It’s big and and it’s heavy. But after a couple rides you should go clipless on the 36er. And your first 36er century before two weeks are up.
JM
It’s big and and it’s heavy. But after a couple rides you should go clipless on the 36er. And your first 36er century before two weeks are up.
JM
KH36 …and it’s bee-yoo-tiful! …almost too purdy to pedal.
Thanks for helping me, uber-uni-riders! This Friday I’m planning to throw a leg over this beast for the first time. By summer, I’m hoping to be spinning up the really big miles…assuming I’m not in traction with tubes sticking out everywhere.
Here must be some miss spelling? FRIDAY?! How can you wait so long?
When I received my from post office I just assembled it, tryed in room (afraid to broke something) and then run out for ride!
Agreed. Your self control is amazing.
I remember taking my first 36 out of the box and swearing out loud. It was huge.
I went to a deserted car park and mounted against the side of the car, using the roof rack for support.
The first attempt at riding ended in failure as I simply couldn’t get the wheel to rotate.
Second attempt, i managed a wobbly circle around the car park.
I felt I’d never master it.
Within a week I was regularly riding 5-10 miles, and freemounting it about 1/4 of the time if I wasn’t too tired.
Within a few months I was freemounting as near as dammit 100% and I was riding it cross country.
Persevere and you will love it.
Here’s the reason I’m waiting…
The 36 is arriving just as I’m really beginning to enjoy the 29er with its newly-fitted t-handle, and I want to take a couple more long rides on my ole’ pal before committing fully to the 36. I suspect that once I’m on the Big Wheel, I won’t have much time for the “little” one (I can’t believe I’m saying that–the 29er seemed so big when I first got her). I could be completely wrong about this, of course. In fact, I’m kind of curious: do those of you who own both the 36 and the 29 find that you still ride both even after gaining good facility with the larger uni?
…Mikefule:
Just went over your earlier thread–very good info. thx!
I never had any concern on sizing up my unicycles the 36er is impressively big but I mounted and rode it straight off the bat then took it for a 24mile muddy offroad ride the next day without issue. It has it’s own slight challenges but in many ways it is easier to mount and ride imho
Don’t fixate on the size just mount it like your 29er and enjoy the speed and smoothness. Also be prepared to not touch your 29er again
oh and we need pics
I ride all of my wheels, though I may focus on one size for a few days or a week, abd nt 26 x 4" doesn’t get ridden as much during the dry/warm months, so today I have the 36er ready for a muni ride, but the last week I’ve been riding the 26 x 4" due to the wet weather and super muddy conditions. This coming weekend I’ll ride 29" and 26".
[QUOTE=Feisty;1567583]
…just mount it…and enjoy the speed and smoothness… /QUOTE]
Yeah! go for it. Just mount and enjoy the speed and smoothness…
You’ll have to step higher to get on her and apply some extra force to start moving. After that you’ll want to keep on going.
This was my first time on a 36 after several years on my 26er.
Yes. The 29’er is the only uni I ride in the winter. Mainly because I ride on snow and can get a studded tyre for it. In traffic and among pedestrians in the city or if I ride with joggers, I prefer the 29’er. Other than that, it is either the 36’er or the 26’er (for MUni).
I love my 26 for muni and sold my 24 because its to small for muni and to big for trials and the 26-29 is a good diffrence but bens 36 is a pure monster and fun to ride
I own 20, 24, 26, 28, 29 and 36 inch unis.
The 20 gets very occasional use, mainly in a performing context. At the moment, it’s out on loan and I’m not missing it. Years ago, I used to ride a 20" on easy cross country, and I once did a 20 mile road ride on one. As I’m not interested in trials or freestyle, the 20" uni is pretty much a relic of my earlier riding years, and a bit of a toy.
The 24 gets used for what I think of as difficult Muni. I last used it a few days ago in the snow. When I got onto tarmac, I found it incredibly slow, to the point of tedium. However, last summer, it was the ideal thing to take on a holiday to Wales and I did some real mountain unicycling for a change.
The 26 is seldom used. It is a heavy old thing, with a road biased tyre. I wouldn’t miss it I lost it. However, I had a lot of fun on it years ago.
The 28 is a “special” with a custom made skinny wheel. It gets an occasional airing when I want to remind myself that unicycling on the flat used to require complete concentration.
The 29 is my default cross country/light Muni machine and is good for local bike paths, canal towpaths, footpaths and so on. A big advantage is I can take it into a pub and discretely prop it up in a corner. I doubt I could do that with the 36. The 29 is also the safer option on the sort of narrow streets where you may have to bail out to avoid other traffic.
The 36 is now used mainly for longish road rides, bridle paths and light Muni. At the moment, it is my preferred uni. However, I sold my previous 36 becuase I had more or less stopped riding it. Then I started to miss it.
If you have a 29 and a 36, you will almost certainly go through phases of riding one more than the other.
Posters…thanx VERY much for replying to my impromptu survey of multi-uni owners–very helpful info as always! Glad I saw your replies before putting the 29er up for sale… :). Tomorrow I’m doing my last commute on the 29er for awhile, then on Friday I’m taking the Big Wheel to the office so my buddies can check it out and so I can start learning in the garage. I’m gonna try to casually stroll past the building receptionist toting the 36er under one arm. This has worked great with the 29er so far (our building doesn’t allow bikes inside), but it’ll be interesting to see if I can get away with schlepping this juggernaut into the elevator…heehee!
I followed the same script
Mikefule, I just got a used kh36 a few weeks back.
The first week was change the damaged tube with a Foss. What a nightmare changing a Nightrider tire. Let’s just say I have all the tools to do the job now.
After that, it was just like you…
After a few outings I’m not an expert; this thing owns me. As long as noone is around watching… and I’m not pointing uphill… And there are no cars/pedestrains around… I know I can get on the thing in a few tries or more.
It really is a special feeling riding a 36er. Going downhill means “put on the brakes” bc it can go fast quickly. My speed is a little faster than what I do on my 29, but not by much. There’s a mental barrier that needs to be smashed before truly going to the next level. All that will come with time in the saddle.
OK, here are a couple of snaps of the new uni and also the fancy pedals on the 29er which work really nice with my size 14 Frankenstein feet–guess I’ll move 'em over to the 36er, or just get some more.
Congrats. She’s pretty.
I rode a 36 last month for the first time. It only took me a few times to mount it, then I was mounting away. I had to do a rolling mount though, and couldn’t really idle very well.
I found the difference between a 24 and a 29 more difficlut than 29-36, oddly enough.
I feel a 36er at some point