Uneven paths

Hi all,

I’m going to do a ride to my dentist on Thursday on a river towpath that I’ve ridden before but find it is a particularly uneven path so is there any tips or advice to make it more pleasant?

The path is so up and down it’s unbelievable. I’m going to ride it on my 27.5 quax muni which has a maxxis ardent 2.4 on it which I run at 40 psi and I’m around 95 kg.

I’m wondering if lowering pressure to around 30 might help ?

Thanks

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Tire pressure would not help much in my experience, but you can try it easily enough to find out…

A few random tips:

  • Accept that you need to go slower than on flat ground, dealing with uneven paths takes extra energy. (And UPDs usually waste more time than you saved by going slightly faster)
  • A bit contradictory, but: Don’t go too slow. A bit of momentum helps, so find a happy medium.
  • Especially since you are doing this as a “commute”: look for the easiest lines. In my experience, on the edges of a trail you can often find a bit less washed out/ rough ground, so stick to those.

Some additional tricks I find work on my fat uni:

  1. Pump up the tire all the way, rounded profile seems to help with camber
  2. Pull the seat in the opposite direction of the camber. I find steering into the hill a bit help counteract some of the camber as well
  3. Just deal with it. Camber sucks but the more you ride it the better it’ll be.

Well, if you eat dirt at least the dentist will clean it out and/or fix broken teeth😉

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Thanks finnspin for your tips which il try, I might leave tyre pressure as is for way in and drop it down for way back home to see if it makes any difference.

Hi sexy, it’s not cambered paths il be riding more just rises and drops constantly.

Haha very good unigoof!!

Deflating definitely helps. You will find that there is an ideal air pressure. You have to find that out yourself. It is therefore essential to carry a small pump with you, because if you have released too much air, you will hardly be able to steer the unicycle. Otherwise, wider tires are generally better, they can also be driven with lower air pressure. There are plenty of 27.5x 2.80 or 3.0 tires on the market.

cos if we told you we’d have to kill you :wink:
:rofl: :joy:

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i don’t get the joke :slight_smile: probably google translate translated badly. It is not possible to give clear advice on the air pressure, as every tire is different. There are usually different versions of the same tire (apex insert, light version, etc.)

Sorry.

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Don’t go too slow as @finnspin said, lift your butt a bit off your seat and use your legs as shock absorbers.

It is a reference to spy movies and military movies where somebody says that he cannot tell the hero more about one subject because it is classified and if he were to tell him then he will be forced to kill him.

Usually, the joke is commonly used to make a comical contrast (as perfect tire pressure is not a state secret :joy:).

I see :slight_smile: actually I mean to say that air pressure recommendations are difficult to make, since it depends on tire size, type of tire and rim width. Likewise the preferences of the driver. Therefore “try instead of study” (Swiss proverb)

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My tyre pressure is classified as Pressurised State Information (PSI) :joy:

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My tyre pressures keep increasing every year due the effects of inflation.

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The advice of einradshop.ch is good, lowering tire pressure and going for a bigger tire, both things increase suspension. Also the saddle not too high, so you can compensate the uneveness.

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How to make the ride more pleasant? Don’t go to the dentist :-o

Did my ride on thursday all ok. I started on 40 psi for the way in and let a little out for the way back which did make a difference although i didnt have a guage with me to check it so i need to check it to see what i let it down to.

Thanks for all your tips which helped espically compensating with legs which i do instinctively really.

The route was only 2.5 miles each way but it sure is a mix of long gravel sections , lots of rises/falls in the path , path cracked by tree rots underneath and even a 300m approx section of green plastic hexagon stuff used on gravel drives to keep gravel in situ which sure was odd to ride over!

I think also since last time i rode that route i have in general improved in my riding which helped lots.