170's to 150's = not much difference - 150's to 127's = whoa!...big difference!

I recently bought a Torker LX 26" and it comes with 170's (nasty!)
I bought some 150's and 127's last week.
I put the 150's on first and thought that I didnt feel much of a
difference.
Then I just put on the 127's and holy ****, it's like night and day.
I fell right on my ass trying to get used to it!
Once I got moving, the 127's felt nice, it's just the "getting started"
part that scares the **** out of me!
I feel like I have a lot less control in the early going.

What's your personal experiences with crank swapping?


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I did the exact same thing and went back up to the 150s
the 125s were nice when cruisin but took some gettin use to, and when
out with my dog ( Cattle dog ) the dumb thing would try to herd me on
the uni and with 125s I didnt seem to have as much control over uni so
I ran over the dog. now the dog herds me from a safer distance


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Daytripper63 wrote:
I did the exact same thing and went back up to the 150s
the 125s were nice when cruisin but took some gettin use to, and when
out with my dog ( Cattle dog ) the dumb thing would try to herd me on
the uni and with 125s I didnt seem to have as much control over uni so
I ran over the dog. now the dog herds me from a safer distance


At first, I was going to switch back to the 150's, but then I spent
about 15 minutes getting used to it and now I think I like it better.
I feel like I have more control when Im on the move with the
127's....my legs arent franticly spinning to go fast, so my body is
calmer and easier to balance and control.
Freemounting is definately a bit harder to do on the 127's, but Im up
for the challenge, lets just hope my tailbone is up for it as well


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babyivan wrote:
then I spent about 15 minutes getting used to it and now I think I like
it better.

The moral of the story: If you've been riding one setup for a year and a
new setup for five minutes, don't expect the new setup to be "easy." If
you really want to know how a change will work for you, give it at
least a week, or several decent sized rides, to begin to form an
opinion. Don't judge anything on the first few minutes' riding.

For babyivan, you started out with pretty long cranks. That size is
best used on really steep hills or extreme terrain. In NYC you can
*find* some steep hills, but mostly you're on flat ground. 125s or 140s
are much more appropriate for street riding. If it's pure street you're
doing, you can go even shorter. When set up for street riding, my 29"
uni gets 102s.

125 is the standard size for cranks on a 24" uni for racing. By today's
standards it's actually pretty long, but in the past it was 140 (5.5").
That size is great for all-around riding, but too long for all but
short sprints on a 24".


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29" with 102mm cranks is a blast to ride.


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Riding on short cranks is easy enough. It's stopping that's difficult.
And idling, hill climbing, riding slowly...

Long cranks are more versatile than short, but at the expense of
sustainable high speeds. If you can learn the harder discipline of
spinning long cranks, you can mitigate the disadvantage whilst keeping
the advantages.

A uni with short cranks is a thoroughbred; a uni with long cranks is a
workhorse.

But back tot he start of the thread:
150/170 = 88%
125/150 = 83% = a bigger gap.

However, making thse cahnges in quick succession, the effect you were
getting was

125/170 = 73% = a massive change.

One step at a time.

A 26 on 125s should be a blast to ride on and off road on anything but
the steepest hills. But not yet for you.

Crank length is not a competition. It is a tuning detail.


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babyivan wrote:
all in all, Id rather learn all this on the shorter cranks, I believe it
will make me a better rider.



My feeling is that using short cranks will make you a better rider in
the sense of being able to dominate the unicycle, idle it, reverse it,
etc. Longer cranks will make you a better distance rider.

I write as one who has spent far too many hours experimenting with
these things. I've used cranks from 89mm to 170mm and wheels from 20
to 36 inches. (Not all combinations - hence I still live.)

I currently have
Wheel Crank
20 125
26 170
28 102
36 150

So you will see there is little apparent logic there!

Short cranks encourage fast riding, but reduce slow speed control.

Long cranks can be used for fast riding, but this requires an effort of
will.

If you can mount, idle etc. on short cranks, you will find cranks a
size longer to be very easy.


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Mikefule wrote:
My feeling is that using short cranks will make you a better rider in
the sense of being able to dominate the unicycle, idle it, reverse it,
etc. Longer cranks will make you a better distance rider.

I write as one who has spent far too many hours experimenting with
these things. I've used cranks from 89mm to 170mm and wheels from 20
to 36 inches. (Not all combinations - hence I still live.)

I currently have
Wheel Crank
20 125
26 170
28 102
36 150

So you will see there is little apparent logic there!

Short cranks encourage fast riding, but reduce slow speed control.

Long cranks can be used for fast riding, but this requires an effort of
will.

If you can mount, idle etc. on short cranks, you will find cranks a
size longer to be very easy.



Thanx for your imput!
Last night I was tooling around on the 127s, I still cant freemount
with them....unless I cheat by using the curb

Sometimes I feel like Im gonna bust my ass as I feel my rotations
getting 'choppy', the longer cranks dont do that.


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I have the same uni. I've put 127's and then 102's on it (I'm not
completly sure about the exact lengths though) and the 102's are fun.
It took me a week or so to get completly used to it, but I like them.
When I got used to it, carving turns was so easy, and I could acctually
do piroutes! (sp.) After a while I could idle on them too.

I liked the 102's best, but I switched back to 127's for in the snow
now.

I thought that the high pressure 1.95 tire would kill me on ice and
hard packed snow, but I'm amazed at how much traction that little tire
can get. Not as much as my muni though...


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forrestunifreak wrote:
I have the same uni. I've put 127's and then 102's on it (I'm not
completly sure about the exact lengths though) and the 102's are fun.
It took me a week or so to get completly used to it, but I like them.
When I got used to it, carving turns was so easy, and I could acctually
do piroutes! (sp.) After a while I could idle on them too.

I liked the 102's best, but I switched back to 127's for in the snow
now.

I thought that the high pressure 1.95 tire would kill me on ice and
hard packed snow, but I'm amazed at how much traction that little tire
can get. Not as much as my muni though...


You have the Torker LX 26" as well?
How do you like it overall?


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