Well, I finally did it! I rode a 36" unicycle for the first time this past weekend. It was a Nimbus Titan, and not a Nightfox, so we had a to get a bit creative with my short 29" inseam. Thankfully, there were already short cranks on it (115mm), but the KH Freeride saddle was too thick, so I put on a Nimbus Gel saddle and lowered the seatpost as low as it would go, and it was perfect.
It was very hard to get up on the first time, even with help, and it seemed almost impossible to ride at first. It took a bit for my muscles to figure out what to do with such a large wheel and short cranks, but like most things uni-related, it just clicked after a bit, and I was able to ride with no issues.
To be honest, I’ve been pretty critical of the 36". I’ve thought it was a bit silly for commuting purposes, and I’ve considered it to be about the most dangerous unicycle there is. All of the severe injuries I hear about from personal friends and online are from 36" crashes. Riding one, however, made a believer out of me! It was soooo smooth and a completely different experience. I felt like I could get some momentum going on that huge wheel, and with the small cranks, it just hummed over the ground.
As I have a friend who rides one daily right past my house, I’ve got to get one now and ride with him. In fact, this is all his fault. He’s been pressing me for months, and I’ve been resisting and criticizing, but since he let me reconfigure his a bit so I could try it, I’m hooked. Naturally, the wifey is not thrilled that I want to spend even more money on a hobby, but I think I’m wearing her down. The entire point is for exercise (right, right?), and with a 4 and half mile trail running right past our house and someone to ride it with, it seems like a no-brainer to me. Can I get a amen?
I’m impressed you took to the 115mm cranks so quickly too, lots of seasoned 36er riders struggle with anything that short! Then again, those with shorter legs seem to take to shorter cranks pretty well, so maybe there’s something to that
Funny! This is really dorky, but I’ve been working with micro controllers and documenting my circuit diagrams. I was thinking of a t-shirt showing a simple circuit diagram with the resistor highlighted and a caption that reads, “Resistance it NOT futile.”
I guess time will tell, but I’m mainly interested in the 36" for simple exercise and having a buddy to ride with regularly. I don’t think it’s exciting enough to keep my interest like the muni does, unless I turn into UniGeezer and take it off road!
Looks like the UDC Canada site has it for cheaper than the US site, and when I showed my wife the total cost of a Nimbus Titan from the Canada site, she seems about to cave. I think her inner bargain shopper spirit was piqued!
Thanks! I was kind of surprised myself. It could be my shorter legs. Whatever it was, I was very happy! After riding around the park a bit (at a much faster rate than I’m used to on a unicycle), my legs were a little sore, so I’m sure it will take some time to adjust to short cranks for any serious riding, but at least I know I can ride it. Freemounting is going to be a different story. I was too chicken to try. A few times I stood there with one foot on the pedal and my hand on the saddle handle, but I couldn’t bring myself to try. It was really intimidating! Of course when I get one, I won’t be able to sleep until I successfully freemount it at least once!
Congrats and thanks for sharing your experience. I have a 31" inseam and have wondered whether I could ride a standard 36er. Last week I had a major face plant while speeding around on my 29er. That incident makes me question whether I should ride a 36er. Not sure I can handle the speed. Perhaps I need a full face helmet
I don’t have them attached at the moment. Tried them for a few rides last year and didn’t feel confident enough with them. I ride on narrow city streets around here and feel I need to be very confident so that I can handle traffic. Funny thing is, my accident happened on a mix use trail. The pavement on that trail is worse than some streets. I’ve been meaning to pull the handle bars out again but just haven’t gotten around to it.
I recently change my rim from the Nimbus Dominator to a smaller bike rim with a firm tire. Perhaps those two things along with a higher speed contributed to the crash. It happened so fast that I can’t even remember having any specific thoughts about attempting to run it out. The wheel must have stop in the pothole so I had all the forward momentum. Did a similar thing while riding muni but didn’t actually hit my face.
Can I get a amen?
