Hi.
Just watched some videos about the kh29 and was wondering, how well does the 29er roll over roots, logs and rock campared to a 24?
I have worked out that a 29er with 150s is equal to a 24 with 125s in turning force and speed. This is a problem for me as I find 125s unridable for singletrack - they just don’t give me enough torque to power over rocks, roots and logs. Will the extra momentum (inertia if you’re a phisics nazi) and rolling capabilities of a 29er compensate for this? Or will it be just as useless as my muni with 125s?
I’ve never trued a 29" so far, but i have a 20" and 24" Qu-Ax Luxus that i did try XC before i got the 26" Muni, for XC the 150 cranks are okay for me (but if there are some uphills or downhills i’d like to try 165mm some time, are try training my leg muscles).
I think that the added momentum and the greater diameter may help with 150’s on a 29". Be sure to get the right tire for your kind of riding.
I have a 24x3.0, a 29x2.4 and a 36er. All of them I use exclusively for off road.
Rolling over stuf is a only a little bit better on the 29er, because you can run a 24x3.0 tire at lower pressure. A 36er is really good at rolling over roots.
You are right about crank length and wheel sizes, the control of the unicycle has a lot to do with the ratio of wheelsize / cranklength.
The extra speed helps with rolling over things.
What you can do is put longer cranks on the 29er, I have 170’s. This gives great torque and control, and I can do nearly as much with the 29er as with my 24.
170’s are not so much fun on easy trials, but that is what I use the 36er for.
When you change crank length, you must ride at least several hours with it to get used to it.
Of course you should get a 29er; then you have two unicycles, which is twice as good as one!
Whether a 29er is better or worse than a 24 depends on the ride. 29ers are ideal for trails with a lot of non-technical or lightly-technical riding with a few sections of significantly technical stuff. 29ers are a lot more fun than 24s on easy trails. But if you’re doing hops and drops, you’ll probably enjoy the 24 more.
I ride technical stuff on a 29er, I also ride technical stuff on an Oregon and a 26er, it just depends on what you mean by technical and how you like to ride.
I ride a 29er most of the time, the trails I ride are very rooty and rocky, steep ups and downs, I roll everything; I’m not a hopper. The 29er is fast and smooth, probably the most common muni choice for riding any significant distance on trails.
If you want to hop, a 26er would be a compromise, but it won’t be as fast or as smooth. I ride a 26er when it’s nasty or I feel like doing some short hard stuff.
Ok so it will be just as good as a 24 apart from on very techincal stuff (how techincal is that?).
My main concern is that I won’t have enough power to roll over the rocks (big and rounded, but still requires thought on a 24) that ar efound on the trails I ride - you see why I’m asking if the momentum will be suficient.
I think it will be ok I juat have to be sure - i don’t have much money at the moment.
Both with 150’s. I sorta prefer the 24 most of the time. Better riders than me might prefer the 29, but really, it’s only virtue is it’s a bit faster. Always harder to ride in the rough.
If it’s speed you want , save up and get a 36. The 29 isn’t much faster than the 24, but a 36 will blow it’s doors off. That’s why you almost never see 24’s with doors anymore.
Compared to a 29", a 24" is more of a trials uni than a trail uni, though lots of people use them as their dedicated trail uni, for me the 24" is way to slow and twitchy. On the 29" I can roll most anything and maintain speed, whereas the 24" requires hopping in order to clear the same section of trails. If you want speed, get a bigger wheel, then keep the 24" for other stuff.
Yup. Though the tire is a factor; we used to ride old-school 24s with 1.75 tires. That was a completely different riding experience compared to a 24 x 3" downhill tire. Plus those are closer to 26" diameter. It’s amazing what you can roll one of those wheels over/through, if you work at it.
My main ride is a 24. While it was waiting repairs I rode a 26" (thanks again Tholub) for a few weeks. Both had 170’s.
On stuff that I could basically role w/ the 24, it was easier and took less effort w/ the bigger wheel. Parts that were at the edge of my skill were harder, usually because I chickened out because of being up higher and going faster.
Also parts that I wasn’t rolling at a somewhat constant rate were harder. I attribute this to the higher center of gravity and the added inertia was working against instead of for me.
And yet only slightly heavier than my DX. I didn’t use a scale but I’m guessing .5-.75 #'s, and that’s w/ the stock 2.6" tire.
I attribute the fact that small bumps (like gravel on the trail) I would barely feel to the larger wheel. Even w/ a 3" tire on my 24 those tiny bumbs are easily noticable. I bet 29er w/ a thinner tire would be more and less, respectively, of the same as it was w/ the 26 vs. 24 for rolling over bumps.
When I went back to the 24 it did seem really small and twitchy. In a couple of rides I got used to it again and realized why I’ve stuck to that size.
The bigger the wheel, the better it’ll ride over obstacles and the more it will “smooth out” the trail, so in theory a 36er is even better than a 29er
I rode a 36er off road, it did ride smoothly, but between the effective inches pedaled with each stroke and the high COG, it was not esy to ride on anything technical; I also hit my head on limbs more often
A 29er is a great sized muni for most riding conditions, a 26er is a tad slower and a tad more agile, a 24" is a lot slower and a lot more agile, so it really just depends on your planned use for the 29er.
There are a fair number of people who ride 24" for everything, even for distance, but to me riding a 24" for anything but short distance tech and trail style trials, is like taking a BMX bike to a mountain bike race.
Unlike mountain biking, you really o need more than one wheel size to “do it all”. My size preferences are 26 and 29. And yeah, if you wanna ride with the 29ers on tech stuff, you better learn to hop cuz that little wheel ain’t rolling the big stuff
Well i’ve been doing some research (thanks guys) both on and of unicyclist.com.
I think a 29er will be fine for what I ride - I just don’t think I am fine for it (fitness).
Over the past few weekends I’ve been riding 125’s on a 24 - man it’s tiring/imposible.
I know over roots rocks etc… the roll-ability of a 29er will counteract it’s higher ‘gear’ ratio but will the larger wheel help with rolling resistance? I was riding a dirt (moist but not mud) trail the other day and it was hard with 125’s and a soft tyre - see where a smoother rolling wheel would help?
If you’re stuggling on a 24", a 29er will be harder. Part of your problem may be short cranks, so try some longer cranks first (135-150). Also, drop your tire pressure as low as you can go, judge this by hopping and not getting rim hits (bottoming out), so 12-14psi on a Duro 3" for example.
If you were killing it on the 24 and wanted to go faster and have more “roll over”, then a bigger wheel could help. Bumping up wheel sizes tends to make things harder initially, as well there are always pros and cons for each wheel size. A 24" is a much easier wheel size to manipulate than a 29", a 29" rolls over things easier than a 24".
