My interest in getting a unicycle has re-sparked recently. I’d like to have a 24" wheel with a slick-treaded tire. The problem is that this size seems to have the least number of slick tire varieties being marketed. And when I say “slick” I mean ‘totally bald’, like this Schwalbe Kojak, except in a 24" instead of the 20":
The unicycle I was considering is the Club 24:
Thanks.
My first question would be why are you so specific about what tyre you will want on your first unicycle?
The manufacturers of quality unicycles have expert input from experienced enthusiasts and although most of us upgrade and modify our unicycles according to personal preference and need, the requirement for a perfectly slick tyre on a 24 is hard to understand.
A knobbly tyre suitable for muni will of course slow you down and slow your steering, and a smooth tyre suitable for general indoor and road use won’t be ideal for muni, but why a slick?
What do you have in mind?
Have you ever ridden a unicycle before at all?
Drag Race?
Anyone? Know of a slick tire in 24"?
Schwalbe make a fair few slick 24" tyres (I think they’re usually put on things like folding bikes and trailers). Doesn’t the Durano come in a 24", and the Schwalbe One?
They’re just a few I vaguely remember when I was shopping for slick tyres 
You’re right! I found a folding-bike-centric shop that has it! The Schwalbe website shows a void in sizes between the 20" and 26", which, along with not finding it in a web search previously, had me discouraged.
This is fantastic. I wouldn’t be able to respect myself, having a goofy, knobby tire on a pavement-intended unicycle. Happy now to join the one-wheeler ranks.
It’s 23-520.
So your goal is to not look goofy? Good luck!
:d
I assure you that I’m fully prepared to look goofy during the learning stage. The goal of this message topic was to better-optimize my unicycle’s functionality. Only being able to buy a pavement-intended unicycle with a knobby tire is ridiculous. The customer base needs to demand better.
Best 24" tyre is the Maxxis Hookworm in my opinion. If you get an option go for the heavier version.
It offers amazing grip, is tough and does not suffer from camber problems.
Roger
Thanks much for the suggestion. I would be ecstatic if I could get that tire substituted for the one that currently comes on the Club unicycles.
It should be noted that the camber effect of a tire is not always easy to determine from users reports. Many have reported that the Hookworm is quite bad on road camber. One thread reported, “The Hookworm has one real strength, bead to bead tread, making it a very robust tyre, great on sharp rocks and drops. The drawback it that it is very heavy and rigid against sideways forces resulting in strong camber effects and very slow response.” At:
My experience and feed back from our customers is that the tyre is one of the best on the market for camber. This was are go to tyre for a long time until they got almost impossible to get hold of… so we have sold a lot of them. I had not seen that thread before, I will need to investigate further as to why he is reporting camber problems on a tyre we have not had problems with. It is NOT an offroad tyre, it is a tyre for general use on road though.
We are out of the tyre at the moment so we can not do any swaps.
Roger
As I said in the other thread, I have 20 inch Hookworm. I experimented once to see if I could make it react to camber by lowering the pressure. It seemed immune.
I have not ridden it for a very long time but my experience of the 26 inch Hookworm was very bad. I was running it at 30 psi and the camber effect seemed strong in the little riding I did on it.
I suspect if it were pumped to maximum pressure the problem would be reduced as it is with most tyres. But in the same test ride I had the tyre slip while decelerating on smooth rain-soaked concrete so I wan’t inclined to raise the pressure either. Replaced it with a DTH and never looked back at the Hookworm.
The Hookworm’s weight is great for momentum but it makes it unresponsive, especially in a larger diameter.
I have never had a 24 inch Hookworm and wondered if it would feel more like the 20 or the 26. Another rider on this forum reported that they found the 24 was bad on camber.
I have a Hookworm on my 20 and a Hookworm on a 24 that I’ve borrowed long term. The 20" Hookworm feels like a wooden tyre. I just don’t like it. The 24 is much better.
Camber problems are sometimes a sign that you need to put a bit more air in the tyre. Some tyres are particularly communicative in this way.
You’ll find that this forum is the friendliest place on the internet and is full of people who have a passion for their sport. Strange thing is, the more miles you do, and the more unicycles you ride, the more you realise that the market has responded well to what experienced rides need. A beginner’s preconceptions of what they might need are often mistaken.
Unicycling is still a niche market compared to bicycling, and if tools need to be made to produce tyres or other components, there is always a compromise.
There is a fundamental difference between “knobbly tyres” where the knobbles stick out, and a “treaded tyre” which has grooves in what would otherwise be a smooth surface. A treaded tyre has pretty much the same rolling characteristics as a completely slick one, with the added benefit of better grip in the wet.
Sounds like this person is describing the Hookworm’s performance on dirt. If they are mixing dirt and pavement they’re not communicating well.
OneTrackMind mentioned camber problems also, but it was not clear if that was road or dirt either. On road, usually the camber is less, but the speed is greater and you’re going for a long way on it. Camber on dirt is usually for shorter distances, and often at a much greater angle than on pavement. Naturally you will tend to have high pressure for Road riding, but need lower pressure if your dirt riding contains lots of bumps, rocks, etc.
Alas, I can’t offer any personal advice on the Hookworm, other than knowing it was popular and having seen lots and lots of them.
And I’ll add, with Roger in mind, that I’m surprised to see UDC USA only offering two choices of 24" tire, both of which are 3" wide. What about all those unicycle you sell with “regular width” 24" tires, like the Club? Where do those customers go for tires? Possibly local stores, because UDC USA can be pricey when it comes to shipping…
The quote was from me as well.
I ride mostly on the footpaths (sidewalks) and some of them are quite steep and seriously side sloping on some driveways.
In fairness to the 26 inch Hookworm, I had been riding a 24 x 1.75 Maxxis DTH for most of a year before taking it on. The DTH is about as different from the Hookworm as one could get. In the 26 inch the DTH is literally half the weight of a Hookworm.
I wasn’t used to the size nor the incredible mass of the Hookworm. The slide on wet concrete also showed the “grooved slick” tread was more decorative than functional.
I couldn’t see any point of persisting once I discovered the DTH was also available in 26 x 2.15. I only mentioned the sidewall robustness to counter giving the impression that the Hookworm was without any virtues.
I’ve ridden on tarmac that had rocks so big and sharp at the verges that I got off and walked. I could have appreciated a Hookworm there.