I got my first taste of Muni today, and now I definitely have a deeper appreciation for those that excel at it. I took my 26" torker lx and did some trail riding, complete with big rocks, tree roots and sand, what a workout!
My friend was on a 24" KH Muni and he let me try it out for a couple minutes; the difference was night and day!! It seemed that the heavier wheel created enough rotating inertia and momentum that the thing practically sped up by itself, which brings me to my question.
How much difference does wheel size make on a muni? the 24" rolled along just fine, as did the 26. Yet going up hills proved to be a little more difficult than I thought it would be.
I’m debating whether to get a 24" or pickup a 29" muni. Does anyone know any differences (besides the obvious ride height and wheel size) That I should be aware of? like how easy it is to go up a hill (or go down for that matter) on a 24" versus a 29? I do not want to worry about flying downhill either, and I feel that a larger wheel size would be a perfect way to do this. Any suggestions or ideas? I’m not too concerned with hopping and dropping, maybe a little bit here and there but overall it will not be part of the trails I ride.
If you’re more into distance, a 29er is your thing. If your into taking anything that a trail could through at you, a 24 would be what you need. I like the 24" size, but I like more of the hardcore type riding. (Half trials/half trail)
From your description, I’d say go with a 29er. I ride mine a lot more than I ride my 24, but it does restrict me a little (I’ll walk some sections that I would ride on my 24 when I’m on the 29, but I’m not the gutsiest rider around, either). If you get a brake, you can ride down about anything you can ride on a 24, in my experience.
You could also split the difference, and get a Nimbus 26 muni (but I’d upgrade to Moment cranks). The frames are nice, have brake bosses, and the Nimbus hub and rim are very good. One of my sons rides one of these, and likes it a lot.
They are both super fun. The 24 is more like a tank, and hits things hard and bounces over stuff. The 29 is fast, rolls over a bunch of stuff I have to hop on my 24, and swoops through corners. I agree that the 26 Nimbus MUni would be a nice alternative, and I have wondered about it myself. I don’t know about getting the Moments though due to the new Nimbus Venture cranks that the MUni has stock. I haven’t heard much about the new cranks, but they are supposedly much better than the old stock cranks in every way.
If you really want a Kris Holm, the word on the street is that there will be a 26" offering before long.
Fixed that for you
There are plenty of threads on here discussing the advantages and disadvantages of various MUni wheel sizes.
[QUOTE=saskatchewanian;1210568]
Fixed that for you
I actually heard from the owner of the German municycle.com he will get the new KH26 frames and rims as early as beginning of april! So if that’s correct it won’t be long at all:)
we are both right 
Personally I am a little biased towards the 26" size because that is what I am used to. I think it is an underutilized size but hopefully the new KH26 will help fix that
I’m looking more towards a 26"
I like the 26" lx I have, it was cruising along faster than my friend’s 24, however My biggest question has to do with the 29", I’m just afriad I will be walking more than riding up hills and through some treacherous stretches, that and the fact that leverage works against you going up hill.
I just don’t want to get a 29 and then not be able to tackle some of the hills or drops or rocky stretches that I would like to. Decisions decisions.
I have a Nimbus 24 with 150 moments that I have been riding since Xmas and a KH29 that I recently acquired from UDC on sale. When I first rode the KH29 Muni, there was definitely a pucker-factor on drops due to being higher up. Also, I found that I would launch further on UPD’s. All of this is becoming less of an issue as I get used to it. The 29 has a higher cruising speed, but takes a little more to rev-up. The 24 is much more agile feeling (I kept falling forward when I first got on the 29). The bigger tire on the 24 (and lower pressure 18psi) make the 24 more comfy on the rough stuff, compared to the smaller tire on the 29 (higher pressure 24psi). Fewer pedal-to-rock incidents on the 29 from being higher. As far as up hills, there are gradual uphills that I can ride on both and steeper, rockier ones that I don’t stand a chance with either one. As far as downhill, the 24 is better for rocky, multi-drop sections. I have lost traction with 29 in those situations (not to mention the pucker-factor). If you want to ride more technical trails, and a lot of downhill get the 24, if you are riding moderately rough trails for longer distance, get the 29. I think the 24 is probably the safest bet for starting out. (Can’t comment on the 26 since I have not ridden)
KH26 will be the perfect compromise, I think. You can run fat tires like Duro, hookworm, try-all stiky and lots more. All though both the 24" and the 29" are great unicycles for their specific areas of xc or muni riding too. But the most versatile one should be the 26". When you add a KH/Schlumpf hub to that you get theultimate muni-xc experience. That’s what I’m going for anyways. But of course there will be things you can’t do with that setup which are still possible on a 24"… I’d just wait for the new KH frame and rim and build a muni from that.
I have used my 29" mostly on roads, and I don’t find it much more difficult to go up the hills than the 24". I find the inertia of the bigger wheel helps you not getting stuck with the pedals in the vertical position, which I found more common when going up on the 24". But to get that inertia, you have to go faster, so it’s definitely not as nimble if you are trying to go around rocks and such.
What’s more scary on my 29" is going downhill though. As long as you can roll it through, not a problem, but the inertia works against you when you want to keep very tight control on the speed (in the technical sections for example). It’s quite a bit more work to try to keep it under control downhill than the 24".
From your description of trails though, I’d think your 26" as a perfect middle-ground, although I’ve never tried that size. If you’re still on the default torker tire, maybe experiment with a few bigger tires if you can.
26" tire
currently I just have a 26" mtb Tire on my uni, It is not very wide, And I am not sure If I can get a nice fat tire on the stock rim. If I can (I can only assume a wider and more reinforced tire is a bit heavier than the one I have now) I hope it will help with the inertia and momentum I felt on my friend’s KH, I think I am going to stick with a 26, I can speed along and still get a decent size tire on it.
OK as a 26" MUni rider I feel it is my responsibility to point out some short comings of the 26" size.
Assuming you are using a 3" tire on a properly wide rim a 26er will be heavier than either a 24 or 29. For this reason it might be the toughest to climb with but it will be the most stable as is awesome for bombing down hills and just plowing over whatever happens to be in your way from rocks to roots to porcupines and small dogs.
On further thought weight is pretty much the only real disadvantage of a 26X3. It floats better in sand, mud and loose terrain. makes a great snow uni, provides you with countless MTB rims, tubes and tires if you want to change your setup and you would be hard pressed to find a bike shop that does not have a ready replacement for a spoke you just broke.
To me the only advantage of a 24 was in weight and maybe some very fine control when going slow. I would like to get a 29er for more XC type riding with lots of climbing but am otherwise really happy with my 26er.
Sticking with a 26"
That settles it, the Nimbus 26" is the next in line. I like the fact that 26" roms tubes and tires are readily available. When I was riding my friend’s KH I seriously could not believe the momentum generated and I felt that I could mow down any pesky rabbits patches of looser dirt. Besides, the extra weight in the wheel is just a better training aid for when I use smaller unis, I’ll be able to fly.
Did I mention there’s gonna be a KH26? I would wait for that one. Nimbus will be cheaper though.