A person’s height is never important in sizing a unicycle. It’s the inseam that matters. If you have a 20" inseam you will never ride a Coker without putting big blocks on the pedals.
5’6", 29" inseam. Cut frame post down with grinder. I ride both the Nightrider and KH36er cranks ranging from 165s to 88s, from flats to muni. You can do it!
Dude, you’re practically woman-sized. But rejoice, a lot of women ride the 36", too.
Sorry, I know that’s tasteless. Consider it punishment for making me convert your weird units into something that makes sense.
Connections
The DFW unicycle group is an open Facebook group, so you can easily post a comment asking Katsu about his particular setup. He’s always looking for the next uni-recruit, so he’s more than happy to share details (and would probably sent photos of whatever detail you’re curious about). I let him know you’re curious and posting here. He’ll also suggest you show up for the group’s weekly get-together on Sunday nights in Allen.
Just what I was thinking.
I thought of that too. Smaller uni, geared hub, but that’s still probably a ways off for me.
BTW, those videos were great! Too cute! And obviously I could find a 36" to fit me. That’s cool!
I am 5’7" and have no problem riding the standard Oracle36 without cutting the frame. I probably cut the seatpost.
If I were any shorter, it would probably be too tall, but even with the 150mm crank holes, it is fine. I usually ride with shoes that have pretty high soles (five-tens), not because of this issue, but because I like them best for riding. But I can ride it fine with any shoe really.
Cool! I have about a 29" inseam as well. Sometimes it’s hard to find pants, but other than that, it always seems to be an advantage!
No offense taken. While there are women my size (my wife is my height), and some even quite taller, I’m still approx 6 cm taller than the average adult female in both the US and Germany, if you’re going with broad generalizations, but who’s counting?
Also, if you’re having trouble multiplying inches by 2.54 to get centimeters, the Google website has a nice conversion tool that I find handy and use quite frequently. It helps me make sense out units that are weird for me. A quick search will probably display the tool at the top of the results.
Cool! If I may ask, what’s your inseam measurement?
I’m about 5ft 7inch and I have ridden hundreds of miles on 3 different models of 36 inch unicycle, mainly on 150mm cranks.
I had a Coker Big One, which was a cheap and cheerful Y-crown uni. I had a Nimbus with the complicated looking frame, and now I have a KH.
I do not have unusually long legs for my height. In fact, my jeans are sized 30" short.
Nimbus Titan Details
Bradford the 36" I brought to Carrollton Greenbelt Park was the Nimbus Titan. The saddle is Kris Holm Fusion Freeride and the cranks are Nimbus Venture 125mm (square tapered). I originally had 150mm cranks on this but after switching to the 125mm cranks I raised the seat post an inch or so, to compensate for the shorter cranks. Here are some close up photos:
I would also highly recommend the Nimbus Nightfox, although it is more expensive than the Nimbus Titan. The frame and saddle can be set really low and it would definitely work out well for you.
I know two DFW Unicycle Club members that have a Nimbus Nightfox, it works really well for this type of situation.
Katsu! Welcome to the forum, and thanks for the photos! I also appreciate you going to the trouble of finding this forum, signing up for an account, and posting here! You are awesome! My friend Nick had a great time riding your 36" Titan (now that I know what it is) and we both enjoyed the lesson on the slack lines. That was a cool experience! It’s too bad I wasn’t able to ride the 36", but I greatly appreciate the opportunity to try.
Some bike riders on the trails were asking about you today near that large pond at Peters Colony and Jose Lane. You’re a popular guy!
It’s a little hard to tell from this angle, but if you look at the photo below where the red arrow is, you might see a small, black plastic part that hangs down from the bottom of the saddle, just in front of the seat post that is in direct contact with the seat clamp. If it were removed somehow (not that I would recommend that), or if a different saddle were used, I could imagine the saddle sitting a little lower. One of these days, I’ll make it up to your meetings. I’d like to meet everyone and I’d certainly like the opportunity to try out a Nightfox.
So the saddle could have been set lower since it was when longer cranks were installed.
Anyway, the only big default (which can be seen as an advantage for a certain reason) is the weight of the 36" wheels.
You can make it lighter with a light nigthtider tyre and light tube but it still loud.
Even if you could have been able to fit this 36er, 125 cranks are a bit short for a first try.
150 is most recommended, both for free mounting and for starting to spin.
I am 5’9" with short legs, my latest cranks on my old chromed qu-ax 36er are 145s and I can lower the seat about 4,5cm if I want.
Because of knee issues I set the saddle pretty low on all my unicycles, let says in a muni mode, so you definitely have several solution to ride a 36er.
Even though I can go a bit faster with my g26 I apreciate riding my 36er, once you’ll try one you’ll be willing to have one.
Seat Post Height
The piece hanging down under the saddle is probably part of the seat cover. In any case with how it is set up at this time with the 125mm cranks, the seat can still be lowered one more inch. But that’s about it. It may or may not work for you.
150mm cranks give you more control whereas 125mm cranks give you more speed. There is always a compromise, but yes it might be good to start out with 150mm cranks, which is what I did.
Oh, OK, cool. I didn’t realize that it could be lowered another inch. I saw that there was some seatpost exposed above the clamp, but I thought the part I mentioned was preventing it from going lower. Good to know!
Regarding the 125 cranks, I wondered about that. My friend Nick rarely rides his unicycle, so I was really impressed when he managed to climb on Katsu’s 36" with those smaller cranks and ride pretty well. He mentioned that it was very difficult and that he was having a lot of trouble controlling it. He said that he was constantly over-correcting with the pedals and fighting to stay up. He sure didn’t look like it! I’m sure with a few hours of practice, he would have gotten used to it.
This is all good info. I’m thinking about trying a 36er with 150mm cranks and my inseam is 31". I’d rather have a classic 36er rather than a Nightfox.
For what it’s worth (almost nothing) I am 5’ 5 and 3/8’’ tall with a 30’’ inseam and ride a 36’’ Nimbus titan with 125 cranks (recently switched from 150’s).
I look taller by the way.
I like how you said that. I used to say, 5’ 6" and three quarters, but I started rounding up. (Notice how I didn’t round down.) Every little bit counts! My friend Nick is also taller than me by a few inches, but when I’m on my 24" and he’s on his 20" uni, I get to be taller. I like that!