Can you borrow a 36er to try?
I love my 29er it is a UDC trainer, I have it set up with a KH saddle and T - Bar. I have a nimbus air cover on my seat 125 cranks and a 2.5 inch wide Schwalbe marathon tire. This is my main uni I do rides on pavement and packed trails 3 to 10 miles at 7.5 to 8.5 mph. I also have the 32 titan that I picked up in Nov. I am just starting to ride it , my intention is to use this on rides over 10 miles. I have it set up the same and so far I am able to free mount but my speed is the same as my 29er. I have the seat post cut down and adjusted the whole way down. I don’t think at my hight (5.7) I could do a 36. I have lots of miles on my 29er and it has held up great the UDC Unicycles are just fine for the type of riding I Do.
The only parts you need to worry about on the 32 are the tire and tube, both are available from unicycle.com.I
Slightly congested meaning that depending on who’s passing, I may have to stop for a second or dismount altogether (jumpy dogs, horses, etc.) I’ve been doing those distances on a 26er (and I’m doing 60K on it soon, that should be fun and time consuming), and so I usually just idle the waits out but I’m not sure how that would go on a bigger wheel.
By keep up with bikes I mean a leisurely ride in the park sort of thing, no road stuff. Do you think a 29er could keep up with a casual group of friends going out on bikes?
That’s a good question. I’m not sure, there’s a couple guys with 36ers in the Vancouver area that I’ve seen, but I don’t know how to contact them. It’s a good idea, though, so I’ll try to figure something out.
Gotcha, thanks for the response 
I heard JimT uses a 29 tube on his 36er, so I assume that this would work on the 32 as well (obviously), and my LBS does sell 29" tubes.
I can idle on my 29st but not on my 32, yet that is.
If you want a unicycle to cruise on then a 36er is the cruisiest of the lot.
You might find that you’re limited more by your freemounting ability than your riding ability. Personally I find mounting my 36er a pain, and would probably skip a ride that involved many dismounts and remounts. But others aren’t fazed by it. You’re young, so take advantage of that 
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Even if they’re slow they’re probably going to go downhill faster than you. If they’re very slow you might go uphill faster than them. Sounds like your friends need to start riding unicycles.
Easiest option is to wait for them to ride past and then shout “where’s your other wheel?” 
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Same here on the 36er mounting. For me it was always find a vehicle/friend/pole to assist… but riding along on a clear and free path was always fun on a bigger wheel.
There are certain uphill corners I just couldn’t do on it, and with my lack of 36er freemounting ability it would get ruled out for general purpose use… but if its a >20km fairly flat ride with few forced dismounts, that is a good uni to use.
Depends on your skill a bit, but I would say no. If it’s a path that a bike rider can happily ride, you should be fine on a 36".
Again, depends on your skill a bit, and on how slow the bike riders are… The world record for a marathon on a 29" is with an average speed of above 25 km/h. But for anyone that isn’t a top racer, that would be very fast. On a 36", that speed is more obtainable to a “normal” rider, especially to maintain it for a long time.
On a 36" I can keep up with friends on a bike, and not feel like I’m holding them up too much - for them, it would be a slow speed (~20 km/h), and on a 36" while it’s far away from the top speed, it’s still going decently fast, and you’ll have to concentrate a lot more than them. On a 29" you would have to concentrate even more to keep the cadence high, and spot any bumps. (And I’d tend to agree with jim, while you can make rides of unicycles and bikes together work, I personally don’t find it really enjoyable.)
The “lack of parts” is no issue. I personally find the 32" combines the worst parts of a 36" with the worst parts of a 29", while others find it combines the best aspects of both…
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It’s a 36 for sure.
Ride it a lot and every aspect will become second nature. (freemounting, weaving through people, dealing with the weight, etc…)
If you’re not happy with the other “little” wheels you have for muni, then surely go for the 29 to satisfy that need and then buy the 36 on the next round.
Sorry, nothing but a 36" will keep pace with bicycles. (even then you’re still fighting for it)
I have a 29 and a 36.
It looks like the consensus is to go with the 36 over the 32, so I guess it’s time to whip out the ol’ fiddle and start earning the last 100 dollars! Thanks for your help, everyone (and thanks in advance for your reply, @Duff 
)
Unless its got an electric motor, I don’t think any unicycle will keep pace with a fit bicyclist. They’ll have to ride extra slow and wait up for you and it won’t be a good ridefor them. If you’re riding with children, elderly or very out of shape cyclists you might keep up however.
But as far as getting a 36er, just do it. I find a 36er way more entertaining than a smaller uni. Lately I’ve been learning things first on the 27.5, but its just a warm up for the 36er. For whatever reason the bigger wheel is what I really find exciting. And they are way harder to freemount. I’ve been practicing my freemounts for about a month now and I can do them virtually every time on the 27.5. On the 36er it will typically take me 4 tries for my first mount of the day and then 2 or 3 tries after that. A static mount requires a vigorous jump up to get on top of it and a rollback entails quite a bit of backward movement. Hopefully in another month or two I’ll have it down pat.
How important is a brake on a 36”? I live in a pretty flat area and would probably be riding to a restaurant, store, school, etc.; so I wouldn’t be doing more than 5 miles one direction for any given trip. I would like to ride with bicycles that are moving at a relatively casual pace (as they are driven by infrequent cyclists) and don’t know how hard stopping a 36” would be. I don’t know of anyone who has created a comparison in stopping times/distances using vs. not using a brake. If I buy new I am between getting the UDC Titan 36” with 150mm cranks on it as well as getting a set of 127’s and a different set of pedals or getting the Nimbus Oracle with VCX+ Cranks.
With longer cranks I found I could safely descend small but fairly steep paved hills without brakes after about 1.5 months of riding. I was pretty close to being a new rider however having never ridden anything bigger than 24" and having not ridden for 35 years.
I’ve since added brakes and I could do ok without them on the street, but for muni they are a big advantage.
I’d guess the big thing would be muscle. It might not be bad on the first go, but eventually your legs would get killed with dragging yourself to a stop after hurtling down a hill at 25+ km/h.
Unicycles are only practical in that they easily fit into a car. And when you are, say, on holiday you can more quickly discover the surroundings than on foot. Otherwise a bike would be easier to handle, but that is boring.
29/32 vs 36
For me it’s not a rational decision (speed, maneuverability etc.) It’s all about the feeling you get when cruising along on your 36’er.
I bought a 32 on sale for my kids. One of them rides it now and then. I’ve never tried it, never even sat on it once. Because I have 2 36’ers (one is always in working order), I’ve never been tempted. Well, maybe I’ll ride the 32 some time just to see how it feels. I do ride a 29’er with studded tyres in the winter though.
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Ur right about that. I love my 32" 
I agree with you on all that. My experience exactly.
Everyone should at least try the 36", it’s a speciel feeling.
Its difficult to say which you need, nimbus or UDC. Usually, buy the best you can afford, would be my advice. But I think how long and how often you ride will come into consideration here. But how much is enough to upgrade from the UDC?
I often see newer riders wanting to move onto larger wheels, expressly for the speed factor. I think it should be noted that with out the ability to ride taking balance out of the equation subconsciously you can never hit higher speeds. Going from a 20 inch or a 24 inch wheel to a 36 is going to take some serious effort and time to get to that point. I say work your way up and enjoy the ride and journey of developing those skills that make riding effortless. As far as keeping up with bikes I think one has to come to the realization that uniccycling and bicycling are two completely different activities. I happen to do both so if you want speed hop on your bike, I get a completely different feeling of satisfaction on my unicycle that has nothing to do with speed…
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I’ve had the same thoughts. Coming somewhere on vacation, a unicycle is a great way to discover a new local area/town. A 26"/29" is going at running speed with no effort.
But a 36" is great for exercise and fun. Or even touring (but we need more options for cary gray style panniers, I think).
I went form a 20 to 29 and it was the best decision for me. The challenge is how you make the biggest imimprovements. Not just faster, but also noticeable, which creates confidence and satisfaction.
It’s why we tell new riders to get away from the wall right away and not use staves etc.