Seatpost or “hole-less” lift handle?
Seat or handle?
Nice - hole-less handle is it =)
haha, I win! But I could only guess since you couldn’t actually tell from the pic.
I have zero experience myself. I’m only reiterating things both Ken and Joe have posted on this site several times. This is also assumuning we are talking about a G29 Muni.
At the time I read their statements, soon after (Ithink ~1-1.5 years) Florian released the original cotterless hub, Ken and Joe were amung the few riders running geared and the only ones doing a fair amount of it off road that I know of. I didn’t at the time, but now I know Kris was also probably testing the prototype splined G-hub over rough terrain then, I think just on a 24 at that time.
I posted some close-up pics of my preferred t-bar setup on the 26" in this German thread: Euer setup - #889 by munirocks
You might want to give that a try before shortening the bar too much.
I’ve got my T bar set up on my KH24 almost like Kris’s. Handlebar works great for going in high gear and climbing in normal gear. I’ve gotten used to using the handlebar with the brake on the downhills when I need it. Great setup. I cutoff a lot of the excess T Bar but left enough that I can adjust it further out if I ever need to (going to full on road mode with my road slicks perhaps?).
NOTE I don’t know if it’s been mentioned already, but more than likely you’re going to want to trim off some of the ends on the top of the T, with the bar ends that close to the saddle you’ll probably hit them with your knees on the stock setup. I cut off perhaps 1/2" on either side of the top of the T and that eliminated the knee bump problem but still left enough room to get both hands on there easily.
[I just wish I had more time/places to ride! Once again I’m in running training mode, this time for the Badwater 135 in July so not much time to ride, just some XC days… Still I’m going to be out in Colorado in late July (after Badwater) and have some fun rides planned, including another 14er descent!]
Rob
Tire diameters?
Can someone post or point me to a thread/post giving the diameters of the three following tire sizes. Feel free to include the specific tire name.
24x3
26x2.6
29x2.5
I’d like to see how much difference we are talking about in terms of circumference. Thanks in advance for any help.
Take care,
Brent
Anyone ride muni in Orlando?
Sorry, I didn’t realise my opinion was required 
I’m not sure what I’ve said in the past, but having now spent a bit of time both a 29’er GUni and 29’er Unguni…I hope I don’t contradict myself.
I’d say each has its place.
My preference for commuting, travelling and unitouring is a 29" Unguni, usually with 100mm cranks. That gets me up to speed on the flat without being too uncomfortable, and I can climb pretty well with it. It’s lightweight and easy to travel with, and near bombproof (pretty important for Unitouring). It’s my everyday Uni. Slap on 145 or 150mm cranks and it’s a pretty good XC Uni too.
The Gunis (I have a 29" and 36") usually only come out for racing. I have done one unitour on a 29" Guni (Induni 2009), but it was because I happened to have it with me rather than a conscious decision. I like things that are simple and 100% reliable. Not that a well maintained GUni can’t be reliable, but if you have problems with it- losing buttons, leaking oil, or any mechanical problem it is more difficult to deal with.
On the road, a 29" GUni/125mm is pretty fast. I find the low gear a little bit too low for most things, but I haven’t tried shorter cranks, so there might be a bit of bias there. It’s more like a single speed unicycle than a two speed (ie, I stay in high gear all the time when riding on road).
Off-Road, I’ve used the 29’er Guni/150mm a few times. I like the high gear for flat gravel roads. If I had a choice of an XC Guni though, I’d probably go for a 26" GUni- I think it would give a more useful range of gearing. The high gear is just a little too high, and the low gear is also just a little too high on a 29"/150mm GUni.
I haven’t tried a 24" Guni- that’s probably something Napalm and Corbin could comment on.
This is all pretty subjective of course- it depends on your riding style and terrain.
I rode in a multilap eight hour endurance race today, one half of the ride was on a KH29 FR x 2.4 Ardent running 170 cranks, the second half of the ride was on a Surly Conundrum x 3.8 Larry running 170 cranks.
I started on the 29er, I was strong and riding well, felt like the tall wheel and narrow tire were perfect choices for the mix of single and double track, no problems with climbs through rocky and rooty section, did very well in the mud.
For lap two I pulled out the Surly/Larry, what a beast, it was probably a mistake, but once we were down the trail there was no turning back. The Surly/arry is a lot of uni, requires a lot of power and concentration, which is hard when you’re tired.
Compared to the 29er/Ardent, I found that the Larry was a smoother over roots and rocks, as you’d expect, about the same for climbing, maybe a tad less nimble, and downhill was actually a little more challenging as the Larry tends to move around on it’s own, whereas the Ardent tracks nicely and takes feedback better.
The 29er/Ardent was a better choice for a race, not to skinny for technical muni, fast enough that I was able to hang with bikers on the climbs, light and nimble so it doen’t wear you out. I wouldn’t hesitate to ride the 29er on any trail unless it was like a West Shore DH run.
That Ardent 29 x 2.4 is sweet, running 20psi and it handles so well, kills it is the mud, no rim hits, and really fast.
Sounds like a fun but challenging event. 170’s seem like they’d just be super long for an 8 hour race! Your legs must’ve been tired just from spinning in such big circles!
Had you given thought o using shorter cranks, or having dual holes? I would think 150’s would be plenty long for a wide variety of terrain and climbing as well. But again, it’s personal preference.
Forgot to ask, were there any other unicyclists in the event, and how many miles did you cover in the 8 hours? Can you give more details about the event, and maybe a link to a course map and where it was held? And did you get any pics or video of your riding? Congrats on the race! 
I just thought it would be nice to get input from an expert rider who has a lot of experience riding geared off road and on. 
I remember a write up you did (on this site?) of a really grueling XC race that some called the toughest mtb race. (50 km?). Anyhow you said in a variety of situations it’s just as fast or faster to spin in low gear, off road (faster in milld to very technical sections in 1st and smooth fire roads in 2nd).
In some other thread Joe said about the same thing but added that it was faster in second on easy downhills (whereas you said it’s faster to stuck to flatish smooth fire roads in 2nd). Part of the reason both of you gave for it being hard to ride faster in 2nd in anything but easy terrain is the instablity caused by the hub.
Now, I think I remember someone saying w/ 165 cranks its harder than w/ 150’s or less, to reach the shift button.
The long cranks did not make my legs tired any more than a short crank. There’s no time for changing pedals. I would have liked a 26 guni for the flats and easier downhills. The reason I run long cranks is for power on steep climbs. This course had a lot of climbing and was very technical. The buddy I rode with was using shorter cranks and he had to walk hills that I could climb.
Here’s a link, no pics unless someone else got some. Two 8.5 miles laps, first lap was 2:45, second lap was 3:00, got a huge thigh cramp a mile from the end of lap two, was able to walk it off and climb the last hill before riding into the finish.
It was fun, no issues with being in a mix with bikers racers, easy to move, bikers were very respectful and complimentary. Fastest bikers completed eight laps.
Nice work Ben!
I’d have stuck with shorter cranks as well, I figure I’m better off walking up some hills and saving some energy rather than trying to grind up them all, plus I can be much faster in the flats and downs with shorter cranks (150s). It’s good to get out of the saddle every now and then; especially in an endurance race. For just doing MUni on a training ride (not a race) then yeah I’d definitely be trying to grind my way up everything and not walking! Anyhow, sounds like a real tough route!
Unfortunately the 12 hour race I’d planned to do next month was canceled (Dirt, Sweat and Gears 12 hour)… 
Oh well, I’ll just have to plan some of my own adventures this summer when I’m out in Colorado. I know of a few routes I’d like to try.
My ultimate goal is to ride everything, just like a cyclist, so I really don’t want to walk. Granted, walking a hill can be less tiring than riding that same hill, but riding a hill is faster by far than walking.
I don’t find long cranks to be tiring, maybe it’s just me, or maybe I’ve just goten used to them, but I’m fast with long cranks and still have the power for climbing.
I’d take a guni for sure, in fact after the weekend race I am re-considering my next uni purchase, currently looking at getting an Oregon, but now leaning toward a KH 26 Guni, esp since I already have a Surly Conundrum.
Anyone interested in buying a cherry, blinged out KH 36?
I will If I can ever sell my b*ke
Goal of riding everything is exactly why I’m setting up a 26 guni. I think 29 is the most versatile ungeared, and expect 26 guni to be most versatile overall uni for riding everything.
In my normal riding my goal is to ride everything, however in a race like that the goal is to get as many laps as possible so that means you should walk some of the steeper ups (I’ve seen plenty of pro’s do the same thing at 12-24 hr mtn bike races). No need to be a purist! Plus on a lot of hills, the ones steep enough to justify walking, I know I can fast hike up the hill much faster than I can ride! But to each their own. Like others have said, go with the biggest wheel, shortest cranks you can get away with in a race. If the hill is too steep to ride you’re going to be walking anyways so no need for long cranks…