26" for commuter?

i ues a 24 with 125 cranks for riding to school and stuff, which is
about 6 miles.

i wish i had a 26 with 102's.

--
iridemymuni

munipsycho said:

Just a bit of advice: never vomit while wearing a full-face helmet.

guess what !

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I would rather keep the 26" a MUni and get a 29er, but a 26" with short
cranks should be fine for a 3.5 mile commute. If you get a slick tire
like the Big Apple it should cruise pretty well on roads, probably
nearly as well as a 29er.

--
tholub
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pkittle said:

I have a 26" muni that I'm considering turning into a commuter. I've put
some short cranks on it--102s-... <snip> ... will this thing work
acceptably for a 3.5 mile commute...

I used to commute that distance quite happily on a 20". A 26" should be
fine, as long as you've got the right cranks for the terrain (102s
should be OK for a flat commute) and an appropriate tyre for the
surface you'll be riding on. For road riding I'd go with Tholub's
recommendation of the Schwalbe Big Apple, although I've never actually
used one.

As it happens, I'm considering buying a 26x2.35 Big Apple myself in
order to enhance the road-going capability of my Muni.

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I've haven't tried short cranks on a 26 yet but I had 102's on my 29 for
a while, did not like them for downhill at all (I don't like 125's on a
Coker for the same reason, if all I did was flat I might have a
different opinion) and hard to control on fast slowing. Switched to
110's on the 29 and really like them (I think 110 on a 29 is pretty
much the same ratio as the 140's on my 36).

--
UniBrier

Steve

Hop Drop & Roll

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stick that guitar in the closet next to your
shortwave radio, your karate outfit and your unicycle and we'll go
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commuter for sale.

http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52493

--
forget_your_life

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Sounds to me like short cranks on a 26" will be adequate to get you
there. For a little while I used to commute about 1.5 miles on a 20"
with 102mm cranks, which was slow but comfortable.

I then moved up to a 29er and then a Coker. The bigger the wheel, the
more comfortable it is for distance riding (and riding over bumps!).
However, a 26" isn't much smaller than a 29 (especially if you put a
larger tyre on it) and is a bit more portable / easily stored.

Bottom line: cranks are cheap and can be reused on other unicycles, so
I'd recommend trying shorter cranks and see how you like it. If you
decide one day to get a bigger uni, you can do what I did and convert
the old commuter to a cross-country muni for a reasonable cost.

--
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?
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I used to ride my old 24 (with a 1.75 tyre) on the road on 102s, and
once did 24 miles on it. I ride my 28 (700c x 25mm) on 114s and it is
perfectly controllable even cross country. A 26 with a decent tyre (I
highly recommend the Holy Roller ) and 114s or 110s should be
versatile, smooth and fun. On 125s it will be just a bit slower.

A true 29" is only 11% bigger (faster) than a true 26". That would
mean cruising at 10mph on a 29 as opposed to 9 mph on a 26, for
example. As my ex wife once said to me in a different context, an
extra 3 inches would be ideal, but if you practise lots, you can have
an enjoyable ride with what you have. It'll just take longer to get
there.

--
Mikefule

"We begin in the madness of carnal desire and the transport of
voluptuousness; we end in the dissolution of all our parts and the
musty stench of corpses."
Arthur Schopenhauer. Philosopher and pessimist.
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Thanks for all the input! My LBS has a 26 x 2.5 Maxxis Hookworm that
I've been eyeing--anybody tried one and have advice? It looks similar
to the Big Apple superficially, but I don't know if it's good for a
road-riding application.

--
pkittle

*========
Peter Kittle
Chico, CA
========*
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my mate's got a 24" maxxis hookworm, it just owns for on the road stuff.
it craps all over my 2.7 knobby tyre. i love riding the hookworm it's
so nice

--
iridemymuni

munipsycho said:

Just a bit of advice: never vomit while wearing a full-face helmet.

guess what !

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the maxis 26 hookwerm is a good tyre, but it on the heavy side for
commuting.

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Yes your unicycle will work ok as a commuter. However the shorter the
cranks the harder it will be to maintain balance. This is especailly
true when mounting and you have not built up speed yet. I would preffer
a larger weel and longer cranks in order to have more control and
better balance especaily for road riding. I have a Kris Holm 29" with
150mm cranks. I find this a much more comfortable ride than my Onza 24"
with shorter cranks. if you have the $530 to get the KH 29 it is worth
while. Just think of all the savings on bus/train/taxi fairs or
gasoline! You will get better with the shorter cranks with time and
practice.

Unicorn

--
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pkittle said:

I have a 26" muni that I'm considering turning into a commuter. I've put
some short cranks on it--102s--and it's quite a different animal now.
I'm having some trouble controlling it now, and mounting is a challenge
(although I successfully mount about 80% of the time). Anyway, will
this thing work acceptably for a 3.5 mile commute, or should I think
about getting a 29er instead (the Torker AX is looking good)? Anybody
else use a 26 with shorty cranks for commuting?

I've done this but without the super-short cranks. For that kind of
distance it's just right. Nice that you can play on things too. I've
used super short cranks too and they'll make it nice and easy once you
get used to them. A 29er will be a little bit smoother but not masses
of difference.

Joe

--
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I have a 26" muni which I use for my daily commute of about 2 miles.

As I do some off road as a part of my commute I use a muni tyre and
150mm cranks but when I feel like riding the slightly longer route just
on the roads I tend to swap my tyre for my 2.5" hookworm and 125mm
cranks.

For this sort of ride it is ideal and I can cope quite happily with
it.

I have also taken to doing a number of longer rides (8 or 9 miles) on
my 26" wheel with the muni tyre and 150's even on the road so for a 3
mile commute you should be fine.

Plumsie

--
plumsie
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I use a 26" muni for everything. Ive done 28 miles on it with no
problem. 3.5 miles is easy time on a 26". I have 175mm cranks on it
because it's a Muni, so 102's should be like 100% better for road
anyway. So yeah 26" is the way, and that Hook Worm tire should be gr8
also.

--
musketman

MUSKETMAN
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pkittle said:

My LBS has a 26 x 2.5 Maxxis Hookworm that I've been eyeing--anybody
tried one and have advice?

ask "Thieum" I think he is using precisely that in the streets of
Dakar!
(and I think he does pretty long distances -in this neckbreaking
environment:p -!)

--
wobbling bear

One Wheel : bear necessity
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