My 29 is a Nimbus 29 Muni, so the rim isn’t nearly as wide as on the Hatchet.
I wouldn’t. I currently have a 3" Gazzalodi on a 70mm wide rim on my bike and the sidewalls are essentially strait down. I plan to try a 2.5" hookworm in the spring since I have it laying around but it will be a very temporary experiment just to see how it feels. I expect my rim will be very prone to damage being wider than the tire, assuming I can get it to seat at all.
It’s interesting to hear what @thorofareken says about the Speedster. Self steer might be a fatal flaw, but it might just be down to using such a wide tire on a grippy surface. It would be worth researching further if you are really interested in swapping tires.
My experience is with the Surly Larry, Nate, Origin8 Devist8or, Kenda Juggernaut, and a cheap tire that came on a used fatbike that I can’t remember the name of. The best behaved on the pavement of that bunch is the Larry but it doesn’t have much front to back grip off-road compared to the others. They all self-steer if ridden at lowish pressures on pavement.
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As for self-steer, I have not noticed anything excessive with the Maxxis Minion FBR 26 x 4.80 on the uni now. Then again, I keep it inflated at max pressure, 20 psi. Has anyone overfilled one of these and blown it off the rim? I am wondering whether I can go above 20 psi. Also, does anyone know what the “120 TPI” means, in the specs of this tire?
The TPI designation stands for threads per inch and represents the number of threads per inch of tire casing. Hence, a 60 TPI has greater durability but is heavier than a 120 TPI-designated tire. The 120 TPI tire offers a more supple ride.
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Is that real or is that a typo? Fewer threads per inch is heavier and has greater durability? I would guess that more threads per inch would be heavier and more durable. But maybe there is more to this than my guess?
The higher TPI version is normally the one that is tubeless ready, with TL deemed to give an even more supple ride and lower rolling resistance, which may be a big point for fat wheels.
As for the self-steer of fat tyres, I have the 4.0 version of the Minion FBR on the Hatchet and do have several stretches of tarmac with a fair bit of road camber on my way to the park. Being a relative novice and very sensitive to self-steer, I also find the Minion FBR quite easy in this respect, even at only 10 PSI.
Not a typo
Think of it like bed sheets. The higher the TPI the thinner the threads have to be.
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hi Andy out of curiosity what shoes do you wear when you ride ?
if your wearing just regular trainers then if you have a foot in a “wrong” postion on the pedal then you will want to move it to get to where you feel comfortable but if you say wear 5/10s then once you get ued to them you will find that although you cant move them as easily you can get away with being a bit off with your foot as you will not slip off the pedal due to the flat firm sole on them.
With regards to riding the hatchet on pavements its your cycle so your choice but do give it a try off road sometime,start on just simple paths and see how you get on as you will find that it will help improve your riding in general terms.
when i built my hatchet i had never ridden a unicycle off road and it has helped me no end and they make more sense as they really are clumsy great things to ride but just run everything over!
Though the hatchet is meant to be ridden off-road. The big wheels add a lot of friction. Riding on paved roads gives less friction than off-road. The uni is extremely easy to mount, but requires a lot of muscle to ride I think. I only ride mine once or twice a year, because it looks cool, though I do take it off-road.
Good morning all. I like to wear hiking boots when I ride, I like the extra ankle support when I take a spill. So the knobby soles really get stuck on those pins. What are 5/10s???
The friction topic is interesting. When I adjust the cones on a bicycle wheel (remember those?) I like to make it tight enough so the axle does not wobble, but loose enough so that the weight of the valve stem alone will rotate the wheel. But on the Hatchet I find that I can not do that. If I loosen the axle clamp screws so that the wheel rotates under the weight of the valve stem, it wobbles. If I get rid of the wobble, the movement is stiff. Any thoughts?
I keep on thinking I will take the Hatchet off road, plenty of that in the big park where I ride. I am just waiting to work out the kinks, the pedals being at the top of the list. And yes, I too have noticed it takes more effort to ride it even on pavement. I just assumed that had to do with the reduced mechanical advantage.
I have never worn hiking boots to ride in but I could imagine they would restrict movement in the ankle ? 5/10 or five tens correct name are proper cycling shoes that have a thick rubber sole that is made to grip flat pedals and they give amazing amounts of confidence, Google them for many reviews.
With bearing caps its wrong to use valve weight as a guide, best is loosen off one side,say disc side then adjust non disc side equally looking at the gap ,tighten gently so wheel spins nice and freely without squashing bearing.only needs to be gentle tight and you’ll get to feel how tight once done few times as its not much. Then do same on the disc side and check wheel spins smoothly.
I don’t agree with washer suggestion as its easy to get the thickness wrong then it causes issues.
When you ride hatchets they take much effort both on and off road but if you get used to them then all other unicycles feel easy!! Kinda like a fitness boost.
I love the washer insert method. It prevents bending of the bearings and no fiddling around.
The method is not to do it is not to guess the height; but fit the frame on the hub as it should, then push a washer between the spacing - it most not be a loose fit.
Then you can simply fit the frame again with the washers in place and tighten a normal amount.
I also like the pedal pins, I really dont like my foot sliding on the pedals. In the beginning (when I was still struggling with mounting) it was a problem to adjust footposition. But that came with practice.