I currently have a sun 20in but I’m looking to upgrade. I mostly ride on paved surfaces for long distances but I do like to go off road when I can. I’m kind of hard on the uni so I need something durable. I have broke the pedals on my current one twice already. I also like trying to go down stairs. Anybody got any recommendations on what I should get?
Sounds like you want a 29er, am I right?
For distances and off road, a 29" will be perfect. Althought it may not be to great for stairs. for that a 24" will be good, and can still do the off road, but isnt the best for distances.
The KH29 would be the best, or a KH24. They’re quite expencive though. Other wise Nimbus have good strong unis, and they’re ISIS so you can upgrade the cranks to KH moments (recomended)
I’d go for the 29, its the best option for you.
Well I would say the Nimbus 29" but you might want the Nimbus 26", it would be easier to go down stairs but a little slower. I would say just don’t go for a 24"… but that is just me…
Some more info would help
How much do you weigh ? Are you full grown ? , or how heavy will you be in 5 years. If a full grown American, add 10 lbs., or 5 if your not from the states.
Most importantly, how much $ are you talking about ?
Breaking a pedal on a 20 " Sun does not really mean you are hard on uni’s. If you are light and moneys tight, perhaps all you need is maybe a nice KH seat (that you can reuse on another ride later), and a set of twisted PC pedals. For riding around on the street, learning basics like riding backwards, idling, and non jumping stuff, your Sun is as good as any KH, once you have a nice seat and good pedals.
If spending 500 $ is no trouble, You could get a KH from A E B for less then that, but you have to email them first to get a promotional price. KH is great, but expensive overkill unless you need it’s superior strength, like if you weigh 250, and want to hop a lot, splined is your setup. But if you weight 125 , and limit yourself to the occasional small drop, square drive is best. It’s fun to try different crank and wheel sizes. With square drive (cotterless ) hubs, you could buy 2 nice uni’s and a whole set of different crank sizes ( all square cranks are interchangeable) and KH seat, and still spend less then the cost of a splined uni. Like maybe get a Torker ax 24 or 29 now, and buy a KH later once you are sure of why you want it, and hopefully have more $.
Size wise, they are all good. You could even get a 36 if you want. Assuming you can ride your 20 one mile, you could ride a 36 in an afternoon. For riding long distances, 36 is the way to go.
Is it flat where you live, or real hilly ? 24 has an edge going up and down hills.
The 24 and 26 are about the same diameter, but most people choose a 24 because there is more air in the tire. 29’s feel a lot like 24’s, just a bit faster on the flats (good) and a bit higher off the ground (bad if you fall off ).
I don’t think I’m ready to drop $500 on a uni just yet but maybe somewhere around the $300 mark. I’m a full grow 194 pound guy and there are some hills where I live (Tennessee).
I was thinking about a 29in at first but now I’m thinking 26in. When I go on rides around town it seems like am putting a lot of effort in not covering a lot of ground. My idling and backwards still need a lot of work so I still will need the 20in to practice on.
I rode a Schwinn 24in and it was really easy getting up hills plus my legs were not as tired after riding.
Does a KH seat really make a big difference?
My Sun came with plastic pedals and they broke. So I replaced them with some medal ones from a local bike shop, they broke also. I don’t know that much about uni’s(crank sizes, hubs) but I do really like riding them.
Thank you guys for all the help so far
I also use the sun 20… Good stuff so far, not the best though. I’d recommend the 24’’ nimbus, that way you can upgrade if you need to. As for pedals… Try some of those protectors to get them to stop the shock of hitting the ground.
If you can wait a couple of months, I will probably be getting rid my my now 29er, since I will be buying a KH29 when I can. I’m not sure on the type, or brand, but it has served me well since I made the trade for it. I will be upgrading the hub to ISIS and getting 114 cranks to go along with it. Currently it has 127s, so I may go for the 125/150 cranks. I do mainly distance/street with it.
29ers, for me, are about as good as a multi-use uni goes. I ride a 24 now since my crank arms are a bit messed up. Its like day and night. I’d recomment a 29er as soon as you can.
Keep me posted Rubix I may take you up on that offer.
I was thinking about getting a Torker Unistar AX 29-inch Featherweight Unicycle.
Good Call
Unicycling really is a small world.
I was just looking at the torker unistar ax 29" myself. It seems like a good alternative for those of us that can’t afford the KH29. The nimbus 29" is only a little more. I’ve never been on a nimbus product, but they seem to have a better reputation.
The AX is a good, light uni for the road and smooth trails (although the frame has little clearance for good knobbies).
W/ your weight you will likely break the cranks/hub if you do a lot of stairs and curbs on stock cotterless cranks. There are stronger ones available than what usually comes stock, but will also eventually break.
I’d get the Nimbus 29er w/ KH double hole cranks. It’s around your budget, and you could upgrade to a geared hub down the line if you want. I estimate $350 ($276 + $53 to switch for Moments + $21-diff between single & double hole cranks)
Edit
Hey Kevin!
I looked at the nimbus but I thought the tire on the torker looked better for off road.
Would a KH seat be a good idea if I was to get the Nimbus?
The Fusion Freeride is a lot more comfortable IMO, definately worth the extra $14. W/ the nimbus I go numb w/in about 45 min.
It’s harder to hold onto SIF though.
It’s not really needed, the nimbus seat is pretty nice, a hell of a lot better than your current seat.
I vote for the free ride
People should have different opinions on seats, I feel the nimbus seat is more rounded on top, often feels a little like it’s on crocked. It’s a notch down on comfort from the KH street or freeride IMHO, but better then torker. It has a stapled on cover of lower quality. The drawstring seat covers on the KH seats are much better.
I bought an Ax 29 last month. Mostly because it was cheap, and I wanted to try that size. I figured I didn’t need a KH 29, because I already have a KH 20 and 24. I’m just beginning to hop around on the trials uni, if I want to do rough riding that might break a square hub, I would use the smaller wheels, because I’m not that good of a rider.
At my 180 lbs, the ax seems strong enough. It’s ok at muni, or at least the kind of gentle muni I do. Compared to my KH’s, the tubing looks thinner, and instead of the larger visible welds on KH, the torker looks machine made. Still, for a third the price of a KH 29, it’s an excellent deal. Although the seat post size is listed as 26. something mm, and the KH is 27. something mm , I found that my KH seat post will fit in a ax torker snuggly, but easily. This is important because the seat bolt patterns between torker and KH are different. You will need a new seat post to fit a KH set on your ax.
Because Codybee is in a hilly place, starting out, and he wants to ride down stairs at 194 lbs, I would recommend a 24 muni. If you run the tire soft, it can charge over all kinds of crap, with a plush ride that justly puts all 20’s to shame.
Because I have a KH, of course I will recommend the KH 24. However, if 450 $
is to much, a nimbus 24 with a free ride seat would work great. The nimbus is as strong, near as we can tell, but a bit heavier. I would avoid the torker dx 24. It is only a bit cheaper, is a lot heavier, and uses screwy unique bearings that cost 30 $/set.
I was just looking at udc
And I found this quax muni. This looks like a decent deal. Qu ax is supposed to be really strong. At 17 lbs. , it’s 2 lbs up on a KH , but this is a good price for this uni.
