lightweight 26" muni build

I am looking to build a lightweight 26” muni and have read a number of threads already on the forum with information relevant to this. Here is what I’m thinking:

Nimbus Oracle 26” frame (weight 602g)
Velocity Blunt 35 rim (550g)
Hans Dampf snakeskin vs. super gravity trailstar 26x2.35 (765g vs. 995g)
Stans 2oz/rim strip to run tubeless (~75g)
Spokes/spoke nipples x36 (~325g)
KH 36H moment hub (600g) vs KH 36H titanium hub (464g)
KH spirit 137/165 cranks (467g)
Wellgo MG2 red pedals (331g)
KH fusion freeride saddle (840g)
Nimbus alloy seat post (260g)

All together I estimate will weigh 4817g/10.6 lbs with the moment hub, add 225g for super gravity tire, subtract 130g if I use titanium hub. I ride a Hans Dampf snakeskin now and like it, but I run it with a tube and am leaning towards the super gravity which I gather may be a better tire esp. when tubeless.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Is the titanium hub worth pursuing ($$!)?

If looking at the ti hub also look at mad4one hubs. CDK seems to be the easiest and most comprehensive place to find them but beware that some of their hubs use proprietry 6pin interfaces.

For a tubeless setup you have neglected the weight of the sealant. Personally i have never had a pinch flat touches wood using a non super gravity hans below minimum pressure which is the key selling point of tubeless vs lightweight tubes. Other than that the weight difference will be negligible.

The freeride is the heaviest good saddle. A naiomi would save you ~100g (but then so would losing the front bumper). It is also very easy to flatten if you so desire.

That’s right. The sealants vary slightly in weight, but will add about 100 - 150 grams, depending on how wide your tire is and how much sealant you add. People usually go tubeless to run low tire pressure and/or for the self-sealing feature, not necessarily to lose weight.

You should look into a carbon fiber rim. Ray Derby makes them and they are around 484grams and pretty strong.

also look around for different pedals, there are MUCH lighter pedals out there.

Ive built up a kickass downhill muni that is sitting at 12lbs.

So far it has proven to be very strong

Attention all Weight Weenies

I once built a 29 triton. Not only did the frame cost a bundle, but so did all of the special order titanium nuts and bolts I bought.

Now that I’ve done it… I would not do it again and do not recommend others do it.

If you want to build a uni from parts go for it. Have fun. Build the wheel. Compile the parts. And when it is built, ride the business out of it.

You’ll have more fun worrying less about the weight and actually riding it. In the end, on the trails, the difference in weight will not matter at all. Your skill as a rider matters most. Your progress as a rider will keep you happy.

IMO, a titanium hub for MUNI is a big waste of $$$. If it breaks, you will be crying all the way to the UDC site, where you’ll replace it with a KH Moment.

Tire weight… yep, it’s a differentiater as is the frame material (steel v AL). Other than that, the extra money you save can be used towards gas to get you to the next muni gathering.

I see your shedding uni weight to go faster. I’m going to have to either train with weights on my back or get myself I lighter uni! :p:p:p:p:p

I included but only 75g- sounds like closer to 200 from your and Lance B’s posts. And indeed, running a lower pressure is what I’d like to do- I keep my pressure higher because boy do I hate flats!

Carbon fiber sounds expensive… how much do these run?

Which pedals? I do like the MG2s, in part because of the price point/weight ratio. Be happy to learn about others though

Appreciate the great advice. That was what I was thinking about the titanium hub. Plus the reason I’m entertaining this build is because I have a 26" Muni with a steel Nimbus II frame that the square crown hits my knees; I prefer the rounded crown of the Oracle. When looking at prices, I’m reticent to get the KH because of the square crown, but I don’t necesarily want a 26" Oracle because I don’t need a brake in this size and for a comparable amount of $$ I figured I could customize the uni a bit and optimize in terms of weight. Plus it is fun to consider all of the possibilities :D!

PeterH worry not- shedding weight more to facilitate technical riding and I’m sure I’ll be struggling to keep up with you as always.

The carbon rim ran me for 300$

Keep in mind that shaving weight off from the wheel is the place where you will feel it most. Keeping rotational mass down means that you will be able to maneuver quicker and the uni feels smaller.

for pedals it just depends on your price range, the light weight pedals have ti spindles

These rims do look nice. Not sure I’m willing to commit the extra $$ though. Regarding the comment about rotational mass, I wonder whether the lighter wheel is more apt to bounce off obstacles, as opposed to plowing through and over them as I imagine might happen with an Oregon/fat tire setup (I’ve never ridden one and don’t know).

The light wheel still plows over things but thats when youre charging.

So far in my uni journeys ive loved this wheel setup I use.

You’d be better off to take the money your going to throw at a TI hub, and spend it on the rim.

Definitely not going for the titanium hub- comments here confirmed my suspicions. Looking forward to getting it built. Just have to decide whether or not to get the Super Gravity or the Snakeskin Hans Dampf

If you can find one try to get a koxxone light hub.

They are plenty strong and pretty light! Also they come in ISIS driving meaning you can use whatever cranks you want.

Have you looked at bike trials rims?
Single wall 48 mm wide Try-All NoWar K2 26" (564 g) worked for me fine!

In terms of a lightweight build the normal hans may be a better choice as the extra ~300g is exactly where you would notice it most. If you are comfy with the non SG, why add the weight. A lighter rim/tyre will notice a lot more than a light hub.

Be careful about going for overly narrow rims. Although 35mm should be fine anything much less is going to be very prone to folding over on landings and while idling or turning on the spot. It is also far more prone to pinch flats.

As has been said before, the wheel is where you want to lose the weight. Frame weight loss is far more expensive than body weight loss with almost exactly the same returns. Needless to say i am being a bit hypocritical here given that i am trying to get a fully equipped 700c down to 4.5-5kg with a 2.5kg wheelset.

Choosing every single part for a unicycle is time consuming but so much fun and allows you to take the best components within your budget and mash them together into what YOU want to ride.

Interesting to read this- I’ve read on other threads that the need for a wide rim for muni may be somewhat of a myth (Building a 650B Muni and Tubeless - 2 strikes, 1 home run). Or is it something with little evidence on either side of the argument, but instead anecdote and dogma? It makes sense to me that the narrower 35 would be better suited for tubeless setup, which avoids the issue of pinch flats.

I guess the issue that i raised is more against the minimum recommended rim width for many 26x2.2-5 tyres of around 25mm. If you tried to use that narrow a rim, you would get severe problems. Plenty of people have gone for 35mm and it seems to be a good size for a lightweight uni rim.

I can hardly imagine why unicycles have gone towards wide rims if there was no performance advantage. Muni did not start off with wide rims.

wide rims, as in wider than 40mm are really nice for bigger tires.

With use of tires under 2.7 i really dont agree with a wide rim. the tire gets stretched out too much and the advantage of the wide rim is now lost.

Wider rims keep the tire stable with low psi, which is very nice for rough hard terrain.

I wouldnt go with a 35mm rim, the 40mm i use now is feeling pretty small but it works with higher psi and keeps my speed high which is very nice for charging rough trails.

I find that going at fast speeds with shorter cranks a narrower rim has a greater tendency to turn the wheel when hitting a bump than a wider rim. Bikes (1) don’t have all the weight on the front wheel, (2) have more leverage to keep the wheel straight (handlebars), and (3) usually have front suspension. I don’t know that a bike comparison is particularly useful and the benefit of a wider rim may not be felt at slower speeds and with longer cranks.

Do you (or anyone) ride a 32hole rim rather than a 36 hole and if so can you comment on wheel strength?