That tricky 2nd Uni - 26" or 29"

Hi there,

I've got a Nimbus 29er from UDC which I've been riding for the last 4
months. This weekend, we took our unis (my 29er and my friend's 20"😉
off road in an attempt to cycle from Cambridge to Ely on the riverside
path. This is, of course, largely flat countryside with occasional
steep-but-small hillocks. The path itself is a typical country track
for much of the journey - unpaved, compacted dirt, lumpy and irregular.
Difficult to ride!

Both our unis were set up with a rather high gear - really more suited
to road usage. We found the following:
* lumps / loose gravel / anything seemed to cause the 20" difficulty
* the 29er was tricky to mount in places - this is partly a tribute to
my lack of skill, but I basically found I didn't have enough space in
which to freemount without rolling off the ridge we were riding /
hitting a bump
* when I got on the 29er, it seemed to be 2-4mph faster than the 20"
even though they were set up for practically the same gear ratio

I'm planning on getting a Muni wheelset for the 29er (longer cranks,
knobbly tyre) that I can fit at weekends for this sort of riding - then
I can tackle those paths again. Wouldn't want to do it again with my
current setup.

It's taken me a long time to get used to the 29er on the road - feels
really unwieldy after my flingable 20" standard. It did seem like a
29er is a fantastic cross-country machine, but more technical stuff
might be harder on it due to its size / weight. Going up hills is
partly a function of your crank length (and hence gearing) so you might
be able to find a 29er which serves that purpose too.

Just my $0.02, I've never ridden a 26er (although it always seems like
a "nice" size compared to either a small wheel or a huge, 29er)

Cheers,
Mark

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mark williamson said:

Both our unis were set up with a rather high gear - really more suited
to road usage. We found the following:
[snip]
* when I got on the 29er, it seemed to be 2-4mph faster than the 20"
even though they were set up for practically the same gear ratio

I'm planning on getting a Muni wheelset for the 29er (longer cranks,
knobbly tyre) that I can fit at weekends for this sort of riding - then
I can tackle those paths again. Wouldn't want to do it again with my
current setup.

Hi

I'm confused about the 'gear' thing - do you mean crank length? If so,
what's on the Nimbus now, and what will you be changing it to? Looking
at threads about 29" unis, 150cm seems to be regarded as the 'sweet
spot', so that's what I was aiming for (if I go that route).

Regards
John

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I recently invested in a 26" for my second Uni. Like you, I also wanted
something for off-road riding. After riding my 26" (with 150 cranks)
on some local trails for a couple of weeks, I would recomend this size
if you plan on riding any hills. The 26" rolls over bumps in the trail
pretty nicely and will climb up moderate inclines. For steeper parts
of trails, longer cranks would be better.

Have fun shopping for and riding your new birthday present.

--
pedalone
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icon said:

I want to get a 2nd uni. My goal is to ride off-road - I have taken the
20" on some tracks, but with limited success, given my lack of skill
and the size of the wheel. I also would like to do some longer rides on
the road. I live in a place (Norfolk, England) not not for its mountain
vistas, but that's not to say it's dead flat; there are several places
nearby with hilly-ish off-road tracks, but nothing very sustained or
'technical'.

If the stuff near you is like Thetford then with an off road tyre, it's
rideable on a 29 with 125mm cranks, which is also a fine road uni.
However, a 26 is a bit better for muni, especially if you decide to get
into more technical riding. Also, you'll probably find the 26" easier
to get into riding offroad on if you're currently inexperienced.

If you only get one unicycle, the 26" is more flexible, because you can
put everything from a narrow road tyre, to a 3" wide downhill tyre on
it, and with short cranks it can be similar to a 29" on the road.
However, if you're anything like me, you probably can't be bother to
change cranks/tyres etc. often, so the 29er would make more road
oriented unicycle.

My advice to you would be that if at all possible, come to the 'BUC'
(http://www.unicycle.org.uk/buc13/) and have a play on some unicycles
and buy one there. It's a fantastic weekend, and is pretty cheap, and
you'll probably have much more inspiration as to what kind of riding
you want to get into after seeing other riders. Saves you postage too.

If you can't do that, then I'd say decide on what's your priority, muni
or distance, and get the 26 or 29er depending. Maybe phone unicycle.com
and have a chat, they're very helpful.

By the way, if you buy a 26" don't buy a pashley, they're old and out
of date and really really annoying.

Joe

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150s on a 29" are a little long unless you're intending on some fairly
serious offroad, 125s are a good comprimise for control, speed and hill
ability. The 'gear' people are referring to is the ratio of the length
of your cranks to your wheel size. Don't be misled by wheel sizes,
loosemoose's 26" Muni is bigger than most 28"s because it has an
enormously fat tyre, this is often the case when comparing smaller
diametre Muni wheels to larger diameter road wheels. Personally I'd go
for a 26" with a pair of 150mm cranks for fairly decent off-road
ability, and then get a set of 125mm or 101mm cranks for road riding if
you still need more speed. You need to think a little about how far you
want to go, i ride a 24" with 165mm cranks and a very high rolling
resistance tyre but i still regularly do a 9 mile training ride
including hills and off-road in 1 1/2 hours.

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kington99

Dave

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I have Nimbus 26" and I like it very much. It´s good for little more
technical trails and climbing/riding down hills works very fine. And
about longer distances I think that there isn´t much of a difference
between 29" and 26", atleast in my opinion. A friend of mine has a 29"
and it isn´t actually any "faster" on roads than my 26".
So I would recommend 26".

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It's taking me some time to get used to the 127's on my 29" (due to less
immediate torque when mounting), but they're definitely nice once I'm
up and riding.

I think if I was going to do any real offroad I'd want a 24 or 26,
though. The 29 feels like it'd be a bit heavy for my tastes for
offroad. For general cruising, however, it's pretty awesome.

--
bmemike
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Gearing is proportional to wheel diameter, divided by crank length. My
friend was riding a 20" with 90mm cranks (offroad, that's pretty
bonkers, IMHO!), I was riding a 29" with 127mm cranks. It works out to
not much difference in ratio, but the big 29 inch tyre rolls over bumps
well (incidentally, the rim is typically the same size on a 28 vs a 29,
but the tyre is much bigger and heavier on the latter). This rolling
ability gave me a big speed advantage for cross country, even without
significantly higher gearing.

My 29er is really a road machine. I'm inclined to put cranks between
140 and 160mm onto it for offroad stuff (along with maybe a knobbly
tyre) so that I'll have better control and leverage, that way I should
be able to ride all the way to Ely :-) 127s are good for road usage,
so I'd like to keep using those for commuting. I'd like to mention
that having come from a 20" standard uni (cost me 40 quid on ebay) such
a big heavy wheel was an acquired taste and took a lot of getting used
to. It's also quite hard to idle (I can't really do it) or do slow
stuff with the short cranks on. It's fast though!!!

I imagine you'll find nice offroad terrain to ride around Norwich, both
flat paths on the fens / broads and hilly stuff around Kett's hill /
Mousehold heath (am I getting that geography right?). Alsor, if you
fancy coming down to Cambridge some time, you'd be more than welcome to
join us on some cross country riding around Cambridge / the fens.

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mark williamson

Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat? And no
pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
Dave: Skateboards have wheels.
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If your primary intended usage is on road and non-technical trails, I
would definitely get a 29er over a 26". A 26", set up for MUni, will
be awful on roads (I'd rather ride my skinny-tire 24"😉, and if you're
going to set one up with a skinnier tire and shorter cranks, the 29er
will be just as good off-road anyway.

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Ahoy there, good to see a Norfolk boy on here. Im just on the
norfolk/suffolk border quite near Norwich. Im driving up to Scarborough
for the BUC next month if you (or anyone else local on here) were going
and fancied saving a bit on petrol by teaming up.

The only proper track ive been round is the black mountain bike route
at Thetford. I've got a 24" muni and its great for technical stuff and
steep hills, but riding in between the interesting bits is a bit dull
and slow.

A 26 might be a better compromise for riding mountain bike courses like
that but I did have a 26" pashley before and didnt notice much
difference to that and the 24", although my 24" has a 3" tyre whereas
the pashley's one was smaller. I think if you are going to be riding
less challenging stuff then it would be worth getting a 29 for the
extra speed. I suppose your height would have a factor in it too.

Cheers

Tom

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I have 2 29ers - one with Big Apple tyre and 125 cranks, which is great
for road riding and light trails but I'm not too good with the hills on
it. And one with a knobbly tyre and 140mm cranks - which is great for
off road, (I don't know if you could call what I do MUni exactly) and
hills but is uncomfortable to ride on flat surfaces with a slight
slope.

I haven't ridden my 24" onza since I got the new 29er. And I think the
onza is heavier.

Also I'm a very slow learner but I can do (small) hops and curbs on the
29ers too.

Cathy

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The problem for a new off road rider is not riding, but freemounting and
remounting time after time. It can be tiring and demoralising.

A 26 will present enough challenges at first.

An experienced rider who is 100% confident of freemounting on rough
ground will go further and faster on the 29.

A 26 will be slightly lighter, more portable/storable, and quicker
steering. There is a bigger range of 26 inch tyres.

Hills are not a problem, unless they are very long or very steep. I
ride a 28 on the road, with some uphills and downhills on 110 or 102mm
cranks, and a Coker on 150s. A 29 on 125s would be a go anywhere
machine.

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Absence of flowers,
But choked by weeds.
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bmemike said:

It's taking me some time to get used to the 127's on my 29" (due to less
immediate torque when mounting), but they're definitely nice once I'm
up and riding.

I think if I was going to do any real offroad I'd want a 24 or 26,
though. The 29 feels like it'd be a bit heavy for my tastes for
offroad. For general cruising, however, it's pretty awesome.

the 29" is probably lighter than a 26" or maybe even a 24" Muni

anyway i say get a 26". They r easier to go through technical spots and
can still put in a good distance. I have a 24" and i can do 20 miles
pretty easily without getting tired on it so...get a 26"

look at www.unicycle.com and see if u find any you like there.

or go to www.koxx-one.com and look at the 26" muni
if u live in the U.S. go here www.renegadejuggling.com

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Thanks to everyone for their responses. I'm persuaded to go the 26"
route. Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy
Biiiiiirthday...

This introduces a slight problem - when I thought I was going to get a
29", I had the KH model in mind. There doesn't seem to be a 'standard'
26" KH model. The Nimbus has standard tapered square crank fittings and
I've been indoctrinated with the spline thing, having hung around here
too long (and I plan to swap between different length cranks). Maybe
UDC can recommend a 'bitsa'.

Oh - Mark: Mousehold Heath is one of the places I intend to ride! There
look to be some nice hills and trails round there.

Tom: I'd love to go to BUC but there's no way I could escape for a
whole weekend and it's a bit of a haul for a day! Maybe they could hold
it in Norfolk next year...

Thanks again for all the responses

John

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Nope, KH don't make a 26". But Koxx do, and it's looovely!'Check it out'
(http://tinyurl.com/edfg2).

Or you could get a 26er made using a KH29 or Nimbus 2 frame. Someone
posted a 26" with a KH29 frame on here a while ago, it looked very
nice.

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you could check out bedford, the make a 26"

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Muni
MUni
ni
i
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he's in encland though, wouldn't work out too well.

go koxx

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you'll end up on CNN, with the headline, Unicyclist Beaten to Death by
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