Changing a tyre makes riding more difficult

Some tyres aren't nice on unicycles - if your new tyre has a "square"
section it will be harder to ride and steering will feel odd. Tyres
with a round section are better to ride. That's probably the first
thing to look at if you've already tried a few tyre pressures
(generally speaking, on smooth ground, a higher pressure is easier to
ride - low pressure gives more grip and so makes steering a bit more
difficult).

Rob

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you may want to get a smooth-tread tyre with a rounded profile and use
that knobbly tyre for later, when your skill level is higher and you
want to hit the trails. If the old tyre slick all the way round?
deflate & rotate the tyre a little quarter turn

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mikepenton

Uni - The Unicycle Magazine
'www.unicyclemagazine.com' (http://www.unicyclemagazine.com)
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I once replaced my tyre and found it didn't ride very well. It wasn't
until I'd sold it and was sitting with it's new owner and another
couple of uni's that I noticed the tread pattern was reversed compared
to the others. As you are sitting on the uni look down and the tread
pattern should look
like this / \
not like this \ /

Made a lot of difference to the way it rode

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As far as any issues with the uni, I found this thread very helpful.

Also, someone commented to me that the wider knobby tire is harder to
control than the smooth tire. It just takes practice. You'll get it.

http://tinyurl.com/3b5ldy

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wriggy said:

I once replaced my tyre and found it didn't ride very well. It wasn't
until I'd sold it and was sitting with it's new owner and another
couple of uni's that I noticed the tread pattern was reversed compared
to the others. As you are sitting on the uni look down and the tread
pattern should look
like this / \
not like this \ /

Made a lot of difference to the way it rode

Thanks.... I did check this and made sure of it when I was putting it
back together again.

It's also possible that I have actually been facing left since I
started and the new wider tyre is forcing the Uni to stay straight
forcing me to straighten out, making me feel like I'm facing right....
Just a theory.. But I'm heading out shortly for some more practice, to
see if I can get used to the new tyre.

Thanks to everyone that have replied, much appreciated 🙂

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Tyre choice is by far the most important thing for a comfortable and
enjoyable ride. I nearly threw away a unicycle because it was so
unpleasant to ride. I'd tried three tyres on it (not all at the same
time, obviously, d'oh!) including a Gazzaloddi and hated it. Then I
found the right tyre and now it's a great uni to ride.

The ideal uni tyre has a rounded cross section, like the back tyre on a
motorbike. Some bike tyres have a square cross section (like a car
tyre) which means that when you try to turn, you have too lift the tyre
up onto its edge, and then it squishes out of shape.

Low tyre pressure can make a uni harder to ride, too.

Finally, some treads tend to "smear" which makes steering difficult.
For road and hard surfaces, you want lots of knobble with very little
gap. For grip in soft mud, you want lots of gap with a few big
knobbles. (I simplify to make the point.)

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the ones I haven't met.
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I had the same problem on my 20" i put a bmx dirt tyre on my uni and it
was hard to ride and i felt weighted to oen side and all sorts, but
persistance pays off, you had the determination to learn to ride, now
have the determination to over come your tyre..its oging to be a
promblem you face somehwere down the line im guessing so putting it off
wouldnt be helpfull, unless you dont progress with this new tyre.. in
which case you should change it back .. but give ti determination and
try lots first maybe you just need to get a feel of it more.

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matti_marron
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Mikefule said:

Tyre choice is by far the most important thing for a comfortable and
enjoyable ride. I nearly threw away a unicycle because it was so
unpleasant to ride. I'd tried three tyres on it (not all at the same
time, obviously, d'oh!) including a Gazzaloddi and hated it. Then I
found the right tyre and now it's a great uni to ride.

The ideal uni tyre has a rounded cross section, like the back tyre on a
motorbike. Some bike tyres have a square cross section (like a car
tyre) which means that when you try to turn, you have too lift the tyre
up onto its edge, and then it squishes out of shape.

Low tyre pressure can make a uni harder to ride, too.

Finally, some treads tend to "smear" which makes steering difficult.
For road and hard surfaces, you want lots of knobble with very little
gap. For grip in soft mud, you want lots of gap with a few big
knobbles. (I simplify to make the point.)

Don't knock the Gaz, some people swear by it. (I haven't ridden one
enough to notice a lot of difference) The width of your rim makes a
difference on the characteristics of a tire. Wider=more traction and
inertia=harder to turn/make corrections (other differences as well,
most possitive).

You might start off hating a tire and after a while preffer it to
others. Your skill level, type of terrain you ride and how hard you
ride can effect your oppinion of a tire.

Experiment w/ + or - 5 to 10 psi. If I ride w/ my knobby in dirt w/
the same pressure I use on my road tire (25-30), it's super slippery,
like I was riding my road tire on wet, the smoth metal plates in the
sidewalk. When I lowered the pressure to about 20 the traction was
fine. Less air gives more tracktion, and absorbs the bumps more, but
makes the ride more springy and hence harder to control. I've gotten
more used to the springyness. Pedaling _real_ smooth helps.

--
skilewis74

Ride everywhere and never just ride anywhere. If you can ride where you
are going within a hour, do it, and if you can do a trick 50-75% of the
time do it along the way.
Parafrasing a pro skater when asked for advise to kids who wanted to
get much better and maybee turn pro one day.
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skilewis74 said:

Don't knock the Gaz, some people swear by it. (I haven't ridden one
enough to notice a lot of difference) The width of your rim makes a
difference on the characteristics of a tire.

This was a Gazz 2.3", and I've heard a lot of bad reports about them
since. It was on a moderately narrow rim. I now have a Holy Roller
2.3" on the same rim and it's marvelous, on road and off.

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matti_marron said:

I had the same problem on my 20" i put a bmx dirt tyre on my uni and it
was hard to ride and i felt weighted to oen side and all sorts, but
persistance pays off, you had the determination to learn to ride, now
have the determination to over come your tyre..its oging to be a
promblem you face somehwere down the line im guessing so putting it off
wouldnt be helpfull, unless you dont progress with this new tyre.. in
which case you should change it back .. but give ti determination and
try lots first maybe you just need to get a feel of it more.

I put some more time in yesterday and it did feel a little better and I
manged to have a little more control. I kept telling myself to
persevere and that it would be better for me in the long run. The
frustrating thing is...... after putting in so much work to start with
and when I really started making massive progress I go and shoot myself
in the foot by changing the tyre and making it harder again...... but
then again I probably would have to do it at some stage, and rather now
while I'm still learning than taking a massive knock later on.

So I'm going to stick with it for now, have to give it a good go. I'm
heading out soon on a 6-7km ride along the beach front, a route I did
last week which I really enjoyed. Hoping that I can control the Uni
enough to enjoy it today.

Just a little off topic having noticed your nick..... there was a dude
that went to school with me, his name was Michael Musket and he drove a
Morris Minor 🙂

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It is a well known fact that Knobby tires are harder to control. Kris
Holm himself told me that he likes Duros because they are much more
nimble and turnable than the Gazzis. There are many writeups in the
forums of people getting their new KHs and having difficulty turning
compared to thier old unicycles with less knobby tires. Recently I met
a guy who is great at freestyle and I tried out his uni with the almost
totally smooth Hookworm tire. I was amazed at the agility. I mean I
could turn on the dime and do amazing spins! (Keep in mind that I ride
Duro and Maxxis tires. Both extremely knobby.)

You now say that you have to pull your body to the left to correct. I
found that most of my 180 degree turns are always to the left.
Therefore the left side of my tires wear down quicker. This could also
be what caused your lilting. As this happens your body builds up a
tolerance for this lilt. When you changed the tire this imbalance
probably disapeared and you now have to correct. It will disapear after
a few rides. You will also very quickly learn to be more nimble on the
new tire. Your body will get much stronger at turning as you ride
more.

Unicorn

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After spending a couple of hours on the tyre now... I'm still
struggling. I have some good times where things go very well and I feel
very comfortable, then there are other times when I feel like I have no
control what so ever. It's quite frustrating. I did manage some tight
turns and circles this weekend, something which I wasn't able to do
before, so that was encouraging.

From the comments and advice here it seems I need to pay more attention
to the type and tread of the tyre. I'm going to do some more research
to see if I can get a tyre that is more suited to the Uni.
Unfortunately not many cycle shops cater for Unicycles.

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