Is it a good idea to get a Nimbus 26" Muni, replace the knobby tire with a Hookworm and use it for learning? This is meant as a step up from the 20" Torker LX I have now. If I go ahead with this, what crank length do I need? Is it easer to learn freemounting and other basic stuff with longer cranks?
Long term I am planning to ride on pavement first and progress toward muni once I am more comfortable with the idea. I like the idea of a bigger wheel on pavement, 20" is kind of slow.
I am at a stage when it feels like if I only got the right gear my progress would be so much faster.
That sounds like a good plan. I would recommend getting 150mm cranks. It’s pretty much the “default” Muni crank size and you’ll have plentyof leverage (control) while also having a set-up where all you have to do is swap out the tire and hit the trails once your comfortable enough to do so.
Make sure you have some good shin guards, gloves, a shoes
yeah just get a hookworm…if you’re gonna be riding on pavement mostly, it will kill the stubs on the tire really quick. when riding my nimbus 26, i try to just avoid pavement.
I learned on a 24" with a 2.5" hookworm, marvelous tire! I just swapped 165mm moment cranks for 150/125 and found that I stall out less and can idle better with the 150s on my 26" muni.
Not necessarily, I expected that I would like the longer cranks because I was used to them on the mountain bike…
I broke the 24 uni and got a 26er. Then I replaced my 165’s with 150s on the 26er… I’m riding 150’s on the 29er and my 36er! (I have dual holes and swap in between 150/125 on the 36er.) I think I just like spinning the smaller cranks.
I also ride the 29er and 36er differently than the muni and I don’t need the leverage there. I guess I’m a 150 guy and prefer the way they feel despite the differences in torque between them. Maybe it’s more about the preferred speed and cadence for each one that leads me to the similar sized cranks. I don’t get it myself.
The longer cranks seem to have dead spots at the top and bottom of each crank stroke and I tend to stall out more with them, so I can’t idle as well. I figure that for Muni when I really need leverage, I should probably be hopping up it anyway! and I haven’t run out of leg so far… I also use brakes so the short cranks don’t piss off the knees on the downhills. I don’t usually need the brakes on the muni with 150s though. while brakes are huge on long, steep down hills with the 36er at speed in the 125’s!
I can’t comment on muni but I tried 165’s on a road 29" and quickly went back down to 150’s. On the 165’s I felt like I was pedalling square (exagerated up and down). 150’s felt much more ‘natural’, felt like they were going in circle and I didn’t feel like I gave up anything on hills.
yep…165s are massive. 150’s will be fine. unless you’re going in like beach type loose sand, or deep mud…or up extremely steep hills regularly…then get the 165’s. but 165s are terrible for distance.
How hard is it going to be to learn on this setup? I am not quite comfortable with the 20" wheel yet (I blame the bent axle :)). It 26" going to be a huge change in difficulty?
try it. The nimbus is a good grab anyway. if you can’t learn on the 26er then you can fall back on the 20. the bigger wheel will move faster, but maybe the speed is what you need.
I would ditch the thought of using a street tire and just go with the Muni setup you think you’ll eventually want. If you want to learn faster you’ve got to put some challenges in front of you.
Before I got my Muni, I was attempting it on my 24" Schwinn trainer. I fell quite a lot and knew right then that Muni was for me, so I got the best Muni I could get and went at it.
I fell even more, but never really thought about it. It was like, wow I can roll over all this stuff! This thing is like riding one of those monster trucks! The sensation is unique and I still haven’t gotten over the feeling to this day after riding 8+ years. I only wish I had started earlier.
The reason I want to start with a street tire is that it will allow me to cruise around alongside my 7 year old when I finally teach her to ride (either a uni or a bike, don’t know what’s going to happen first). I don’t think she’ll be up for riding cross-country until she is a couple of years older. Most dirt trails around here are also very hilly and most flat trails are paved, this is why I started thinking about a street tire set up that I can convert to a muni whenever I feel like it.
I am also wondering if 26" is the right size for what I want to do. I am short, fat and old (5’7" and 170lb) :).
The real advantage of getting a street tire for learning is how fast you’d go through an off road tire. Most off road tires are made of soft rubber to grip the trail better, but that usually means they wear out quickly on paved surfaces. New riders have a tendency to do a lot of twisting as they ride, which also wears down tires pretty fast.
The Hookworm sounds like a good choice. I have one on a 24" Nimbus that is great to ride around on the street and the sidewalk. The 26" is fast enough to keep up with a young bike rider, but as they get more experienced they will bury you.
26 with a hookworm is a great cruising around town combo.
I was going to wait until I had another frame to use but might be talked into selling my old 26 to you. It is an oder Yuni (Nimbus’s predecessor) 26" Montain unicycle. DX32 rim and UDC square taper hub. I have both a hookworm and a 26x3" Duro for it, a few different length cranks to choose from and a few other odds and ends. Throw me a PM if interested.
Argh, too late - I’ve just ordered the whole setup from UDC! I also picked up a pair of plastic Odyssey pedals to practice riding it indoors. Thanks for the offer though!
So I’ve been riding my 26" with the Hookworm on paved trails and even though I can do 9-10miles on it (with cofee/icecream breaks), I’ve been wondering if I could go farther/faster on a bigger wheel. I have not measured my speed but anecdotally I am faster than casual joggers and slower than little kids on small bikes.
Would it make sense for me to upgrade to a 29" or should I just bite the bullet and get a 36er? The Hookworm is ~27" OD so the difference with the 29er is not that big…
29 is good but it is just a baby step over 26. Unless you are going to use the 29 for road and configure the 26 for offroad use the difference is not worth having two.
