Which should I do, or can I do both with one unicycle? Oak Mountain State Park is only 15-20 minutes away from my house. My local skate park got taken down, but there are still plenty of obstacles for trials in my area. Is it possible to do both with one unicycle, or will a larger wheel on a muni make trials harder, if not impossible?
i love riding MUni on my kh 20. i would get a trials unicycle if you were going to buy one
A 20 inch trials unicycle is a bit slow for MUni. A larger wheel is a lot more fun if you’re focusing more on rolling forward than hopping around.
Cruising speed on a 20" uni with 135mm cranks is comparable to normal walking speed.
On the other hand, pure trials is a lot easier with the smaller+lighter wheel.
Of course, some people take their trials unicycle, go out in the woods, and hop around on the logs/rocks, and call it MUni, but that’s still trials.
You could consider getting a good strong trials unicycle (like a KH or a K1) and something cheaper(but still decent) with a larger wheel, and then you have the best of most worlds, but I’ve still always wanted a KH 29 for going out on some of my local bike trails…
20" is wayyyy too slow for muni. Unless it is extremely technical (but then it’s basically a trials course anyways) I even feel like my 24" is really slow sometimes.
As far as I’m concerned, muni doesn’t start being really fun until at LEAST 24". If I had to choose between a 20" and a 24", I wouldn’t… just get both =)
And don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t do trials-like obstacles on a 24"
If you’re going to be learning how to ride as well, I would recommend a 20", I think they are easier to learn on. Then save up some $ and by the time you learn how to ride well, you can buy a 24"
I think the exact opposite about this wee lil’ snippet but agree with the rest of what you said. 'course, I learned on a freestyle uni, not a trials uni.
I dunno, it just seems to me that the faster 24" would be easier to learn on.
Please note that I’m probably biased because I learned on a freestyle uni, and I suppose you can only learn once, so it’s impossible to know unless you run a massive scientific study about it on hundreds of people.
Based on his other posts, this guy already knows how to ride, but not much more, so I’ll say that if you want to learn more hopping-oriented stuff, get the trials uni first, I guess.
Yes a 24 or bigger rolls over stuff a lot better than a trials, but I think a big part is your personal style, how good your hops are (esp rolling, w/ either foot forward), and what you are used to.
A while ago my Muni was in the shop, so I borrowed a trials. It was rediculous. Things I could roll over w/o thinking about them, but now I was UPDing over the smallest bumps. (my hopping skills suuuuuuck BIG time).
I’ve been on rides w/ kids who roll their trials through most of the same stuff as the rest of us on 24’s and could easily throw in a quick hop everywhere else still w/ good flow and not a huge difficulty of keeping up.
Kind of like this kid.
Jt00- I’d prob get a trials first (largely because of all those inexpensive Koxx’s around right now). When you get more experience you will now what type of Muni you like to do what your trails are like and get the best Muni for that.
A 24x3 is good at knarly trals, riding man made obstacles, drops, and trials on the side of the trail, but not all that fast.
A 29 rolls better, faster, and good for XC to moderat teck. Can feel zippy in comparison to a 24x3 esp w/ a narrowish tire (2.2-2.3)
A 26 is obviously between the two but depending on the tire size its more like one or the other.
Is that time by car, bike, or your current uni (size?). If it’s more than a couple miles I’d starp the uni to my backpack and ride my b*ke to the trailhead. You are prob close to getting your drivers permit. Talk your parents into you getting a scooter/motorcycle and you can ride trails just about anywhere (locally of course 
)
A significant advantage of using a 24" (or 26", as I have been lately) for trials is the ability to get to more spots. Riding a 20" 3 or 5 miles on flat ground is pretty terrible, compared to a larger wheel. When I was a young lad I went on a lot of trials rides (on my 24") at the local university, about 3 miles away from home. I always just rode over and back, or just around exploring the neighborhood, hitting what I found and otherwise just riding new places, trying to find more. It’s something I’ve been trying to get back into lately rather than just driving to a spot, riding for awhile, and then driving home.
One of the great things about unicycles is that you can easily carry a smaller unicycle (such as a 20" trials) while riding a larger unicycle (like a 36er), even without any secondary equipment (such as a backpack with unicycle-strapping capabilities).
Your point is invalid.
True, but I’d say if you’re around 6’ tall, learning on a 24" or 20" probably won’t matter too much. The reason I always recommend 20" for learning is that it is easier to notice your mistakes and how the uni works. Also, most people like having a 20" around, even if they move on to larger wheels.
I’ll just chime in here, since I’ve never owned a proper 19" or 20" uni. I pretty much started from scratch on a 24" MUni, but then, I knew I wanted to go offroad from the start.
That being said, I regularly take my 24" to the skate park and can do a fair bit of tricks & trials-y stuff with that. I’m not that great, but have only been riding a short time.
I can easily hop up 30-40cm and do pedal grabs on higher stuff, ride skinnies, jump, gap about 3 feet, etc. Hopping on stuff is not that hard - but hopping on a steep forward or back incline still gives me problems (not sure if that is due to my lack of skill, or if it would be easier on a smaller uni)
I can get around 270 degrees on a hop-spin, and ride up and down all of the hills at the park. Drops, of course, are no problem.
Some things I think would be hard on a 24" would be uni-spins beyond 360, high vertical hops, and tricks that involve moving your legs quickly over the tire (you need to lift your legs higher).
If I were to do it again, I would still choose the 24" for everything. But then again, I’m on the older side, and not into some of the riskier stuff the younger guys can do.
I’ve never ridden a trials uni, so I don’t really know how light or bouncy they are; however, I offer this advice since the previous posts seem to all come from people who began with a smaller uni and worked their way larger. This is a different perspective.
I started on a 24"
I can gap maybe eight feet on the trials uni and maybe five on my MUni. The difference isn´t how far you can jump (though highjumping seat in front is a lot easier on the trials uni) but more the amount of leverage that you have for fine control
Well my 24" is a muni, so it has a big heavy duro tire and tube and everything, but my little K1 20" always feels like a feather compared to all my other uni’s. And I have lately been really into tricks that involve feet on the tire, which are harder on a 24", but if you don’t do those kinds of tricks, then 24 may be a good place to start.
It’s really hard to pick just 1 uni. When I first got into unicycling, I didn’t think I’d end up doing so much muni or getting a 36er, but my uni quiver now has a 20", a 24", a 29" and a 36". I enjoy all of them equally, and would hate to part with any.
Same here, plus a 20" freestyle, a 24" town piddler, and a BC wheel.
This unicycle hobby can get to be quite expensive.
Hey everyone, thanks for the advice. Yes, I can ride and idle, but that’s all for now. My cheap unicycle is killing itself and my crotch again, this time with it’s cheap broken seat. The thing pretty much snapped in half. I think I’m done with this unicycle, next the frame will break probably. So far, a trials looks like my best bet. The time I posted was by car, and yes, I’m getting my license in a couple of months. Any specific suggestions for a 24 or 29" trials uni?
Well not in comparison to like cycling, a top of the line 36er is way cheaper than a top of the line road bike.
I like my investment 
You will have difficulty doing trials on a 29, 29 is really for cross-country Muni, or city commuting
Ok. All I can find are 20" trials unicycles. I’ve checked out every unicycle on unicycle.com and allunicycles.com. Are there other sites for 24" trials unis, or will a 20" be fine?
for 24 look around for street or muni and try to find a balanced solution. (for example the qu-ax 24 Muni might feel a bit too heavy - 8.5kg but that’s what i’m riding at the moment)
I’ve never heard of any company/vendor calling a 24" uni a “trials,” so that’s your problem.
My top four reccomended brands for a MUni are, in order,
Kris Holm, Nimbus, Koxx-1, Torker
I’m considering switching the Nimbus and K1 around considering current prices. I’m also not familar with the Qu-ax MUni, so I can’t comment on it.
qu ax is in the quality range of nimbus/Koxx. maybe a bit on the heavy side but it’s a freaking tank. can take a truckload of punishment.