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Smoother Than an Expensive Latte

December 13th, 2009 • Thoughts
Tags: aluminium, bicycle, kris holm, learn to unicycle, schwalbe marathon, unicycles

Here’s something for all you aspiring distance unicyclists.

I cleaned up my 29″ Cross a little and put on some new parts. Owing to the high humidity, some of the screws have rusted and there’s a bit of mould on the tyre (amazing weather we have in Singapore!) and I’m quite glad that the ISIS cranks I have on are made from non-rust aluminium.

In the picture is the ‘07 or ‘08 frame – the new frame has a completely flatcrown. I’ve swapped out the original Kenda Karma knobby tyre for a Schwalbe Marathon 28″ x 1.75″ tyre. Cranks shown are 100mm ones (stock ones are 145) to go faster – the shorter the cranks, the less distance your feet have to move to have the wheel cover a revolution. The black seat shown is a Kris Holm Fusion Gel saddle and the handlebar’s a uncycle-specific Coker Pi Bar.

I’ve also swapped out the original metal pedals for a pair of flat plastic Eclat Surge PC pedals. They’re meant for flatland/street riding and I thought I’d try them out because they’re lighter than the metal ones albeit chunkier.

The narrower profile of the tyre actually makes the uni a lot more responsive but the short cranks does take some getting used to. On flat roads, this feels a lot smoother to ride with but wind affects it a lot more than it would with a wider tire.

Both the pedals and the seat will be available with Team-Uni shortly as well as a different model of handle – the Pi bar’s very easy to fix up since it attaches to the seat post but the sides rub against my thighs too much to be comfortable for long rides.