29" or 36" for road cruising

[uniShark]

Originally Posted by bungeejoe

I climb the same hills with a 36. Heart rate usually becomes my limiter.

The footage from above you then continuing as you round the switchback with the background view is just perfect.
Inspiring!

[juggleaddict]

Originally Posted by bungeejoe

I climb the same hills with a 36. Heart rate usually becomes my limiter.

wow O.o gotta ask, what was the point of the 110s? I would have put some cheap 125s or even 150s on there for such steep climbs, it may have been much faster. Props though : ) I like the 114s but wouldn't go much smaller than that.

[justtysen]

Yeah I was mighty impressed when I heard those were 110's.

[scott ttocs]

Yeah, 110s with clipless pedals and no handlebar. I guess the clipless pedals may give him more torque, but he is still amazing.

Scott

[bluesman]

Some great advice thanks. Sounds like the 29 would be a substantial next step from my 24. I need to improve my freemounting skills, so it sound like I won't be ready for the 36 incher for a while. I like the fact that I have something to set my sights on for the future!

[Flyjeffva]

I have only ever ridden a 24 incher (for 40 years on and off). Santa is bringing me a new Coker for Christmas. I watched MuniAddict's video mounting tutorial and I now have this fantasy that I am going to just jump on it and go. Will know soon enough.

[Nurse Ben]

It depends a lot on your riding skills, not what you can mount. Mounting issues can be overcome by grabbing onto a pole

I ride a 29er for muni, so for me a 29er would be way to slow for road riding, though adding a geared hub would make it faster, but still it's a 29er.

I love my 36, it is fast, smooth, stable, nothing beats rolling the road on a big wheel, it's a game changer.

Don't waste your time on a 29er for the road unless you're too short for a 36er, seriously, they're not even playing in the same game.

Ideally, before you buy, see about meeting someone to try them out. When I first started riding, I found the 29er to be very hard to ride on a paved surfaces, tended to lean a lot, of course that was probably my lack of skill.

If you're commuting and the uni is going to be used in place of a bike, and the traffic is not stop and go, so basically you have long sections of riding and/or you are going to go on long rides for sport, the 36er is way fun.

I only use my 29er for single track, so even for double track I pull out the 36er. Josh at UDC was telling me that he has 170's on his 36er and uses it to ride trails

[plinker22]

I have been riding uni for over 33 years, therefore, I thought a 36" would be no problem. Boy, was I Wrong!!! I struggled up EVERY hill and never could get the mount. All this was in only one afternoon of playing on a fellow members 36'er. Maybe one day!!!

However, with a 29", I feel very comfortable... off and on the road.

Originally Posted by bungeejoe

YouTube - Bellingham Bay to Artist Point

bungeejoe, your conquest to Artist Point was inspiring. Wow is all I can say. Your wife did a great job of documenting the ride too!

[Nurse Ben]

I have been riding uni for over 33 years, therefore, I thought a 36" would be no problem. Boy, was I Wrong!!! I struggled up EVERY hill and never could get the mount. All this was in only one afternoon of playing on a fellow members 36'er. Maybe one day!!!

Well yeah, there is a learning curve! It depends on what you're used to as well as how the 36er is set up. I started riding mine with 165's, which seemed to help me adjust to having so much wheel to push, then later I went down to a 150 and felt just fine.

I only wish I rode mine more, but muni is my number one, so the 36er sits idle most of the time.

For me the 36er felt like flying, it's just so tall and fast, nothing compares. A 29er is just a uni, like a 24 or 26, maybe a tad taller, but still it rides like a uni. A 36er is a totally different animal altogether, mmmmmm.

[NotSoYoungOne]

Originally Posted by bungeejoe

I climb the same hills with a 36. Heart rate usually becomes my limiter.

bungeejoe is my new inspiration - I am speechless after watching this video!! I live in Salt Lake and have been road cycling for years. I climb stuff like that on my triple chain ring using my best climber gear (and with a triple on a roadie that means very knee-friendly/heart-friendly gearing). I am 8 years younger than bungeejoe, but heart rate is my limiter too.

How long did the entire ride take you? What is the steepest grade of the climb? How did you climb like that with 110's?!

I just started learning to ride 3 months ago, but I am very interested in learning to ride long distance on a big wheel, including hill climbing. I am on a 26" Nimbus Muni with a road slick and still trying to figure out how to climb the 3% - 4% hills in my neighborhood with KH 137/165 cranks (experimenting with both lengths).

All I can say is, you are a ROCK! Very inspiring. I plan to buy a 36er next year, but I am still learning to handle a 26 so it will be a while. I have a looong way to go, but seeing this gives me a huge goal to shoot for. Thanks for posting!

[bluesman]

As the OP I thought I would come around full circle and post. I did buy a Nimbus Titan 36er in January.

I have only been riding for 4 or 5 months and I am just really getting comfortable on my 24" unicycles (torker 24, and Nimbus Muni 3"). I can just very recently (last 2 weeks) comfortably go 2 miles on XC trails, and free mount with good consistency, and really control my turns pretty well.

I have been trying to learn the 36er at the same time I was learning the 24, and I think it really slowed down my overall progress due to the mental confusion, especially freemounting. At this point I am really ready to try something a bit harder and new, but the 36er is simply very intimidating. I am considering buying a Nimbus 29er just to bridge the gap. The issue is that I took one really bad Road UPD on the Titan and now I am kind of scared of it. I have wiped out plenty on my 24's, rolls off road and all, but the fall just isn't that fast or far up.

I love my 36 and aspire to ride it on the road for distance, but not right now.

Is the 29 easier to ride and less intimidating and a more natural transition from my 24?

[JeffyS]

Blues,

I had lots of UPDs on my 36"er, too. It may have just been me and my 5' 8" height but I was never really comfortable on the big wheel.

I got on my 29" and never looked back. It just fits. Even my 5' 9" buddy liked the 29"er the instant he got on it.

The 29 does take a 20% speed hit, but the tradeoff in control and comfort and safety is worth that to me.

Going back and forth between the 24" for trail and the 29" for road is quite easy.

And, yes, I tried the 29" on the trail. Without the beefy rim and tire, that kind of riding was a challenge.

Jeff

[mbalmer]

I was able to ride my 36 from the day I got it, however, I was always nervous on it. I took two bad falls that bruised my ribs and scared me. I took to my 29er for my road uni. I really loved that thing. It rides more like a small uni and I became comfortable climbing steep hills with 125 cranks. Recently I have pulled out my 36 inch and have found it to be pretty easy with the 150 cranks. I am liking it more and more. I also have a Schlumpf hub on a 26" that was even more intimidating. I have now started practicing on that. While it's still a beast, I'm finding it doable and even enjoying it. I'm slow to new things. Keep your 36. Get a 29. Have fun. I find that riding in frustration doesn't advance me very well.

[tholub]

Originally Posted by bluesman

Is the 29 easier to ride and less intimidating and a more natural transition from my 24?

No question, a 29er is much more accessible than a 36". And it's better for certain kinds of riding, anyway, so you might as well get one.

[monomaniac]

Originally Posted by tholub

you might as well get one.

Thanks... exactly the sort of encouragement I need! Is it possible to STOP getting new unis, ever?