I wanted to go to a 36" but when I called unicycle.com they told me that with my inseam which is 29.5 I would not be able to ride it. It really is a bummer, because the 29" is not a replacement to the 36".
UDC has some incompetent people
They are honest. I was sent the wrong seat post twice. Long story. They fixed things eventually.
I am sure that you can ride a 36. I am 49 yrs. old, 5’ 8" , 185 lbs. Lost 15 lbs. in the three months since I started riding.
I just whipped out the tape, and the seatpost on my radial 360 (low end udc 36) sticks up 3 inches above the frame. Also, the frame top pipe is 5" long, I am sure that it could be safely cut down 3 inches. My guess is that anyone over 5’
could ride my 36 with the right seat post, and circus midgets if you cut into the frame a bit.
Anyway, you are crazy rich to buy a KH 29 from udc. A E Bike has them for way less. I hope this is not why they gave you the totally bogus "you are to short for a 36 " line. In any event, I am sure you are not, and the 36 is easy to ride and so fun.
Leg pain does just go away. It bothered me a lot at the start. But now it’s just ass pain. Even that is getting better, I am learning to stand up a bit and shift around. I can go about 4 miles now in pleasure, on the 36, on my special taped and foam home modified KH air seat.
I would really appreciate it if you could measure the seat inches from the pedal at 6 oclock position to the top of the seat in your radial. I am 5’ 7" and I weigh 234 pounds. However, my inseam is 29.5… Therefore, if the inches from the pedal at 6 oclock to the top of your seat is 34 or 34.5 inches then I can ride a 36" radial.
Thanks in Advance!
OK, I just taped it
35" from the lowest pedal position to the seat top. I am positive you can ride a coker ! My inseam, the distance from my heel to crotch is 31". I have a very tall air seat, and could lower it another 3 inches before the seat hits the frame. Besides, as I said earlier, cutting the frame isn’t much of a problem but I an sure you won’t need to. I’m kinda fat, so I need something to grab onto, and a big jump to get up. But riding is very easy.
We have commented here often about how we want a bigger one ! It seems the market is to small to tempt anyone to make a bigger air tire.
Just for fun, maybe start a thread and ask who the shortest Coker rider here is.
You will love the ride. Smooth, fast, high in the breeze.
Thanks for the info. I am just going to bite the bullet and get the nimbus 36" with a handle and brakes. If I have to cut the frame I will, but I will not give up on the oportunity to experience a 36".
Cool, I’m sure you will love it
I have the plain Jane R 360. It is flat here so I don’t need a brake. Never tried a handle, but many riders write that they love them.
I sorta wish I got the wheel upgrades, although the plain setup works fine. I am learning to idle on a 20. I bet that would be easier with the light wheel.
You are in for a rush ! The 36 is fast! I suggest you start with 6" cranks, they are better for control.
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Well there you go, you reinforced my desire for the bigger wheel. Today I ordered a nimbus 36" deluxe with brakes and a KH seat. I don’t like the air seat idea. They have to custom build the wheel and along with the shipping, it will take about 2 to 3 weeks to get the unicycle. I am excited!!!
You said it did not take long to switch from a 24" to a 26". I hope switching from a 26" to a 36" is just as smooth. I am not a spring chicken anymore…
I am going to ride the 26" as much as I can so that when I get the 36" I am definitely ready to make the transition. Wow! It’s exciting…
I know a lot of people have mentioned a lot of good tips, but here is my shpeal.
First off I really think it’s better to learn to ride before fremounting (unless you live in the middle of nowhere, you can use a post, boulder, or tree if you have too). Also your preasant set up is fine, maybee a longer seat post as you mentioned, but keep a slight bend in your knee.
I’ve found the best place to learn is along a long rail that is about waist to chest height while sitting on the uni on super smooth pavement (you can pull/push yourself from the rail depending if you are falling towards or away from it). It’s also great for learning some more advanced skills like riding SIF, SIB, riding backwards, and ww. If there isn’t a rail close by, a fence or wall works but not as good. I found one 85 ft. long in the parking lot at a school two blocks from my house.
Falling is less scarry and progress is faster (grabing the rail, then continuing is faster than a UPD and remounting).
Keep high air pressure, like 60 psi on smooth pavement, or lower 30-40 if on gravel.
If your legs are getting tired you prob don’t have enough weight on the seat (should be like 80-90%). If your abs/obliques get sore, or you or the uni wiggles around a lot you need to pedal more smoothly and prob also w/ more weight on the seat.
For riding comfort I’ve found cycling shorts or boxer-briefs under light pants best.
When you can ride the length of the rail/wall, aim for 5 round trips (grabbing on to turn around) and then learn to dismount gracefully w/ uni in front w/ left and feet and either hand (4 combos) w/in a 2-3 m. area, also 5 times consecutively each.
Then get some wrist guards and find a large open area w/ objects to grab onto for mounting and do large circles in each direction, gradually getting smaller, and then work towards doing figure eights w/ diameters less than 3 m.
I calculated that I could ride the 2.5 miles to my college in 54 min. if I road non stop averaging 50 rpm. So I started riding along the local sidewalks and wheelchair ramps. When I could do that for an hour w/ only a few UPD’s or short breaks and not be exhausted at the end I started commuting. My first day I gave myself 2 hrs, just in case, and it took me 1:05. Then tried to commute every day (until then it was hard to find practice time). Now I can do it in a little under 30 min. but I usually challenge myself along the way and take 45-50, w/ several UPD’s.
hecktor
I have never rode a 26 or 29. The jump from a 24 to 36 I did in about 3 tries. Some short ride upds. I am fortunate to live in a place with flat streets and lots of walls to help me jump up,and I can just go. I upd if I go to slow. It was scary for the first short bit. Then it’s a unique way to go.
I wanted you to get a 36 cause I knew you were not to short legged to ride it.
If the going is a bit tough, try to find a flat easy dreamland where you don’t have to stop much. 36’s are better at going ! I would ride without the handle at first. It is for relieving saddle pressure on long rides for good riders.
Check back with a report on what you think. I have yet to read of anyone saying they want a smaller one !
I think they would want to go bigger like what my coker had, which was a 40". 
I am very exited waiting for my new unicycle. It will take 2 to 3 weeks so I am going to train as much as I can on my 26 to become a better rider.
I ordered it with no handle since I really just don’t like the way it looks. It seems to defeat the whole purpose. The seat has a handle that is enough. I did order brakes because my goal is to ride a 56 mile fun ride and it’s quite hilly and has an 8 mile downhill. Right now I am averaging about 5 miles daily on my 26. However the seat is killing me, just imagine it’s a sun unicycle. I have 15 months to train for this ride. I think that if I really try I can get to the finish line.
I will have to admit that I am a bit scared of such a big wheel. You seem to think it’s no big deal. Now the million dollar question is: Is it a lot harder to ride a bigger wheel or are they really more stable than smaller wheels? The reason for the question is that In my experience as I went to a bigger wheel I felt more stable.
How hard is it to mount holding to a post or a wall compared to a smaller wheel?
I wil post my experiences with the 36 when I get it.
Hetor,
I actually find the larger wheel easier to freemount. Since the moment of inertia is so much higher, you can stand on the left pedal, jump up, and land on the right pedal before the wheel even starts to move, not like a 20".
also, I like to do a small running start, and just as the left pedal comes past bottom, step on it and jump up. Your inertia will carry you up onto the seat and you just have to time to catch the right pedal. It really is not complicated.
Starting on a wall or pole is no different than a 24 or 29.
Good luck with it; what are of the country are you from?
Thanks for the tips. I am sure they will help!!!
I am from California, the weather here is beautiful and practically you can ride all year long.
if you can ride 20 metres then you can nail it in 2 weeks, i went from nothing to riding properly in 2 weeks so its not that hard.
and yet, the same problem still affects me so don’t worry about it. just try riding down a street, if you fall off, try again, if you fall off again… even better! because then you would be scared of falling off so you won’t want to fall off so, well, essentially you should keep riding.
I like a hollows advice
But there is no way I can do that now. I need to find the right thing(can’t be to low) to grab on. Then I put a foot on a pedal, the seat in my crotch, and jump real hard while pulling myself vertical using my arm on the wall. A minor adjustment of my privates, and I’m off.
I think you are spot on riding your 26 a lot. Once up and rolling, the 36 is much the same, just up higher and geared higher. As long as you pick a place where you can just roll, and not have to stop a lot, it is an easy riding dream machine. Very comparable to a bike in range.
I received my nimbus 36". I put it together and went out to try it out. I was able to mount it using a curb, but only one out of every 10 tries. Once I got it going it seems very smooth and not so much different than a smaller wheel. However, I left one of the brake pads loose and it was rubbing against the wheel, so all i could ride was about 100 meters and then the brake locked the wheel so i had to pd. Unfortunately I left my tools at home, so I decided to go back home and fine tune the unicycle. I adjusted the brake and decided to rest one day since I got very tired jumping to mount the unicycle.
Tomorrow Sunday I will try it again. This time I am going to try to execute a roll mount, since the curb mount with such a big wheel is very difficult. I hope I can nail the roll mount. It would be so nice to just be able to mount and ride.
The unicycle is beautiful and the kh freeride seat is very confortable compared to my sun unicycle. I am very exited and very tired. I can see why, since the wheel was braked, but at least I got to feel the magic of a big wheel.
New Nimbus 36
After riding the 36 something very strange happened to me. I kind of forgot how to ride since I was spending so much time trying to mount. By the time I got to ride my legs were tired. I decided to go back to the 26 for a while. I even got to mounting the 26 something I never even dreamed of before. Once I mastered mounting the 26 5 out of 10 times, I decided I should go back to the 36. It was a totally different experience this time around. I can’t free mount the 36 but I can mount it using a curb. I can mount with the curb every single time, and can ride as long as I want and even turn on the street with the 36. This uni is really a dream machine. Now all I have to do is master the free mount on this beast. I definitely welcome suggestions. I am 5’ 7" and 230 lbs. and the static mount seems kind of difficult… Maybe the rolling mount? Please help!!!
I finally nailed the mount on the nimbus 36. I put the pedal at the 6 o’clock position and then push the unicycle and jump on the pedal. I can mount one out of 10 tries, but sometimes I do better when I am not tired. I believe the rolling mount might be easier on this unicycle, but somehow I have a hard time getting the pedal at the correct position to mount. Any suggestions are welcomed. Remember I am 50 years old, 5’ 7" tall and weigh about 220 lbs.
I hope you are still riding your unicycle!
I have not seen any posts lately with updates as to how you are doing and how much you have improved. Please update us all! Things can get frustrating when learning, I am a witness to that and have experienced it in my own flesh. One day things are great and another day things are rotten… The good news is in the end it all works out!!!