Just bought a KH36

[llamaman]

Now that unicycle dot com got their kris holm supplies back in stock I ordered a new kris holm 36". Using my friends nimbus nightrider compared to my old steel 36" made me decide to spend the money to get a Kris Holm. So my question is what parts should I get and what modifications should I do once I get it. So far what I am going to do is
replace the cranks with 114 qu-ax aluminum isis cranks because that is the length i find to be best. 29" tube for the huge weight difference but I am wondering is it reliable to blow up this tube with the night rider up to 65psi?

Are the pedals that are on the unicycle stock(Trail mix pedals) any good for weight/grip. I am considering magnesium pedals but I don't know if they are worth it.

And I am also wondering what are some of the other modifications people do to save weight?

Kevin

[wickedbob]

Wellgo mg1 ti's. They are even lighter than plastic pedals.


I'm getting my 36'er this week, I want to try some toe clips on it first, but if I odn't like those I'll go with the mg1 ti's.

[chuckaeronut]

Hey, congrats!! I think the KH36 is the best 36er you can buy right now... It's like a night and day difference between my KH36 and my old Nimbus 36.

You're spot on on the tube - 29er tube is the way to go. I've run 29er tubes in my 36 for as long as I've been riding 36ers. I've got about 3,500 miles on my nightrider tire with cheapo Performance Bike brand 29er tubes (the 48-52c kind) at 60 PSI, and I've gotten one flat from riding over a shard of glass that got lucky enough to fit in between the tread chunks on my tire. I'm "leery" of 65, which means I'll do it if I'm feeling spunky. But whenever I pump it to 65, I always stand back and wish I had an extra arm to cover my ears. I usually stop at 60, but I always go to at least 60, and I've never had a problem.

Don't know anything about the trailmixes; I do know that I am perpetually in love with my MG-1s. The magnesium-with-steel-spindle ones. I don't want to pay enough to have the titanium spindles. I mostly like them for their grip, though. I'd say that if you feel like your trailmixers are superly grippy, you don't need to change. Disclaimer: others may or may not disagree. : )

114's a good overall length; w00t there.

I'd definitely get a handlebar of some sort. A T7 or a Coker bar seem to be the only ready-made ones, but lots of custom ones are out there. If you use a T7, be sure you know someone who welds things, because if you use it hard, it will eventually fatigue and break. Grr. (I'm on my third one now, but w00t, because my first two are welded up and good to go!)

I just shaved my tire, which saved a couple tubes' worth of weight. Probably got me another half mile an hour on my cruise, which is always welcome. You're better off riding your tire until the cross-sectional profile gets totally flattened out from wearing off the middle first, then shaving the sides, though. I wouldn't dream of spending all the time to shave down a completely new nightrider. It took me about five months to wear all the way through the Nightrider tire's tread in the middle to reveal a flat smooth centerline around the wheel, and once that happened, I shaved the remaining tread off the sides, and I think it did wonders. But it just means that I'm gonna wear the center out further, that much faster... so if you want any life out of your tire, I wouldn't recommend shaving it until you've used up the middle of the tread on the center of the tire... unless, of course, you want to put 90-100mm cranks on it and try to break some ungeared speed records RIGHT away, or something, which you'd probably be better off taking a whack at after getting comfortable enough on your new uni to have used up a good portion of your tire :-)

[llamaman]

Thanks that is exactly the kind of response i wanted. I probably won't shave my tire for a long time unless I go crazy ling distances on this thing.

I do have a T7 on my old nimbus and will be using that on the Kris Holm. I have been wondering about that. When i installed it on my old one i noticed it's quite heavy, so what is the back side of the handle for?(storage?) and would cutting it off be worth it or would it throw my balance off?

And I would like to know what people are using for pedals and what are some of the ones I should look at.

Kevin

[IsaacSteiner]

Originally Posted by wickedbob

Wellgo mg1 ti's. They are even lighter than plastic pedals.

Wellgo MG1 - 13oz
Wellgo MG1 ti - 10oz
Odyssey Twisted PCs - 14oz

So, regular MG1's are even lighter than Odyssey twisted PC's. Which is awesome.

MG1's are awesome for cokering.

-Isaac

[chuckaeronut]

Cool to see so much MG-1 love. At least I know I have my pedals figured out.

That said... nooooO!!!! Don't cut off the rear handle! I considered the same thing for a very short time, and now I absolutely depend on it for lots of stuff, which includes:

* four bottle holders for about 40-60 miles of uninterrupted riding (I am a camelback hater!)

* a saddlebag, containing a pedal wrench, allens, spare 29" tube, 12 patches, tire levers, spoke key, chainbreak (har har har :-P), electrical tape, a bunch of random rubber, and a light multitool sort of thing with a blade and pliers and screwdriver and whatnot. I keep my pump in my jersey pockets.

* a taillight or two... never ride at night without one!

* most likely, a battery for a new 700-lumen, 5 hour LED headlight I've had my eye on for a month or two now.

* pushing the uni around in stores

* rear protection for "laying the uni down," both in the figurative sense of crashing (hehe, more a motorcycle thing), and the literal sense of actually resting it on something.

[llamaman]

Okay so i will be going for the MG-1's I found them on ebay for around $40 shipped so I will probably buy those if I find the trail mix pedals too heavy or not grippy enough. Can't wait for the unicycle should be here hopefully Friday or Monday.

Thanks for all the info, Kevin

[lpounds]

Also, it's likely you won't be breaking any t7s unless you UPD. Chuck, you really broke two t7s just by riding them? Whew..

A custom handle attached to a carbon base is my dream set-up.

[goldenchickenIV]

Originally Posted by lpounds

A custom handle attached to a carbon base is my dream set-up.

Why not make handles that are a prolongation of the seat base - all in cf? Cast in different sizes.

[chuckaeronut]

Yeah, I did, but I do push and pull on them a lot when I ride. I think that's why I'm so incapable of riding fast without them. It's not like I push and pull hard; it's just that I do it all the time, and the metal joints just fatigue and break. Kind of depressing, really

I'd only have two T7s that I just re-weld all the time, but I have a third one because I broke and replaced one in Denmark.

I agree though, something ultimately more awesome..er than a T7 is necessary.......

Or maybe a T7 plus a further-out bar we can lean on, with the T7 part for riding upright and maneuvering. Donno.

[lunicycle]

Originally Posted by llamaman

Okay so i will be going for the MG-1's I found them on ebay for around $40 shipped so I will probably buy those if I find the trail mix pedals too heavy or not grippy enough.

I have both the Trail Mix and MG-1's and don't find the difference in grip between them significant. Wearing 5.10 shoes - which are super grippy anyway - both work well. Perhaps the MG-1's offer a little more grip, I guess due to the extra pin and how the pins are laid out.

Obviously the MG-1's are lighter, but apart from being made of a different material they're also a smaller pedal vs the Trail Mix and because of that don't seem to provide the same big platform feel/stability when wearing 5.10's which are quite wide across the front of the foot. I notice that difference more than a difference in grip.

I think what makes the standard MG-1's appealing is the combination of their cost and weight, both below the Trail Mix. Both are good pedals though imo, not sure which I prefer!

[boisei]

Originally Posted by chuckaeronut

I agree though, something ultimately more awesome..er than a T7 is necessary.......

I'm currently gathering up the parts needed to build up this piece of awesome ...

[saskatchewanian]

thanks for posting that, I've been wanting to see a riding pic of Brycer1968s handle.

Looks a bit higher than I originally imagined still definitely 300% more awesomer than a T7.