I’m thinking of making a commuter, but wondering if I put on a really light rim and small tire if it would be too quick and weard to ride. Thinking of a 700c Mavic Open Pro rim and a Michelin 700X23c tire. Or would you use somthing heavier? I currently only have a 20"KH, but I know when I put more then say 30 psi in the tire it gets really fast. Is it somthing that a person would get used to?
i just made a uni like that. not 700c x 23 though, that would be to skinny for cracks in the sidewalks around here. i went with a semi-slick Michilen 700x38 and a rim made for cycle cross (Salsa Delgato-X)
unless i was commuting on a super nice path i would kill a open Pro MAvic rim, there just to light and would either fold or flat spot. a cross rim is still plenty light and strong.
i’ll try and post my thread about it tonite. the ride is very unique. heres a picture to tide you over.
What size cranks are you using on that rig Jagur?
Looking forward to the review of your ride.
That looks nice 
I bet that turns out to be alot of fun to ride.
Using a road bike-type wheel will get you a thin, light and good-looking uni. It will handle a little squirlly compared to a wider tire, but will have low friction (with high tire pressure). This will make it more of a bumpy ride, and as Jagur said, more susceptible to cracks or other pavement issues.
But major drawback of a skinny tire for unicycles is that skinny generally equals smaller, which equals lower gear. That’s why I like my Schwalbe Big Apple tire for going places. I don’t know the size comparison, but it’s probably on the order of 2" larger than a comparable road bike tire. Also, it gives a nicer ride over all the bumps you may encounter. This is useful on a unicycle, where it’s harder to lift your butt up when crossing those bumps.
yeah it is and its quite strange to ride a wheel so light…Erin, they are 127mm
Re: Road wheel
On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 14:40:46 -0600, “Corona” wrote:
>I’m thinking of making a commuter, but wondering if I put on a really
>light rim and small tire if it would be too quick and weard to ride.
>Thinking of a 700c Mavic Open Pro rim and a Michelin 700X23c tire. Or
>would you use somthing heavier? I currently only have a 20"KH, but I
>know when I put more then say 30 psi in the tire it gets really fast.
>Is it somthing that a person would get used to?
In my opinion, a skinny tyre is not the way to go on a commuter
unicycle for several reasons including:
-
It is less comfortable.
-
You need to pay more attention to road irregularities especially on
a unicycle. -
Unlike many people think, a skinny tyre has MORE rolling resistance
than a fatter tyre at the same pressure. I have made posts about this
before. -
Like John says, the circumference is smaller with the same size
rim, another factor why it is slower.
Road racing bicyclists use thin tyres mainly because of lower air
resistance. That is not much of a factor on a unicycle. I have ridden
my 700c rim unicycle with a 35 mm tyre and with a 60 mm tyre. Greatly
prefer the latter (fatter) for that matter.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
people who unicycle are shyly exhibitionistic - GILD
comfort is relative to tyres as well as spokes, frames and seats.
over ruff ground yeah, but not on smooth pavment and dont forget about acceration. off the line i think i could smoke a Schwallbe.
smaller than a 29er tyre yes, but bigger when going from a 24 or 26. that statment is bunk, there will always be “bigger”
disagree, its rolling resistance that is greatly decreased.
One of our basketball players has a 700c wheel with a thin tire, probably 700x25 or maybe 700x28. His unicycle is very quick and responsive to ride; it’s not at all like riding a Big Apple, but I think it would work fine as a commuter. (He also uses it for commuting).
There is also a rider who uses a thin 700c tire for the Mount Diablo Challenge (20km, 1000m climb). He is competitive with the Coker riders, probably because it weighs so much less.
I too am really interested in a light 29’er. I love how nimble they feel to ride and as well I am drawn to their slick road bike appearance.
I have run a Kenda Kwest on an Alex rim for a while and then got a Big Apple for which I stole the rim. Though I adore how the BA rides, still, to me, it feels like a mini Coker and gradually I started to miss my nimble 28 inch wheel which I had dubbed the ‘Gazelle’. Therefore I am in the process of getting a stronger rim for the BA and will grab the Alex rim back and set up my Gazelle again as a second 29’er and a light weight option.
I feel that the BA has much more rolling momentum than the Gazelle set up. And I agree with Jagur that the lighter set ups are much quicker off the mark. Though the BA provides a more forgiving ride, the smaller, lighter tire is definitly faster to respond when on the road and definitly give the feeling of almost flying when I ride it.
Both uni’s will have their place in my uni stable.
I ride a 700X28c tire on my long distance uni. A picture of it can be seen here.
My rationale for the skinny tire is also in that thread, 10 or 11 posts down. Since then I got a CF seat base, rail adaptor and toe clips. I only use the toe clips on long rides though. Personally, I think it handles much better than wide tired unis I’ve ridden, and rising off the seat for bumps is really no big deal. Like I say in the thread linked to above, I think having to assess the road ahead of you makes it more interesting.
Oh yeah, and I got a thorn-resistant tube for it (I didn’t know they made them for high pressure tires), and haven’t had a flat since.
Thorn resistant tube sounds like a good idea…I will have to look around for one of those…did you just score it in a LBS?
Re: Road wheel
On Wed, 16 Feb 2005 03:53:40 -0600, “jagur” wrote:
> comfort is relative to tyres as well as spokes, frames and seats.
Yes but keeping everything else the same, the skinnier tyre is less
cushy and hence less comfortable.
>> 3. Unlike many people think, a skinny tyre has MORE rolling resistance
> over ruff ground yeah, but not on smooth pavment
Yes also on smooth pavement! I researched this some years ago and made
a post about it. Look in <http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/24092>
towards the bottom of the first page.
>and dont forget about
>acceration.
There you have a point.
>off the line i think i could smoke a Schwallbe.
Smoke me a kipper.
Two persons of equal skill, both on 700c rims, both fully accustomed
to their ride. One has a skinny tyre, one has a Big Apple. The one on
the Big Apple is faster.
>> Road racing bicyclists use thin tyres mainly because of lower air
>> resistance
> disagree, its rolling resistance that is greatly decreased.
Not so, see above.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
people who unicycle are shyly exhibitionistic - GILD
I can accept the idea that a wide tire has less rolling resistance than a skinny tire at the same tire pressure. But they don’t have the same tire pressure; I run my skinnies at 120psi, my Big Apple at 60-80psi.
That is way higher than you need in order to avoid snake bites, so I assume you do this for the low rolling resistance.
I’m not sure if the Big Apple could be run at 120 psi. If it technically can, then the comfort would be better than with the skinny at the same pressure (because there is more ‘suspension travel’) and the rolling resistance would be less. If you like your skinny at 120, you should like the BA at 120 more. (Unless you love bumpy, then stick to your skinny.)
Klaas Bil
I doubt the Big Apple could run at 120psi; it has probably at least 3 times the surface area of a 700x25, which means the sidewalls and bead must hold 3 times the force that the skinnier tire does, assuming the same tire pressure.