I have a KH26 with a Maxxis High Roller 2.7 tire, overall it measures 27 1/2 " tall. When I look at the pictures on UDC and KHU there seems to be a lot of room between the top of the tire and the frame, on mine there isn’t room for my skinny finger to fit. The specs said it was a 2.5 Maxxis High Roller, maybe that is what is pictured, could there be that much difference between a 2.5 and a 2.7 tire?
Is this typical? Would the Maxxis Ardent 29 X 2.4 that comes on the KH29 measure 29" or a lot more like the High Roller 26 X 2.7?
I’m still learning and I want to ride off road eventually, but for now I want to be able to ride on the road and the miles of bike paths around the lakes here with my wife on her mtb and the dog running or riding in her cart. We do this on bikes now, but I want to do it on a unicycle. I eventually want a 36, but was going to learn in stages and not make too big of a jump at once. If my 26" is really a 27 1/2", it doesn’t make much sense to get a 29 for a 1 1/2" gain, I might as well get a 36.
I’ll gladly admit that my skill level probably isn’t yet up to getting a 36, I’m just starting to get a little more comfortable on the 26, I can ride 1/2 mile is about all. Making progress all of the time. I have ten hours on the 20" I learned on and now only about 7-8 more on the 26. I know I should ride more before moving up again, but I have got the bug bad and really want to try a larger wheel soon. I already wear all of the safety gear.
I’m ready to get one, so talk me in to it or talk me out of it. I figure that at the worst, if I get it and find out I’m not ready, I can keep practicing on the 26 longer until I am ready. When I think I’m ready for the trails, I’ll use the 26 again. I was asking for advice on crank lengths for a 36 in another thread.
Thanks for the advice to put weight on the seat, I’m sure it would have taken me a long time to figure that out on my own.
I have been riding a Nimbus 26" with my family for years and regularly do 10-15km rides on it. Last summer I borrowed someone’s 29er and decided that the difference wasn’t enough to have both, this year I bought the KH36.
I’d say stay with what you have and improve your skills. Get comfortable off-road and work on other skills that will translate when you finally get that 36".
I agree. Get more comfy on the 26. I would say you should feel like you can keep going forever without falling (at least on the road) on the 26 before bothering with the 36–it will be a big jump.
I also wouldn’t bother with a 29, as the difference wouldn’t be worth it. I don’t ever plan on getting a 26, because I have a 29, though I do have a 19 and a 24.
The 1.5 inch gain you mention is spurious - you’re comparing your 26 with a tyre to the measurement of the 29 without. The other thing to consider is that a 26 with a big, heavy tyre (and the High Roller 2.7 is a heavy DH tyre, I rode with one on my 26 for a while and swapped it for the smaller but much lighter Hans Dampf) is a very different animal to a 29er with a lighter tyre, even if the overall radius isn’t much different. The 29er would be lighter and faster in many situations, and arguably a better option for XC and mixed riding situations than either a 26 or 36.
Here you’re getting into the insanity of bike rim and tire sizing. Don’t look for logical explanations. The reality is that the 26" rim in common use (there’s more than one size of rim called 26") has an Effective Rim Diameter (ERD) of 541mm, and the 29" (also known as 700c) rim in common use has an ERD of 608.5mm. So the rim diameter difference is 67.5mm, or a little over 2.5". Tire widths are an approximation of the size when inflated, so a 29x2.4 should be about 67.5mm bigger than a 26x2.4, but only about 60mm bigger than a 26x2.7.
We should really be looking at BSD not ERD, ‘26"’ = 559mm (~22") and ‘29"’ = 622mm (~24.5"). ERD varies between rims and is used to calculate spoke length.
Sheldon Brown has a great article on the history of bike tire sizing.
