I’ve had the united 20" trials from unicycle.com (without the profile hub) for three years now, and it is out of comission because I stripped the threads in my hub, welded my third pair of cranks on, and busted my pedal loose in those cranks.
So anyway, I am looking to upgrade!
I need a cycle under 13 lbs, because I am too light for the heavier ones (I tried my friend’s DX). I would like a square frame. I need a fat tire, and a 20". Brakes would be nice, but jesus, if it’s over $700 total, that’s just too much for me right now.
Weight, schmeight, quit lying to yourself. One of the high jump records (87cm) was set on a >16lb 24" muni. Buy components based on strength and perofrmance, then, if you come up with a tie, factor in weight. Furthermore, weight doesn’t make a difference until you start doing large SIF hops. Unless you happen to be doing jumps where you are tucking enough to hit your butt with the tire, a heavy uni will make no real difference.
Before anyone calls me out for being a hypocrate (I ride a 11.5-12lb trials uni), I didn’t buy my components based on weight. If I had, i would be riding a KH 2005 frame and wouldn’t bother with such luxuries as seat foam, aluminum pedals, etc.
People make a huge deal about equipment, but in reality a good rider will still be good on a 16 lb summit unicycle, they just might hop 1/2" lower.
I think he’s thinking of weight as being clumsy and tiresome…
But anyway, if you want cheap, strong, and light, get the Qu-Ax splined trials, for $300. If you had a non-splined trials before, then I doubt you’ll be needing super strong. But the Qu-Ax is plenty strong enough.
I think weight has a lot more effect than you make out. I try basic trials on my 26" muni and I’m dead on my feet in 10 mins, yet I can do it for hours on my 20" onza? It takes a lot more effort to get the same effect on a heavier uni. Someone with a <6kg Trials lasts longer than somone running one with an extra couple of kilos on board. Maybe they get the same results, but not over the same period of time.
Yeah, I have a recommendation. Don’t buy brakes. If you’re riding trials, you won’t need them. Trust me. All I do is ride trials (even natural lines), and a little street. Notice how many sponsored trials riders use brakes on their trials uni’s? That’s right.
That right there will save you money AND weight.
I don’t know what unicycle to recommend to you. I’m not too concerned about weight. I’ve cut down on my weight already. If I wanted more off, I’d have to go with an alum. KH frame. Besides, I’ve spent more than $700 on my unicycle thus far.
Whatever you get, don’t ride it with a Maxxis Tire. My uni may be 11.5-12lbs…but my only complaint is switching from a Luna to a Maxxis tire. Get the Luna instead. There’s more bounce, and less fold-over. Even if it is a little heavier than the Maxxis.
What else can I recommend? Cut down on your seat foam, raise your seat up high, ride with high psi, and angle your seatbase if you can
That’s what’ll make the most difference to your uni, when riding trials. At least that’s what works for me.
What is fold over? I have only used a maxxis in the past, and I like it. Will the seat foam really make a difference in weight? What frame do you have? For that matter, what’s your whole set-up? I think brakes are superfluous for me. Thanks for the help e’rbody
The difference which you are experiencing may not be weight… it’s more likely conditioning and technique. Your technique may be different on your 26"er, which leads you to expend a lot more effort to achieve the same results. I’ve never heard of, nor experienced, such a differential (hours vs. 10 mins) in ride times when all that’s different is the uni.
[SARCASM]
Yes. You should be using an airseat filled with helium to achieve the lightest ride possible.
[/SARCASM]
Your seat and frame set-up, for the most part, does not make a difference in your ride. Once your riding style becomes advanced (big rolling hops, drops, etc) you may develop a liking for a particular seat setup, but your abilities will not depend on it. The frame just holds the seat in place and should have nothing to do with riding, so don’t worry about it at all.
As Gerble noted, most differences will be measured in fractions of an inch. The best riders can grab anyone’s unicycle in a given group, ride off and do the same tricks / ride the same lines.
In short, don’t concern yourself with the details of your setup. If you want to be a better rider, practice, practice, practice and focus on your technique.
Brakes !? Why The F*** Whould U Want Brakes On A Fu****g Trials Uni ? What U R Gonna Brake Doing Gps To Rails ? Do U Ahve A Problem ? Wtf 13 Pounds ? R U High ? Dude I Wanna Shoot My Self Cauz Of U
Well thanks for the input, and practice is definitely my first goal. I wheel walked 30 feet! I took off the pedal that was loose in my welded on cranks, and I’ve been jumping with no pedals and wheel walking. Must ride must ride. I’m just going to buy the parts as I can, and put together something magnificent.
When you’re hopping sideways, or up/on an angled object, you can feel and see the tire visibly “fold over” the side of the rim. You don’t want that to happen. You loose energy. Plus, it makes your moves inaccurate. The Maxxis has thin sidewalls, so it does it quite frequently.
The seat foam isn’t about the weight, first and foremost. When you ride trials you aren’t on the seat all that much. For seat out trials skills, too much foam can be a burden to grip. And when you go to tilt your seat so that your weight is focused on the flat rear portion, too much foam up front can be uncomfortable when the seat’s more angled back. And, a more low-profile approach allows you to raise the height of your seat, and allows you to take it out in front/put back under you more smoothly and easily.
My set-up (Aside from the seat/tire…the rest was bought in late Aug '04):
Seat cover: KH Fusion, black
Seat foam: Chopped KH…Cut down a lot (I’d like to get rid of more foam in the back) from my older first edition KH seat, which I broke the stiffener plate to.
Seat base: Scott Wallis “de-rail” carbon fibre with ‘grips’ for sif skills, and metal inserts so that I can screw my bumper/handle right into the base.
Front handle: Black Kinport
Bumper: Old Miyata, puke green (haha!).
Seat Post: Thompson…chopped down some.
Frame: KH Pro, Canadian made, black (I didn’t want to wait a few months until the Taiwanese ones were back in stock)
Hub/Axle/Cranks: Profile
Pedals: Blue Odyssey Jim C.
Rim: Alex DX 32
Tire: Maxxis Creepy Crawler (It’s been on since October, but won’t make it to the new year…It’s already so worn out, and I haven’t been on it that much…I want the Luna back, and that’s not even that great of a tire)
Aside from needing a new tire, and pedals really soon, I’d maybe eventually like to ride an aluminum frame. I don’t see it as a necessity anytime in the near future though. (Although if someone would give me a free Titanium frame–Could you make that with a longer seat-tube too?–Haha, j/k)
Right, I was somewhat being sarcastic…even to myself. I was just trying to illustrate how that weight as a trials rider doesn’t really matter that much. What makes a difference more to your ride, is how you have all of your parts dialed in for you.
But, I wouldn’t say that doing those things to your unicycle (i.e. cut down foam, tilt seat back, ride with seat up higher, and tire psi up higher) doesn’t help either.
Those things do become necessary with time and practice. Riding seat-in-front with a really low seat, is harder on the knees, than with the seat up high. With the seat lower, you won’t be jumping as high. Also, you’ll be bending farther down, which can cause some back pain too. It’s nice to have the seat “right there” for a trials rider. How high up you go just depends on your personal preference, and whether you’re going to be predominately seat out or not. For myself, I don’t ride with me seat as high as Zack Baldwin does…but it’s not far off.
Riding with a higher pressure=more rebound when you compress the tire (because it takes more force to compress the tire)–Especially if the tire has thicker sidewalls that aid in how bouncy it is to begin with. A higher pressure allows you for less chance of bottoming out, and/or fold over. So you can drop bigger, gap bigger, etc…
So I still do say those issues are more important than a couple pounds,
Evan
