Again, all of this is very subjective. I dislike labels like this, kind of broad and vague. For example by “All Mountain” when it talks about “over longer distances” I’m thinking more on the lines of 50km or more; a full day’s ride on moderately difficult single-track and with significant portions of hike-a-uni. Whatever, those or just “guidelines”; go out and ride what you ride and don’t worry how to “label it”. Like others have already said, ability level plays the biggest role in what you consider easy, moderate or difficult. Trails I thought were difficult to ride two years ago I barely even notice today; trails I thought I’d never be able to ride, I’m riding. So who knows? I think it helps to ride a variety of terrain in a variety of places to get a full experience. I’ve been lucky enough to do some long MUni rides in Colorado, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama etc… to get a good taste of different types of terrains, trail surfaces and construction etc… I love it all!
Hey,
Yesterday I went for about a 5 hour ride with several very fit mountain bikers, in Squamish (north of Vancouver), on my KH29 (singlespeed) with the wide rim. Squamish has everything from fire roads to buff XC to very hard technical downhill and North Shore - basically it is paradise for muni. For 5 hours I was hammering non stop through a huge variety of terrain, working super hard to keep the very fast group pace. There was also several thousand feet of climbing, on both fire roads and technical singletrack, which meant I needed something that had efficient rolling on long and fast climbs (e.g. no heavy 26x3" tire!), was stable enough for tech descents with some bigger drops, and had as much speed as possible to keep up.
On this terrain the two best setups for me are my KH26 with a geared hub or the KH29 with the wide rim, because it gives the feeling of a big tire but not the weight. It would have been tougher to keep up on a singlespeed 24" muni. So lesson learned is that if you ride a lot with mountain bikers on XC or All Mountain terrain, it is really nice to have a slightly larger wheel…
Agreed about the categorization - categories are needed for communication but it’s definately very subjective.
Kris
I really can’t wait to try out my KH24 Guni. I’m expecting the KH/Schlumpf equipped wheel back this week. It will be interesting to see the range of capabilities with a geared 24" muni.
Kris: How do you think you would have faired on a 24" guni? Would it have been almost a comparable as the geared KH26?
I’m hoping to gain from the relative lightness and nimbleness of a 24" but yet have the ability of a “virtual 36er” with the hub in over drive. Obviously the smaller wheel won’t roll as easily over some terrain as a larger wheel, but I’m hoping skill and the right tire pressure dialed in should be enough to compensate. For me there is a lot of uphill terrain that is unridable, so having a light uni to shoulder makes a big difference! I’ll give my review after I get a chance to adjust to the new geared KH24 and tackle some of my “classic” routes…
Yes, I agree. As my skill level changes, my boundaries are changing. I guess my original point was that it is possible to do some pretty technical stuff on the KH29, especially with the wide rim. Here is a video I shot yesterday on one of my more technical (for me) rides.
I think a geared 24 would also have fared really well. That setup is particularly good if you ride in an area with very technical riding separated by sections of dirt or paved road. Plus with the 24 and 26 sizes it’s possible to go into 2nd gear in some singletrack sections. There is one trail in Squamish that’s just unbelievable in 2nd gear - buff curvy trail with berms on each corner that you can really take just like a bike, in 2nd gear. Awesome!
Kris
Kris,
What tire did you use for this ride? Was it the Stout or something lighter? The Stout is nice for downhill, but I find the Nevegal to be a lot peppier on uphill.
I use the Stout; I really like the tread pattern and sidewall stability both in the 26" and 29" size.
The answer is simple: just do it.
My 700c has a 20mm tyre which runs at around 120 - 130 psi, and an unmodified Miyata seat (no air cushion or gel) and I have often done an hour or more at a time. So, it hurts; but you get used to it, and then you forget it’s hurting. Like all things on a uni, there’s no substitute for practice.
Everyone has there own anatomy issues. W/ my Nimbus gel, I go completely numb and have to get off for 15 + min before I can ride again. On my '07 Freeride, I can go nearly an hour. On most rides, I make them technical so I UPD enough that it’s not an issue.
pkittle - get a countdown timer that will automatically repeat (I have one on my Timex Ironman watch). Set it for a few minutes and each time it goes off stand up for 10 revolutions. Experiment w/ time intervals and # of revs. (I think it was Rowan that I heard this idea from. Whoever it was, he used it to increase his rides form an hour to over two w/o dismounting.)
I’ve tried this, but I have too much difficulty keeping my feet on the pedals.
I really think it’s not necessary to just accept saddle pain; there are so many ways to avoid it. Over the weekend I did an awesome 6 hour XC muni ride in the Willamette River Valley (Oregon) on my KH29, and much of it was riding without any breaks as I had to hammer the entire time to keep up to some very fit mountain bikers. Despite that, and riding the previous day and following day at other areas, I had no saddle pain at all, unlike some of the bikers I was with.
Kris
Another, seemingly obvious, suggestion is to have an adjustable seat-post; one that can tilt the saddle up or down. If you’re still riding long distances with a standard seat-post; shame on you! 
Seriously my saddle endurance wasn’t the greatest until I found I could adjust the back of the saddle down so that I was sitting more on my “butt bones” and less on my “crotch” if you know what I mean. That simple adjustment made a huge difference; that and switching to the KH Fusion Freeride. Even if you don’t want a new saddle, you can modify your own by cutting a channel down the center and re-attaching the saddle cover. I did that with an older KH saddle I had and it worked wonders…