i am new to this forum so just a hello to all and if i could just ask a few questions that would be great.
i am an ex downhill mountain biker and have dappled with unicycles and would not class myself as any good but i can ride unicycles.
i self taught myself on a cheap 20" and then built a 26" using nimbus frame onza hub,175 crank arms,sun ringle dh rim with dt swiss spokes and maxxis hookworm tyre.can i ask what tyre pressure would recommend for me at 15 stone and i only ride street on it.
also i have not ridden 20" since having the 26" but found that i was better on the 20".would it be worth me building a better 20" to go back to for a while or just practise more on the 26"
For your first question, tyre pressure is a matter of feel. You want the pressure to be between being too hard (too sensitive and likely to throw you off on bumps) and too low (tyre foldover, pinch flats etc.).
For your second question, bigger wheels take getting used to. If you want to ride around keep pushing on with the 26, if you want to get into freestyle/trials, a better 20 may be in order.
The 26" Hookworm can be a handful on pavement. Being flat, smooth, and sticky, it’ll tend to go where it wants to go which might not be where you want to go. If you’re riding for distance on the road, start pretty hard, 50 psi/3.5 bar or something. For “street” riding (freestyle and trials skills on urban feature) I really don’t know but lower I’m sure. Enough to keep the rim off the hard parts, probably tweak it up or down based on what you’re doing. Trust your eye, not a gauge for that.
Or drop it down under 20 psi and find some dirt to ride on. Despite the appearance, the Hookworm is a lot more fun on dry trails than pavement.
And it’s common to switch around between unicycles. Some skills you get first on a smaller wheel and transfer up, others go the other way. Ride the 20" you’ve got unless there’s a problem with it. But new unicycles are fun too if you really want another 20".
thanks for your replies and i shall stick with the 26 for the minute,ive been running pressure at around 60 psi so need to drop that and play with different pressures.i do find the hookworm little hard going on pavements which is where i do most of my riding so what tyre is recommended to make life easier ?
Haven’t tried one myself but 2015 Kris Holm 26" and 29" unicycles come with 3" wide Surly Knards which Kris himself says are surprisingly nice on pavement.
I built a second wheel instead with a 700c Rhyno Lite rim to fit the frame and use ~40 mm wide tandem/touring tires on it, Panaracer Pasela etc. That’s my go-to ride and it’s lots of fun on non-technical unpaved stuff too. I save the wide 26" wheel for real muni, Maxxis Ardent or Schwalbe Hans Dampf SG for that. I seem to be the only one going that route though.
I like the Hookworm on my 20 inch uni but I consider the larger Hookworm’s to be virtually without merit on pavement. The level of camber thrust on a 26 x 2.5 is ridiculous.
I have a KH26 and use a Maxxis DTH 26 x 2.15.
I find it is a lot less prone to camber thrust and is also far lighter than the Hookworm making the uni much more responsive.
It does have much lighter sidewalls so it isn’t suited to riding on big sharp gravel but it is fine to ride on the grass when I have to leave the paved footpaths to overtake groups of pedestrians.