I’m just starting out with Unicycling, but I know I have already been
bitten by the bug. I am thinking about what machine I would like to get
when I am rather more proficient, and have concluded so far that a 24"
Muni would be the best sort of all rounder. In the immediate future I
will be wanting to develop my skills, and start riding on grass, and
then moving onto more difficult terrain. I don’t have heaps of cash to
spend on lots of different machines (or space to keep them in), so I
need one steed for all purposes. Am I on the right track with a 24"
Muni - if so any particular models I should be looking at? If I’m not
on the right track - what else would you suggest? I really like the
look of the KH24" Freeride, but it costs heaps. At that price it would
really have to be a machine I would keep for a very long time!
I was looking for a 24’’ all around uni for some tricks and lots of off-road riding. I have had 0 complaints about this beast, and it doesn’t look so bad either
Its fairly pricey, but if that isn’t much of an issue, it has my vote, i’d buy it again if I could do it over
Id suggest a 24’’ justin kohse street on one and he si good and 24’’ is good for Muni too You wanna get anything splined id suggest either a kh 24’’ or any unicycle with profiles on it if you think you are gonna go big
No, the KH24 Freeride really isn’t an all-purpose uni. E.g. it would
be terrible for freestyle. I would say, get a Torker DX 24" with about
a 2" wide tyre, that would be a reasonable compromise for freestyle,
MUni, trials, distance, street, dirt.
Be forewarned though. My first unicycle was a Semcycle 24" x 1.75",
choosed because it would be a “Jack of all trades” uni. While that is
more or less correct, it turns out not to excel at any discipline. I
still have it, but of my six unicycles it now is used the least - I
have specific unis for specific use that are really better at the job.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“Unicycling is like glue: you have to stick with it, and it’s not to be sniffed at - Mikefule”
The KH24, xc or freeride will be just the thing if you’re mainly wanting to move onto offroad terrain. Personally I’d get the xc, because it’s more of an all round unicycle than the freeride. You can always go to a bigger tyre if you find yourself to be more of a ride slowly and do massive drops and not go uphill person.
Given you obviously want to ride muni, I wouldn’t go much narrower tyre or more of a freestyle uni than that, cos you’ll really be compromising on the muni with anything narrower.
If you don’t want to do big drops or trials, you could probably get a cheaper muni, a nimbus muni or something like that.
if you wanna do any offroad that’s not just a hard gravel path, a 24 muni is probably the best. i’ve done trials on one, ridden some distances offroad and learn a little freestle. granted a cheap freestyle + a 24 muni would be an even better combo, but for anyone planning to ride offroad the muni is better. if you aren’t goind offroad a 20 inch freestyle will probably suit you better for gym related stuff. or a 29er is great for distances and light muni while being smaller/easier to carry around than a coker.
I have both a 20" Onza trials uni and a 24" KH Freeride, and I would suggest a 20" if you want to get into trials or freestyle, this will still be good for muni, just that you wont go very fast. A 20" is also more stable as the distance traveled in one turn of the cranks is less.
That said, a 24" is still capable of trials, just harder, but if you are looking more towards muni or commuting as yuor priority, Then I highly recommend the KH 24"
I agree with pdc. A good friend just got a 24" Onza about a month ago. It has a KH/Onza wheelset and is equipped with a Kenda 2.7" tire. It even comes with brake mounts for a lot less than a KH
I disagree. A trials is difficult to roll over rough terrain. It’s questionable whether it’s better for freestyle or not. 20" is frustrating if your trying to cover any distance in general riding. A 24" with a big tire is the best “all around” Uni in my opinion. Of course when you start getting more proficient in any type of riding, the more a specific built uni is “necessary”.
Thanks for all the replies. The majority of them seem to back my hunch
that a 24" Muni would be a reasonable all rounder, if not great at
everything. I think it would take me in the direction I want to go at
the moment anyway. I should have mentioned in my original post that
another reason for looking at a Muni cycle is that I’m over 200lbs, and
so am looking for something strong. I took a look at the Onza, and it
looked just the sort of thing I’m after, and rather cheaper than the KH
too. Problem is I’m in New Zealand, and the choice on the NZ website is
rather limited compared with the US site. They don’t stock the Onza -
the muni selection they have is as follows (in ascending price order):
The first two are considerably cheaper than the KH machines, but the
Numbus doesn’t have a splined hub. The QU-Ax has a splined hub, and to
me at least, looks like a match for the KH24 (I am assuming that the
QU-Ax has a steel frame?). I am not too concerned with an Alu frame -
and they are quite a bit more expensive it seems, so it looks like a
choice between the Qu-Ax and the KH24. Anyone with any experience of
the two who could make a comparison? There is quite a price difference
between the two - the KH is 40% more expensive, but it does look the
business!
Thanks again,
Learner
Learner wrote:
> Hi
>
> I’m just starting out with Unicycling, but I know I have already been
> bitten by the bug. I am thinking about what machine I would like to get
> when I am rather more proficient, and have concluded so far that a 24"
> Muni would be the best sort of all rounder. In the immediate future I
> will be wanting to develop my skills, and start riding on grass, and
> then moving onto more difficult terrain. I don’t have heaps of cash to
> spend on lots of different machines (or space to keep them in), so I
> need one steed for all purposes. Am I on the right track with a 24"
> Muni - if so any particular models I should be looking at? If I’m not
> on the right track - what else would you suggest? I really like the
> look of the KH24" Freeride, but it costs heaps. At that price it would
> really have to be a machine I would keep for a very long time!
>
> Any advice much appreciated,
>
> Learner
I’d go for the Qu-Ax. It should serve your purpose very well since it is equipped with a splined hub, now that you’ve mentioned your size. Even though I haven’t heard of any KH’s frames braking, I’m not sold on aluminum as the best choice of frame material for a heavier rider. I weigh 185 and managed to break the seat tube on my aluminum framed SH Muni and built a steel crown and seat tube to replace it. STEEL is REAL!
I’d go for the Qu-Ax. It should serve your purpose very well since it is equipped with a splined hub, now that you’ve mentioned your size. Even though I haven’t heard of any KH’s frames breaking, I’m not sold on aluminum as the best choice of frame material for a heavier rider. I weigh 185 and managed to break the seat tube on my aluminum framed SH Muni and built a steel crown and seat tube to replace it. STEEL is REAL!
This question arises from time to time. Most people answer by strongly recommending either the uni that they already have, or the uni they wish they had, regardless of what would be appropriate for the person asking.
That said, there is a genuine consensus that 24 is most versatile wheel size. Small enough to freemount and idle in difficult corners, large enough to cover respectable distances at a reasonable rate of knots.
That said, the 24 is the only common size I don’t have in my fleet. I sold mine and don’t miss it. I think I’d swap my Pashley 26 MUni for a better 24x3 Muni, though.
Money spent on quality is never wasted. Buy cheap, buy twice.
I reccomend this qu-ax 24" as it’s what I currently have and enjoy very much. It’s very strong (splined hub) and sturdy and comfortable. It has 170 cranks so you have almost the same power and control of a 20" but the smoother ride and speed of a 24". The stock 3" tire is impressive also.
As a new rider, you don’t necessarily need a splined setup yet. If you’re pretty sure you will be on the trails a lot, there is nothing wrong with going straight to one of the KHs, because they will last you a long time.
For more of an all-around experience, don’t go too fat on the tire, and try a pair of 140mm cranks for good offroad fun and great ability to do tricks, play hockey or basketball, or do most anything but go fast.
To go fast, you use much shorter cranks that make it harder to do all the other stuff.
As for no freestyle on a 24 MUNI, I think that is kind of off. You can still do it just not as well. Here are my thoughts:
Wheelwalking - yes
SIF and SIB - definitely
Standup wheelwalking - possible yet hard
Gliding - Yes
Backwards - Definitely
Seat on side w/ a fat MUNI tire - fugettaboudit
for a lot less than a KH