Sun 29er upgrade

As it looks like I may be going back to school, and as there is no good
place to park near my college, my wife recently bought me a Sun 29er.
For now, it will be a commuter unicycle, but eventually I'd like to
upgrade it to a light offroad rider/ commuter hybrid. So I have a few
questions.

What should be the first thing to upgrade on the unicycle? I've heard
that the rims don't fare too well, so that will probably be the first
thing to go. But if I upgrade the rim, I'll also have to buy new
spokes, and should get a new hub as well. So I'll be saving my pennies
until I can get a new wheelset. Which brings me to my next question.

Will the 'Kris Holm 29\" rim'
(http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=805) fit in the Sun 29"
frame? Eventually, I'll upgrade the frame as well, but the frame will
hold up longer than the rim. I just don't want to have to build the
entire thing all at once.

After the rim, what would the next thing to upgrade be? I heard that
the seat isn't very comfortable, but I'm guessing that the standard
cranks aren't that great either.

This will probably be a two year project, as money will be tight as we
go through graduate school (we're trying to do it without student
loans). But I hope to someday have a fun ride for longer trips.


--
paco - Co-Founder of the PacoGild Movement

"OMG! Teh world r0xx0rz as India pwns Pakistan!!11one!1"
-USA Today in 10 years

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Get a Big Apple tire, for one. I've been riding it the last couple weeks
on a borrowed Blueshift. It's a fine 29-er commuting tire. Fast and
smooth.

Wish I could speak to all your other questions, but I can't. Was just
feeling bad that you were still in the No Replies club after several
hours.

Recommended combination: Big Apple tire, and Apple flavored Jolly
Rancher candies. Ride the one while savoring the other.


--
tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

"By George! The man's a genius!"
Murde Mental

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tomblackwood wrote:
*Get a Big Apple tire, for one.*


That, or a seat upgrade first, depending on the distance of your
commute. Since you will use your uni for commuting those are the most
important upgrades.

I've had my Big Apple for 1.5 years and am fully satisfied with it.
There is a BA 28 x 2.00" and a BA 28 x 2.35". Not sure about the Sun
frame but if the 2.35" fits, get that one. The actual inflated width is
about 60 mm, inflated diameter is 74.2 cm or 29.2". (They are called 28"
by Schalbe, but us unicyclists call them 29").

Cranks are a less important issue for commuting I think (assuming that
it's a reasonable smooth road ride, no hops'n'drops).

Klaas Bil


--
Klaas Bil - Sir Prince of Newsgroupia
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Definetely upgrade the seat. The only way I would tell somebody to use
one of those is if I wished to never have to deal with their
offspring.

Actually I learned on a sun saddle, but once I had ridden on a KH seat,
I will never use the sun again.

On the subject of tires, I'm not sure about the 29", but the tire that
comes with the 26" and 24" is not horrible.


--
Fuego - Unicycle Ninja

"Unicycling is more about the center of concentration than the center of
balance."

'OneWheelNinjaSquad' (http://gallery.unicyclist.com/OneWheelNinjaSquad)
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According to 'this thread' (http://tinyurl.com/6kjk6), the Big Apple
won't fit in the Sun frame. Has anyone actually tried it in this
specific frame?
From searching through the archives, it sounds like this thread has come
up a number of times in the past. I'm not the only one who wants to
start cheap and work my way up...


--
paco - Co-Founder of the PacoGild Movement

Every time I see this thread I wonder what happened to Paco's back.
-John Childs

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paco wrote:
*This will probably be a two year project, as money will be tight as
we go through graduate school (we're trying to do it without student
loans). *
2 years! you could collect pop cans and have enough for a new kh 29er
in just a couple months. maybe longer where you are since they are not
worth 5 cents a can like here, but way before 2 years.


--
jagur - Sealed in Carbonite

Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
---------------------------------------------------
-forget_your_life-
--------------------------------------
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*one wheeled death squad*
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I would get a cyclocross rim, size 700C (622mm, 28'') is the standard
size for them, they are designed to be strong and light, the cyclocross
tyres are pretty thin (about 30-35mm), and have a not that deep thread
pattern that gives low rolling resistance and a fairly good grip.

Remember that only the hub, the frame and the seat is the
unicycling-specific parts on a uni.

I don't think a bigger and fatter tire would be any good, if you use it
as a communer in first hand, and the cyclocross rim and tyre would not
break when riding XC.


--
lleberg - Level 4 unicyclist

I 3 my unicycle!
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jagur wrote:
*2 years! you could collect pop cans and have enough for a new kh 29er
in just a couple months. maybe longer where you are since they are not
worth 5 cents a can like here, but way before 2 years. *

All the pop cans I collect are going to be going towards my tuition. I
can't justify the extra couple hundred dollars when we'll barely have
enough to pay rent.

Lleberg, from what I've read, the fatter tire makes the ride smoother
and less uncontrollable, even as a commuter. Can anyone verify this?
Good point about the uni-specific parts, though!


--
paco - Co-Founder of the PacoGild Movement

Every time I see this thread I wonder what happened to Paco's back.
-John Childs

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jagur wrote:
*2 years! you could collect pop cans and have enough for a new kh 29er
in just a couple months. maybe longer where you are since they are not
worth 5 cents a can like here, but way before 2 years. *


Even better he could collect the cans in UT and return them in OR. Then
he'd really be making some money.


--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

-"Worried about rising sea levels? Move into the hills! I might be a
hillbilly but when you're drinking sal****er in the 2nd floor of your
beach condo, my mullet will be drier than a can of Skoal left open on a
sunny day."- - maestro8

-"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who
are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it."- -
Albert Einstein


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Hi Paco, good to have you back in the forum

Is there any reason you can't use the seat from your other unicycle on
the new one (except for the inconvenience of switching it between the
unis)?


--
Borges

"However, I confess that the ultimate wheel lacks the day to day
practicality of the conventional unicycle" -Mikefule
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