I don’t much care for the 1.5 inch high pressure ‘Primo’ tire that’s on my 26" Yuni, a unicycle that I’d like to use for a very short home-work commute. The slender, high pressure tire seems too twitchy or hard to control on rough and broken sidewalks. My guess is that that a wider, heavier, lower pressure tire would markedly improve the ridability of the unicycle. I don’t want to put a knobby, mountain-bike-type tire on the unicycle, and so a tire with a smoother tread design would be preferred. Finally, my guess is that the Yuni frame will probably accept a 2.0" tire, but I don’t think that there’s going to be enough clearance for a larger tire (with the 26" wheelset). I’d appreciate any and all recommendations from experienced riders! Thanks! --carl (North Dakota)
I’m a big fan of this tire but for every yay there is usualy a nay when it comes to tires. If I were you I would try and ride a bunch of other peoples tires and see what you enjoy. My guess is alot of people will recommend getting a big 3 inch muni tire, although this is a fun tire, it is definatly overkill for commuting and will add alot of weight that is pointless. If you put the Hookworm at about 40-50 PSI then I’m sure it will be just what you are looking for.
Re: Opinions Wanted: Best 26" road tire…
The Big Apple range from Schwalbe is considered by many to be the best
unicycle road tyre. It’s best known in its incarnation of 28" x 2.35",
to make a socalled 29’er. But they also have a 26 x 2.00 version. That
one is likely to fit on your frame. Maybe even the wider and higher 26
x 2.35 fits, that would be even better. I have a 28" Yuni (Nimbus)
frame and the wider tyre does fit easily, with about 1 cm to spare on
each of the three sides.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“I’m slowly but surely stealing Wales and bringing it back to my house on the wheel, frame and cranks of my muni. - phil”
A Maxxis Holy Roller transformed my 26. Grippy enough for off road use, but smooth enough for riding on tarmac. Curved cross section for easy steering. I’m not at home at the moment to check, so I’m not sure if it’s 2.4" or 2.5" - something like that - but it’s an excellent tyre.
Try this one. I used it way back when I was learning to ride on the 26" Pashley, but I haven’t used it since I bought the 20" uni. I’m pretty sure it will fit your needs. It’s available in the USA too.
If your frame allows, pick up a Big Apple, they’re basically baloons made of Kevlar which go on your rim. Higher tire pressure is needed when riding on road camber, but it’s really quite a nice tire. Throws the rainwater off nicely too.
All that said, my experience comes from the 29’er version of the tire, but the 26 should be similar if having less ‘cruise control’ characteristics.
Thanks for many suggestions! I’m a little weary of selecting a tire that might be a tad too big. My caution concerns not only clearance (which measures 47.5mm from outside rim edge to fork center), but also the narrow width of the rim (which is only 22mm). It seems to me that Maxxis and Schwalbe tire options are both too big my rim and do not provide for adequate clearance. I’ve tried a 26 x 2.1" tire on the rim but I’m not happy with (a) the slim clearance as well as (b) the way the width of the tire far exceeds the width of the rim. Can anyone provide rim to fork center measurements for Schwalbe and Maxxis tires? Thanks! --carl
26 inches is a very common size for tires. Tkae your uni down to your LBS and have them put on different tire that are big enough, and go with what you want them to do.
Jerrick-- Your advice is certainly good. But, quite candidly, I’ve learned from experience that different types or models of tires sometimes have different tracking eccentricities, which are especially noticeable on certain canted or cambered surfaces. These eccentricities may not necessarily be evident to a bicyclist, especially one who rides on pavement, sidewalks, or bikepaths, but these can be cumbersome (or perhaps even troublesome) to a unicyclist.
The upshot is that I’m not just interested on finding a tire that’ll fit the 26" Yuni frame, although that certainly is a prerequisite: I’m particularly keen on finding the “perfect” tire (or certainly a tire that possesses above average to excellent handling abilities on most paved surfaces), at least from an experienced unicyclist’s perspective. Thanks for your help! --carl
I know what you mean, kinda. I have heard of a lot of people having troubles with the uni going right or left while riding because of the way the road and the tire is shaped, but I myself have never had a problem with it.
The cool thing about most bike shops, if they are patient enough, they will let you try out the tire, like ride in the parking lot to see how it feels, but even that isnt enough to see how it will do on other roads.
Good luck finding your perfect tire, there has to be at least one of them out there. =p
Re: Opinions Wanted: Best 26" road tire…
On Sun, 13 Aug 2006 09:45:09 -0500, bufo_boreas wrote:
>the narrow width of the rim (which is only 22mm).
My Big Apple is also on a rim of 22 mm (inside width). The official
recommendation for the BA is a wider rim, don’t remember how much,
maybe 28 mm minimum? The narrow rim may contribute to the sideways
tendency on crowned roads. High pressure improves that but doesn’t
completely eliminate it.
>It seems to me that
>Maxxis and Schwalbe tire options are both too big my rim and do not
>provide for adequate clearance. I’ve tried a 26 x 2.1" tire on the rim
>but I’m not happy with (a) the slim clearance as well as (b) the way
>the width of the tire far exceeds the width of the rim.
Big Apple exists in a 2.00" wide version, so slightly smaller than the
tyre you tried. How large were the clearances with that 2.1" tyre
anyway, horizontal and vertical?
> Can anyone
>provide rim to fork center measurements for Schwalbe and Maxxis tires?
I don’t understand the question.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“I’m slowly but surely stealing Wales and bringing it back to my house on the wheel, frame and cranks of my muni. - phil”
Klaas-- Thanks for your helpful advice. I’m encouraged to learn that the 2.0" Big Apple tires seems to work well with the narrow 22mm. That was a concern. I think that your hypothesis about a possible relationship between handling ability (i.e., tire performance) and rim width makes sense. Of course tire pressure and tread design are also pertinent variables here.
I asked, “Can anyone provide rim to fork center measurements for Schwalbe and Maxxis tires?” What I probably should have said was that I measured the vertical distance between the outer edge of the the mounted rim and the bottom of the fork on the unicycle frame (which was 47.5mm). I was hoping that those who had Big Apple, Hookworm, or Holy Roller tires would be able to provide me with the measurements of their inflated tire (edge of rim to top of tire) so I could get some notion of clearance. I’ll do that today with the two 26" tires (two tires that are too large for the frame). More later. Thanks! --carl
Re: Opinions Wanted: Best 26" road tire…
On Mon, 14 Aug 2006 06:31:53 -0500, bufo_boreas wrote:
>I’m encouraged to learn that
>the 2.0" Big Apple tires seems to work well with the narrow 22mm.
Mine is even a 2.35" Big Apple.
>I was hoping that those who had Big Apple, Hookworm, or Holy
>Roller tires would be able to provide me with the measurements of their
>inflated tire (edge of rim to top of tire)
On both my non-geared Nimbus 29’er and my Schlumpf 29’er, said
measurement is about 60 mm. (Remember these are 28 x 2.35 tyres.) It’s
a difficult dimension to measure accurately.
On the Schlumpf, the rim seems even narrower than on the Nimbus but I
can’t measure the rim inside width with the tyre on. Florian Schlumpf
should be able to tell. I can’t tell if the road crown sensitivity is
worse on the Schlumpf, because the unicycles are not really comparable
anyway.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“I’m slowly but surely stealing Wales and bringing it back to my house on the wheel, frame and cranks of my muni. - phil”