The Larry Thread

I got my Larry last night, all mounted up, he’s in the car biding his time, going for our first ride in a couple hours, brrrr it’s cold!

I’ll post some pics tonight that show the size difference between the Larry and my 29er Racing Ralph, suffice to say that they are very close in height, but in width the Larry is amazing!

I pumped it up to 15# and rode around in the house. That was way to “stiff”. so I dropped the pressure to 12# it was super absorbent without folding, supportive, nice and sticky, not any heavier than my Duro. It went on the rim easilly, seated well, and spins true. A well made tire for sure.

Apparently there are two Larrys: 120tpi and 27tpi.

I ordered both from Direct Bicycle Parts, but when they arrived the labels had come off so I tool to comparing them and found no apparent difference. I even had my wife and son try to find some difference in the weight, feels, etc… and no one could see any differences. Even the serial numbers were similar :thinking:

The cool thing about ordering from Direct is that you can the 27tpi Larry for $70 shipped :slight_smile:

Who loves Larry?

Amazing tire

Have fun!

A friend named Larry had me help him build the wheel for his new “Larry” tire last week. This week his new “LARRY” unicycle might be complete. He’s been working on finishing the welding up of the new frame. I can’t wait to try it.

Enjoy your “Larry”! What a monster tire!
Joe

Well, I’m not ready to commit to love quite yet. But repeated viewing of pictures on the internet has left me with a strong sense of lust. :smiley:

In addition to pictures of comparative heights between the Larry and the 29er, it would be great to also show the relative heights while the unis are weighted. I realize there’s only one of you, so maybe shots next to a yard stick or something. And info about the tire pressures at the time of the pictures would be great too.

. . . heck, maybe you should take multiple pictures covering a range of tire pressures. And then take a bunch of different pics while riding the Larry in different conditions. And of course you need to switch out the two Larry tires and get pics of both in similar conditions, to make sure we know whether and to what extent there is a difference.

Uh-oh, I might be starting to sound like an internet Larry porn addict. :stuck_out_tongue:

Yes, I confess that I too love a tire named Larry (on a drilled Large Marge rim and Conundrum frame) and it has been a game changer for my off road riding. The KH29 single speed pretty much just sits now that Larry has taken over most trail/MUNI riding. My one complaint is that the tread is relatively “low” when new and the center ridge/tread seems to be wearing down pretty fast - making it less useful in wet/muddy stuff. I didn’t take a picture, but I’d say it got like 200 miles on it or so at this point. Any of you other Larry lovers have this problem??

Brycer1968

Well, I didn’t get to ride on Friday, so my first ride was a big un’, two plus hours of rugged ups and downs at the local spot, which gave me plenty o’ time to come to “grips” with Larry.

I guess this thread outta be on the review forum, but who reads that stuff :wink:

So, first thing, Larry is a beast! Though the weight is less than a Duro, it’s still a whole lot of tire. The tire itself is very well made, mounting easily, quick to seat, and spins very true for a tire that size.

I started off on a paved road, pressure about 12 psi. Larry tire was really wanting to ride down the sidehill, same thing happended when I got onto the singe track, so I dropped the pressure to about 10psi. Keeping in mind that this tire has a huge volume, dropping air pressure to far on the trail would mean hundreds of pumps with my little hand pump in order to gain pressure back; this is not a tire you wanna do a trail flat repair :astonished:

The pressure drop did wonders, which suggests that Larry is very sensitive to pressure. I didn’t run it any lower, though it certainly could be run lower, maybe 8-9psi, but I wanna have a big pump for doing that experiment.

So Larry is a lotta tire, did I already say that? Size wise it reminds me of a Gazz 3", but taller and less tready, so think Gazz but all casing and you got Larry. So, being so tall it rides more like a 29er in terms of pedal turn over. I’m running 165’s and it was far more work to push this uni down the trail than on my KH29 FR. I actually got to thinking that maybe some 170-175’s would be a nice combination.

Climbs? Well, it’s a lot of uni, so even though the big tire rolls over everything, it is still a big tire. Flats and downs are much more reasonable, flows nicely through tough sections, literally makes technical stuff smooth. At one point I was looking down a rooty-rocky gully and thought that it was gonna be a walker, but the Larry just rolled on through. The Larry is so good at smoothing things out that I had to start thinking differently when confronted with obstacles, for instance when I was faced with a narrow perpendicular gully that would normally require a hop, the Larry just rollered across it, amazing!

The Larry reminds me of a 36er in the way it’s hard to start, likely the amount of tread and big diameter, then in the way it handles, it’s more like a slow/heavy 29er. It is very certainly a muni tire, best suited for tech, steep, flats. As an XC tire for long rides, the Larry will wear you out, which is fine with me since my daily rider is the 29er. But when I wanna go do some downhill or ride tech, esp if and I gotta hike anyway, this is by far the best downhiller I have ridden. This tire takes some skill to handle and at times was a bear to keep under wraps, so not a tire for new riders. I don’t know that everyone would like Larry, in some ways it is harder to ride than a Duro Leopard 3" (my prev tire), but if you want the maximum suspension and the ability to roll over anything, Larry is your guy!

Just a few more details: The sidewall was very supportive, though it flexed, it did not fold, even at 10psi and an off angled slow. Though it doesn’t feel as firm as a DH tire, folding issues like I get with the RR 2.4 were not a problem even when bopping down rocky stuff and making off angle drops. Also, though you’d think the tire would be bouncy, it was actually a very damp ride, didn’t bounce going fast down the trail and didn’t rebound off objects.

Direct Bicycle Parts has the Larry in a 27tpi for $70. I ordered the 120tpi and the 27 tpi and couldn’t tell the difference, so $70 is nice deal for sure :slight_smile:

Here are some pics:

Surly 26 with Larry next to a KH 24 with an Intense DH 3"

Surly 26 with Larry next to a KH 29FR with a Racing Ralph 2.4

Some more Larry shots

Is the Larry available in 24"?

Nice wheels.

Nice Santa parrot too.

Nope, ony 26".

Also, you need a really wide frame, so Surly or a custom, can’t imagine a K1 or KH being wide enough. As well, it’s not ust frame width, but crown height, which needs to be quite tall to accomodate the Larry; the Surly allows ~1/2" clearance.

Actual tire width inflated to 10psi = 3.5"

KH 29 frame id = 3"
KH 24 frame id = 3.25"
Surly 26 frame id = 4.5+"
Nimbus Oregon 26 = Josh is riding a Larry in the prototype pictures…

In case anyone is wondering about the Surly frames, they are nice riding, not too stiff, not to flexy, well made as you’d expect from Surly, chromoly steel, two colors (black and champagne).

Might be a nice time to find a Surly before they are all in use or wait for Spring and get the disc brake too :slight_smile:

No! I won’t do it. Good lord, I have 6 unis already! I will be strong and not led to temptation. :smiley:

Hey Andy, all you really need is a rim, frame, and tire, then swap parts with the KH 24 and you’re done :slight_smile:

I retired my Ti 26 to build up the Surly, but I still have my KH 29 for going fast and light. I like how the two (26" Surly and 29er) unis are so distinct in their purpose.

If you start noticing that you can more or less use the 29 in place of the 24, then it’s time to make the 24 into a real muni killer :wink:

Oh, and in case you end up not liking the Larry, you can still run any 26" DH tire on the Large Large rim, which actullay works really well and was my set up until I got a Larry; I ran a Duro Lepard. Munidaddict (Terry) rides a Large Marge on his KH 24.

So I went riding in the snow last night :smiley:

Oh man, does the Larry love snow!!

It was so awesome, running that big ole tire at low pressure (10psi) I was just smoking over everthing, roots, rocks, holes, no slipping, no snow gathering, it was amazing!

I rode out a neighborhood single track that’s fairly technical, then at the end there’s a big downhill, which I was gonna skip, but said “what they the hey” and so down we went…

OMFG! I was hootin’ and hollerin’, it was just too much fun riding down a hill in the snow, so soft and effortless, even when I hit a big hole and went flying, I just skidded on my feet, laughing the whole way.

Larry Loooooves snow :smiley:

i rode in the snow to i was on my muni at 8psi and only slipped on long down hill and i wish i had a fatter tire. tons of snow caked in the tread sounds like you had a better experience than me!

Larry sighting

I was out riding snowy trails on Sunday, and noticed some really wide fresh bike tracks (not me, so I assumed a bike :roll_eyes: ). Looking more carefully, little wedge shapes look kindof familiar. . . is that a Larry?!

Then while I was getting ready to leave, along comes a very wide-looking bike. I wave the guy down to chat, and sure enough, he’s riding a new Salsa Mukluk equipped with Larrys! Despite his degenerative need for two wheels :), the rider was a good guy, and reported that he’s loving the Larrys. He also said he’s got some fat bike friends who run Endomorphs, and that the general opinion is that Larrys are superior.

My impression: these tires are even bigger up close and personal than I had expected. Huge. Enormous. Gotta see 'em to believe it. Wow.

Walking down the street, came across tracks from my friend. Note the width compared to my boot prints and the other bike tracks:

More riding updates for Larry:

Rode today on single track, muddy, rooty, water crossing, ruts, some frozen ground, a really slop fest or at least it would have been with my Duro :smiley:

Seriously, riding a Larry is like cheating, it’s just too friggin easy, just roll through the muck, no slippage, just floats over it all.

I was telling my wife how I was really tired from skiing all weekend, so I just didn’t feel like grabbing the seat as I was riding over some rough terrain, instead I just stood on the pedals and rolled on through. Amazingly, the tire was so accomodating that I rode down some really nasty stuff and no handed all of it with ease.

I’d like to say that I am suddenly a much better rider, but the truth is that the Larry makes stuff easier.

The only down side is, dang, Larry is a beast on steep ups and can be a little taxing and stubborn, so it can take a bit o’ muscle when going slow on the ups.

That said, Larry is nice and nimble on the flats and downs, almost like the tire was designed for muni :slight_smile:

It’s time, really, just make it a Xmas present to yourself :wink:

Hopefully the ones who named this tire don’t know the real definition of ‘Larry’.

Well considering those people are Surly I wouldn’t be more than a little surprised to find out this was no coincidence.

Well, after struggling some steeper hills with the Larry, I decided to upgrade my 165 Moments to something longer. Of course there are not many cranks out there for muni that are longer than 165’s. QuAx make s tubular steel crank in 170 but I can’t find any, so I called Josh at UDC to ask his opinion:

He suggested the QuAx 170, an inexpensive cast cranks that UDC was selling as OEM on their Nimbus unis until they built the Voyageurs.

Though not the strongest cranks, they are much lighter than the Moments and according to Josh, they are strong enough for light muni.

Since I don’t do big drops, I figured they were worth a shot, esp with them being on sale :slight_smile:

So far I have ridden my Larry equipped Surly three times with the 170’s and have had not problems with loosening, bending, etc…

The difference between 165’s and 170’s is amazing, who would have though 5mm could make such a difference!

So, now I’m wondering at 175’s :slight_smile:

BTW, Larry is awesome!

Larry update #23:

I have been riding Larry (Surly Conundrum) all Winter, snow, mud, ice, such awesomeness! Now we’re moving into Spring, so it’s mud, water, slimy stuff, and the awesomeness continues.

Riding Larry is my passion, meanwhile my 36er and 29er lie idle, biding their time in hopes that my Larry obsession will wan. But alas, I do believe that Larry is “the one”.

I don’t find Larry to be too big for XC, though it is a bit more tiring than riding a 29er or 26 x 3. I’ve been riding Larry most of the time (93%), but when I do ride my 29er I don’t feel any faster, though I can throw the KH29 around easier that the Conundrum.

UDC is coming out with the Oregon in April (only one month!), so keep your eyes peeled, this uni will have a disc brake hub, stiff chromoly steel frame, and the capacity for the biggest 26er tire (Larry) as well as the biggest 29er tire (Dissent).

Wait for it, it’ll be awesome!

UDC disc brake MUni

I so hope this is true. I will own one of the 1st off the lot (just like I did with my Impulse) if I have to drive down to Georgia and camp out on the doorstep. I have been bumping the “Prototype” thread (link below) every other week to see if I could get someone to slip up and give an official release date.

Glad to see someone talking about the Oregon in the Larry thread because that is exactly how I would like for Josh to build mine. 26" Large Marge rim with a big old fat Larry tire.