My uni for this event is a stock Nimbus 26 Muni, which comes with 170mm cranks.
From reading this forum it seems to me that most folks switch to something a bit shorter as they gain experience and strength, and I have been considering going to 150’s but would like to make the switch fairly soon so that I can be completely at home with them by the time SSMM happens.
I would be grateful for any advice, is the increase in speed a worthwile trade off for the reduction in leverage, is the climbing ability significantly reduced with the 150’s, I suppose the key question is which would be quicker around the SSMM course. I realise that there are no straight answers to any of these but any opinions would be welcome.
Thanks
I rode my 26x3 on the original cranks (mine came with 165s) for about a year before swapping to 150s, partly as an experiment and partly because I kept catching my heels on the straight cranks and wanted slightly more angled cranks. It only took me a couple of rides (probably about 20 miles or so) for the 150s to feel completely normal. Obviously there is a little bit less leverage for climbing, but it’s not that noticeable. It’s slightly easier to spin the cranks though, and my average speeds definitely increased a bit. Possibly the biggest advantage of the shorter cranks is the increased ground clearance, which is really nice in singletrack.
I’d say go for it - if you don’t like it you can always swap back, but if you’re anything like me you’ll see a slight speed improvement and a big drop in pedal strikes (all the ones that just hit will just miss :)). BTW - Mine are ProWheel alloy cranks, as sold by UDC (152mm I think they are). Never had any problem with them - not even come loose (put some threadlock on the bolt, do them up nice and tight with a torque wrench, 35lbf or so, and don’t be tempted to “check tightness” of the bolt later or you’ll have to remove it and refit with new threadlock).
In some cases going up long-but-not-particularly-steep hills can be easier with slightly shorter cranks on, as they encourage you to spin rather than crank up half a revolution at a time. I’m not quite sure of the physics behind it, or whether it’s purely pyschological, but it seems that the wheel keeps its momentum better so you can back off briefly if you need a (very quick) rest.
With 170s on a 26" muni you can get up some pretty serious gradients; the Mountain Mayhem course doesn’t have anything particularly steep, just longer drawn-out drags instead.
Ian, I’d switch to 150’s right now. The only time I did SSMM was on a 29er with 125’s - although I was in pain most of the time so riding was rather limited!
I liked my second, far muddier lap better than my first not so muddy one. Possibly because I couldn’t ride any of the descent on my first but at least tried most of it on the second. I’m glad I wasn’t riding in the worst of the rain though, it was nice to sleep through that. I’ve got a few photos but no way to transfer them for the moment, I’ll put them in the gallery when I do. The whole thing was even more fun than I’d expected, I didn’t regret doing it for a moment, not even halfway up the Kenda Climb. Looking forward to next year, even if everyone else is going to be in Canada.
Hey, well done Paul Royle for putting in the fastest lap, faster than Des, Sam and Tue. That’s pretty impressive, you must be pretty fit at the moment.
It was a very enjoyable weekend, despite being a bit muddy. I don’t get much experience of slippery mud (it’s really gravelly on Dartmoor) so I’m not too quick in it, but it’s always good for a laugh - I must make the effort to go somewhere muddy to practice. I was quite impressed with myself for surviving the run before the first lap (I’m a terrible runner), and my second lap was actually relatively dry and quick, before it started raining again just in time for my night lap.
Unfortunately Paul’s (sorry Paul) recorded ‘fast’ time was for half a lap (when he hurt his ribs). We was a bit naughty and got him to walk through the timing tent as he said he wasnt up for another lap and we wanted the team to qualify.
Was a great weekend, shame about the mud. Thanks to everyone for making it a good one.
My third lap was only made possible by lots of Ibuprofen and a course so muddy that walking was the best option for large parts of it. I spent an interesting couple of hours in A&E yesterday explaining how I managed to injure my ribs, 12:30 at night, racing, on a unicycle…
And again many bike teams behind the unicyclists - well done guys, sounds like you enjoyed it.
Paul…bending the rules …I’m shocked
Hope your ribs are OK and yes the A&E/unicycle thing does make the visit more interesting (I had it a few weeks ago, it’s the astonished smile I like :D)
Yet another good unicycling weekend. Thanks everyone.
The riding started slow and muddy, got better and better (had a lovely night lap - just a slow time due to changing batteries and a few random unprovoked UPDs on grassy flat sections). Then it rained hard, and sometime during a change-over in the morning I heard some bikers using the phrase “it’s like the Somme out there”. Nice. We were lucky to come back with all our shoes attached.
I think I managed to score the slowest actual lap (Mark’s ‘6 hour’ epic can’t be a real lap, surely?) at 03:05:30 - due to not starting until after Steve was back at camp, and being reduced to dragging/carrying a muni until it was evident that there wouldn’t be time to get in for another lap before the finish time… and some lurking at the finish. Phil showed up with a camera half way around and we chatted about the weather and watched some of the keen bikers go past, still hammering in sub-hour times.
Perhaps not shockingly Des still got the two fastest laps in, despite demoting himself to the B team with a dodgy knee. I found it hard to have enough motivation to push hard up hills knowing there would be slow slime and walking to be done further around. So it was hard work in the mud, but (maybe) less exhausting than pelting on at full speed!
Looking forward to next year, even if everyone else is going to be in Canada.
as he said he wasnt up for another lap and we wanted the team to qualify.
