Nimbus Hatchet 26x4.8, first thoughts

So I got it unboxed and assembled today and was able to do a small amount of riding on it. The 4.8" tire sounds ridiculously wide, but when you actually see it it doesn’t stand out as much as you might think. It just doesn’t look freaky huge like you might think it would. It does make for a big overall diameter however. It may only be a 26er, but I’d say it’s larger in diameter than most 29ers. The frame is really nice. I’m not sure yet on the 170mm cranks. They seem awfully long, but it may be that it needs that kind of leverage. They’re three hole cranks, so I can always use shorter hole. Hopping didn’t seem any better or worse than smaller tired unis.

It does seem prone to autosteer. For me, at around 210 lbs. clothed, 12 psi seemed to be about the right pressure. At 15 it didn’t steer any easier and the bumps were much more noticeable. It came with maybe 7 psi in it and I found that to be unrideable. It just didn’t want to turn. Even with the right pressure, it’s not a nimble machine and you have to use a bit of force to steer it where you want it to go. I didn’t notice a terrible amount of camber, but I also didn’t ride it very far.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a 180mm brake disc on it.

I’m going to take it out riding tomorrow and get a better opinion of it.

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Probably the best option for muni :wink:

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Especially when hopping :wink:

This time of year, maybe, but I’m a free spirit who likes to keep in touch with nature.

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Best watch out if you put a handle saddle on it then, dismounts could become painful… :blush:

Thanks for the honest review, I was on the fence between the hatchet 26 and the Oracle 29, since on paper they have very similar tire circumference. I’m really glad I decided on the Oracle.

As a primary unicycle, I’d choose the Oracle too. I bought the Hatchet because I really want to experience what fat tire unis are like, but I highly doubt it’s going to replace my 24” for most riding.

Im a hatchet fan but dont ride mine often as its more of a novelty than practical even by unicycle standards!

I got a chance to ride it a little on the beach and it did alright in the sand. It didn’t just float over it, but it did traverse places that smaller unicycles would be incapable of. What was really amazing however was it’s rollover ability. It just rolls right over obstacles that would stop a smaller wheel in its tracks and obstacles of 2” or less are barely noticeable. It does feel like it takes a lot of energy to keep moving though.

A few more things I’ve noticed. Tire diameter and width are approximately 29.5"×4 3/8". It’s about 1/2" smaller than the 4.8" it’s advertised at. Maybe with a Clown Shoe rim it might measure up though. I stated before that it didn’t hop any differently than a smaller tire. I was wrong. It likes to hop and does it well. Climbing does not seem to be it’s strong suit, but it doesn’t totally suck at it either. It just can’t hang with a 24" with 150mm cranks when it comes to climbing. Downhill, it’s better than you’d think. It doesn’t maneuver easily, but oftentimes it doesn’t need to. I found myself repeatedly having to take a poor line simply because it didn’t want to make the turn I wanted it to, but then being able to plow right on through anyway. It also just went straight on through a low of soft and marshy terrain that would have been pretty questionable on my 24". I think I could have made it through most of the flooded areas on my 24", but I’m sure I would have fallen at least once and I never fell in the marshy stuff on the Hatchet.

I’m going to have to get it out on the trails I have ridden over and over in the past to get a really good idea of it’s strengths and weaknesses, but so far I am liking it a lot.

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Thank you for your detailed reviews, so far! I’m really interested to read your comparison(s) after you ride the familiar trails you mentioned.

Also, I’m interested in your thoughts of the 26” Hatchet vs your 27.5 with the Duro Crux.

I ended up selling the 27.5 shortly after getting the Duro Crux, (although I liked the tire and I still have it). My real problem there is that I had just become disillusioned with the Quax 27.5. I didn’t like the limited crank selection and with the Duro Crux on it the frame had enough flex that the tire would rub while climbing. Now I’m a big guy and I like to challenge myself with very difficult climbs and a 3.25" tire is the largest recommended by Quax, but for me that was the final straw. It was just a situation where I never really wanted to ride it because it seemed like my 24" did everything better. I’m not necessarily done with the 27.5" wheel size, but I think I am done with Quax. That’s not to say it’s a bad company or that they have a bad product, but I’m a Clyde that likes longer cranks and that is not the market Quax is oriented towards.

Comparing the two tires and the ride experience, the Duro Crux is more like a slightly oversized version of a normal unicycle tire. It’s going to give you a tiny bit more cushion and rollover ability, a little bit more autosteer, more tire weight, etc…but you’re just at the fatter end of what a typical muni rides like. The ‘4.8’ version of the Hatchet on the other hand is something different. The rollover ability just seems unreal. You don’t have to hop a curb, you can just power over it. Logs 5" in diameter can just be ridden over in the same way. Most roots are almost unnoticeable. All this comes at a cost however as it takes noticeably more energy to pedal and it simply does not want to turn easily. I don’t think it climbs any worse than my 27.5 did, but I think that was largely due to the cranks.

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My crux also rubs the frame on my Oracle 29 when I climb hard, and that’s not with me giving it everything. I’m also a big rider (220). I think I probably won’t keep the tire on it.

I’m not really sure that the amount of drag from the Duro Crux rubbing was significant enough to cause any issues. It’s more like I could hear that “bvvvv” sound as I climbed and it annoyed me enough that I was thinking, “you know what, I’m through with this.” About a day later I stripped the M41 handle saddle and the Shimano Deore brake off my Quax, put it back to roughly stock form and posted it for sale.

There are still aspects of the Quax design that I like. The crank setup is about 100g lighter than ISIS and the seatpost seems to be good too. What I prefer about ISIS is that there are a huge amount of crank sizes and q factors out there. If you want 75mm or 170mm cranks, you can get them. If you want a high q crank, those are available too. If you want to rotate your cranks rather than your tire to minimize wear then that’s easy. On the Quax/Shimano cranks they are fixed in one location.

I’m having that problem on my brand new Oracle 27.5 w Duro Crux 3.25, except I don’t even have to climb. I am a new rider that probably moved up to a muni before really being ready (but I really wanted it!)… I get the rub for the first few strokes after mounting, or when close to UPDing and putting more pressure to try to correct, I’m not good enough to even do climbs yet so I really wonder how bad it would be with that kind of force, because it doesn’t seem like I am really putting that much pressure on them right now.
I am heavy though, just under 240lbs/108kgs

UDC support chat suggested maybe my bearing caps loosened a little bit while breaking in, so I tried tightening them a bit, although they seemed fairly tight to start, I’m thinking I probably shouldn’t tighten them more than I have for risk of too much clamping force on the bearings. Tightening did reduce the severity of the rub some but it still happens.
I had been wondering if others have this issue and sounds like some do.
I was thinking i might be better off just moving down to a 3.0 to give more clearance.
The M4O Tecno’s come with a 3.0 I noticed, so I figured they must work well enough!
A little smaller Tire would probably be good for me anyways, this seemed like quite a large jump up from my 24 Club and definitely taking me time to adjust.

Yeah, it’s surprising how much flex there can be, because it looked like there was around 1/2" of clearance to either side of the tire.

My own rule of thumb for bearing caps is to tighten them down snug with my hand close to the axis of the allen wrench and using only my fingertips. You’re not supposed to overtighten them.

That’s exactly how I tighten mine now, after tightening them too much once and wondering for a few miles what I could have possibly done to make this much resistance in the wheel🙄

Have you checked for proper and even spoke tension?

Sort of…I just plucked them all like guitar strings to make sure they all felt/sounded snug (they did). I’ve never really had to do any spoke maintenance so I am not real familiar with proper technique here)
It has very little time/ distance on it, maybe 3-4km total of gentle beginner street riding although I did try a couple small wall assisted hops to get an idea of the feel of it.
Also didn’t mean to hijak Duff’s hatchet thread, so I will make a new one!

For spokes, a good way to check tension is to push them together where they cross over in the mid point between the hub and the rim but a bit closer to the wheel side where they separate. You’ll be able to gauge the tension by how easily they move and get a feel as you rotate the wheel around for the average amount of wiggle.

If you notice a massive difference in tension it may need correction. Generally new wheels loosen up a bit after the first few rides.

PM if you’d like and I can send you a few decent tutorials about how to correct it if there is an issue

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