Yesterday, I decided that it was about time to actually give my SHaKH NaS a real test. Until now, I haven’t taken it off-road, because it’s just too dang hot here right now! But I couldn’t wait. So Tron and I took our Munis up onto a trail that we’ve ridden numerous times before, and took off.
My new unicycle rode like a dream. There was a drop of a foot or two near the beginning of the ride that I UPD’d on last time I tried it, so it was time to try out the KH seat. I dropped off, felt that moment of silence where the tire was in the air, and then hit and rolled out of it, no problem. This may not seem like a huge accomplishment to anyone else, but I’ve never had a uni that would handle so well.
Then we hit some of the hills. The hills on this trail are extremely steep with big rocks imbedded in the loose dirt, and some loose gravel strewn in for the fun of it. This is where the 170 cranks and the 2.6" tire really came in handy. A couple of times, I thought I was going to have to dismount because I had stalled at the bottom of my pedaling, but then realized I could push down a little more to get me over that position. I made it over some stuff I didn’t think I could ever do. What a rush!
Most of my UPD’s yesterday were not from rolling over something I couldn’t handle, but from the huge platform pedals hitting a rock on the side of the trail. I’ll get used to the higher q-factor and longer crank arms, eventually. I was thinking of going with shorter cranks, but when I saw what I could make it up, I think I’ll stick with the longer ones!
We had to abort our ride after 1.2 miles because it was so dang hot, and neither one of us was feeling too good, and we were about to hit a really steep downhill that we’d have to go back up on the way back, but I would definfitely say that the SHaKH NaS is a qualified success. Having a good unicycle doesn’t automatically make one a good unicyclist, but it sure helps!
Thank you Steve Howard.