Mountain unicycle/muni for all-around riding?

General
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You can pay shipping yourself by handling the shipping with ups yourself. If the seller is willing to pack and weight the uni and send you that info with the from address you can do the rest at a ups store and send the buyer a pre paid shipping label. That cuts out any over shipping charges.

Below is a picture my UDC trainer 29er this I bought used with the kris holme saddle as shown. I added a bmx brake , a kris holme touring bar and the maxis 2.5 inch tire as shown. This is a good reliable ride and the cotterless cranks never let me down. Just a note you can experiment with different crank lengths very inexpensively with the cotterless cranks.
Note I bought this on ebay used

Google Photos

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You can also buy “replacement” parts at regular but (long enough) intervals. Then one day constuct an additional unicycle from your extra components. Then if your partner asks you can rightly claim that you did not buy a new unicycle. :person_shrugging:

[Obviously this does not work for the original poster as they are starting with nothing but it is a viable strategy once you have a few unicycles].

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I did exactly that with my 27.5 Flansberrium, but as you said I have a few unicycles, so It’s hard for the wife to keep track

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For people here it’s unicycles. For me it’s ukuleles. I’ve bought and subsequently sold ukuleles my wife didn’t even know I had. I’m up to 7, 8 if you count the one I bought for my wife. I justify my spending on so many because nearly every one was purchased with funds I got from selling other things I own. I think that’s why my wife hasn’t made to much of a fuss about it. I’ll be doing the same thing to buy a unicycle. I’m pretty sure I’m done buying ukes and I’m pretty sure I’ll be buying only one unicycle. (But I said the same thing about ukes at one time…)

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Remember the perfect number of unis rule: it’s always N+1, where N is your current number of unis. :grin:

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I’m 63 and bought the 24” Nimbus Mountain last year. I’m 6’ 210 pounds and the seat post could be raised higher. There are not a lot of 24” tires available for unicycles but 1 good knobby and 1 good street tire should suffice. I live in Vermont, so a knobby tire rides a little rough on solid ground. There is no paved surfaces in my area to ride on so the knobby provides good traction.

I grew up in the city on level pavement and had a 24” Schwinn. The Schwinn took a beating and kept on going. The Nimbus Uni’s are engineered much better.

I ordered 3-hole crank arms. You can position the peddles in 3 positions. The most outward position gives you more torque because your legs are rotating in a larger circle.

The center position is standard and what you are used to.

The inward position will allow you to go faster.

I rode for many years and preferred it to walking and 2 wheeled bikes. I hadn’t ridden in 35 years or so.

When I got the unicycle, I placed the peddles in the outward position because I have a dirt/gravel driveway and wanted the extra torque. I rode awkwardly for the length of the driveway and couldn’t turn around or re-mount it without grabbing my garage. After 2 trips the stock seat rubbed my inner thigh raw.

I ordered a Kris Holm Freeride Saddle and solved that problem.

I struggled for about 3 weeks to ride well or start feeling comfortable and even turn around. I was amazed I had lost so much ability to ride.

Then, I switched the peddles to the normal position.

Immediately, I was riding and feeling the unicycle like it was decades ago. I could easily mount it and was turning it around in the blink of an eye.

After 2 or 3 months of racking up the miles and enjoying the unicycle I thought…………Lets try the outward peddle position again.

It felt awkward but not so much, and I kind of liked it. 2 days later I was mounting the uni, missed a pedal with 1 foot and it kicked behind me, I faceplanted and broke my left pinky finger.

Lesson learned, I’m 62 and can’t take a fall like I used to. I don’t need to learn new ways to ride on 1 wheel.

I returned the pedals to the normal position and that’s where they will stay for life. I wasted $100 on those crank arms and my pinky finger no longer closes all the way.

My suggestion, Stick to the same sized Uni you know like the back of your hand.

A Nimbus 2 24” is probably a good fit. Consider a seat upgrade, If you’re not comfortable after riding for a while, you’ll be walking home.

Ride short distances at first, work your way up to distances. Uni’s work a lot of muscles that don’t get worked otherwise.

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@Terry We’re pretty much in the same boat! I’m 63, 6’ but I have a few more pounds on you. (234) It’s been almost 50 years since I last rode and that was on a cheap 16" Sears unicycle so whatever I get is going to be light years better. I think I’m pretty much set on getting a 24", not too big, not too small but certainly significantly different from what I used to ride. I’m hoping the learning curve will be shortened having ridden before but it will be so different that it will probably be like totally starting from scratch. I’m hoping I can re-learn injury free. :crossed_fingers: I’m not as nimble or resilient as I was 50 years ago! :smile:

The main reason I was asking about a muni was that I had a line on one and was trying to feel out whether it would serve me well. That muni lead fell through so now I’m looking at anything that will hold my weight. Right now I’m looking at the Nimbus II or maybe the Sun Extreme 24. Thinking about it again, 90+ percent of my riding is going to be on streets or paved paths/sidewalks. If I do take it “off road” it will probably be relatively flat, hard paths or grass. I’d do some curb hopping as needed so relatively tame, low-key riding.

Thanks for the re-learning tips!