What are the shortest cranks you guys will use for a Brakeless 36er? I started with 152mm and now 140mm, and I’m considering going shorter, but I hope I’ll still be able to climb some not-too-steep uphills and ride down without a brake.
I guess I’ll throw my hat in the ring… I’m not a 36er purist. Right now I have the Nimbus Oracle in “as bought” condition with a disc brake and no handles, but I’ve been toying around with the thought of adding handles to see how they feel. The brake really helps both my balance and my knees going downhill, and I ride the brakes a bit every time I dismount.
As far as riding without a brake if I had a 36er without one? I’d be able to manage it yeah, though not as comfortably of course. As mentioned elsewhere in this thread, different strokes for different folks 
Ain’t nothing wrong with keeping things simple
I use 109mm cranks on my 36er. I can pull a 12% grade with no problem and steeper if I get a run and really try. After using the 109’s for years and thousands of miles anything longer feels slow and awkward.
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Thanks! 109mm without a brake sounds a bit scary. It may be challenging to make an emergency stop without training, right? Besides, the short uphill climb of the bike path onto bridges in my city might be steeper than 12%, probably 20% at most. Anyway, I’ll try 127mm first this weekend to see if it works.
I’ve tried 127mm and found it’s still manageable to climb the short uphills I usually ride. I checked those uphills and found they are about 6°~10°. Riding down these slopes is a bit more difficult but still doable. It’s indeed smoother and faster to ride on flat roads, but a bit harder to stop quickly. I’ll ride with these cranks for some time and see if I want to go shorter.
For me, a 36er “purest” means 1:1 only.
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It’s the steep down that becomes a problem. As soon as you get any kind of speed on a steep downhill with short cranks you simply cannot stop without jumping off.
Certainly I’d not consider it safe to be riding on the road with hills and short cranks on a 36er without a brake.
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It’s quite fun to follow this thread as it’s got some temperature.
The best one was when I (well not me, but us maximalists) was told to get a bicycle because of the handlebar and brake. Ouch! That really hit home 
I read in another thread that the OP uses an air saddle cover. I think that’s a very good idea to improve riding comfort, but someone in the purist comunity might suggest he get a recliner. 
I really admire people who ride a 36’er without a brake in hilly areas, which I would never do. Takes a lot of guts. But why don’t you want a brake just in case? You don’t have to use it much, and it requires very little maintanance.
PS: I find it amusing that this forum is the only place in the world were Ed Pratt would be labled a maximalist.
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And yet he is really far from it.
You just have to compare it with my setup…
This uni has received a Schlumpf since this picture.
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@JimT :
How do you steer with the handle bars? Before you know it you twist the seat from under your gravity point. I only use mine for additional balance and a or relaxed ride, but at the same time, I do change how I hold my hands during the rides. Sometimes hanging to the side, sometimes crossed in front of my chest or with one or 2 hands on the seat. The handle bars feel better to hold than the seat, but on bumpy roads, I feel like I have more control, holding the seat.
I think it’s partly as it allows you to more easily overcome the gyroscopic effect of the wheel wanting to stay straight. You can move the bars one way or another, with the saddle being the centre of rotation, semi-fixed as it’s what you’re sat on.
This is most noticeable when riding slowly, you can kind of throw the unicycle one way or another in a way you can’t without bars (and in a direction not necessarily the same as your downwards pedal stroke).
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For faster speed and gradual turns I just push the handlebar in the direction I want to turn with both hands. For tighter turns, one hand on the handle bar and one free and for very tight turns, both hands off the handlebar.
I do sometimes use the handle bars if there is like a twig or rock on the cycle path to sort of push the uni to the side while I hang towards the opposite side. That is easier with handle bars. Like you I also put both hands in the air for tight turns.
I’m finding that riding downhill using pedal resistance is helping me get accustomed to the higher forces needed with my schlumpf hub in high gear.
Also, it has been reported that the disc provided with my 2022 schlumpf 125mm, is wearing out faster than expected, so I try to use it sparingly to increase its longevity.
Those are really bad. You should probably order a rotor from BrakeStuff 
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My brakestuff disk works perfectly. Honestly, I don’t use it much because I like to go fast.
Incidentally, I also have 2 discs supplied by Schlumpf, I think the first is the one that wears out very quickly and the 2nd a little less. In any case, I don’t use either of them.
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No handlebar but while I do have brakes they are only really getting use on 100 mm and especially 75 mm cranks