Buying a new 36er

Hi folks, I’m looking at buying a new 36er soon for road riding. I can’t find a good used one within a couple of hundred miles so looking at new.
I do see on unicycle.com, a 36" Kris Holm Road Unicycle $1070., also a 36" Nimbus Oracle $875. The $195. price difference isn’t huge. What are your thoughts on the better machine regarding crank size, seats, brakes, hub and anything else that I’d want to consider? Thanks in advance for your input.

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I would avoid aluminum hubs.

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As @Syoten said, i have seen several stories of the Oracle 36 aluminum hubs failing over time.

That would give me concern about buying one unless they changed it to steel

Yes agreed I just read the post about the broken aluminum hub. Any other issues with an Oracle?

Hey Mac,

I used to own a 29" Oracle and had no problems with it.
I can’t see either being a bad choice.

That being said… I have a KH 29 and 36. :wink:

You might have problems with the us unicycle.com. (it seems they don’t like canadian money)
If you do, I would suggest going the the UK. They’ve always done an incredible service whenever I’ve dealt with them.

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I quite like my Oracle because of the wider hub. With such a bit wheel, it makes a big difference, it’s much stiffer than my old QuAx.

Roger and his team are the best. It’s interesting that most unicycle shops have a known face (Romain for the french CDK, Marco for Mad4One, Roger for the UK, David for quax, etc), yet I would never be able to give one name or face for the american shop.

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Joshua Torrans. Not the owner but a prominent figure there.

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Josh is “the” guy at UDC US.

If you call via phone, you will likely speak to the owner Amy. Both have been very helpful in the past, and very willing to give their time to answer questions.

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Good to hear, they’re clearly not as present online as the other guys I mentioned!

The Kris Holm 36er comes with the Fusion One saddle which most people either seem to love it or hate it. If you find yourself in the latter category you’ll spend an additional $120 or so for a new saddle and seat post. Other than that I would consider them just about equal.

Thanks for all the informative replies. I think I’ll see if I can get an Oracle with a steel hub. If not I’ll go for rhe KH.

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Josh

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I found this Nimbus Impulse 36er locally for $300 US. It looks to be in good shape. From what I can find on this site it sounds like they’re a pretty good uni. Unless some of you know they were a lemon I’ll buy it.
Thanks for the help folks.

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You found a great deal!

I have one and it is most excellent, and definitely a good buy at that price.

Definitely not a lemon, one of nicest looking frame designs and the extras alone will have cost a third of that price when bought new. May even have ISIS cranks - I believe early ones were cotterless and later ones ISIS. And lemons don’t have cool purple bells :wink:

holyroller, it still has the nubbies on the Nightrider tire. He said he didnt ride it much and it’s been sitting for a few years. It does have Isis Venture cranks.
Looks like I’m gettin a 36er.

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That’s great - they’ll no doubt be glad it’s going to a good home, and you’ll be getting a great uni, and in due course that floating 36er feeling of riding a big wheel. I worked out recently that I’ve bought 11 unicycles so far, although I’ve never owned more than 6 at a time (but even that sounds crazy to a non-unicyclist) - I never even rode one of them, a giraffe that I had for over a year! They’ve all been pre-loved (or in the case of a couple of the 20" ones that had been given up on by their previous owners, pre-hated I suspect). I’ll be thinning out to just two soon (OK, might end up being 3) and it’s great to be able to pass them on in good condition to someone who’ll be able to enjoy them at much less than the new price. That said, I’m sure that one day I’ll buy myself a brand new unicycle - a 29er would be my guess currently - unless of course I spot someone else wanting to part with a nice used one just when I’m looking to buy!

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For some reason I was just looking this again, and noticed it still has the original Nimbus sticker inside the bottom of the frame. This can only mean that the uni has barely been used and is as good as new.
It really is a bargain!

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Dino, it does look in pretty pristine condition other than a few scuffs on the bar and pedals. I’ll be picking it up next week.

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