Re: MUni Purchase Plans
Downhill tires are the best thing going for uphill muni. They give you lots of
traction and they suck up little obstacles like rocks and roots so you don’t
lose traction while climbing. Hills that were impossible suddenly become
possible when using a big fat tire. Downhill tires are designed to take the
abuse of downhill racing. The tires have reinforced sidewalls and usually have
an anti pinch flat bead design. They’re fat and strong with lots of traction.
But don’t get too much fat tire envy. You can get too much of a good thing. IMHO
(in my humble opinion) the Gazzaloddi Jr. 2.6" is the best size for most muni.
The 3" Gazzaloddi tires are so wide and have so much contact area that they are
harder to turn especially with quick twisting maneuvers. For single track trails
where maneuverability is important the 2.6" Gazz would be better. Where the 3"
tires excel is in jumping and hopping because they are more bouncy and can
absorb more impact. If you tend to go vertical a lot and like to do big drops
then a 3" tire might be your style. Otherwise consider the more modest 2.6". If
I only had one muni I would want one with a Gazz Jr. 2.6". I’m sure that others
here have different opinions on the ideal tire for muni. It all depends on your
riding style and your local terrain.
I have been using a Pashley Muni for three years. It’s an OK muni, but not
great. I haven’t had any problems with the frame around the lollypop bolts. It
seems to be solid in that area. However, I don’t like the lollypop bearing
holders. The pillow bock design on the Telfords and DMs are the way to go. The
Pashley will fit a 2.6" tire but just barely. I’m not sure what rim is stock on
it now, but I’m not sure if the stock rim is wide enough for the Gazz Jr tire.
The fat tires need W-I-D-E rims or the tire will fold over or even pop off the
rim when you side-hop up a hill. If the rim isn’t wide enough you will need to
add about $125+ to the price to have a new wheel built with a wide rim.
The DMATU is very nice but it is spendy. But for that price you get about $300+
worth of splined axle and cranks that you will probably never break. The 2.6"
tire is the perfect size (IMHO) for most muni. A couple of broken axles on a
standard muni with a standard hub and you have paid for the DMATU. The DMATU
could be cheaper than a standard muni in the long run if you tend to break
axles. However, the DMATU does have some strange features like a 48 spoke hub
(36 holes would be better because most downhill rims are 36 spoke) and the seat
tube is too small for a suspension seat post. I think the DMATU would be better
with a Sun double wide rim or a Mavic D321 rim and a more standard 36 spoke hub.
I have not ridden a fat tired Semcycle Deluxe but they should be a good muni
(even though they do look strange). I would rather have one of the Semcycles
than my Pashley. But that stock seat is useless for muni because it has no
handle. A Miyata seat would be much better.
If you still have fat tire envy you could get the Semcycle Deluxe with the
26" double wide rim (rather than the 24" rim). The 26" double wide rim will
fit both the 3" Gazz and the 2.6" Gazz Jr. You could swap tires depending on
your mood and riding conditions. If you can’t decide on the best tire just
get them both 
The Vortex is also a very spendy uni. But it might be possible to get it without
the brake which would cut maybe $200 or so from the price. Then there is the
Telford ( http://www.telford-design.com ). But Telfords are in very low
availability and I don’t know when production will increase. You could end up
waiting a while for one.
Consider your riding style and local terrain when picking your muni. Don’t get
paranoid about broken axles unless you are a real jumper. The people who break
their axles are the real aggressive riders who do big jumps or who happen to be
heavier than the average rider. My Pashley has lasted for 3 years so far with
the original axle, but I haven’t been jumping a lot on it.
john_childs
From: Jane and Carl Trachte
>
> The news group appears to be really quiet this weekend while the
> American National Unicycling Convention (NUC) is taking place. I thought
> this might be a good place to squeeze in this query before the next
> round of Cokermania e-mails (relax, Cokerheads, I don’t mean anything by
> that - it’s just that I don’t own one and there’s a lot of Coker envy on
> my part).
>
> I’m starting to make some progress and gain confidence with my Muni’ing
> and I need to start budgeting for an Muni purchase. Right now I’m using
> a Cycledesign Taiwanese unicycle. It has actually held up well, but I’m
> probably going to eventually wreck the axle or the rim or other parts of
> the uni that will render it unrideable. The terrain I’ll be riding on
> here in town is made up of shallow to moderately steep paths with
> rounded cobbles and boulders in them (A Coker person might suggest just
> getting a Coker and riding on the road - that’s just it - I live in a
> southwestern mining town that lies on the edge of the national forest
>- to really go out and explore beyond my patio, Muni’ing is not really a
> choice, but a necessity). We have a dry climate, and even during monsoon
> season, mud is seldom a problem - more often we see dry silt and sand. Snow
> falls some winters (I’ve lived here four years and we’ve had one winter where
> we had a lot of “real” snow that stuck around for a few weeks at a time).
>
> Hopefully, this isn’t too long winded, but I’ve listed the unicycles I
> have an interest in that are for sale at unicycle.com with my current
> thoughts on them (my thoughts are based on pictures and a limited
> knowledge of Muni based on reading OOW and the news group):
>
> 1) Pashley 26" Muni - the price is right; is the unicycle? I like the
> look of it. A wider frame with a fatter tire would be nice, but if
> it’s rugged and going to hold up, I could live with the narrow tire.
> Lollipop bearing holders - are they universally evil, or only a
> problem on Taiwanese unicycles? There’s been a fair bit of message
> traffic in the news group about this design leading to destroyed
> frames, but I don’t know if the Pashley has this problem.
>
> 2) Semcycle - 3 models with 24 and 26 in. tires - I like the fat tires
>- they look like a lot of fun. This is awfully fickle on my part, but I don’t
> like the fact that the frames remind me of the beaters on an electric mixer
> (kitchen utensil). Another question (perhaps stupid) - what is a “downhill”
> tire - does this mean the tread is designed for downhill riding, but not
> uphill (I’m going to be doing a lot of uphill riding)?
>
> 3) DM ATU - this is the one that I really want, but it’s pricey. The
> wheel isn’t as fat as the ones on the Semcycles, but, as I wrote
> above, if it can take some abuse, I’m not too worried about it.
> Supposedly, these never break, but there’s a first time for
> everything, and I’m great at breaking things. Can anyone repair
> these, or is it all a Dave Mariner secret? If something happens to
> Dave Mariner, or he just gets fed up with the Uni business, will
> anyone be able to service this? Once again, fickle on my part, but I
> like the look of this unicycle.
>
> 4) DM Vortex - gorgeous unicycle, by the description it sounds like a
> combination of the Porsche and Cadillac of Muni’s - I drive a 1986
> Nissan pickup - well, there’s always the outside chance that I’ll win
> the lottery . . .
>
> If anyone is familiar with any of these models and is willing to comment
> on them or my perceptions, I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
>
>Carl Trachte Morenci, Arizona, USA
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com