Shorter cranks on my 29er

[showard]

I've havent riden my 29er for several weeks because I've been having too much fun riding single track on my MUni. I rode the 29er quite a bit last summer with 170mm cranks and thought it was great. Yesterday I put the it back together (it's been in pieces for one reason or another) with the 125mm cranks that came originally on my 26" sem and the Viscount saddle that I did surgery on a few weeks ago.



Those short cranks make it a different animal. Mounting is more difficult, I think in part due to the seat being 2" or so higher than my MUni. I rode it yesterday and today in beautiful sunny, but bitter cold weather, on the local paved bike path along with as many gravel and dirt side trails as I could find along the way.

It's great fun and a new challenge with those short cranks. I tried the short cranks earlier in the summer and didn't get along with them well at all. Now I'm able to ride with them much better and was surprised at so of the stuff I was able to do. Guess I'm improving.

You'll notice in the photo that the Viscount saddle is tilted up quite a bit. It's surprisingly comfortable that way. I've been using the new Velo on my MUni and I can't honestly saw that the Viscount tilted up is any less comfortable than the Velo. I think a Miyata air saddle is still the most comfortable though.

Steve Howard

[harper]

Two-tone frame? You continue to lead the community of unicycle development in elegance. The cranks and pedals look fantastic with the grey and black frame. The oo-la-la, le veeCONT saddle with its clean lines even adds to the esthetic appeal of this machine.

[Mikefule]

29 inches is only 3.5% bigger than 28. I find that a 28 with 110mm cranks is surprisingly easy to mount and idle. In fact, my initial reaction when I mounted it for the first time was that I should have had the confidence to go for 102s. (As soon as my 89s arrive for the 24, the 102s will probably go on the 28.)

On the other hand, my 28 has a skinny tyre and the wheel/tyre combination is quite light. Looks like your 29 incher has a fatter tyre. Depending on the terrain you're riding, I'd say try some 110s just for the fun of it. :0)

And while I couldn't be precise about the reasons, I seem to find shorter cranks make for easier mounting. It's the starting to roll which is harder, so that translates into 'mounting problems' on rough ground.