My boys have advanced to the point where I’d like to get them new unicycles…something that will last. However, while deciding I’m wondering a few things. First, they like both Mountain and Trial unicycling from what they see on YouTube and I can see them doing some of both in the future. So, is it easier to do trials with the MUNI or do Mountain/trail stuff with a trial. One of the boys likes the idea of having a larger wheel, but again he’s not sure what is best.
It’s not like I’m about to win the lottery, so these will have to be a good combination for both types of riding. Realistically, I can see them doing the trial stuff around the house as we’d have to drive to get to a trail.
We live nowhere near a unicycle/bike shop…so I’m relying heavily on the opinions/information here.
im not an expert! i have not bought my second unicycle yet, but i have done a lot of research and i have the same problem as you do, starting with wheel sizes, trial= 20’
mountain usually = 24 or larger wheels due to the necessity of higher speeds while doing muni, so if your kids want to do mad trials and higher jumps/falls, you need to get a trials unicycle, a koxx one that are cheap right now on walmart/meijer, or if they want to do long distances rides, and ride in the town, city or go muni cycling, you need to get a muni unicycle wich you would need to do a research on what to get, but there are no unicycles that can do both jobs, perhaps a Guni, wich is really expensive!
So they would always be riding together then. You could always get one a trials uni and get the other a muni, then they could trade off… or duke it out for their preferred cycle. Maybe a uni-joust to settle things.
I recommend getting the trials uni. The reason I say this is because I assume your boys are not full grown. A bigger uni will be more for them to handle, especially for trials. If you get them a trials uni, they can still take it on the trail. They just won’t go as fast. I took my trials MUniing and it did alright. And it sounds like they will have more oppertunity to practice and use a trials.
I’d get a Muni. I do Trials on my muni almost 1/2 of the year because I only ride my 24" in the snow and I ride my 24" really often just for fun even if it’s not snowing or anything. The trials unicycle in the trails is not as good as the Muni for Trials IMO.
Neither is worthwhile for the other, 24" is too big for trials unless you’re willing to limit what you do or you’re just focused on drops. The 20" is too small for trail riding, very slow riding and poor pedal clearance.
Seriously, I’d get one of each, two kids, two unis, then they can still ride together, swap out as needed, time will come when one will ride more/differently than the other, so you’ll need both types.
$600 will get you one of each from Nimbus, shipping is free
In time you may find trials or muni to be preferrable, at which time you trade or sell and buy. I recently sold my son’s trials uni cuz he never rode it. A few months back I sold his 24 muni because he’s grown more than 8" since we start riding unis (currently 6’ 3"). He now rides an Oregon
Same thing may happen with you, start riding road and end up with a 36er or get into muni and end up with a 26 or 29.
I think they would have more fun with a trials unicycle, since it might be a pain sometimes always having to drive to a trail to have any real fun.
I find it hard to do trials with a Muni, but i have a trials uni and don’t have a problem using it through trails.
If they get a trials uni they can do both trials and Muni, then a couple of years down the road if they end up loving Muni they could reconsider getting one
…well, after reading all of the posts…the boys are leaning toward getting trial unis. I think the fact that my Nimbus MUNI is arriving tomorrow gives them the peace-of-mind that they can probably ride mine anytime they want in the future.
Also, are there “snow tires” for a trial … something with knobbies that will allow for better traction in the snow?
Last…on an unrelated topic… what is a good way to save my pedals on my Nimbus as I’m still a beginner and will fall more than a seasoned rider.
If you’re in the US I’d recommend getting one of these: http://www.meijer.com/catalog/search_command.cmd?keyword=unicycle, the one’s with the longer frames are higher quality and well worth the extra cost, unless your kids are pretty young and maybe not tall enough. I personally know about 5 people in my club who’ve gotten them, everyone is very happy. The tire may rub a bit on the frame initially, but after you ride it a bit it’ll wear down and stop rubbing. These unicycles normally sell for $400-$500 each, they’re some of the best you can get.
I had a sort of similar dilema recently where I had a KH24 for muni but didnt want to buy a new uni for trials… I just bought a 20 inch wheel set and mounted it in my KH24 frame … it looks a bit of a “mongrel” but it was an ecomical solution to the problem
on the subject of winter trials tires I would stay away from the Maxxis Creepy Crawler and Monty Eagle Claw. They both use the same rubber compound which actually freezes once you get below -20 or so. When the tires are frozen they crack a bunch and wear quickly while offering nearly zero grip.
I have had good results riding a Luna tire down past -40, I have one studded for winter trials but really haven’t used it much the last few years. Lost of people don’t like the Luna in summer though (I prefer a MEC)
for more information on trials tires check out this thread, more than you ever wanted to know about 19" tires.
on second thought, ignore all that. ride what you got/get. If you loose some grip when it’s -20 you loose some grip and the cracks don’t really affect the tires performance, it just looks bad. How often are the kids going to be riding when it is that cold out anyway?
oh and don’t worry about the pedals. Those new plastic bodied pedals can probably take more falls than traditional metal bodied pedals since they absorb a bit of the shock of hitting a rock etc.
Thanks, saskatchewanian, for all those tips on the tires. It gets down around 10 degrees on average in the winter with some dips below into the negative territory.
Back to the boys. They were out riding my new Nimbus Muni 24" that arrived just today – they’ve only ever rode their Sun 20" — and are now sure they want a trial. They do fine on it, but it’s just a bit too big for them. Will be looking at the Nimbus trials and some Koxx unis I heard are on sale.
Much depends on the snow itself, slush is generally a slippery mess, ice is ice, nice packed snow can be a nice ride, but in terms of doing “trials” on snow, that would require a shovel. Going for a ride in the snow, any tire will work, softer rubber works best, low pressure is your best bet, my fav tire is not something that won’t fit on your uni (Larry 3.8).
Any idea for you and the boys if you want to maintain a snow free area:
Get a big tarp and cover the area to keep it dry, then you simply pull back the tarp and you can ride. The bigger the tarp, the bigger the riding area
