Hello,
I’ve been riding the Nimbus 29" cruiser for a while now, and I’ve been pretty happy with the stock 29x2.35 Schwalbe Big Apple for wet and dry urban riding (95% of my rides) and for dry, dirt+roots singletrack.
Now I’d like to get a more aggressive tire to throw on for those rare opportunities to ride in muddy, snowy, messy locales.
However, I already have an infinitesimal amount of clearance with the Big Apple - what offroad tires are known to fit into the Nimbus cruiser frame?
I have the Nimbus 29" and usually run a WTB Nanoraptor, which is great for dry trails and handles road camber WAY better than the 2.35"BA. I almost never ride the BA anymore, due to its weight and inability to track straight on slanted surfaces.
I’ve also run a Continental Mountain King 2.2 for muddy or wet conditions. As far as I know, there aren’t any 29" tires that won’t fit in the frame.
When you say you have an infinitesimal amount of clearance, do you mean the bottom of the seatpost is almost rubbing the tire?
On my Nimbus 29", that’s the only point where a tire might not fit, since I use 150mm cranks for muni and lower the seatpost. In which case, I’d hack off an inch of the seatpost so it doesn’t stick out of the frame.
Kenda Klaw, WTB Weirwolf, WTB ExiWolf, and WTB Nanoraptor would all fit. I’m sure there are many others.
I mean the bottom of the frame’s seatpost tube is almost rubbing the tire.
This is the style of frame I have:
I believe I have the same frame as you, minus the brake mounts. On my frame, the seatpost itself (black tube) sticks out through the bottom of the frame when I’ve it set up for muni.
I thought this may be what you were referring to, unless you mean that the frame itself (chromed part) is nearly rubbing the tire. If this is the case, we must have slightly different frames, despite owning the same unicycle (though, I did buy mine about 18 months ago).
If your frame is nearly rubbing the tire, consider that the BA 2.35" is a fairly fat tire; most other 29" tires are around 2.1", 2.2", or 2.3". Only recently have larger 2.4"and 2.55" tires become available. I would imagine that anything rated below 2.3" would be fine, and the larger may even fit since companies tend to overrate their sizes.
Oops, I didn’t notice the brake mounts in the picture - mine doesn’t have those either.
This is precisely what I mean.
I purchased mine from UDC USA in May 2008.
How does the tread figure into this? (I’ve never had to wonder/care about a tire fitting a frame before.) I can’t find anything definitive on teh intarwebs about how much the actual tire diameter is affected by tread depth/knob height (no funny business, UKers :p), particularly in combination with the width figure, but I had the impression from the forum that it was quite a bit.
Is a 29xA tire more or less guaranteed to fit where a 29xZ tire fit before, if minimum supported width <= A <= Z , regardless of tread aggressiveness?
It’s interesting that we purchased our unicycles both from UDC US around the same time, yet apparently have somewhat different frames. Not sure what to make of it.
I’m not sure. I can only speculate based on my own frame, which is apparently different than yours. I can say though, that if the BA2.35" fits, a WTB Nanoraptor and Contintental Mountain King 2.2 will fit, as I own these tires and they have a smaller profile than the BA.
Well, I took the plunge and ordered a WTB Wolverine 2.2, so we’ll soon find out. 
well it looks like I am slightly too late posting this but it is bound to help someone else:
<a href=“Shiggys 29” tire comparison chart">http://mtbtires.com/site2/tire-specs/65-700c–29q/62-29q-700c-tire-specs
Ahh, this is great!
Looks like the Big Apple and the Racing Ralph are the two tallest tires charted, so there shouldn’t be a problem.
Thanks!
Update
The Wolverine 2.2 does indeed fit fine. Compared to the Big Apple, it has slightly more clearance at the crown and slightly less at the corners.
The tire has super-thin sidewalls, which made it easy to mount, but also makes me leery of running it any lower than 45 psi. On the other hand, it’s nice and light - it feels noticeably lighter than the Big Apple.
If I read the chart properly and the information in this thread the Racing Ralph 2.4 might not fit in the nimbus with rounded crown, right?
The height should be ok. I’d be worried about the corners, though - with the wolverine (similar specs to the exiwolf, I think), I’ve got maybe 2 or 3mm clearance at the corners.
I guess there’s only one way to know for sure, though.
Out of place thread?
This whole conversation should probably go here (29er discussion)…
Lots of tire discussions have already taken place there and on the ‘Favorite mount for 29er’ thread.
I have the same Nimbus 29er. Recently I switched to the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme. It is super light compared to the Duro that it came with and rides well on road and trails too. It is 2.1 I believe.
Big selection of 29ers with pictures and just about any tread you could want. Good prices and ships from two locations. Shows how many in stock at each shipping location.
All 29" MTB tires: http://www.universalcycles.com/shopping/index.php?category=196
I will say that I don’t like the way they shoehorned my big apple into the box but in the end the tire was fine.