It‘s funny how sometimes people experience the same thing very differently - I keep having the impression that this tire is quite insensible to camber… Just had this very thought on a ride today (okay, it‘s 36“ vs. 32“, but I doubt that it makes a huge difference).
Maybe it‘s all about the pressure. You mention the high pressure, while I‘m riding at somewhere between 2 and 3 bar, probably closer to the lower end of the range (that would be something around 30psi).
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Thank you, Jim!
I have been a little unimpressed with my ability to perform graceful/smooth turns on my 36”, but kept blaming myself when part of the issue may in fact be my tire. I can only continue practicing, but may not be as hard on myself in the future.
The lighter sidewalls on the NR Lite, and slightly thinnner rubber in general means that at low pressures (pressures that might have been absolutely fine on the older NR) it likes to go into corners and not come out of them very easily as the sidewalls start to deflect, but at higher pressures maintains a more rounded profile which is generally better on camber than the non lite version.
At 30PSI I’m quite surprised you find it an acceptable riding experience. How light are you?
Back to the original topic, my personal experience does not align with Jim’s findings, and every single thing I’ve done to reduce the rotational mass of the wheel has been an improvement for me.
I agree with others that much of this is likely down to the type of routes ridden. My riding is mostly semi-urban, with periodic short and sharp hills and a lot of stops for lights/crossings etc.
Acceleration, deceleration, and easy manoeuvrability is therefore really important to me.
Back when the NR Lite came out, I ended up getting mine in a trade with my old NR as the other rider preferred the feel of the additional rotational mass of the old tyre and how it handled in general. Their riding was typically in Cambridge (UK), where there’s pretty reasonable connected cycle infrastructure and it’s flat as a pancake compared to here in Leeds.
I think they’ve since moved to a NR Lite and a carbon rim though.
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I’m in love with my new NR Lite that I’ve been riding for the last year.
I don’t notice any camber difference or any other handling differences.
To me, it just feels like riding my 29+ only I’m on a 36".
I’m 187lbs and ride with 23psi for my cross country trail riding.
A very insightful answer. I haven‘t observed that behaviour. In fact, I wouldn‘t mind to be able to take narrow corners more easily. But I think this leads back to the subject of weight and inertia. Which leads us to:
I think including the 36er, the weight of the whole system is around 70-75kg, sometimes more, depending on what I wear and what‘s in the backpack.
30psi was just a guess. But I do indeed ride at comparatively low pressure on pavement, mostly because of my laziness. I usually do pump the tire to something around 3bar (back when I was younger many tires for my touring bikes wouldn‘t take a lot more pressure anyway). Then I usually ride until it‘s not fun anymore. This is often around 1.5bar or less.
So I‘m used to the „comfy“ ride of underinflated tires. If I pump them harder the ride becomes too rough for my taste.
Thanks for the info. I have been wondering about that for a very long time. When I got my first night rider, I was breaking 3 to 5 spokes a ride. I replaced them by myself and still broke lots of them. I went to a bike shop and had them replace my spokes and broke a bunch more. I finally switched to my old airfoil rim from my original Coker. It is very heavy. I have put on a few hundred miles with no broken spokes at all. I’ll stay with the heavy rim thanks to your experiment.
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Great discussion, and thanks Jim for sharing your experiences with an extra heavy wheel! While reading your detailed description of setup and the ride, I assumed your route was pretty flat. Nope, 600’ (roughly 200m) of up, and you didn’t mind the extra weight? That made me curious. I think you said the extra weight seemed to make it easier to maintain your momentum, with less need to make corrections. Sounds about right.
I am reminded of a tire weight “experiment” that was done in 1979 or so. Floyd Crandall, of the Pontiac Unicyclists of Michigan (a unicycling track star for many years and initial holder of the Guinness 100m record in 1980), and Cathy Fox, of the Paul Fox Unicycle Club of Marion, Ohio, both decided to attempt a century ride and possible Guinness 100 mile record for unicycles. Floyd Crandall had an Amish wagon wheel unicycle, with a hard tire on an all-wood wheel; a unicycle weighing 40-50 pounds. Cathy Fox had a 40" Tom Miller Big Wheel (it wasn’t called the Unicycle Factory untion 1984). This weighed around 25 pounds. These unicycles were made with hand-bent, strong Schwinn Tubular rims, and gray wheelchair rubber for the tire.
Long story short, Floyd pooped out and didn’t complete the 100 miles. Cathy completed the distance, I think around 11 hours or so. She later appeared on the American TV game show To Tell the Truth, as a person who rode 100 miles in a day on a unicycle.
I’m going to assume this was a pretty flat ride, by design, and doesn’t prove anything other than that riding a VERY heavy wheel is going to use quite a bit of energy to manage over such a long distance. I’m sure fitness was also a factor. Floyd was the fastest unicyclist every year for the Track races at the National Unicycle Meets. Cathy was also fast in those short races. This doesn’t have much to do with a 100-mile ride, as the longest race for unicycles at the meets was one mile. But it’s an interesting story.
I imagine the flatter the route, the better you might like a heavier wheel. Especially if you’re not dealing with traffic, or having to stop and start much. Then, as the need to change speeds as well as climb and descend, the less you might like having that extra weight onboard. My old commute to work (flat, lots of bike path) would probably be a good ride for a heavy wheel.
I ride mostly Road and Muni. Most of my rides involve lots of ups and downs, making a heavier wheel less helpful. Especially for Muni, where there are constant speed changes for varying terrain, and plenty of short and long climbs, sometimes steep!
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