Muni tire size question

Jeffvt said:

Question #1
In this video

, what size
tire is Kris Holm riding?

It looks like a 24 x 3, probably a Gazz.

Jeffvt said:

Question #2
How big of a defference is it between a 24 inch and 26 inch tire?

2 inches. Duh! 😉 My 26 x 2.6 Gazz muni is only slightly larger in
diameter than my 24 x 3 Gazz muni. I pretty much never ride the 26
anymore.

Jeffvt said:

Question #3
Is a Qu-Ax 24 inch mountain unicycle a good buy for the price?
http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=796

Yes, it's a nice uni at a good price. It's heavier than other options
like a KH, but not horribly so--maybe 2 pounds difference.

Jeffvt said:

Question #4
How much heavier is, specifically, the Qu-Ax 24 inch than the Qu-Ax 20
inch trials?

Can't say specifically, but generally there's about a 3-lb gain from a
trials to a muni of similar models. Probably something like 14 trials,
17 muni.

Jeffvt said:

Question #5
Does the 24 inch work ok for trials-like stuff?

It does okay. I don't have a trials uni, but wish I did when I go out
and just "play" on steps, benches, and so on down at the local park.
The 24" is a great muni, but I think I'd be able to hop a little higher
on a 20". It all depends on what you plan on doing most--I'm more of a
muni guy, and see the trials-y stuff as useful in getting me through
the trail with fewer UPDs.

--
pkittle

*========
Peter Kittle
Chico, CA
========*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
pkittle's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12111
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Thanks alot for your help. Your input has further solidified my decision
on getting a 24 inch over a 20.

Sorry about the stupid question about the different between a 24 and
26, I meant that in how it feels, not the difference in measurement.
:-)

--
Jeffvt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffvt's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13884
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

The Qu-ax 20" is 14.08lbs; their 'website '
(http://www.qu-ax.de/edata/htmls/m_munim.html)doesn't list the 24"s
weight. I think between a 20" and a 24", you'll get burnt out sooner
riding Muni on a 20" and likewise running trials on a 24"-- But it
seems like Qu-ax was trying to accomodate both with these uni's: longer
cranks on the 20" and 48 spokes on the 24"-- anything with a fat tire
should work...
I'd vote Muni, get the 24" Qu-ax or use the money to buy a wheelset,
frame, seat and seat post.

I always thought the real difference between a 24" and a 26" isn't
size, but the variety of tires that the LBS keeps for the 26".

--
BluntRM

"Man has, as it were, become a kind of prosthetic god. When he puts on
all his auxiliary organs he is truly magnificent; but those organs have
not grown on to him and they still give him much trouble at times."
Sigmund Freud, -Civilization and Its Discontents-
'
Marxist Internet Archive' (http://www.marxists.org/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BluntRM's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12994
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Muni has more or less standardized on the 24 x 3" wheel for the more
aggressive style of riding. That is the style that involves plowing
over roots and rocks, going over drops (small or big), jumping over or
on things, and even the more tame XC. The 24x3 is just a convenient
size. The 3" tire is like adding a suspension fork to a mountain
bike.

The 26 x 3" wheels get to be heavier and less maneuverable. Less
convenient for the hopping around. It's more suited for cruising on a
trail than playing on a trail. It's also heavier than something like a
29er. A 26x3 is more of a niche size for someone who knows that's the
size and style of unicycle that they want.

29ers are for XC. Faster and lighter. The skinnier tire makes them
more maneuverable than a 26x3. The lighter weight makes them more
nimble. They're for XC style riding. That is cruising an XC trail and
not doing a lot of jumps and drops. They can be ridden aggressively
but you have to know the limits.

So in general there are two sizes that have become standard for muni.
The 24x3 is for the more aggressive style of riding mixed with some XC.
The 29er is for more pure XC. Then some like to throw in some Coker
muni just for kicks.

You can do some trials style riding on a 24x3 muni. You can jump on
and off things. Ride skinny things. Do rolling hops. Not as
conveniently as on a 19" trials uni, but not a huge restriction. I
take my muni out for trials style riding at times. I'm not much of a
trials rider, but the muni still keeps it fun. Kris Holm used to do
trials riding on 26x2.7 and then 24x3 before the 19" trials unicycles
became available.

If you get interested in the more pure trials style riding or street
style riding you'll end up wanting to get a 19" trials unicycle for
that. A muni is more suited for trials style riding than a trials uni
is suited for muni. Muni on a trials uni is not even close to the same
experience as muni on a proper muni.

The other variable in muni riding is crank length. Recently there has
been more of a trend towards shorter cranks for muni with a 24x3.
Old-school is the 170mm length with a 24x3 wheel. Trends now are for
lengths in the 165mm to 150mm range for muni with a 24x3 wheel. Crank
length is in large part personal preference and what's suited for your
body size and riding style. The Qu-ax muni will limit you to the 170mm
length (or 145mm length which is really short for most people).

--
john_childs

john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
Team Dirty Muni
Gallery: http://gallery.unicyclist.com/john_childs
'Unicycling Bookmark List' (http://backcountry.unicyclist.com/) ::
'World Clock' (http://tinyurl.com/a99y3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

How does riding a treaded unicycle on even surfaces feel? The tire is of
the unicycle I'd like to get is 3 inches, so I'm wondering how this
will be different than a normal tire.

--
Jeffvt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffvt's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13884
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Jeffvt said:

How does riding a treaded unicycle on even surfaces feel? The tire is of
the unicycle I'd like to get is 3 inches, so I'm wondering how this
will be different than a normal tire.

Similer to riding a bike with a treaded tyre just a little vibration😉

--
thejdw

ivan said:

Damn, I closed my browser again! You naughty person!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
thejdw's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13230
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Jeffvt said:

How does riding a treaded unicycle on even surfaces feel? The tire is of
the unicycle I'd like to get is 3 inches, so I'm wondering how this
will be different than a normal tire.

The 3" tires all feel pretty bad on hard surfaces, especially if you're
running them at MUni tire pressure. Squirrelly and slow.

--
tholub
------------------------------------------------------------------------
tholub's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/804
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

john_childs said:

The 26 x 3" wheels get to be heavier and less maneuverable. Less
convenient for the hopping around. It's more suited for cruising on a
trail than playing on a trail. It's also heavier than something like a
29er. A 26x3 is more of a niche size for someone who knows that's the
size and style of unicycle that they want.

As usual John pretty much nails it on the head. I would add the
following from my personal experience:

I like the 26" wheel size a lot. I am fairly tall (6ft 2) and finds it
works better for me. However I like playing on a trail and a 26x3 is
indeed a cumbersome beast. When I first tried a 26x3" tyre I found it
rode like a tank, it really was an effort to turn. I am now back to
riding a skinnier 26x2.45 (Hutchinson Jumbo) and this brings the
behaviour of a 26" more in line with an XC unicycle with the bonus that
I can still confidently bomb off big drops and use it to attack
aggresive trail riding.

The difference in diameter between a 24x3 gazzalodi and the 26x2.45
hutchinson is not that large but I still prefer my 26. It is, as John
says, a niche unicycle and if you are an aggressive rider you
definitely have to know that a 26 is the size you want. There are
virtually no top of the line 26" munis availlable off the shelf.
Upgrading a Nimbus 26" to a KH moment hub is probably a good option if
you want to experiment with a 26 and then decide you need to beef it
up.

--
peter.bier

-Peter Bier
------------------------------------------------------------------------
peter.bier's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/1506
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

I think 26" is a great size. It's the standard MTB wheelsize so you
have the greatest choice of rims and tyres to choose from. You can go
tubeless relatively easily because the rims and tyres are readily
available.

It works very well of XC- I'm gone back to using my 26x2.6 with 150mm
cranks and I much prefer it to my 29'er and 24" for general MUni
riding. A 24" feels too slow, and 29" tyre's are mostly too skinny to
ride fast over bumpy terrain. And there are hardly any tyres and rims
to choose from in the 24" and 29" sizes.

--
GizmoDuck

'The SINZ Unitour 2007' (http://www.sinzuni.org)...Give in to your SINZ,
join us down under!
'The Laos Unicycle Tour 2006' (http://www.laosunitour.org)....An
Adventure of Epic Proportions
The Monguni Tour 2008....catchy slogan pending
The Unifice 2009....Fire & Ice, One-Wheel Sacrifice
The SISININZ Unitour 2010....How to get a sore butt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GizmoDuck's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/794
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

GizmoDuck said:

I think 26" is a great size. It's the standard MTB wheelsize so you
have the greatest choice of rims and tyres to choose from. You can go
tubeless relatively easily because the rims and tyres are readily
available.

Really? A tubeless muni setup?😕 I thought that was a road
cycle/XC thing. Do you get a big momentum boost from the weight loss?

--
BluntRM

"Man has, as it were, become a kind of prosthetic god. When he puts on
all his auxiliary organs he is truly magnificent; but those organs have
not grown on to him and they still give him much trouble at times."
Sigmund Freud, -Civilization and Its Discontents-
'
Marxist Internet Archive' (http://www.marxists.org/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BluntRM's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12994
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Tubless is great on Muni.

You dont have to worry about pinchflats, or the heavy DH tubes to
resist pinches and thorns.

The weight savings make it feel a lot better to ride also.😄

There was a nice link that talked about Muni and mountain biking with a
tubeless set-up.

Ill try to find it.

--
Jerrick

~*~!I ride for Christ, Fun, Challenges, and a lot
more!~*~
'!Gallery!' (http://tinyurl.com/gf2g9)
'!MRIS!' (http://tinyurl.com/jjjnz)
'Easy Tire Removal Guide.' (http://tinyurl.com/rd9ru)
My sponsor '~!SIXSIXONE!~' (http://sixsixone.com/) New Uni =
Blue Sex!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerrick's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/11632
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

-The other variable in muni riding is crank length. Recently there has
been more of a trend towards shorter cranks for muni with a 24x3.
Old-school is the 170mm length with a 24x3 wheel. Trends now are for
lengths in the 165mm to 150mm range for muni with a 24x3 wheel. Crank
length is in large part personal preference and what's suited for your
body size and riding style. The Qu-ax muni will limit you to the 170mm
length (or 145mm length which is really short for most people).-

I'm 6' 1" and 145 pounds, is the 170mm an ok size for me?

How is a 150mm different than a 170mm in how it feels and functions?

--
Jeffvt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffvt's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13884
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Jeffvt said:

I'm 6' 1" and 145 pounds, is the 170mm an ok size for me?

How is a 150mm different than a 170mm in how it feels and functions?

Riding with 150mm is somewhat less wobbly. 150mm is noticably faster
and takes less energy on easy stuff (fire roads). 150mm gets fewer
pedal hits.
150mm has slightly less leverage; it's a bit harder to slow down on
extremely steep stuff, or after drops. It's not as easy to hop with
150mm.

Overally, the difference is fairly subtle. I plan to switch back to
165mm for Moab, but I rode with 150mm at California MUni Weekend and
did just fine on some gnarly terrain. I think the trails you're likely
to ride are much more important than your height or weight; if you're
doing a whole lot of steep up and down with big drops (like the
LA/Santa Barbara guys), you'll appreciate the longer cranks. If you're
riding a fair amount of easy stuff, your rides will be more fun with
shorter cranks.

There some rides in the Santa Cruz area which have some really fun
technical downhill, and a lot of boring uphill fire road getting to and
from the fun part. I would much rather ride the technical stuff with
150s than the boring stuff with 170s.

--
tholub
------------------------------------------------------------------------
tholub's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/804
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

If I ever want to switch to 150mm cranks is that possible with this
unicycle?

--
Jeffvt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jeffvt's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/13884
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Jeffvt said:

If I ever want to switch to 150mm cranks is that possible with this
unicycle?

Municycle.com (the German branch of Unicycle.com) has a better
selection of Qu-ax parts. Check there to see what other crank lengths
Qu-ax has for their splined hub. Here's the 'Qu-ax splined cranks'
(http://tinyurl.com/yfvxgp). They are available in 127mm, 145mm, and
170mm.

At your height your legs will be plenty long enough to comfortably
pedal the 170s. Shorter people find the longer cranks more ungainly
than the tall people.

Crank length has a lot to do with personal preference, riding style and
what you're willing to get used to. With the longer cranks you have to
concentrate more on pedaling in circles and pedaling through the bottom
of the stroke so you don't lose your momentum by stalling slightly at
the bottom of the stroke. Takes practice but isn't a hindrance once
you know how to pedal that way.

Some other brands of unicycle have more choices for crank size, but
they're also going to be more expensive. Balance the cost with how
much you think you may experiment with crank length.

--
john_childs

john_childs (att) hotmail (dott) com
Team Dirty Muni
Gallery: http://gallery.unicyclist.com/john_childs
'Unicycling Bookmark List' (http://backcountry.unicyclist.com/) ::
'World Clock' (http://tinyurl.com/a99y3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
john_childs's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/449
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

I believe the bicyclists use 170 as a standard size crank.

--
BluntRM

"Man has, as it were, become a kind of prosthetic god. When he puts on
all his auxiliary organs he is truly magnificent; but those organs have
not grown on to him and they still give him much trouble at times."
Sigmund Freud, -Civilization and Its Discontents-
'
Marxist Internet Archive' (http://www.marxists.org/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BluntRM's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12994
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

BluntRM said:

I believe the bicyclists use 170 as a standard size crank.

That's because bicyclists have gears, and thus don't need to care about
crank length very much.

--
tholub
------------------------------------------------------------------------
tholub's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/804
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

tholub said:

That's because bicyclists have gears, and thus don't need to care about
crank length very much.

I use 170's...

The torque is nice and it feels natural making a larger circle.

--
BluntRM

"Man has, as it were, become a kind of prosthetic god. When he puts on
all his auxiliary organs he is truly magnificent; but those organs have
not grown on to him and they still give him much trouble at times."
Sigmund Freud, -Civilization and Its Discontents-
'
Marxist Internet Archive' (http://www.marxists.org/)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
BluntRM's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/12994
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302

Quoted message said:

Question #5

Does the 24 inch work ok for trials-like stuff?

It is definitely possible to do trials on a 24, infact, I do trials
exclusively on a 24" muni with a Gazz. I used to have a 20" trials but
i gave it away because i never used it.

Heres a really short *VIDEO* of me on a 24:
http://tinyurl.com/yn3neo

--
mango

*Neener, neener, neener. *-harper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
mango's Profile: http://www.unicyclist.com/profile/3892
View this thread: http://www.unicyclist.com/thread/55302