#32er

[kneipe]

lisbon 2016

[voonicycle]

32″ inch wheel

Finally I got time to inform you about my newest unicycle - 32 inch geared machine. I always wanted to go far and fast on the uni and my current "muni" was not enough even in the road setup, even if 27.5"x2.8" was really quick already. Of course the ultimate machine for road would be geared 36", but I skipped that out of one main reason - 36" is too big for my uni-wardrobe. That is why I decided to try a new size that emerged last years - 32". I wanted the option to put my Schlumpf geared hub in it, so I skipped the only 32" complete unicycle available - Nimbus Oracle which is offered only with 125mm wide hub, while Schlumpf has more traditional 100mm. 

I ordered the wheel from UDC, just it was custom made with regular 100mm hub. The frame was not an easier part. The only available 32″ frame is Oracle made for 125mm wide hubs. The custom made frames were quite expensive and Mad4One Large frame is on the border of fitting the Nimbus 32″ tire, and I didn’t want to risk that. Then I was left with 36″ frames. I grabbed a cheap QuAx one when I had the opportunity and built the uni around it. I got some old cranks, pedals and the T-bar and I decided to try Nimbus Stadium saddle.

As a result I got nice commute uni. It is quite fast, but still responsive and easy to manouver, especially compared to 36″. It rides more like a 29″ actually, but is a bit faster. Unfortunately it was not fast enough compared to my current geared 27,5″ unicycle. On my 10km commute I managed to average about 16.5km/h on 32″ (most rides were between 16 and 17km/h), while I have 15.5km/h on 27.5 ungeared and 17.5km/h on 27.5 geared on same route and similar conditions. Average was comparable, but I was lacking the feel of speed when you reach about 30km/h on high gear.

That is why I started to think about putting geared hub into the uni. Unfortunately the frame I got had pressed bearing holders which are not compatible with Schlumpf hub, so I needed a new frame. After quick search I decided to go safe way and took the KH36 frame, which is known for Schlumpf compatibility. It also has rim brake mounts, which was a plus for me as I know the pain of disk hub setup on Schlumpf, so I wanted to have rim brake setup possibility at least as a backup.

And yes, this is fast, but still relatively easy to control. I was able to hit 19km/h average once on my commute and average comparable to the previous results  mentioned would be 18.5km/h. I also managed to hit my max of about 35km/h (33km/h average on 200m segment confirmed and I believe I hit 35 shown both by Strava and my Garmin device). But as without gears I was comfortable riding this big wheel without brakes, now I needed something to stop. I went DIY way and mimicked my old Magura to V-brake converters with some furniture connectors. So far after one test ride I can say it brakes. Not very strong, but enough to slow down or help your legs on long descends.

All in all, this uni is a perfect commuter. Fast enough to get bike-like speeds but still quite easy to control in the low gear (and reasonable in high). I haven’t tried much offroad on it yet, but I guess it will be a blast on fireroads or some forest paths.

I have just two problems with this setup. First and the biggest is that I miss my geared hub in my smaller uni. I got so used to the fact that I can ride fast over the town to get to the forest and then ride more technical things on low gear that now it is hard to be always on low when I go muni. And the small average speed difference between the two unis makes no sense in investing in two geared hubs which cost fortune. The second problem I have is the feeling that if I managed to get a road tire in 29+ size, I could get a uni that would have similar speeds, but could be bit lighter actually. So far the biggest I’ve found is 29x2.5″ Maxiss Holy Roller, but I keep searching.

Most probably I’ll keep riding in this setup this season and then I will decide if I should get back to 27.5″, keep 32″ or go 29″. We’ll see.