I live in and ride in the UK so wet, soggy, muddy paths, but even in Summer I think my Oregan with 3.8" tyre beats my KH29 off road. The grip is amazing and you can get over anything. It’s clearly a personal thing but I wouldn’t get rid of it for anything. In fact I’m hoping for snow this year so I can try the 4.8" tyre.
Mike
II will soon be the happy owner of one of Jacob’s 26 inch fatties. I am currently purchasing what I need to finish the uni however after hours spent reading the forum threads on fat tires I am still unclear about certain things.
Fatties float. The one thing everyone agrees on. And I expect to use this uni for beaches which are easily available to me. If that is all this uni is good for I anticipate many happy hours with it. However I kinda hope it might be fun on trails and simple muni and on that point opinions diverge. Realizing opinions differ I’m interested in advice that would most likely result in a trail/simple muni friendly uni- or at least to whatever extent that is possible.
High or low tpi? I’m especially unclear on this point even though it would seem to be a less subjective question.
Rim brand and width? I would think that rim brand itself does not effect tire performance, ie different rims with equal width and weight means similar characteristics. After reading I’m not even sure of that. I’m considering a rim in the 80 mm size range. Recommendations?
4 inch or 4.8. I know this is highly subjective. However I’m not sure weather to go for broke with the 4.8 or be more conservative with the 4 inch. At least on this point you can seriously influence tire behavior with pressure.
Tire brand/thread design? Auto steer being the primary consideration. I’m leaning towards the surly lou or nate, although surly’s are evidently more expensive then some other options.
Flatter saddle? The trend is for flatter seats. Would this also be true for fatties?
Last question is for Waalrus. Which LBS do you use? I’m back in SLO end of November btw. Hope to meet you.
I appreciate your thoughts and tolerance. I have read (and read and read)the forum but I wanted to consolidate my thoughts and have one last chance to gather information .
Thank you
don’t know: I just look at the shape of the tire with my full weight on it:
for mud it should be round… less so for "normal " trails
I have a Hüsker Dü 4" (for me the Surly had a round profile and I prefer a more square profile)
I hate those flatter seats, I put an old fashioned very comfy KH seat on it.
Individuals, components, and trails differ and I don’t know that there’s a consensus about anything regarding fat tires except that pressure makes a big difference and you need to experiment with what works for you for a particular wheel for a particular trail. Regarding TPI I don’t know that anyone has tried high vs. low TPI with everything else being the same. I do know that I’ve had good experience with my high TPI Surly Nate and at least one other person has had a worse experience with a low TPI Surly Nate but that may be due to other reasons. The same goes for rim width. I don’t know that someone has compared a 65mm vs. 80mm rim with everything else being the same. I personally would go with a 65mm rim on a 4" and 80mm on a 5". Regarding tire width I find that on a 4" tire I can ride even very deep sand, but can only do that at a slow speed. I imagine a 5" would be faster in deep sand at the cost of being heavier and taller. As I mentioned I’ve had good experience with the Surly Nate and if my frame could fit it I would try a Lou (120 TPI). My Triton Triple (26x3.8", 65mm rim) has a flat saddle on it (KH Fusion Zero) and you can give that a try. Not everyone likes the flat saddles and that may be too much difference at once. In our area http://flandersbicycle.com/ is the go-to bike shop for unicycle issues. I’ve had two wheels built there (including a fat wheel) and use them for tune-ups and special orders. Other members of our local unicycle group use them as well.
Hey Ried, first let me say congrats on your recent purchase. Jacob’s frames look top notch and sometimes I wonder why I haven’t asked him to make me one yet.
As you have pointed out opinions are quite diverse as to what a good fat setup is. My experience is pretty much limited to a 3.8 Larry and 4.0 Devast8or on a 80mm GFS rim. Both tires were great in snow but not the easiest thing to ride on regular trails. I very briefly tried the Larry on a KH rim but found it too foldy at lower pressures and bouncy at higher pressures. Something in the middle, say a 65mm LM probably could have been a lot of fun on the trails with those tires.
If you have the room to go wider though I would be tempted to go with a 4.8 on a 80mm rim. I have never ridden that combination but inferring from my experience with slightly skinnier tires and scaling up feel like that would be a sweet spot with float and handling.
The main thing that TPI affects handling wise is how stable the tire feels. If you are using a wide rim your tire doesn’t need to add much stability and can be built thinner giving a lighter wheel and more supple ride. If the tire is wide for the rim you will want thicker sidewalls so you can keep the pressure down but not loose your horizontal stability.
For saddles, ride what you find comfortable. Tire width has very little to do with saddle shape.
And most importantly, just get out there and have fun, welcome to the fat side.
Thanks for the responses. I believe I’m as informed as possible so it’s time to order. As the saying goes it’s time to poop or get off the pot, or something to that effect.
I’m eager to join in the fattie fun
I’m running a Larry 3.8 backwards on a marge lite rim, and it’s been very awesome this fall with all the leaves covering up terrain. I hope the setup will work in the winter, but it really shreds in the summer too (thought not as fast as my 2.4 ardent). The Larry seemed to have a lot less autosteer when I ran it backwards. I can run relatively low pressures without any extreme foldy behavior, but I try not to run so low that I’ll ever bottom out on logs or 1-1.5 ft drops I may come across on singletrack.
Unfortunately that’s my only reference point.
I don’t think the autosteer issue is a huge deal. After a couple of rides I rarely notice it. I think your body adapts to steering the uni a different way after a little time in the saddle.
As far as TPI goes, my rule is lower TPI for unicycles and higher TPI for bikes. Higher TPI tends to be a bit ‘stiffer’ and ‘burlier’ where low TPI is more supple. A firmer casing will give more support on a unicycle.
When it comes to 4 vs. 4.8, I say 4.8. Having ridden both for a fair amount of time, I like the bigger tire more, if anything because I like how it looks.
My recommendation for a 4.8" tire is a Surly Bud. It’s one of my favorite tires of all time. The vertical tread helps hold a line and it’s just big.
My recommendation for a 4.0" tire is the On One Floater (if you can get one). I also liked Framed’s Minnesota tire (now rebranded as a Woftrax).
I ride a Weinmann DHL rim from Choppersus.com. I like the 3"(or 80mm) width for all around riding. If I was in the snow all the time, I’d opt for 100mm.
I think the Sunringle MuleFut is the best value rim out there right now, and maybe even the best out there period. Only down fall is it’s only 32h so for those of us still living in 36h world, it’s a real bummer.
Consider building your own vs. taking it to an LBS. It’s fun and you’ll learn more.
Great advice
32h vs 36h- I have the impression that 36h fat rims are less common. If I’m not doing drops and difficult mun(I’m old and novice)32h is more then sufficient?
In my opinion the only disadvantage of 32 spokes over 36 spokes is the availability of hubs, which isn’t nearly as big of a deal as it used to be.
I only ran 36h so I could use a specific hub (Nimbus super wide non disk).
I’d go 32 in a heartbeat to have more rim availability.
