I got Qu-Ax 170’s for my DX and I think the added Q-factor made more of a difference than length compared to the relatively straight stock 150 cranks. I have a lot more control at slow to moderate speeds over technical terrain.
I rode a '05 KH w/ 165’s and I was surprised the difference 5 mm made. I’m 5’10" and have pretty long legs, and w/ my 170’s, it’s hard for me to pedal smoothly, it’s kind of like pedaling a box, esp at high speeds.
W/ the 165’s I didn’t notice this AT ALL, they were significantly easier to ride fast w/ and do smooth moderate climbs with, but harder on really steep stuff, where I was down to half cranks, and on some tech stuff.
Overall I much prefer the 165’s, but for stuff that is at the peek of my skill, 170’s are easier.
The only clearance issues w/ the KH I’ve herd of is when running breaks and a LM rim. A mounting adapter is needed. If I remember correctly, there are also some clearance issues (but fixable) of the brake cable w/ a 24X3 Gazz.
I love mine. I bought a couple spares too. It feels so much better than the Duro I was riding, which always felt like it was pushing my balance to one side or the other. The Intense DH feels way more controlled on all the trails I ride. Believe the hype!
I’ve recently moved to Dorset (this is in the UK btw) and didn’t realise untill last week that I’m about 20 mins from a great downhill mtb park:
I’ve also found out that the guy in my LBS helps run the place, and he’s said that I can take my Muni and ride there if I want to. (Gave me a funny look when I asked, hehe) Have to pay for a day pass or buy a membership, but it’s not too expensive.
Anyone from the UK been here? They’re constantly updating and changing parts of the track, and I believe a north shore style section has been built recently, which I would love to have a go at.
Just have to work out a way of fixing my muni to my motorbike so I can get there myself
On my Muni, I have a Duro Wildlife Leopard 3" Tire, on it, but…It doesn’t seem like 3", my Maxxis CC, Try-All, and Luna seem like the same width. I’m not sure why. Could someone take a rear view photo of their 24" Muni tire ? Not that this is an issue, but I always expected a Muni tire to seem just extra wide.
Tyre sizes vary a lot even within a stated tyre size and what is written on the tyre’s sidewall has to be taken with a grain of salt. Gazzaloddi 24x3" tyres are definitely wider than Duro 24x3" tyres. The width of your rim also affects how wide a tyre actually is. The wider the rim the wider the tyre will spread. Taken to the extreme a Large Marge rim will make a Duro 24x3" much wider than on a KH rim for example.
Also on many tires the width marked on the side is optimistic. The Gaz is the only “3 inch” tire that really gets close to that number.
I have a 24X3 Arrow Widebite and it’s 73mm (2.88 in) arcing across the tread and when mounted on my DX rim it’s 67 mm wide (2.64 in), excluding the nobs.
I know the bulk of the muni riders today are all on 24" wheels, with only a smattering going out to make custom 26" wheels- but i was wondering what the wisdom with doing with a smaller wheel is? It seems as though in the MTB world every man and his dog is going to 29" wheel sizes for the superior rolling ability- should the same logic apply to Muni’s?
I currently ride a 24X3 muni with 170mm profiles and it feels slow on the flats and only really comes into its element on the steepest of trails. I know the observed wisdom at the moment is to go to 150mm (and KH has been experimenting with 137mm i remember reading) but i wonder how much of a difference this would make.
I think that currently Muni really has one avenue to go down in terms of progress and that is SPEED! So the options that i can see at the moment for achieving this is by maybe going 26" wheels with 150mm cranks or sticking with the 24" but pushing the new KH/Shlumpf to its limits.
I am trying to suss out peoples opinions on this because i am planning to build a Muni with a KH/Shlumpf and either 24" or 26" wheel. because of the money i will have to throw at the project to have it work out, i want to get it right so your opinions are really appreciated
I have recently done 2 of the things you mentioned. I have a 24" MUni which I used to run with 170mm cranks. I moved down to 150’s and am extremely happy that I made that change. The shorter cranks do give you a little more speed (not much) but things do feel faster, and the loss of torque although initially felt quite a lot is not that great either. I find I have a lot more overall control with the 150’s vs the 170’s.
Subsequently to that I go a KH29’er which I think is awesome. I have taken in on the same trails I do on my 24. It is more nimble probably due to the reduced weight compared to the 24, but it is not the beast for technical downhill. I struggle a lot more with some of the drops (clearly it is not designed for massive drops), and does not have the stability of the 24. Having said that though it does roll over everything a lot easier.
As for going with either a 24 or 26 I can’t really give an informed opinion. I would say though that if you’re going go with a KH/Schlumpf I would personally go with the 24". The gear ratio of the Schlumpf will give you more than enough speed for the x-country sections, and also allow you to do the seriously technical MUni sections in the lower gear. As mentioned it would be my choice given my limited knowledge and experience with different Uni’s.
I have all three and I would suggest the 26 due to the rim and tire choices. The 26 is significantly larger, faster and rolls easier on rough trails than my 24
and with a 26x3.0 it is close to my 29r.
The problem with the 29r is that the current rim selection is limited and narrow and there are no “downhill” tires. The combo of narrow rims and weak sidewalls means that the tires cannot be run at lower pressure without a lot of lateral roll and snakebites or rim damage. This doesn’t create too big of a problem for mountainbikes as 29rs are not used for downhill.
I find on a lot of terrain, a 29er is not as fast as a 26 with a downhill tyre. It just can’t roll over as much as the fat downhill tyre, you fall off more on rocks, you can’t ride uphill quite so well, and you generally end up being not as fast.
The 26 just isn’t that much slower on easy terrain either - it’s a pretty similar gear due to the big tyre, just with a heavier wheel.
That wouldn’t be much fun now, would it? If things get too easy, it’s no longer unicycling! I remember when I made the switch from old-school MUni (a 24" Miyata) to a “real” MUni (DM ATU with 26 x 2.6" Gazzalodi). Trails that were a fun challenge became sidewalks. I suddenly had a lot less really challenging trails to choose from in my local area.
I thought it played very well to a non-uni audience, though only the first 10 minutes loaded for me. Except for your problem with encoding/interlacing, which left everyone all jaggy.
They’re not that small. The assumption is that our 24" rims have 24" tires on them, but most of these downhill tires are pretty close to 26" diameter. So 24" is kind of a misnomer, and everyone should bear in mind that only the rim size is 24". If you’re using downhill tires, they’re pretty big.
You can also get 26" tires in downhill versions, but they can be pretty heavy. I remember riding a 26 x 3" Gazzalodi on a few peoples’ MUnis. Higher speed, but more weight to carry around. If you use more “conventional” 26" MTB tires, you’ll find them a little thin. Not that many of us didn’t use them back in the early days of MUni (see above). That was before Bruce Bundy discovered the 3" Gazz and suddenly made all our MUni frames too narrow.
(Sarcasm)
