rethinking conventional muni wheelsize

ColDawG said:

this led me to think, why does EVERYONE recomend 24 (sometimes 26) for
technical muniing. wouldn't a 29, as well as being more efficient on
long rides, roll over things more easily?
unless it was on a double-black-diamond run at northstar, riding over
incredibly steep, rocky sections, i think a 29 would be better than a
24.

thoughts?

Yes, I agree. I have both a KH24 and KH29. The 24 weighs a bit more
and is definitely better for trails with plenty of natural trials
oppurtunities. But for any other trail, I much prefer the way the 29
rolls.

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Probably a lot easier to jump/hop/gap with a 24", just as a 20" is
easier in this regard than a 24".

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a 24" wheel is also much stronger for handling drops, and much more
capable at handling other fun stuff like natural trials, and is
probably the most versatile unicycle for someone asking about what MUni
size to get.

By the time you get around to deciding a 24" MUni is too slow and you
need a bigger wheel, you are typically in the market for 2 or 3 more
unicycles anyways.

I'm haven't ridden my 24" MUni in ages, but i still always recommend to
n00b's that a 24" is what they probably want

A 24" wheel is much easier to be a beginner on in the woods

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Brian MacKenzie said:

I'm haven't ridden my 24" MUni in ages, but i still always recommend to
n00b's that a 24" is what they probably want

I think this is good advice for those getting into muni via unicycling.
However, for those like me with a XC mountain biking background, I've
found the 29" much more comparable. I still use my 24" for practicing
natural trials and riding with others on 24" wheels, but when I'm in
the mood for an epic ride the 29" feels much more ideal. In fact, if
the hills around here weren't so big and steep, I'd go for a 36" muni.

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phlegm said:

However, for those like me with a XC mountain biking background

This is how I got into it, so I got the 'ideal' wheel size: 26x1.95 🙁

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johnfoss said:

MISNOMER:
24" MUnis have 24" wheels.

Got to get that one out of the way first. When people recommend 24" as
a wheel size for MUni, they generally mean *rim size.* The tire is
around 26". So this thread is really about the difference between 26"
and 28/29" wheels. Not that big a difference.

This annoying thing comes up every time people say something about rim
size. Whilst it's true that a 24x3 is not exactly 24" outer diameter,
it's significantly smaller than a 26" tyre of the sort most people ride
with, which is smaller than a typical 29" tyre. There's no point
pointing out that tyre size isn't exactly the same as the notional tyre
size, because the relative size is what people care about.

It's easy to put a 24 next to a 26x2.6 or 26x3, the 26" tyres people
tend to ride with, and the 26 is significantly bigger (by approximately
2 inches), and then a 29x2.1 is significantly bigger than that (by just
over an inch).

Joe

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I have a 24" KH and I ride what would I would consider "hardcore"
downhill trails. I have ridden double black daimond trails at the
Fernie resort in Canada, so I would consider some of the stuff I do
hardcore.
I really like the manuverability of the 24 when negotiating between
rocks/roots on a steep section of the trail. The only probolem I have
with it is that my cranks (170?) are long enough that I tend to "step"
onto rocks or roots or the edge of the trail if I have to go through a
narrow space. I know that this has somthing to do with lack of skill,
but I see how a larger wheel could be bennificial here. I can't say
that I really want a bigger wheel because I have pretty bad tendonitis
in both of my knees, and I think controlling a larger wheel would limit
the ammount of time my knees could ride. But if I had strong knees, I
would enjoy riding a larger wheel if it was strong enough to handle
what I ride. It would be nice becuase I would spend less time riding
the boring parts to the steeps and the drops.

--
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Toast
dave

psychoteledave2(at)hotmail(dot)com
Team Yams

- last edited by james_potter on 2005-10-5 at 3:58pm

last edited by unitik908 on 2005-09-06 at 04:12 am

last edited by forrestunifreak on 2005-09-09 at 03:51 am-
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trials_uni said:

I kno that Brian rides a Coker for muni and he loves it

Cokers nothing, how bout this.

http://members.tripod.com/~derek_b/mgir.htm

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AscenXion said:

Cokers nothing, how bout this.

http://members.tripod.com/~derek_b/mgir.htm

those are MUCH less fun on the trails, one of the kids in the club
rides giraffes in the woods, he likes it jes' fine

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I have the KH29' It's very sweet. It's great for moderate technical and
longer rides. I felt too much flex on the good stuff. Quick turns are
alittle tuffer.

When I want to charge the toughest trails on the island.. aaaauuuu righ
!!🙄 it's the 24. I like it better than my 26er also.

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i have never ridden a 29 inch wheel for Muni, but with a 24 inch i liked
the manuverability that it had.
Also, nice name..2 "L"s is better though.:p

-collin

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THE dave said:

The only probolem I have with it is that my cranks (170?) are long
enough that I tend to "step" onto rocks or roots or the edge of the
trail if I have to go through a narrow space. I know that this has
somthing to do with lack of skill, but I see how a larger wheel could
be bennificial here.

You're forgetting to consider crank length here. You can still ride
technical muni on 160s or even 150s, and add a brake to your setup to
help you deal with super-steep sections of terrain. Shorter cranks
might also be easier on your knees, although adjusting your saddle
height would make a bigger difference.

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*thread Jack*
Can I get shorter cranks for a KH/Onza hub? Will they noticably limit
my climbing power?

I have my saddle height so that I can stand up off of the seat while
riding and not worry about touching the saddle with my crotch when
absorbing bumps, it makes it kinda low. Is there a way to set it so
that I can absorb bumps without potential injury and make my knees
happy?

I do have a brake and it helps a ton.

Any help on this would be greaty appreciated by both me and my knees!

* end threadjack*

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Toast
dave

psychoteledave2(at)hotmail(dot)com
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- last edited by james_potter on 2005-10-5 at 3:58pm

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joemarshall said:

This annoying thing comes up every time people say something about rim
size. Whilst it's true that a 24x3 is not exactly 24" outer diameter,
it's significantly smaller than a 26" tyre of the sort most people ride
with, which is smaller than a typical 29" tyre. There's no point
pointing out that tyre size isn't exactly the same as the notional tyre
size, because the relative size is what people care about.

This got me wondering, so I went out and measured what's in my garage.
- 24 x 3" Gazzalodi: 25.5"
- 26 x 2.1" Michelin on my carbon MUni (biggest that fits): 26"
- 26 x 2.6" Kenda Colossal on my DM ATU: 26 3/8"
- Schwalbe Big Apple on my 29er (no MUni tire at the moment): 29"

What I'm seeing is the 24" tire is much larger than 24", but the others
are pretty close. Some people are doubtless riding 26" rims with much
fatter tires, but this thread started off being about 24" vs. 29". That
was my point. Your tire size my vary.

--
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John Foss
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com
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johnfoss said:

- 24 x 3" Gazzalodi: 25.5"
- 26 x 2.1" Michelin on my carbon MUni (biggest that fits): 26"
- 26 x 2.6" Kenda Colossal on my DM ATU: 26 3/8"
- Schwalbe Big Apple on my 29er (no MUni tire at the moment): 29"

Not arguing, just adding to the list:
- 26 x 3" Duro Leopard on my Numbus muni: 27 3/4"

Rob

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'Dartmoor Muni Weekend'
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Speaking about tires.. I've got a 29" (a mix betxeen KH, nimbus and
homemade stuff) with a IRC notos 29x2.1 tire. I feel its a bit too
narrow for what I'm doing. I've found a WTB-tire that's 29x2.3 but
thats as wide as it gets.
Does anyone know if even wider tires exist for 29" KH rims?

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Hans has been running a 26 inch Muni (Profile-Gaz combo) for the last
few weeks up in Santa Barbara and has managed to clean some stuff he
hadn´t previously made, so who the hell knows if a 24 really is the
best bet.

JL

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do think it's relevent to point out that a 24" MUni is closer in size to
a conventional 26" wheel than a regular 24" unicycle. In fact, nothing
about a 24" MUni is 24 inches. Certainly not the rim. The rim size is
just the same size that you would use for a tire which is generally
24".

...back to the topic.

The difference between using a 29" on a bi verses 29" on a UNi is that
on the bike, the wheel size doesn't dictate how far a given pedal
rotation will take you.

...say you're inching up to a good-sized drop. A full rotation on a 29"
will bring you closer to the edge than a 24", so your control is less
granular. (same reason why 20" wheels are used for trials).

...so for cross-country, why stop at 29er? I say go 36" (really!)

for super-technical, 24"

in between, 26 or 29.

Really, everyone should have all sizes to be able to ride all terrain,
and every once in a while use the wrong unicycle just to mix it up.

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henque19 said:

Speaking about tires.. I've got a 29" (a mix betxeen KH, nimbus and
homemade stuff) with a IRC notos 29x2.1 tire. I feel its a bit too
narrow for what I'm doing. I've found a WTB-tire that's 29x2.3 but
thats as wide as it gets.
Does anyone know if even wider tires exist for 29" KH rims?

I put a big apple on my KH29" ... It rubbed on the frame when it my
inflated to the high end of the pressure limit. I had to send it back
to uni.com.

I should have said this on product review. aloha

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