I’m not entirely sure where to post this… I posted in the tutorials section, but figured I’d cover my bases… I am very new to the world of unicycling, having just been given an old Norco… I need a new seat and tire, but I’m not quite sure how to go about buying them… Can I go to a bike shop and get a bike tire? Or are there specialty tires for unicycles?
Its a 24" wheel, and i would be mostly starting off with regular street unicycling. Perhaps in time I’d work up to off-road cycling.
I live in Canada, where I know Unicycling is not a huge thing…
Can anyone give me advice? I don’t have a lot of cash to spend, so if there are more frugal options, I’d appreciate it.
Just go to the your bike shop as for an affordable 24" tire that will work well on pavement and still offer some traction for getting into off road riding. They will have something for you, or at least be able to order it.
As for specific tires, which to get is preference and opinion. Many like the Maxxis “Hookworm”. Its smooth for road, and still has enough volume and traction for mild offroad.
Probably because he doesn’t know what a Unicon is, because he’s new. Also it’s really hard to tell if a country is “huge” in unicycling if you can drive around most parts of it for a whole year and possibly never see anyone riding one. I never see anybody, unless I’ve arranged to meet them. That is, almost never. Average is less than once a year!
Only in Japan and maybe Germany is unicycling more mainstream, and probably only in Japan could it be called huge. Canada still doesn’t even have a national unicycling organization…
For tire shopping, 24" is a bit of an odd size so it may be hit & miss at the bike shop. Avoid tires with any kinds of knobbies on them, as they’re generally not great for riding around on pavement. Check out the web sites to see what they have.
In Canada you can drive around all over the place and almost never see ANYONE!
Considering how big we are, and how few people there are, I would say that unicycling is in fact pretty big here. The fact that we don’t have large organizations has more to do with the fact that we are mad spread out.
I wouldn’t compare us to Germany or Japan, for sure, but I think that Canada has a much larger unicycle community than people think. The problem is that everyone here is a closet unicyclist.
ntappin, I don’t really think unicycling is huge. I’ve lived in Canada my whole life, and only seen unicyclists in the circus. I’ve never seen a unicyclist just riding around.
Maybe you think it’s huge because you’re surrounded by other unicyclists.
I feel I must clarify. I have not experienced much in the way of unicycling in my years of living in Canada… and I’ve lived in Toronto, one of the busiest cities.
So, yes, to me, the unexperienced, unicycling does not appear to be a huge hit in Canada. I may be wrong. And hell, I’m going to try to make it more mainstream (at least with those whom I know).
Thanks AgentQ and the rest who have given me advice on the tires thus far.
JohnFoss, you’re right, I have no clue as to what a Unicon is…
Ntappin, I don’t fully agree with : “In Canada you can drive around all over the place and almost never see ANYONE!”. I’ve been all over the country and, trust me I always see people… But if you mean on the highways connecting cities, well, you’re right, you rarely see anyone (who is not driving a car…). Besides the point…
Yes, lucky you! you live in a city that actually has a unicycle club, and possibly the only unicycle store in all of Canada! Let Darren recommend a tire for you.