arguments for a 26" muni

saskatchewanian wrote:
Here is my analogy

When doing MUni a 19 is a Jeep, a 24 is a Hummer and a 26 is a tank

The Jeep can get in tight spots and is the most nimble of the three,
but also the easiest to upset.

The Hummer can get over more stuff than a Jeep but can not fit in the
same tight places.

A tank can just roll over stuff has awesome traction and is hard to
upset but is less maneuverable than the Jeep or Hummer.

I am quite happy with my tank with 160s, it just feels the most natural
to me but different people like different things.




Spoken like a man who doesn't own a Jeep, a Hummer, a Tank or a 24.
Fail. Perhaps you're thinking about a Jeep Liberty and a 24 with a
slick
cheap tire or something?

If the rider has no hopping skillz (or wants to "roll everything") then
a 26 may just be the choice. The way I see it, when I borrowed a 26" I
lost the ability to hop as well. It cut my hop by inches that I would
normally use
to get over the stuff that a 26" can't roll.

There are a lot of benefits of a 24" over a 26" BUT the 26" has one
glaring
benefit: larger choice in tires rims and spokes. Fortunately, having
tried a
few tires and such, I really love the Duro . . . so I'm lucky there.
Still, I envy
the number of choices that a 26" has on tires (because I like to change
the
tire (and air pressure) and feel like I have a "whole different
unicycle").

Also, if you look outside of the muni box, a 24" is far more versitile.


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I ride a lot less these days than I used to. I used to ride "off road"
on a 36, a 26 and a 24. There are noticeable differences even between
the 24 and the 26.

The sizes are nominal: a 26 may be have a slightly smaller or larger
diameter than 26 inches, depending on the tyre choice. However, if
you take the two measurements as exact, then a 26 is 26/24 as big as a
24; that is 8.3% bigger.

8.3% is less than the typical difference between gear ratios on a
bicycle. When I had a touring bike, I set it us so that the gears were
as near as possible to 10% apart.

So in a sense, the choice between 24 and 26 is less significant than
the choice between 7th gear and 8th gear on a road bike: which is
better depends on the situation.

However, it isn't that simple. The larger wheel rolls over stuff
better. This is particularly important if you ride "off piste" through
long grass, deep mud or undergrowth. A Coker will ignore stuff that
would stop a 24 in its tracks. A 26 will "smooth out" stuff that a 24
would make into hard work.

On firm hard track, the 26 will be about 8% faster (assuming identical
cranks and cadence) and that extra speed is noticeable on a long trip.
It also gives you more momentum, and you can sometimes "rush" a short
steep obstacle on a 26 when the 24 would stall just before the top.
There is a double effect here because the 26 can maintain its speed
better over small bumps that might put you off your stride on a 24, so
the 26 is less likely to stall during the "rush".

But the 24 wins out on tight turns on winding tracks between trees or
rocks. It feels very much more manoevreable.

Assuming identical cranks, the 26 will have an extra inch of ground
clearance, which makes a real difference to whether or not you suffer
the indignity of a pedal strike-induced UPD.

On the other hand, assuming identical cranks, the 24 will be easier on
the knees on steep descents. It will be that bit easier to idle or
reverse, and will generally be more responsible to sudden attempts to
change speed. The feeling I have is that the 26 is great while you can
keep it rolling, but once you get bogged down, the 24 is easier to
restart.

Freemounting the 24 is far easier - a big difference if you are tired -
and UPDs are slightly less painful because you are generally travelling
more slowly and nearer to the ground. This is mainly psychological,
because the extra height of the 26 is only an inch, but there is
definitely an effect there.

The 26 has a wider range of tyres because 26 is a common mountain bike
tyre size. However, the 24" tyres tend to be more specialised with
higher volume.

Weight is an issue. 8% larger diameter means 8% heavier rim and tyre
(other things being equal).

On the whole, I'd prefer 24 for MUni, and 26 for cross country, but it
is only a question of emphasis, not a fundamental difference.


--
Mikefule


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saskatchewanian wrote:
When doing MUni a 19 is a Jeep, a 24 is a Hummer and a 26 is a tank.


that makes the 24 sound useless because hummers are useless off road,
theyre too heavy for theyre own good. or was this a comparison to make
the 26 even more awesome??


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OK sorry for making my analogy, I thought it was sort of fun and got my
point across, I guess I was wrong.

No I have not driven a hummer but I have driven Jeeps and Bren Gun
Carriers (tracked vehicle from WWII). I have a trials, a 24 and a 26
and have used them all. So I do sort of know what I am talking about. I
have also used a 36er for XC Muni and love it where it is possible. And
yah, I would rather power my way threw stuff with the odd rolling hop
than do what I would consider rolling trials.

Unfortunately the rim choices for a good 26” Muni rim are not as
great as they may seem. Many good mountain bike rims are only made in
32 hole. I have an Echo 46mm rear trials rim on mine and think it is
about ideal, much wider than an Alex DX32 but much lighter than a
Marge.



Anyway Mikefule summed it up really well and I agree with almost
everything he said. Much clearer than how I was trying to say it.

The only thing that I would disagree with is the preference of the 24
over the 26 for steep descents. I usually loose traction before I
don’t have enough power to stop/control myself. And in my
experience the 26 has better traction and is less easily upset by rocks
and roots on the way. I use 150s on my 24 and 160s on my 26 so the
effective gear ratio is almost identical.


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saskatchewanian
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I realy like my 26 but I haven't had it for long. If I could only have
one muni I would chose the 24 but that has a lot to do with the kind of
trails around here. If I lived somewhere else I might chose the 26 but
I like having both.

As people have said the choices of 24s far excedes the 26s. Unless you
are building your own frames like I do. If I was just starting out
today I would just buy a KH 24. When I started riding the only choice
for a serious Muni was a Hunter which at the time was a thousand
dollars with a Profile hub. I started building my own to save money now
I do it because I like buliding them.

I originaly built my 26 so I could try the 4" endomorph tire for snow
riding and it is only available in the 26. That said I don't think it
realy helps that much. I haven't found any conditions that I could ride
with the 4" that I couldn't with the 3" and it's a $100 tire.


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saskatchewanian wrote:

1) OK sorry for making my analogy, I thought it was sort of fun and got
my point across, I guess I was wrong.

2) No I have not driven a hummer but I have driven Jeeps and Bren Gun
Carriers

3) Anyway Mikefule summed it up really well and I agree with almost
everything he said. Much clearer than how I was trying to say it.

4) The only thing that I would disagree with is the preference of the
24 over the 26 for steep descents. I usually lose traction before I
don’t have enough power to stop/control myself.




1) It's never wrong to make an analogy. It is only wrong to argue by
analogy. Picking fault in someone else's analogy is not a valid attack
on their argument. It is only a more sophisticated game of semantics.
Non carborundum.

2) I have used the Jeep/Landrover etc. analogy before. It is a good
one except that some people have strong opinions (occasionally backed
up by experience ) about these vehicles. I used to have a small
Suzuki 4x4 that I used to take off road. My girlfriend has a Landrover
Defender that we sometimes take on the military ranges on Dartmoor. I
would call the 24 a Landrover and the 26 a Suzuki. The Coker was, oh,
a Frontera or something like that.

3) Your kind comments make me blush.

4) I do sometimes get overpowered on a descent. That is partly weak
technique, and partly because I am fairly light and not especially
strong. The problem is not usually keeping control of the speed; it is
regaining control if I start to let the uni "spin out" then realise I
have misjudged it.


--
Mikefule

"Every evening we are poorer by a day."

Arthur "Cheerful" Schopenhauer.
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I think that a 26 would be fun, but beacuse nobody really makes one
stock you would have to build it up yourself. I would go with a 24
because they are more readily available.
Also, I am one of those riders who tries to eliminate hops and roll
everything. I think thats how Muni should be, getting from point A to
point B, no tricks in between. I think a 24 is good for this. I ride a
24 with 170s, which were a little long, but i think 150s would be too
short.

I would go for the 24 with 165s or 150s, depending you're riding style.


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smcmorrow wrote:
I think that a 26 would be fun, but beacuse nobody really makes one
stock you would have to build it up yourself. I would go with a 24
because they are more readily available.
Also, I am one of those riders who tries to eliminate hops and roll
everything. I think thats how Muni should be, getting from point A to
point B, no tricks in between. I think a 24 is good for this. I ride a
24 with 170s, which were a little long, but i think 150s would be too
short.

I would go for the 24 with 165s or 150s, depending you're riding style.


nimbus had a 26" for $263. so you dont have to build one.


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