I recently got my KH29 with stock Kenda Klaw tire- this is a great XC muni and I’m really psyced to be riding but I learned on a 24 with a slick nd right now I’m having serious issues fighting road crown with this tire on. I’m gonsidering trying to find a big slick 29er tire but does anybody have any advice- I’ve tried a few tire pressure adjustments but nothing seems to help other than climbing the crown and getting into the middle of the road.
BTW- my other impressions of this uni are just great- i like the seat better than my Torker, i love having the big wheel and being able to roll over stuff, and the quality of KH stuff is as rumored.
Has anybody else noticed this issue riding pavement wit their KH 29?
I did do a brief search and didn’t see anything, but if you know of a thread just please post the link and be gentle about chastising me- I’ll be good and let the thread die if I’m being repetetive!
I just got a KH29 too. The stock tire doesn’t turn well on pavement, which would also cause it to handle poorly on slopes to the side. I love the tire on dirt though.
If you’re looking for something to handle well on both pavement and dirt, I’ve had good experiences with a WTB Nanoraptor tire. Although, it really is a compromise for either surface–a slick would be better on pavement and a knobbier tire better on dirt.
I hear the Big Apple is the way to go for a slick, but I’ve yet to try it.
I’ve just replaced my worn out Klaw with a fresh one, with both old and new I really don’t notice the crown issue. I am running the min recommended pressure stated on the tyre (40psi?) which seems OK on the road. The tyre has a resonably round cross section so should not be suffering that badly, maybe it is because I am used to fighting my 26" Gazz on tarmac that I don’t notice it.
The Big Apple is a great road tyre if you can’t get comfortable with the Klaw.
I have looked into this quite a bit, here’s my review of the hybrid Bontrager Jones 29x2.25 that I found to be great on camber. You need to run it at low pressure though, which is actually very suitable if you’re going on and off road like me. When you pump it up it becomes unpredictable again, though still rideable. But when soft it almost eliminates sideway pull even on quite severe camber, don’t know why, there’s obviously something in its geometry that just works.
As for the Big Apple, this also is dogged with the sideways pull problem, although it is the opposite effect; at low pressure it pulls but high pressure you can reduce it. It even says so on UDC so it must be bad, never tried it on a unicycle but have tried it on a bike and noticed the effect.
I have never had a problem with sideways pull on the big Apple tire but I use a wide rim, whereabout on the UDC site does it mention a problem with the Big Apple?
Firstly, it’s not the tyre, I ride this tyre about 8 miles a day, on and off road, and haven’t had any problems after the first couple of rides. It’s a fine tyre for pretty much anything. I ride every day on cambered tarmac paths and roads, and have ridden it downhill on a couple of very cambered trails, where if it wouldn’t ride across the camber, I’d have been thrown off down the side of the hill (the person running along with me pretty much fell off the path).
Many people get this a bit when they move up to a new tyre size or change tyres. I know I did with the Gazz and with the Big Apple, IRC Notos and various other 29er tyres I’ve ridden. I also had it on the Coker for a couple of weeks when I rode exclusively 29er for a year, with a very different tyre.
There are two things that can cause it, firstly just getting used to riding the tyre. Every tyre has a different profile, so turns slightly differently. It takes time for your body to learn to control it. Sometimes when you switch tyres, you get one that’s a very similar profile to the tyre on your other unicycle, or the same as your old tyre, but that’s just luck.
Secondly, setup problems. The most common one is using the wrong air pressure. I can really recommend owning a track pump with a pressure gauge. Obviously you have to experiment with the pressure to find out what is nice for you, but at least you have a consistent way to set it. It’s amazing how much difference having a decent pressure in a tyre makes to how it rides, particularly on road. Buying a track pump is so much more worthwhile than a new tyre and will cost something similar.
I take your point Joe, but the fact that every tyre is different means that some tyres will be harder to get used to than others, and some will be downright difficult to ride. I have found a tyre that when I rode it first time, on a camber, it rode straight. It makes my life so much easier. You might aswell get one that behaves for you if you can. Also, you are obviously a much better rider than me, you certainly ride more often, so you put up with the learning curve. I want not to have to struggle too much and that’s why I like the Bontrager.
As for the BA, it definitley has the squirming/pulling effect on my bike, very noticable over other tyres, and that is on two wheels. Although I admit the rim is narrow which probably exaggerates the effect.
As you say, trail and error is the key, but there’s no harm in starting off with a little knowledge from others who have tried various setups before. But it doesn’t help mboulanger much when we all get different results.
I’ve got the same uni, and I’ve used two different slicks on it - the BA2.35 and the BA2.0. I’ve found that the slicks both seem to pull down the crown of the road MORE than the Kenda. Caveat: I was much less experienced when I used the 2.35 last year, but on a side slope it gave me horrible trouble. The BA2.0 seems to do it less than its fatter cousin. As U-Turn pointed out to me, since a uni has few parts that affect riding, even the slightest change (e.g. a new tire) makes a huge difference. Since you learned on a slick 24", a knobby 29" is going to be a much different ride.
Also, on my KH29 (an early 2005 model), I actually had to file off a hair’s width of metal in the crown to accomodate the huge volume of the BA2.35 because it was rubbing against the frame, while the 2.0 has plenty of clearance. Also, the 2.0 uses the same inner tube as the Kenda, but the 2.35 needs a bigger tube.
One thing about the BA2.35, however: it’s so jolly round that doing steep round turns and swooping banked S-turns elicits uncontrollable giggles and inspired the thought which is now my sig. (see below)
Sorry to throw such a verbal monkey wrench into this thread, but it seems pertinent.
Thanks, all. I think I’m going to give a shot at just riding the tire in a bit at first, just regular practice to see if i can get used to it. I’ll read all these replies more thoroughly later when i have time. Off to work!
matt
I also found the BA pulling down road crown badly. I switched to the Klaw for better off-road traction and still had road crown problems. Then I read threads about how higher tire pressure helps so I pumped it way up. It really eliminated the problem. I run it at 50-55 psi. I think the max is 65. I still get great traction on dirt. Good luck!
I’ve been running my Kenda Klaw in the low 20s, even though the marked minimum pressure is 40. That probably has something to do with why I don’t like the way it turns on cement.
Got out a bit this weekend with the Klaw pumped up to the max. I felt a little better on road crown and felt just fine on fire roads and gravel. I still have to fight to climb up on paved crowned surfaces, but it is getting better. I was feeling a lot more fatigue in my left calf when I started riding this tire in earnest last weekend, which led to uneven spin and more UPD’s. This has gotten better with experience and more tire pressure. Thanks again, all.
/I’d like to see a 29er Hookworm.
//And then I’d put it on the fixed gear redline monocog 29er I’m thinking about getting!
I really like the WTB Motoraptor. They are hard to find sometimes. I am very sensitive to crown sensitivity, and I don’t have much with this tire. However, I did mistakenly mount it backwards, and have never tried it mounted forwards. But, what the hey, it works that way for me.
I was having huge problems with this aswell up until about yesterday. I raised the pressure in the tire to about completely hard tire, and I raised the seat a bunch. I am now not having any creeping problems and I can now turn much better.
The creeping is more of a problem of the pressure in the tire, then raising the seat to almost too high will solve turning problems. You shouldn’t be standing up much if ever when riding, that will cause bouncing and will make turning more difficult because less of your body is turning the huge wheel.
I run my KH29 at about 20lbs off road and 55lbs on road and if I run less than 40lbs on pavement it is a little difficult to turn but for the camber issue, I raised the seat and it seems to be fine
Well, I’m up to over a mile without a UPD including lots of really crowned streets and such. 65 lbs seems to be the best for me. I still have to fight road crown occasionally but it mostly seems to happen when I’m fatigued, at the end of a 3 mile ride or so. Got to ride more. Got to get in better shape. I think I have the seat up about as high as i can get it.
On the seat subject, here’;s another query for you KH 29 fans:
How are you doing in terms of keeping the seat where it is supposed to be? My stock KH seatpost collar would not hold tight enough and I eventually overtightened it, or so i thought until i disassembeled it. The threaded brassy metal piece inside of the collar had had its threads tapped way too close to one side and the piece had cracked through on that side. I’m using a generic QR seatpost collar now, but even that is not enough to jkeep the seat in line after the sharp blow of a UPD on pavement. Any suggestions?
The stock KH collar breaks like that. It might be worth seeing if wherever you bought it from will warranty it. Otherwise you need either a better QR than the one you’ve got (some people recommend salsa ones), or a double bolt seatpost clamp (these are cheaper than the posh QRs).
geometry, not tire pressure, and design for lower friction
this is a problem of geometry that will occur with any tire when riding horizontally on a slope – it is just that when you do this for short periods on a fat DH tire, say on a granite dome or large boulder, your legs are compensating for the expected vector forces and you don’t notice.
if you ride on a sloped bike path for any length you’ll notice that you’re riding on one side of the center line of the tire, which means the tire will want to turn you into the pavement. only thing you can do is fight it by cranking on the seat handle.
a knobbie of anykind helps a bit because you don’t have the constant contact of the slick, and thus less surface friction to fight.
pressure adjustment will help a little, lessening the friction if you crank it up.
btw, I have to run 40 psi on my KH29 on the trails to avoid rimming out on rocks and roots. there just isn’t a DH 29" tire out there yet, but I’m planning on getting it when it is finally developed.
my Big Apple 29 is a great tire, too, but you can’t get away from road crown problems no matter what you do.