Nimbus Muni - 24" or 26"?

Unicycles and Equipment
1

I’m planning the upgrade to my 24" Norco (crap-tastic!) and wanted to get some opinions on wheel size.

I’m thinking of the Nimbus 24" Muni with Moment cranks and a KH Freeride seat.
That sits squarely in my budget but given the fact that I don’t live in the woods and would need to get in my car and drive to find any technical trails, maybe I should go to the 26" instead.

Is the 26" Nimbus Muni weaker or somehow limited where the 24 is not? Is there something else I hadn’t considered?

Granted, the KH stuff is really nice looking and I’d love to save some weight, it’s beyond what I can manage. That said, buying two new uni’s is definitely off my list.

Thanks for your input in advance…
-M

2

i havea 24" and love it. i’ve also riden a 26" and i found theres not much differeces between the two. as some said in another topic some where stick to what you know

3

This is a really popular thread topic :roll_eyes:

Anyways, I’ll chime in cuz I have both sizes. I have owned two Nimbus 26", still have one, and I have both the old and new Nimbus 24" Muni.

For starts, I have been riding muni for one year, I typically ride rocky, rooty single track on varied terrain typical of Appalchia (Tennessee). My style is more XC in that I roll or roll hop over obstacles vs doing trials styles hopping and jumping. My biggest drops are 1-2’. I am 44yo this summer, weigh 200# and would consider my fitness level as high.

I was bouncing back and forth between the two sizes, but have settled on the 26". Both of my munis are set up with 3" tyres, the 24" uses a Intense DH, the 26" uses a Duro Leopard.

I don’t dislike the 24", I rode it 3-4x/week for six months, with a few rides on a KH 29er (me no like for muni), but I decided that a 26" muni might work better for my stye. I built a Nimbus 26" and outfitted it with a 2.5" TRY ALL. I liked the 2.5, but it didn’t have the volume I needed to cushion the ride, so I upgraded to a 3".

I have been riding my 26 x 3 for ~ a month, have not touched my 24" since, having no problems on the same terrain, really have no interest in riding the 24", though it’s still in my stable :slight_smile: When I did take the 24" for a long ride after being on a 26", I felt that the 24" was much twitchier, even after I felt comfortable riding it. I think the 26" is faster and holds a line better than the 24", while still being a capable muni machine.

If I was 20yo and into a more trials styled riding, like my 13yo son, I might ride the 24" exclusively. This isn’t to say that the 26" can’t be used for trials or extreme muni, but the 24" is more agile and easier to handle on terrain where you need to do a lot of maneuvering.

Your size also has a lot to do with which uni is more comfortable. My 13yo is 115#/5’ 8", so to him the 26" muni is more like how a 29er feels to me. If you look at Kris, he can ride anything, but most often rides a 24", but then he’s much smaller than me.

You could get a 26", then get a 24 “second wheel”, so you could enjoy both, but the brakes would only work on the 26".

Also consider crank length and tire choice. I run 165’s on my 26" and 160’s on my 24", though I did run 150’s previously and did fine. A bigger tyre and steeper terrain/more aggressive style suggest a longer crank; brakes are a personally choice.

Another reason to get a 26": Tyre choices are much better, and this will likely be more the case over time since 24’s are becoming less common.

4

Thanks for the input guys!

It does seem to be a popular one but I think there were some changes on the Nimbus 26" in the last couple years the would affect the responses.

Here was my query on Google: nimbus +“26” site:unicyclist.com

@Nurse Ben,
Yes, the thought of going with the 26 and having a 24" ‘second wheel’ crossed my mind, but frames aren’t that expensive and at that point a complete second uni seem easier.

Trials are interesting to me but I’m not sure I’d actually do any. Simple hopping curbs and stuff would likely be the extent of it.

If I go with a 26", would it be worth getting the 137/165 double hole Moments?
I was thinking of double hole 125/150’s If I get the 24" but if I get the 26" wheel, should I get 137/165’s instead?

-Mark

5

I ride 125/150 moments on my Nimbus 24 and KH29. For MUni, I use only the 150 setting. I put on a slick and go to the 125 for paved riding on the KH29. Single hole 150’s would work for the 24, since I never ride it on pavement now that I have the 29. Easy XC and dirt roads are rideable with 125. Unlike, Nurse Ben, I like the 29 for MUni. I’m 6’2’’ 155lbs. Everyone has there personal preferences.

6

sooo true.

also i have 137/165’s on my 24" and they are great. also it really depends on how much offrode riding and on road riding your gona be doing. I use my 24" for both more onride then offroad tho :frowning:

7

Well, that’s it. I’m glad that’s settled.

8

I’ve been riding a borrowed 26" instead of my 24 for a few weeks and I wrote up all the +, -, or different, but I lost my connection :angry: and I’m too lazy to retype it all:o.

Overal, I preffer my 24. If I was more skilled, stronger, and had a brake I might preffer the 26, for my riding (rolling technical). If I was good at hoping I’d stick w/ the 24 and try the hundreds of trials lines I’ve seen on the sides of my trails.

9

Damn, I would have been genuinely interested to read that! I’ll give you an “A” for the effort though!

You mention the brake, does the 26" have a greater tendency to get away from you on steep inclines?

:thinking:

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I have a 24" with 150mm cranks and a 26" with 170" cranks. I like them both for hill climbing but since the 26" doesn’t have a brake, I usually leave it home. I’ve been practicing going backwards on the 26". I had to switch the pedals back to the crummy plastic original pedals to do this, other wise it’s too easy to fall when my feet stick to the pinned pedals.

11

Can you expand on this? Not having tried a 26 I’m wondering why you’d leave it behind in favor of the 24.

-Thanks

12

Both unis I’ve been using have the same crank size (170), so if the cranks are the same length, it is a bit harder, most of the time it’s managable though. It’s only a big isue on REALLY steep (for me) stuff or short steep tech sections, making it harder to go slow and “think” your way through. This, and some other things, would be less of an issue if you had longer cranks on the 26.

I switched my pedals over to the 26 and they felt like they were thicker, giving me the sensation my feet might roll over the front or back of the pedal (never happened) and increasing instability/inconfidence (I noticed this effect from some thick pedals on my 24). Also the pedals felt less grippy, making UPDing on my feet easier, but I’d rather have more grip. That wouldn’t be hard to rectify w/ longer screws, but I left it, knowing I’d switch back to my 24.

13

I don’t think there’s that much difference really between a 24 and 26, both with 3" tyres. Obviously the 26 is a little bit faster, rolls over stuff a little bit easier, but is a little bit heavier. But not much of any of those. The main advantage of 26" rims is the massive tyre choice if you want to use lighter (narrower) xc bike tyres. Oh, and that extra inch of pedal ground clearance is nice when it’s rutty. Personally I prefer a 26 (usually with 3" Duro, sometimes a 2" xc tyre for sticky mud), with 150mm cranks. My riding is mostly stuff where people would use a 29er, but with rocky sections where that fat tyre is nice. People who ride mostly very technical stuff where speed isn’t really an issue tend to go for a 24" for the slightly lower gear and slightly lower weight.

Like somebody said above, this question comes up all the time (I asked it when I was buying my first muni) and there’s no real answer - the differences are too subtle. I went for a 26 and I think I made the right choice for me, but whatever you go for you’ll get used to it pretty quickly and ride the same stuff on either.

Rob

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Like Rob said, it’s a personal preference thing, but I know of a few guys who ride 26ers instead of 24", and we all ride technical trails that require hopping, etc…

I did a three hour single track ride yesterday, it was all roots, rock, mud, up and down, with some steep pitches. I was on my 26er, the kids (13/14 yo) were on 24’s, my son is a better rider than me, but I outclimbed him and was able to overcome more obstacles than him; he did better on the steeper downhills :roll_eyes: He runs a 24 x 3 with 160’s, I run a 26 x 3 with 165’s.

I do think the extra ground clearance is a worthwhile consideration. I hadn’t thought about it until Rob mentioned it, but yesterday I cleaned a section that has been given my trouble and I think it’s due to the ground clearance combined with longer cranks :slight_smile:

I do not think there are any disadvantages to the 26", so if you tend to lean towards speed and prefer to ride over obstacles than hop, but don’t like the 29er offerings, then the 26" is great. It really is a pretty fast ride with a 3" tyre, I regulalrly drop the kids when riding XC and I have longer cranks :astonished:

Quote: You mention the brake, does the 26" have a greater tendency to get away from you on steep inclines?

Maybe, sorta, but not really, it is just a matter of leverage, but in general I increase crank length with wheel diameter and width. I just put a brake on my 26er, it helps when I don’t feel like working hard, then again I walk crazy downhills while my son and his buddy risk injury for film credits :wink:

15

Because of the brakes. My 26 doesn’t have them and downhill is too hard on my knees without them. I am waiting for my 29 to arrive (should be Friday) and I already have brakes ready and waiting for that one. I just hope I’ll be able to free mount.

I love the 26 when I’m riding around the boring flat neighborhood. I can go somewhat faster and turning is easier. The 24 is fun on dirt and especially on the downhills with the brakes.

16

Ah the same old 24" vs. 26" topic all over again! :roll_eyes: It just comes down to what kind of terrain you normally ride. I’d also mention that if you only have one uni, you’d probably get pretty good at riding that uni on whatever terrain you ride! There are very few among us who have the privilege to try out all different sizes of unis and crank/tire combinations to find a “perfect” fit. I’m a big fan of “ride what you brung (sp)”. Long story short I started out with a 26" custom job, then got a KH24 and have never looked back. I’ve used my KH24 on all aspects of trail riding, from true Freeride type riding, to very long distance XC epics (50 miles of single track) so I know, for me, the 24" is the perfect choice. Could I be faster on a different set up? Perhaps, but I’m a runner so “spinning” a lot really doesn’t bother me, actually makes the trail riding feel more like running to me! :slight_smile: I understand that the current trend is towards the 26" as far as tire choices, rim selection etc… (kind of funny since just a few years ago when I came into this sport the trend was the reverse which is why I went from 26 to 24!). Anyhow I’ll ride my 24 until it no longer becomes viable to ride a 24" MUni; then I’ll give a 26er a short again. For me the 24" is ideal because I like to do natural trials mid ride and a 26" is noticeably heavier and taller which is not so good. I suppose I could adapt but… Also, and this is going to be the interesting experiment, I’m about to experiment with a new KH/Schlumpf 24" wheel build. I’m thinking that I’m going to have the best of both worlds, ability to climb well and handle technical terrain in low gear AND perhaps have the ability to ride the easier stuff in overdrive in the “virtual 36er” mode. It seems to me that it could be a wash on which uni would be “faster” over mixed terrain, an ungeared 26 or 29 vs. a geared 24? In any case to each their own.

Ride Gently Out There

17

Internet forums worldwide are exactly that. A rehash of the same old questions. Java vs .Net, Linux vs Windows, AMD vs Intel, LCD vs Plasma etc… (I’m a techie - can you tell?) I’m just doing my part as it becomes relevant to me! :wink:

I think it’s going to come down to the type off terrain I typically ride vs the type of terrain I want to ride. As there’s limited opportunity for me to ride really technical terrain, I’m finding myself leaning towards the 26" camp. There are tougher trails around but the number of times I get out to them will be fewer than the number of times I head out on the nearby groomed trails.
I’d have a lot more fun ankle deep in muck 3 miles into the bush, or learning to hop up rock piles but realistically, it won’t happen that often. It sounds like a 26" muni can do those all things and will be a bit faster / smoother for me on a daily basis riding near my house.

-Mark

BTW for me it’s Java, Linux, Intel, LCD …26"

18

Last time I checked, you could build a 26" guni :roll_eyes:

A 26" is not so much larger than a 24" that you can’t ride trials, esp with a 3" tyre. In fact, I think having a bigger wheel makes some obstacles easier to roll and tracking is better. I can hop my 26 as easilly as my 24, though I like my 24" tyre better (Intense DH vs Duro Leopard).

A 24" is just so dang slow. Maybe a guni would be nice :sunglasses:

19

Yes I “could” build at 26" guni but to do that I’d have to acquire a new frame, rim, hub, cranks, seatpost etc… and that costs $$ I don’t have right now. I’ll admit I was extremely fortunate to obtain a KH/Schlumpf hub as a once in a lifetime “gift” so it’s not like I’m completely in the poor house! :slight_smile: And as you say a 26" is not so much larger than at 24" that it makes much of a difference anyways (I’m looking at this the other way around :wink: ). For the terrain I typically ride I haven’t found any measurable difference between my current 24" and my old “junker” 26" (that’s totally out of commission now) averaging 5-7mph on these trails is about as good anybody could do I’d estimate. As for “slow” I guess it’s relative, I don’t feel slow on my 24" probably because I’m used to spinning faster I guess. Over long enough distance on mixed terrain I think it’s all a wash anyhow; more a question of fitness, calorie uptake and hydration IMHO. My type of activity really involves a large measure of hiking as well, perhaps a 3:1 or 4:1 ratio of riding to hiking. You see most trails I ride are not mtn bike purposed trails, they are tough hiking trails that are now open to riding. So having a nimble and lighter weight uni is key as I have to carry the beast quite a bit!

As for the easier double track and fire roads, once I do have my 24 guni in place that will obviate any speed penalties by allowing me to run in overdrive. Plus, at least for a guni on all mountain type terrain, I think it would be very difficult to run a 26" or 29" tire and take advantage of the overdrive? I know KH has had fantastic results with a 26" guni, but that guy is not human! :slight_smile:

Anyhow it’s not like I didn’t give a 26er a good try, I learned on a Sun 26" and then ran a cobbled together 26er (with 26x3 Gazz) for over a year before I got my KH24. It’s not like I disliked my 26" its just that I like my 24" more.

Too each their own. Does 2" really make that much of a difference? Not that I’ve seen in comparing my 24" vs 26" experience. All things being equal I’ll error on the side of the 24" since it is lighter and I have a hardshell case that I can easily pack it in w/o taking it all apart (like I had to with the old 26")…

20

The consensus seems that, on a 29, it is rare that 2nd gear would be usefull off road and 1:1 woud be just as fast in most situations. So a 26" G-Muni would make sense w/ the slightly shorter gearing.

But according to KH the inertia of a 3" tire on the 26 is problematic in 2nd gear, which is prob why he had the first batch of frames only clearance for a 2.5". But for the rest of us w/ human abilities, that prob isn’t enough tire for the tech stuff, so the setup you’re building is prob ideal.