Sometimes I just take a random ride and have so much fun.
Yesterday I took my Oracle 24 out on the sidewalks/roads around NIH in Bethesda, where I work, to meet someone. NIH has great riding. It’s like a college campus with steps and interesting riding all over the place.
Anyway, I had so much fun on my Oracle 24 just getting to where I was going. That duro tire is so fun for jumping off of things, on to things etc, and with the 137 cranks I can get going pretty fast and not lose much in the way of leverage. The tire feels more “bouncy” than the Creepy Crawler on my trials.
Do they still make decent street tires for the 24? Doesn’t look like they make the hookworm in 24 anymore.
The 24 wheel though sucks for tire choices. Does anybody use the 26 much for this kind of riding (all-around muni and light street/trials type aggressive riding)?
I’ve been thinking about a 26, but I am concerned it would be too much like the 29, which I didn’t like much for muni and aggressive street riding.
I put a 2.4" CST Cyclops on my 24" Sun even though it’s really too wide for that rim and also swapped on 127 mm cranks originally from the 20" Avenir. I’ve been seriously enjoying riding it for the first time this way.
I haven’t seen a 24" Hookworm in person but I think the Cyclops might be just a bit lighter and more flexible compared to the 26" HW I’ve got. It has a different tread too. But Maxxis is brand of CST and they do seem to be related tires. I think it’s a good tire for that kind of bombing around. You can’t beat the price.
I prefer to Muni, but I do use my 26" with Duro as a light trials uni during lunch breaks at work. I ride it all over downtown Chattanooga. It works pretty well for me. I can’t hop as high as I can with my 20" obviously, but drops are a lot of fun with the 26"!
Never being satisfied with my uni collection, I am still thinking about a 26" muni. I wouldn’t be interested in the duro on it, that would make it very heavy IMO.
I’d consider the KH26 with the stock tire. Wouldn’t want the Oracle, cause I’d like the option of getting a geared hub at some point.
A few more questions esp for those with experience on a 24 and 26.
How does the narrow tire compare against the duro on the 26, both on the trails and messing around on the street (hopping curbs, light trials etc.). I imagine the duro must be so heavy. It’s heavy on the 24.
How much weight does the geared hub add to the 26 and how does it affect the responsiveness of the uni compared to a non geared 24 with a duro tire?
How does the 26 in second gear feel compared to an ungeared 36?
The 26" Duro is very heavy- over 1500g. It’s not a whole lot of fun to drag up hills, unless that’s what you’re into.
Roger Davies has (had?) a Schlumpf in an Oracle 26. The 36" is the wide spacing, the other frames are 100mm.
Getting a good 2.5" or so width tire on a 26" isn’t too far off from the Duro as far as what it’s capable of under normal human being’s use. A 26 with a narrower tire is still a lot different than a 24 with a Duro. The size feels different. I didn’t notice this as much until this past year when I’ve been spending a lot of time in technical situations in The Wheel Mill, the local indoor mountain bike park. The 26 with a 2.5 feels a lot taller than the 24 with a 3.0. I’m glad I didn’t sell my 24.
About 2 pounds or so all other things being equal.
First gear there is a difference, but the major adjustment is to the slight backlash. If you’re hyper-sensitive to set up it takes some getting used to.
Second gear is its own animal. The feeling is completely different than an ungeared uni. The balance point is different as the frame is the torque arm for the hub. It takes some time to adapt to the feeling.
The 26 in second gear is nothing like an ungeared 36. An ungeared uni has completely different balance characteristics. We’ve had some friends who are adept at riding their 36" ungeared unis struggle with riding in second gear on the 26 as the feeling of overdrive is so different from anything else in unicycling.
Ungeared unis feel natural and smooth. The gearing makes second gear makes the virtual gear take a lot more effort than that of the comparable actual ungeared size wheel.
That isn’t to say that gears don’t have their place. They make a uni much more multi-use. They allow speeds that are difficult to achieve without the gearing. I really like the geared 26 as riding a 36 on the trails around here is frequently nearly impossible due to the steepness of the hills coupled with the very low canopies. The geared 26 allows me to climb and do the technical bits in 1:1, but stand a chance of keeping up with the bikes on flats, downhills, and some uphills.
If I need to fly with my uni, the geared 26 is at the top of the list due to its packability.
Both geared and ungeared unis have their place. I know some people who don’t like the feel of a geared uni. I know of others who don’t ever want to go back to ungeared unis. I find both geared and ungeared riding to be fun.