Maybe I still have to get used to long cranks, but I always seem to be riding off-camber, either leaning to the left a little or to the right. I can never seem to be perfectly upright for very long. I personally think it is caused from riding on knobbies. A smooth wheel stays constant across the surface, but if you get off the middle knobs on a knobbie you have a straight transition to the next set of knobs.
Would lowering my tire pressure possibly help so that the crown of my tire would flatten out a little bit (I am running about 30-35 psi right now)???
Or is this normal and I will move beyond it soon enough?
If you are running a Gazz, I would definately lower the pressure. I run mine @16-18 psi and I weigh 180. I’ve found that when I first got my Muni (and had about 30 psi in the tire), it was almost uncontrollable
I have a KH24 with a Gazz tire and I’ve observed that there are two main factors for controlling the beast. These rules may apply to other 24x3 downhill tires as well.
Tire pressure
Lower pressure seems to increase control. I consider 30-35 to be quite high. Start lowering pressure until you find a comfort zone.
Terrain
The Gazz doesn’t like paved roads but loves to ride in the woods.
Lastly, it will likely take a few weeks to get used to riding the KH24 for all the reasons you can imagine… new tire/rim size, crank length, pedals, different saddle etc.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention how the Gazz doesn’t like pavement (as Jason mentioned). Put it in the dirt, it makes a world of difference in the way it performs!!
Once I wear out the DURO I am going to put on a good hybrid tire because I ride pavement as much as I ride dirt.
Eventually I will get a uni just for street but I’ll have to wait a while or my wife will kill me.
I’m thinking of getting something along those lines, but it looks like it might end up being the new Onza Muni. If there is a way to get the KH24 without paying waaaaay over the odds, I’d definatly be interested.
Zod, your new KH24 probably has some small defect, causing it to not balance well.
Pack it up and send it across the mountain to me. I will give it a complete inspection from top to bottom. In addition, I promise to perform multiple test sessions to ensure its ride-ability. Please realize that I am very busy, so I may have to keep your new KH24 for several weeks, maybe even 2 to 3 months, but I do promise to find the problem.
E-mail me privately for my shipping address. It is my pleasure to help my fellow uni-friends. Lastly, because I care so much, I will not charge you anything for this complete inspection.
I seem to have this problem sometimes. I’ve been thinking it has something to do with the kh saddle. I can’t seem to ride with my pelvis squared-up on the saddle. I’ve noticed it more on the coker. Also, I’ve theorized that my feet position on the pedals was causing the problem. If one foot is placed further forward than the other on the pedal, it could cause the hip to angle slightly. You might check that.
If you ever figure it out, let me know. It can be annoying constantly adjusting yourself over the uni.
I have tried both the Gazzaloddi and the Duro on pavement. I think they both perform well on pavement even with relatively low pressures. Gazzaloddi makes an awesome sound too when on smooth paving. The reason Gazz does not like pavement is because it wears it out fast. I think it might be the long 170mm cranks that make you feel sluggish on concrete. I agree knobs perform better on dirt, but they are grippy anywhere.
This might be a dumb question Zod but; Did you lower your normal saddle height to compensate for the longer cranks?..You might be “reaching” because of leg extension to get the extra few centimeters on the downstroke…
I have thought the same thing. Especially if you have gone from a miyata seat to a KH. It is at least an inch higher so if you haven’t lowered the seatpost you are sitting too high. Obviously not Zod’s situation, but could help onefiftyfour. I also tried matching up seats height between my torker and kh and that was useless because of the variables. If you are reaching for the pedals on the down stroke, you will be leaning one way and pointing your toes to reach the other. Lastly, very important to lower the tire pressure. I think it flatens out the riding surface on the knobby tires.
I had that problem with the off camber thing when I changed to a 28er. It was awful. We found later that the wheel and frame were in alignment, so it was really me needing to adjust to the new uni. This is probably, as others have stated what is happening.
One other thing to try, besides lowering the PSI, is to hold the handle with one hand when you would otherwise ride with hands at your sides. This would be especially if you happen to be on the street for any reason, that seemed to help for me - thanks to John Foss for that suggestion, way back when.
Go low with your PSI and work up to what feels comfy. I started at 16 and have worked up to 21 psi, which seems comfortable to me.
I dropped my tire pressure down to 20psi and it rides a lot better, I think I’ll try it even lower. I also did a 5+ miles ride and it got more comfortable with the extended saddle time.
Some things still feel weird with such long cranks…like downhill and turning but I am sure I will be feeling at ease with a few more hours…
Also after my long ride this weekend I have notcied some creaking…I’m gonna look into that tonight.
Zod, great to hear your getting more comfortable on your new Muni.
Question: Did you go from some other type seat to a Kris Holm Velo? If so, what do you think about the new seat? I plan to order a Kris Holm Seat for my Custom Muni.
BTW, if you can’t find the source of the creaking noise, feel free to box it up and… --chirokid–
I was about to send it your way chirokid, but after investigating the creak it turned out to be the common issue of the bolts spinning loose on the KH saddle.
