What is a 26+? Will I regret putting down good money for a kh26 when apparently 26ers are on the way out? Or is that just hype? Do we expect to see plenty of tire selection for years in the 26? That is one of the reasons I ditched the 24.
What is a 26+? Will I regret putting down good money for a kh26 when apparently 26ers are on the way out? Or is that just hype? Do we expect to see plenty of tire selection for years in the 26? That is one of the reasons I ditched the 24.
“Normal” tires are the ones up to 2.5" or so
- tires are the ones from 2.8" to about 3.5"
FAT tires are the ones over 3.5" up to 5" or more.
So 26+ is just a normal 26er Muni with a 3" Duro or so …
I made a diagram for tire sizes:
Same color means same rim diameter.
As it is in german, here are the transations:
Außendurchmesser - outer diameter
Einradtyp - type of unicycle
Einsatzgebiet - application
Federung - suspension
Felgengröße - rim diameter
Geschwindigkeit - speed
Halle - gym
Kinder - children
Reifenbreite - tire width
Rennen - race
Rennhexe - race witch
Rollwiderstand - rolling resistance
Schnee - snow
Straße - road
Verkaufsbezeichnung - name as marketed
Wendigkeit - maneuverability/ nimbleness
I’m on the wrong path then. I’ve got a 26’ (2.5 tyre) and it is great but (due to my lack of skills) I find some bits of trails I ‘d like to do a bit too challenging for me with the 26’… so now I’m thinking I could do with a smaller wheel: I should get a 24’ with the 3’ to tackle those and improve my skills (never tried a 24’)
Great work! Thanks Eric, makes things clearer
As much as I want to try the 27.5 seems like the 26 would be more suited for muni and short ur an commuting for me given that I’m 5’7". Most people agree that the 27.5 is too close to the 29. Plus the idea may be to add a geared hub so eday. Will I have a good tire choice for many years? I understand the 26 wheel size is dying in the bike world but as unicyclists we are more aensitive to small differences in wheel sizes. When will the new kh unis be in stock at udc?
You really think 26" is dying?
24" might be as it was always a weird size, between trial and kid bikes.
But apart from hardcore mountain bikers who want to have the latest gear, all I see when I go out are 26".
27.5 must be great on xc, light muni. It’s the size of a 29" yet with way more cushioning from the tire.
I had no idea. Cool. I am interested to try the flat saddle though. And I want the flexibility of being able to try a geared hub at some point. Though I must say my Oracle 36 is one of the best unis I ever owned.
Pulling the trigger on the 27.5. I’m not sure why vs. the 26. My gut tells me to go with the 27.5.
More tire/rim options, especially in the future. 26 will always be around (at least for a long while) but it seems like 26+ is more popular than 26 right now, which is kinda crazy.
I personally don’t see much practical difference between the two, but 27.5 is here to stay.
Your signature shows you do have a 24, so getting a 27.5 makes sense to me!
Pulled the trigger on the KH27.5. Now I have a replacement for my Oracle24 that I sold. I will post back with impressions when I get a chance to ride it.
I’m still in doubt.
I’ve had a ride on the 26x3 and it felt just perfect, much better than how it felt 27.5x2.4.
But the only tire option it’s a shame…
I have a 24 and i’ve been able to get two tires for it… it’s a lovely ride, but testing tires is part of the game.
The 27.5 is not yet available in europe, but when it will… decisions, decisions…
My take on the decision is this. Yes a 26x3 might be ideal, but there are other considerations. The fact that UDC is having trouble sourcing enough decent 26x3 tires is a bad sign for that wheel size I think. I don’t want the duro which is now coming with the KH26. It’s been a great run with it, but it’s very sluggish feeling unless you are doing really technical stuff.
After talking with the folks at UDC my impressions of the 29 was from riding a model that was at least 5 years back and things have changed especially in terms of tires. The fact is most of the muni I do is not that technical. I wanted a good compromise between fun/fast but able to take drops and be agile. It’s probably a toss up, but I wanted to go with the cycle with more tire choices after being burned trying to find decent tires for a 24.
In the end if I don’t like it (which I doubt) I can probably resell for a pretty good amount either the wheel or the entire uni and get a 26. I think it will be fine.
Last year I went from a (geared) 26x2.4 to a 29x2.4 and then 29x3.0 with the new KH29 frame. It is a great ride but the tires are way more expensive and harder to get for 29+ at least around here. Also sometimes I would like a little more agility and better uphill performance, so I think 27.5x3.0 should be about right for me. I was going to do this before instead of going 29" but I couldn’t find an affordable 27.5" rim with 36 holes, which I need for the Schlumpf. Now I can get the Dominator 27.5 rim and the Havoc tire combined for the price of one new 29x3.0 Dirt Wizzard tire (my current setup), so I think I’ll do it. It shouldn’t look too awkward in the 29er frame. I would prefer the KH 27.5 rim but from what I found out so far it’s not becoming available in Germany in the very near future and strangely costs much more than what I paid for the KH29 rim. 47 vs. 42 mm might not be such a big deal either. If I could get the KH for around €60 (which is what the 29" cost) I’d definitely do that, though.
Too bad the rim seems not to be available soon in Europe. There are not so many nice 36 spoke rims in this size and none of them are rim brake ready and I would like to have rim brake backup if old schlumpf + disk setup fails.
Ask Roger Davies, he has an Oracle 27.5 in his Nimbus range so I guess he Will have the Dominator rim (42mm) available