I were riding in a big crowd of runners, I would want a 29er rather than a Coker, just for manuverability. I really like 125s on a 29er, but 150s might be more appropriate to the speed.
la marathon has a seperate marathon for runners, bikers, and wheelchair. ive been biking it for past 6 years and have seen a few unis, scooters, and other various wheeled objects
When is it this year? Are you gonna ride in the 50 mile bike part or is there a 26 mile route that they would allow unicycles in?
I’d do it.
Nimbus 29er! I got one two days ago and I LOVE it. There is nothing bad about it at all, go for it! 
OR a coker. Coker is awesome.
(and I don’t even have one. I’m just jealous of my brother.)
Ah. So if it’s a bike ride (hardly a marathon at 26 miles on bike), either a short-crank 29er or a Coker would do you well. That kind of distance should be reasonably doable on either configuration, as long as you’ve done a moderate amount of training.
its on march 19th, the bike route is something like 22 miles. you should go man, another bud of mine might uni it with me, thatd be great to have a group of us haha.
http://www.acuralabiketour.com/
yeah its not that much of a challenge, but its a great experience. the streets are all closed off and its really quiet out (middle of LA), the race starts at 6am right when the suns comin out, and its way beautiful. theres also like 26,000 people its insane.
The best combination for you will depend on a few factors:
-your fitness
-your experience at long distance riding
-how much money you have to burn
-how much time you have to train
-the course you will be riding on (hilly or flat, nicely paved or lots of bumps, lots of traffic or nice clear roads etc)
-what you plan to do in the future
I suggest you begin by thinking about what kind of riding you plan to do in the long term. It is not a great idea to fork out hard earned cash for a unicycle that you will only need for one ride.
You can do distance riding on a 24" wheel with short cranks BUT it will take longer to complete a marathon than using a bigger wheel. If you are fairly fit, you can pull out a 42km ride with little or no training. On a 24" wheel it will probably take you around 4 hours to complete it. (Although people have managed sub 2 hours 30 times on a 24" wheel). If this is the only time you are planning on doing a longish ride then it is possible to stick with the 24" wheel.
If you are planning on doing more long distance riding then it is probably worth investing in a commuter of some kind. The first decision is whether to go for a 28 / 29er or a 36 inch wheel. I’ll lump the 28 and 29 inch sizes together as one as they are pretty similar.
29ers are very versitile and manoueverable unicycles. They work well for inner city commutes where you have to start and stop a lot. Depending on components they can be very light weight which is a big plus if you are going on hilly rides. You can get a good cruising speed out of them, although a 36 inch wheel ridden by a good rider is capable of higher speeds. My daily commute to work takes around 50 minutes on a 29er.
36ers roll over just about anything once you get them up to speed but require a bit more effort to stop, start and turn. Getting up hills is harder work and they are not great for riding at slower speeds. Once you are cranking on a 36 though, you can really fly along and they are ideal for open road riding. Their size does count against them when travelling with them (they are harder to fit in a car or plane). On the other hand their size also makes them look more impressive when you go for a ride. The learning curve on a 36 is also a little steeper, especially when learning to mount. My daily commute takes around 45 minutes on a 36er.
If you plan on commuting around city areas then a 29er is a good choice. If you plan on doing more open road riding then it is probably better to opt for a 36.
Regarding crank lengths, I suggest you start with fairly long cranks when first getting the hang of a commuter and then fit shorter ones once you are used to it. The more experienced long distance riders tend to run shorter cranks than those who are just starting out at distance riding. This is because shorter cranks make it easier to sustain higher pedaling cadences (and hence higher speed). Shorter cranks also make it harder to go up hills and turn, but you can compensate for that by getting fitter, stronger and more skilled at riding.
I ride a 29er with 102s but would recommend no shorter than 125s until you have a few miles under your belt.
I ride a 36er with 125s but would recommend no shorter than 150s until you have a few miles under your belt.
Re tyre width. A wider tyre (ie with higher volume) makes for a smoother ride. I have tried very narrow professional road tyres on a 28 and they really don’t work well for unicycles. It makes a lot harder to balance and you feel every bump.
The logic behind using a narrow tyre is that it has less friction which means less effort to pedal. These savings are lost on a unicycle because you expend more energy on trying to keep the unicycle ballanced. Avoid anything less than an inch wide. I prefer at least a 2 inch wide tyre for commuting.
Also avoid putting a wide tyre on a narrow rim as that can be a recipe for punctures.
Ideally find yourself a unicycle with a fairly wide rim that will take a nice 2.25 to 2.5 inch tyre with a smooth tread pattern.
Two final words for the unicycle issue:
By the way, the Nimbus 29er comes with the Big Apple plus it has great pedals, cranks, seat, and frame. The great thing about the frame is that it doesn’t hit your knees like the Yuni or Semcycle (although the Yuni is worse because it sticks up). A Coker is OK, also, but your customization choices are fairly limited.
Here is a 15 SECOND VIDEO of me riding my Nimbus 29er. And here is a PHOTO of the wheel and frame. Here is a PHOTO of me wheelwalking it.
Re: good distance cycles?
On Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:59:43 -0500, peter.bier wrote:
>The logic behind using a narrow tyre is that it has less friction which
>means less effort to pedal.
Surprisingly, a narrow tyre has MORE rolling resistance than a wide
tyre at the same pressure and tread. It does have less air resistance
though, which is why racing bicyclists use them.
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No, racing bicyclists use them because you can ride narrow tires at higher pressure than wide tires.
If you want to verify this for yourself, try pumping a Big Apple up to 130 psi. I recommend serious ear protection.
Re: good distance cycles?
On Thu, 27 Oct 2005 09:59:50 -0500, tholub wrote:
>No, racing bicyclists use them because you can ride narrow tires at
>higher pressure than wide tires.
>
>If you want to verify this for yourself, try pumping a Big Apple up to
>130 psi. I recommend serious ear protection.
That’s a valid point. But even if a Big Apple would tolerate 130 psi,
they would be disadvantageous to racing bicyclists because of higher
air resistance (of the tyres, and of the required wider frame).
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