At unicycle.com there is a trainer 29" listed for $170. Has anyone bought one or have an opinion on it? I want a bigger uni that I would be easy on.
Its fine if that’s all u can afford, only do road, & few curbs or hills. If u do a lot of curbs or hills you’ll break the cranks at some point (or any replacements). Same on the single wall rim w/ curbs.
I’d save up to at least something like the Drak. That uni could even do a lot of Muni.
Looks like a fine piece of hardware for the price; it’d be great for getting around town.
I just got one. If you go easy on it (as you state), it ought to be fine. It comes with a freestyle tire, but I’ve been riding it on pavement, both smooth and rough, and it is holding up. As skilewis74 said, I wouldn’t expect it to take a lot of extreme stresses. My current riding isn’t all that stressful, though, and it sounds like yours might not be either.
I wanted to see what I’d think of the larger wheel before splashing out on a higher end uni. I also am mindful that if I like the larger wheel, I might want to go on to a 36 and the 29 would collect dust; a phenomenon which has been reported by others.
So far, I like the larger wheel. I had only ridden 125mm cranks before, so the 150s take a little getting used to even though the leverage is about the same as using 125s on my 24. The saddle isn’t great, but it is usable. I was hoping it would be markedly better than my old cheap one, but it is about the same; just newer and thinner. The freestyle pedals are more usable than I thought they’d be, but I’d still like to put some plastic pinned pedals on there to improve grip.
It’s square taper so you’ll need to be careful with it, but in general, UDC makes good stuff, it’s probably worth that.
I bought one about a month ago. I don’t ride it that often, favoring my coker instead, but it is good quality- especially considering the price.
Fyi…
A guy came to our unicycle club at Gasworks with a brand new UDC Trainer 29. We were jumping a 3 stair so he decided to give this a try. He was not a big guy - weighed 150 pounds. One single jump and the wheel became a taco. Is this not a very sad story? So if you get one of these, go very very easy on it, as in, don’t even hop or perhaps even twist very hard with it. Ride on flat, turn, but no twisting or jumping of any sort, and keep a good deal of air in the tire, and as always, keep those cranks very tight.
Didn’t they upgrade the “Trainer” (aside from the 36er) range to have 48-spoke wheels and ISIS hubs earlier this year? Could’ve sworn I saw that newspost.
Turns out they just added 48 spokes, no mention of ISIS. 
Oh well!
Yes, that is a very sad story. I have one of these. I don’t do hops on it or drops of more than a few inches (like five, tops) on it because of the square tapers. Since I don’t own any strong unicycles, I haven’t even learned to do those things. I haven’t tacoed it in the year that I’ve been riding it.
What, specifically, is this twisting? Maybe I’ve done it with impunity just as a part of riding or maybe I’d better not try it either. I have made some pretty tight turns on it, and I idle on it regularly.
I weigh around 140 myself and my backpack surely weighs another 10 some days.
As an aside, the frame has developed some superficial rust spots in that year. Mostly near the bearing holders. Isn’t the chrome plating supposed to thwart that?
Dude, guys…
C’mon its a trainer for learning and casual rides, not for hopping 3 or 4ft up/down in the air. Also, if you dont land right, youll taco a lot of good rims too, if im not mistaken.
I would say the price is fair to the given product.
Guys that know that they’re hooked into unicycling should always buy the best they can afford, in the long run, it saves you money…
Also,if its good, you can always sell and upgrade for even better, right?
Honestly, this is bit much.
I’ve owned this 29er for over 3 years, and it’s covered hundreds of road miles, plenty of XC, rocky fireroads, and a bit of light muni. I’ve climbed/descended many long, steep hills. I weigh 155, and I’ve twisted and hopped a lot. I’ve had zero issues with the rim, hub, cranks, or frame. (And the frame will accomodate a 2.4 tire.)
It’s obviously not a hardcore muni or street machine – and it isn’t marketed or priced as such – so I don’t do jumps or big drops with it. (Don’t really have the skills anyway…)
It’s cheaply priced but not cheaply made. Unless you aspire to be Jacob Spera or Max Schulze – or have piles of extra money lying around – I recommend it.
My only complaint is the stock pedals, but twisteds are only $12.
+1.
Seriously, poor wheel builds have more to do with overall wheel strength than anything. I will concede that the general high quality, and stiffness of modern rims has made the wheel build less important than it used to be, but you can make a decent wheel with a soft rim.
