So now that I have a 29" and 20" I’m ready to branch out to Muni. I know that Muni is my only path to coolness since I have no interest in flat/trials/street. Actually my goal in riding dirt is just to make myself a better rider by riding on bumpy/uneven surfaces and get out in the country and cover more distance than I could hiking.
I have a 24" nimbus II frame with a hookworm on it currently and 145 cranks. My goal is to be able to ride easy hiking trails. No technical stuff I’m too old and break too easy (with no insurance these days). I’m fortunate to live near many hiking/biking trails from 12’ wide thoroughfares to singletrack to great expanses of granite which I don’t plan to go near.
So my first questions is going to sound dumb, but I that’s a good description for me anyway. If I was smart I would have worn the shin guards I bought before I put 10 holes in my shin the other day.
What is the difference between a DH and XC tire? I mean besides the obvious (covering ground, vs bombing downhill trying to scare yourself silly). I’m going to assume that for easy trail riding I would want a XC tire? If there is a front and rear, do I want a front or rear? (most of the tires I’m considering for the 24" don’t come in F or R but I’m still curious for future reference)
Now for the bonus round. Keep the 24" (at least for starters) or sell it (and maybe the 20" since not that I have it I don’t see myself spending much time on it) and get a 26". The 24" only has a 32mm rim so I’m limited to about 2.5" tire but I think I can live with that. My goal even in the dirt will be to cover ground not to see what rock I can hop up and down. Or door number three and build up a new wheelset with a wider rim for the 24" Or is that pointless on the nimbus II frame?
All help and ridicule is appreciated.
And lastly anyone need an electric or acoustic guitar so I can afford a 26" Muni without selling the other Unis?
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If you read this far, thanks
I don’t have much advice for this one. I think XC tires may be lighter and the tread pattern might be a little different. I have a Kenda Nevegal, which is a DH tire, and have been very happy with it, even on easy trails and roads. At least with the DH tires, make sure you put them on facing the right way (the tread pattern is such that you can put the tire on “backwards”). If you had options between a front and a rear tire, I would imagine you’d want the rear one because on a bike the rear tire is the one that’s doing most of the work as far as actually moving you along the ground.
I started riding muni on my nimbus II sometime in the middle of last year (I think) and I have not had a problem with it. I changed my hookworm out to a Kenda Nevegal and changed my default 125 mm cranks to 145 mm cranks. I also recently replaced my plastic odessy twisted pedals with metal pinned pedals. I’m using the original frame and wheelset (other than the tire).
The nimbus II has a stronger wheel than some of the other nimbus unicycles (it is double-walled). If you’re not going to do technical stuff, it should be fine for you. My plan is to keep riding my unicycle until I finally screw up the wheelset somehow, but now I’m going off drops upwards of about a foot and it has stood up just fine.
Regarding a 24" or a 26" wheel: When I started, I planned to get a 26" muni because that seemed like the size everyone recommended. Now that I’ve ridden some other unicycles and I have a lot more experience off-road, I’ve decided that I want to stick with the 24" because I think it fits my height and my riding style best. However, I like to ride more narrow, technical stuff (rather than zoom a along easy trails really fast), so the 24" is easier for me to navigate on. I’m also not super-tall, and I think that makes a difference as far as how much I like riding a large wheel. For what you’re describing (higher speeds and not-very-technical trails), I think a 26" might eventually be a better fit for you, but I wouldn’t sell any of your uni’s and get a 26" just yet – get some experience first, and (if possible) ride someone else’s 26" before you purchase one.
I don’t think you’re going to get a much wider wheelset on the nimbus II frame because muni tires have a lot of tread poking out either side and the frame isn’t that wide. On my nevegal, I have I think about 1/4 to 3/8 inch of spare room on either side). For what you’re describing, I don’t think you’ll need a wider wheel, though.
If you read my random ramblings this far, congratulations. I hope it helps in some small way.
As a prominent hiker and knowing the trails at least around my house I think your 24 should be ok with just the XC tire if your trails are like mine…
I’ve been beating up this Sun 18" with just a wal-mart BMX tire on it (Was $5 and the uni was free)… We just had 3 days of rain so I am thinking single track is out of my limits for a week.
But I just avoid drops and extreme stuff due to lack of skill and that tiny rim holding my fat a$$ up…
It has been while since I inquired about the Nimbus II frame, but when I was looking to start MUni I was wondering if it would work. I got an email (can’t find it right now) from UDC that said the MUni frame has more clearance than the cruiser frame, and that the largest tire you could get on the cruiser is in the range of 2.6. At that time the MUni frame didn’t have brake mounts and it was only available in chrome, so it looked identical to the cruiser frame. As I said the specifics are escaping me right now, but you could call them, and they could give you the low down.
I rode a 24x2.6 Kenda Kinetics for a while before I got a 3" tire, and it was good until I got more confident and wanted to ride more technical trails (still XC, but in Colorado we have some sketchy XC trails). If UDC says a 2.6 will fit they have them on sale at the Kenda website really cheap.
From the description of the riding you plan on doing I think that you will be fine with a DH tire (like the kinetics) on the 24. Honestly though, I would consider getting a knobby tire for the 29’er before I got a 26. The 29’er is a lot of fun on non-tech XC trails.
That is a good point (putting a muni tire on the 29" and taking it on the trails). My husband rides his 29" on the trails all the time (we’re not good enough to ride really technical stuff yet, so he may end up with a 26" someday, but for now he’s happy with the 29").
That was very helpful. Thanks for the reminder about ride it till/if you break it. I actually like to go with that philosophy but I’m such a gear junky and love to shop for gear that I forget about that philosophy.
Ohhhh good idea. A wheel for the 29". But a 26" wheel so it’s not quite so tall. Then later I can get the 26" frame.
The 29" still feels like I’m perched way up high so I’m not feel too keen to jump on a 29" frame with 29" wheel on a bumpy dirt road. One thing I really like about the 24" is that I can practically touch the ground while seated on it. It’s hard for me to fall off and not land on my feet. A plus in my book.
I’m really liking the look, description and user reviews on the schwalbe Table Top tire. Only 2.25" so might keep looking.
Lots of good ideas for me to kick around in my head. I’m going to jump over to UDC site and see what some of the wheel sets/rims run.
I would also recommend a DH tire. XC tires are lighter, but they lose a lot of their weight in the sidewall which will mean that you have to run high pressures that don’t cushion your ride as much. Low pressures on XC tires lead to folding the tire, and that translates to pinch flats, and rim hits.
I remember the feeling of being really high up there on the 29’er, but that went away when I started riding a 36. I still think I wouldn’t want to take the 29’er on the steep rocky trails I ride most of the time, but a 26 is in my future for sure.
I have a 24" MUni wheel that I will sell for $150 if you’re interested. It’s not ISIS, but if you’re happy with 150mm cranks I doubt you ever need to replace the KH/Onza’s. This would include a 24x3 Intense DH tire which probably won’t fit in the Nimbus II cruiser frame.
ezas, I’m planning to come to your area early in April. Some Saturday with nice weather. I would be happy to bring my 24", 29", 26", and 36". You can try them out. All but the 29 have brakes. They all have 150 cranks. Sometimes I use the 125, but I always plan for hills and my abilities require the longer cranks for climbing. Anyway if you ride the 36" you will feel like your 29 is small.
First: Just take the Nimbus on a trail ride without worrying about the tire. The Hookworm isn’t perfect as an off-road tire, but for smooth trails, it’ll be fine. If you ride more, and on a variety of trails, you’ll figure some stuff out–like if you want more cushioning, or if there are certain trail conditions that gave you trouble, etc–and you can tell us about those things. Then we (or your local bike shop) can probably give you better/more specific advice on tire choice. But it’s always worth remembering that muni started with just plain old unicycles taken off road.
Second: I think you should give the 29er a try on a fire road or other wide, smooth path, despite your misgivings. I felt the same way when I bought my 29er (and then 36er), but got over it really quickly. It’s just way more fun to have a little extra distance-covering ability on your rides; on a 24, you’re really not much faster than walking. Even on the moderately technical trails here in Chico, I pretty much ride only 29er (with 36er on occasion), and I’m not at all a hard-core kinda rider. Riding the 24 just seems so, so slow after the 29er.
If you’re riding the way you describe, you’ll be able to get by with just plain square taper hubs and cranks, too. No need for the splined goods if you’re not getting aggressive (unless you’re in what mountain bike race organizers call the “clydesdale” group, now at 225 lbs+).
Since my long reply dissapeard into some parallel universe I’ll sum it up.
I am standardized on ISIS so any solution is going to be ISIS.
Mbalmer I will take you up on that offer as long as you wear those pimping new kicks you posted the other day.
I had read that the hookworm is not a bad tire dry hardpack which my learning riding would be on. But a new tire is cheap enough that I will most likely get a combo/trail tire. I’ve got a 2.4" and 2.2" picked out to try. Probably will go with the 2.4" maxxis holly roller, but I really like the description on the Schwalbe Table Top. Either one will give me a nice versatile setup on the 24".
I’m convinced that the 24" is the way to go until I see where my riding wants to go.
I’m not completly dicounting the 29" but I have a feeling I would go ahead and build up 26" wheel for it. The current rim is kinda narrow and only single wall (which I know would be fine for starters). I’ll stick to a new tire for the 24" and call it good.
Jtrops, thanks for the info on the DH tire, that is exactly the kind of info I was looking for.
I will be happy to wear my pimping new kicks. I will warn you that I will also be bald. I’m getting my head shaved this Wednesday for the St. Baldricks fund raiser. It’s to raise money for childhood cancer. So I will be a bald, 50 year old woman, wearing pimping new kicks, on a unicycle. Hmmm. Even in my book that sounds odd.
I’m a beginner with no muni experience but I would certainly second the recommendations above. From what you described in your original post a slick tire should do fairly well, in either your 24" or 29". I tried going on trails with my 29" with a 2" wide road tire and the performances were much better than anticipated. I only had problems when the ground got too loose and when there were too many big rocks/roots sticking out. I’m sure I would also have problems if there was lot of mud but even in wet conditions I was surprised to see that I was easily able to ride through mud puddles with hard packed surface underneath without losing traction. Trying the unicycles you already have should help you decide what you need/want for the trails you want to ride.
I have more experience with a hookworm on a bike than unicycle but have found that it has surprisingly good grip in most off-road situations. The big exception is when it is wet and it becomes somewhere between a banana peel and a crazy carpet. As I am sure you have found out it is a really nice feeling tire for cruising around on a unicycle.
Thanks for the encouragement on trying the 29" off road. I’m still having some trouble mounting the 29" reliably. So i’ll get that tackled before I add rough road to the equation. Mounting the 29" is going to get a little easier tomorrow since I’m going back down to 150s from 165’s. The 145 I tried on there a week ago just felt like ‘home’ to me if you know what I mean. Mama Bear: “just right”
I’m gonna get the Holy Roller for the 24" and I already have some metal pinned pedals to use.
After pricing out a wheel components for a 26" wheel at close to $200, I’m leaning toward just getting the 26" once I’m hooked on muni, unless I find I like the 29" better off road.
Now I just need to learn to do some hopping. . . I don’t know why but I think that is going to come pretty easy to me. [Warning: reality check eminent]
Mbalmer:
Check, 50 year young bald women with 4 unicycles under arm wearing bright shoes with elastic laces.