I may be starting a new job soon (Go me!) And I’m planning on riding my Uni to work. The trouble is, right now I only have an ‘eBay special’ 24". It’s stood up to just about everything I’ve thrown at it (Though it’s used up a few spare parts) So I’ve no complaints, but it’s just SO SLOW!
I thought of maybe just jumping right into the deep end (Tall end?) And getting a 36er, but from what I can see they don’t seem fantastic for off-road/cross-country (I mostly ride along VERY rough farm roads and dirt tracks to travel places, and do some light MUni for fun) So I’m not sure if I should get one, or go a size down and get a 29".
I guess my question boils down to, is a 36" wheel really going to get me to places MUCH faster than a 29, even across rough terrain?
Another question is, am I still OK to MUni on a 29"? I’m not talking extreme technical mountains, but as my skills improve more I’d like to take on something a bit more difficult (As I said I’m currently riding a 24", but I’m scared to take it down anything serious as it’s a pretty cheap one and don’t want it to snap in half or something)
Obviously in a perfect world I’d just get a 36" AND a 24/26", but my income can’t quite manage that one yet
It’s all down to your riding skills what you can ride and what not! 36er sure is gonna feel huge at first, especially if 24er is the biggest wheel you’ve ridden but if you have cranks that are long enough (137 - 165mm, it’s really up to you) you can ride XC and light muni with it.
Again depends on your experience. I am an experienced rider, but only recently got a 36. A good, light one is surprisingly agile with 150mm cranks. I commuted on a 29 for a while and got tired of all the spinning, but if your way to work is really that rough you may consider a 29 instead.
The worst that happens is you end up with both. Both sizes are quite useful for avid unicyclists. A 29 with 125mm or less cranks is pretty fast.
The smaller wheel is always going to be the stronger one, given the same number of spokes.
The 36 is going to be more likely to buckle under sideways impacts on rough terrain.
That’s why I am probably going for a 26" Nimbus II which has 48 spokes.
Very strong.
Piece Maker, how far and how rough you have your road to work? I was riding my 10km each way throughout a city on my 29er and it was quite a spin, so I preferred my bike usually and uni just occasionally. For shorter distances I could continue on 29er everyday.
And you can ride suprisingly much Muni on both 29er and 36er. I have no experience with 36ers, but I did both XC and DH Normal courses in last Unicon on my 29er as I had no other big uni and it was fun.
If you want just one uni, I would go for 29er now.
Hi, my trip is about 4 miles each way I can manage it just fine on my 24" it just takes ages Most of the reason I Uni there and other places in that town is that I can easily get there by bike/walking/uni yet it’s in a horrible position for public transport, and well, uni’s faster than walking!
And there’s about 10 feet of ‘road’ and the rest is a mixture of farm tracks, Olde English cobbled roads, forest dirt path and a nice smooth canal tow-path (That description makes this sound so… picturesque?) The farm track is the part I’m worried about mostly, as not only is it very bumpy, but also has a few inclines and is usually littered with half-bricks they use to temporarily fill-in the bigger potholes.
The ‘MUni’ aspect I was talking about comes from my fun-rides not my work-run I don’t go anywhere EXTREME yet but my brother keeps offering to take me to some, as he calls it, ‘real mountain bike trails’
General agreement on this thread seems to be that a 29er will work great, so I’ll make a job-related investment when possible! Now to choose one
Sounds like a 29er is the way to go. You can get double-hole cranks, 127/150s. The 36 is a bit of a pain when the going gets too rough, esp up steep hills, though again with 150s most things are possible on it.
You will probably feel more comfortable on a 29 and it’s probably the most versatile uni in terms of muni/road riding.
Be aware though that it’s hard to find a good road tire for the wide KH and Oracle rim. You could always sand off the knobs.
If you plan on riding it often, I’d invest in the KH or Oracle. As far as being afraid of collecting unis, if you get into it you will anyway. A top-of-the-line uni will put you back about 1K, whereas a top-of-the-line guitar will you put you back further.
That’s pretty impressive, my route usually takes me about 40 minutes - Using 137mm cranks, so either the roughness slows me down… Or I’m just slow!
Ha! Yeah I’ve got far too much invested in guitars, I guess it won’t hurt to do the same with Uni’s Right now I ride my 24" with a relatively knobbly tire (The cheapo one that came with it wore down in a few days so I just stuck whatever I could find on it) And I quite like it (Doesn’t feel sluggish on the road either) So I’ll probably be happy not to buy a ‘good road tire’ for a 29"
Most of the reason I Uni there and other places in that town is that I can easily get there by bike/walking/uni yet it’s in a horrible position for public transport, and well, uni’s faster than walking!
(That description makes this sound so… picturesque?) The farm track is the part I’m worried about mostly, as not only is it very bumpy, but also has a few inclines and is usually littered with half-bricks they use to temporarily fill-in the bigger potholes.
Right now I ride my 24" with a relatively knobbly tire (The cheapo one that came with it wore down in a few days so I just stuck whatever I could find on it) And I quite like it (Doesn’t feel sluggish on the road either) So I’ll probably be happy not to buy a ‘good road tire’ for a 29"