well i’m pretty excited, cause I finally get to buy a good quality Uni… it comes down to two for me. The Nimbus 24" Muni, and The Nimbus 26" Muni… i’m still getting back in the grove of things, after not riding for 40 years!, so for now i’m riding around my house, park basketball courts and sidewalks!. why do I want a Muni you ask?, cause I’m 6’ 2" and 300 lbs for now! (I already lost 30 lbs from riding) and I need something that’s strong. I am disabled, and my left leg is a little weaker than my right, but i seem to be adjusting for it. I learned on a 20" back in the day, and started back on a 20" Torker CX when I decided to get back into riding. I then found a new 24’ Sun Flat Top for $40.00 and started riding that. much nicer that my Torker CX 20 incher! so now i’m ready for the jump to a much better one, now if my finance’s allow, I might be able to get the KH 24" or the KH 26" Muni… so that’s it… a Nimbus 24" or the 26"??? cant make my mind up, My thinking is the 26 incher would be a good all around uni for awhile… so I like to hear from you guys! oh, and please, let’s not throw the 29 or 36 uni’s in there for now, that’s way down the road… Thanks!!!
I rode a 24 for years, filed it away for even more years, then took it up again just long enough to whet my appetite for a muni. I ended up getting a 26" nimbus. I’m 6’2" and I found that the larger wheel size “fit” my height better than the 24" I was riding.
Keep in mind that the 3.0 duro wildlife tire will make the a muni slightly larger than the typical unicycle with the same rim size but with smaller tires.
Like I said, I felt the 26" nimbus fit my height better, so that’s personal preference. The 26 is a little faster so it is better if you have any plans for cross country/touring/distance. I suppose the 26 can simply roll over obstacles like roots and rocks a bit better than a 24 but the 24 may be better suited for the more technical trails - like steeper inclines that are littered with roots.
The day I got accustomed to my 26 was the day I stopped riding my 24. Results may vary.
Edit:
I should add… apparently tire select is greater for the 26" size. I’m not too sure how much of a factor that is for me though, as it seems like most riders stick to a small subset of available tires anyway. Maybe it extends more toward future tire availability? Meaning they’ll eventually stop manufacturing the awesome tires available now and maybe there’s more potential for new awesome 26" tires because that is the more common size.
Thanks jbtilley, thanks for your input… your right, i didn’t take in the overall size of a off road tire! like I said, i think the 26" being in the middle, would be a good all around Muni for me. I did notice that the 26" Nimbus comes with 165mm cranks, and the KH 26" comes with 150mm… maybe the longer cranks on the Nimbus would help me adapt better!.. Mmm??
To me the difference between those cranks is not much of a factor, if anything the longer cranks are harder to ride on because your legs have to move more and it throws your balance off. I had the Nimbus 26 Muni, came with the 165’s and I ended up switching to 150’s.
I vote for Nimbus 26 Muni.
[pluses]
+It will end up being more fun cruising around on a 26 in your neighborhood.
+The 26 will roll over small bumps easier than 24.
+With your size I think the 26 will look better under you.
+I think it may be easier to start doing muni with a bigger wheel, considering you will probably be starting on smoother dirt paths.
[minuses]
-It’s a bigger wheel requiring more work to spin and maneuver.
-It’s probably a bit harder to mount a taller Uni.
-When you get aggro you might want a 24.
Over here at least, the Nimbus seems to also come with 150 cranks - do we get a different spec?
Was there some comment here before about dual hole cranks? I was wondering what the advantage of those was over just buying a set of 125 cranks and swapping them out when I wanted to switch?
I think that is the advantage. Not having to take your cranks off when you want to swap lengths.
Well that and the monetary savings. If you don’t have any cranks to start out with you could buy two sets of cranks to get the two sizes you want or you could buy one dual hole set for just a little more than the cost of one single hole set. So your saving almost the entire cost of one set of cranks.
Faster
More pedal clearance
More tire choices
~ Same weight
Same strength
Same price
Less agile
A 24 is pretty small, for a bigger person it’s even smaller. After riding a 29er for the past year I find a 26 very easy to throw around, but I find the 24 more like a trials uni so very slow and not worth riding any sort of distance.
I think it’s what you get used to riding, but i started on a 20 and after two weeks I got a 26, never found a 24 to be “all that”.
I’m 6’/200#
My son is 6’3"/150 and we sold his 24 and got a 26" Oregon because the 24 was just to small for him.
If you have some cash and want to be fancy, You should consider getting a 29er and a second 26" wheel set, using a disc brake set up you could have two size choices. Same could be said of getting a 26er and a second 24" wheel set.
Coming soon, KH will have a new frame and cranks that will be disc compatible, not that you’re looking at brakes now, but you may over time, as well it’ll help resale down the road.
I ride a nimbus 24x3- not because I’m into muni, I use it for general riding, usually 1-2 hrs, but occasionally I’ve done 4+hr rides on it.
I’ve never used a 26", but I do have a KH29. I prefer the 24x3, I find it plenty fast enough and I know if I have a break from riding I can just hop on the 24 when I start again with no adjustment period (I find the 29-er does require an adjustment period).
The 24x3 also feels safer than bigger wheels (less distance to fall and more control which makes falls a lot less likely) and the 3" tyre makes for a cushy ride.
Concerning speed- to me there’s 2 types: objective (actual speed) and subjective (how fast it feels).
I found on the 29-er, despite knowing that I was actualy going faster than on the 24, it nevertheless often felt slower.
I think that’s because the greater controllability and safety of the 24x3 meant that I was happy to really push it and spin a lot faster with my legs.
Currently I do a lot of night riding in the city center, and I do a lot of fast spinning- I feel that the 24x3 works better for that type of riding. When you’ve got that feeling of subjective speed and you’re pedalling at the upper limits of your capability and the adrenaline is flowing, it really doesn’t matter that, in objective terms of mph, you’re not going as fast as if you were on the next wheel size up.
Plus, in urban situations, the extra control of a smaller wheel is useful when it comes to manouvering through pedestrians with their habits of wandering randomly from side to side, and, when you have to idle at traffic lights etc.
Years back I did ride a 20" on the streets- I’d never do that again, way too slow and wobbly- the 24" is nothing like that, it’s real practical for getting around on and it goes as fast as I need it to: for the type of riding I do, it’s perfect.
I’m not saying don’t get a 26" if you feel that’s going to be best, but, my recommnendation is for a 24" (with 3" tyre).
You all have some great advice to share with me! thanks! I’m kind of leaning towards the 26" since i all ready own a 24", even thou it’s a Sun Flat Top… I didn’t know they were coming out with a disk brake option on the KH Muni’s! even thou I dont need brakes at the moment, if I’m going to invest in that kind of money, its worth waiting a month or so! Mmmm a 26" KH Muni with a disk brake! sounds awesome!!!
You could get a Nimbus now then use a bolt on adaptor and disk cranks if you want disk brakes on the future. An integrated brake mount would be nice though.
Well there is that, even then you can upgrade the cranks. The dual hole upgrade costs $54 extra whereas buying a separate set of 125mm cranks to go along with the 150s it came with would run you $96, so the option with two single hole cranks would still run you about $40 extra. So yeah, not nearly as much savings there.
I would definatly suggest going with a 26, they are a great size.
I am 6’ 1.5’’ and recently bought a KH 26. Prevously I had been riding a KH24, but as I have grown alot since I bought the 24 it feels to small for me now, the 26 size suits me a lot better. Also as others have said there are much more tire choices, rolls better and is a bit faster
Nimbus vs KH, both are good, what ever one you get you will be happy with I’m sure, KH is lighter and better quality but it is more money.
