Don’t know if anyone has noticed… but Torker has now come out with a 29er! It has an alloy frame so it’s ‘super lite’ and comes in 20", 24" and the 29er. The only downside is that it has a curved crown (I like flat). Here it is: the Unistar AX
Yeah theres a 3 page post back a bit today, and why would you want a flat crowned 29er? Round keeps your knees from hitting and it doesnt seem likely that you would be doing freestyle on it
Wow, I’m not much for 29er’s though. I perfer a coker as a large wheel.
dude… people always talk about hiiting your knees… i have never once, in three years ever hit my knees on the frame…
Chase
I have never hit the frame with me knees only once in a realy bad fall:D
That is a cool frame but yes, I prefer a coker also.
I prefer KH 29er and Airfoil coker, but i imagine this is a good commuter.
Despite everyone saying they prefer this and that, there are many people that enjoy riding 29ers. I think that thing looks very nice indeed, I think all of these unis would make really good track unis. I would be very interested in putting some grip tape on the crown or maybe some for of tube fasteners and trying them as a freestyle frame. Because it isn’t a round crown it may actualy be not too bad as a freestyle frame. I also notice that the seat although it looks like the LX seat also seems more bulky. Could this be an LX gel seat?
Anyways I am very happy to see that Torker is continuing to try new things. I am actualy considering buying one of them when I find out the price.
I can’t find the price anywhere. They must have just released the product. I like a flat crown on all my unicycles. I, also, would probally rather have a Coker, but you can’t get them anywhere now, so this may be a good alternative since CokerCycles isn’t up yet.
29ers are great machines, and yeah a round crown aint so good for stand up tricks but then neither is a 29er
Okay, I just got an email from the guy at Torker and he said the prototypes pictured on their website were just an example, they are still working on the frame because it “too heavy” and they want to make it “much lighter, yet still retain strength”. So nothing is a done deal yet, he said. Price range is unkown at the moment.
Ah, good to hear. Thanks for the update!
There was a thread on this new Torker line a while ago - it’s interesting to hear how they’re progressing!
The alloy frame is particularly interesting. I have an old Nimbus 29er, which I’ve turned from a commuting vehicle into a fast XC muni - it works very nicely. No splines so you can’t do big drops, but you probably can’t / won’t do huge drops on a big wheel anyhow.
An alloy frame would be an interesting addition - a superlight long distance muni
How fast can a 29er go?
I got my Nimbus 29er (Big Apple 2.35 tyre, 125mm cranks) up to 13.7mph a couple of times. Using 102mm cranks a friend of mine hit 17mph on it - once. I think I’ve managed over 13mph with 150 cranks more recently, since I’m better at spinning now.
Cruising speeds a bit below that. It’s a step toward Coker-like riding, but it’s much cheaper and with more choice of tyres (although a 26" would have even better choice). It also works quite well as a stepping stone: I learnt to love big wheels riding a 29er, then converted the 29er to a muni when I got the 36".
I find a 29er is like a coker for lazy people. I love my 29er for the fact that the thing is super easy to ride. I don’t even feel like I’m trying at all when I’m riding it and I can cruise pretty fast with little difficulty. On my coker I feel like I am actualy putting effort in it, I feel the weight of what I am pushing under my feet.
hmm, maybe you should get a diet coker!
I would love a super light coker but not only can I not afford it I still doubt it would beat the ease of riding a 29er, the difference between the two in ease is like comparing a 24 muni with 150’s to a 20 freestyle with 125’s.
oh, really that much difference?
29er
I love my KH29XC with a Big Apple. I ride it 8 miles on a bikepath every morning at 5:30 with a headlamp before I go to work. All of my riding is on paved surface but I’d like to try it on some nice trails sometime.
My best estimate of speed is probably 7-8 mph over distance because it usually takes me about an hour to ride the 8 miles mentioned. You can probably sprint a little faster up to 11-12 mph if you try. I can certainly ride it faster than I can run–a UPD during a sprint is faster than you can run out of.
Have considered a Coker but really like my 29er. It is a great unicycle, light, travels well, well-constructed and I am excited about the new KH seats that look like somebody is paying attention to the fact that unicycle seats have a lot of room for improvement.
Carey