I am a college student in Florida where it is very flat, and just learning how to ride. You may have read my previous thread where I got overwhelmingly supported advice to get the Torker LX. I ended up finding a great deal for a 24 inch off-brand for 30 bucks. I thought I wanted the 24 in to get across campus, but now that I can ride it I am contemplating getting something with a larger tire size so I can get to class [B][U]MUCH[/U][/B] faster without sweating up a storm. What do you suggest? Brand? Size? I do not want to spend a lot but am open to ideas. Would a 26 inch be big enough? It's only 2 inches bigger than the 24 inch and I know they go bigger. Also, while I'm at it, what are some good tips on turning , free-mounting, and rocking in place? Thanks so much for any advice that you give! Your previous advice helped so much and I am finally getting a handle on riding!
A great place for unicycle tips is www.unicycletips.com. It has videos and write ups of all kinds for all your uni needs.
If you just want to go a bit faster you could switch the cranks on your 24" for shorter ones(I assume you have 140s). You could try some 125s.
If you are indeed set on a 26" uni though you could just get a 26" with a road tire and 125 cranks on it…That would gove you quite a bit of speed over a 24" with 140s.
Or…You could get a 29er or a Coker. Those are both made for distance/speed riding. The Coker is rather expensive however.
In the end the choice is yours but the 26er with a slick and some 125s is what i recomend for what you want it for.
if you really want to focus on speed, then you could get a 26 inch uni and buy some $12 united 89mm cranks. they will get you going really fast on a 26 incher.
might not be too safe though, you could loos control pretty easily… anyway, here is a link to those cranks on UDC if you want them: http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=179
On Fri, 11 Aug 2006 14:39:06 -0500, wmdoran wrote:
>contemplating getting something with a larger tire size so I can get to
>class MUCH faster without sweating up a storm. What do you
>suggest? Brand? Size?
Cokers are best for longer distances than you typically see riding
across a campus. So I suggest a 28", or better still a 29" (a fatter
tyre on the same rim). Cranks could be 125 mm, which is a nice
compromise for a beginner between controllability and speed. Brand?
Depends on where you live (where you order from). You don’t want to
spend a lot, right? For just riding around campus, it doesn’t need to
be strong, or have a very comfortable seat. So, almost any brand is
good enough.
>Also, while I’m at it, what are
>some good tips on turning , free-mounting, and rocking in place?
Download the pdf file “Learning to Unicycle” from
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“I’m slowly but surely stealing Wales and bringing it back to my house on the wheel, frame and cranks of my muni. - phil”
I would not bother upgrading from 24" to 26" for speed reasons; the difference isn’t that dramatic. Getting shorter cranks on the 24" is worth trying; it makes a noticable difference, and it’s a lot cheaper than a new unicycle. If you’re going to get a new uni, I would definitely go with a 29" or Coker if speed is what you’re looking for.
