AmaOneTya

There has been a lot of excitement with the AmaOneTya crew lately, all revolving around the arrival of the Kris Holm 26" Unicycle, and the release of the Qu-Ax 26" Unicycle. Last week the scarce creature arrived at OddWheel Unicycles, a shiny new and beautiful KH26'er. Last week some "test" rides took place to put it through it's paces to see how it would perform in the forest. "Testing" should be read as riding with a huge smile marvelling at the pleasant ride.

26" unicycles have been around for a long time with a number of different manufacturers already making them. Last year Kris Holm released his 26" unicycle and the largely ignored size was suddenly in the spot light. More and more people are starting to see the 26" as a viable downhill mountain unicycle, and when fitted with a Schlumpf geared hub as a viable cross country unicycle. All this in a manageable size which is fairly light. The German manufacturer Qu-Ax has now also joined the 26" league with the release of their 559 series which will be available with 2 frames, the standard and the QX-Series frames. The main difference being the weight of the frames and the bearing holders.

Due to the fact that here in South Africa, through OddWheel Unicycles, we will more than likely only be able to get the Kris Holm and Qu-Ax 26" unicycles I will limit my comparison to those two.

Some technical specifications:

	Kris Holm
Frame	26'', 7005 aluminium. Machined bearings, butted seatpost tube, rounded flat crown
Hub	KH Moment ISIS CrMo
Rim	36 hole, 47mm wide, eyelets, offset spokes, ovalised holes
Cranks	150mm KH Moment ISIS
Pedals	Odyssey Cielencki Trailmix
Saddle	KH Fusion Freeride
Seatpost	KH Forged 27.2x350mm adjustable, sand blast black
Tyre	WTB Stout 2.3''
Weight	5.6 kg

Kris Holm 26

	Qu-Ax
Frame	26'', Qu-ax Muni frame with Magura brake bosses, steel
Hub	48 hole Qu-ax ISIS
Rim	48 hole, 40mm wide, Strong double walled rim, with eyelets
Cranks	145mm Qu-ax ISIS, aluminium
Pedals	BMX metal
Saddle	Qu-ax Trials saddle
Seatpost	25.4mm aluminium seat post with gusset
Tyre	Kenda Blue Groove 2.5''
Weight	6.38kg (5.4kg with the QX-Series frame)

Qu-Ax 26

 From a technical specifications point of view the KH seems to have the upper hand with the lighter frame (unless you get the QX-Series frame with the Qu-Ax), wider rim, and stronger cranks. The debate still rages on whether the 36 hole rims and hubs are better than the 48 hole rims and hubs with pros for each side. I like the additional strength that the 48 hole gives you, making the unicycle slightly more bomb-proof. The wider rim on the KH is a definite plus from my point of view, as are the stronger Moment cranks. Having bent a few sets of aluminium cranks I am very weary of going that route again. While this may sound like I'm siding towards the KH, I do think that Qu-Ax make awesome unicycles with even their Cross range being bomb-proof mostly due to their rugged frames, rims, and 48 hole hubs. A major plus factor for the Qu-Ax is the price. Currently there is a 220 Euro (approximately R2000) price difference in favour of the Qu-Ax.

From a ride perspective I have only ridden the KH 26'er as the Qu-Ax 26'er has only just launched with none in the country yet so will give a review on how I feel the 26'' is different from the other sizes. I had the pleasure or riding the KH26 last week riding some uphill single track, steep downhill single track, and some jeep/fire road. I do most of my riding on my trusty KH24 and occasionally ride my KH29'er. From the offset the 26'' feels somewhat different ... but not ...versus the 24''. You can feel that you are slightly higher, and it rolls easier due to the larger wheel. It is however not that different to the 24'' in terms of feel. The 26'' is more nimble due to weighing less, but that nimbleness has a cost of loss of stability versus the 24''. Riding the gentle uphill single tracks was slightly easier on the 26'' due to weight and easier rolling. On the steep downhill single track it was a little harder to control due to the wheel running away a little easier. More braking power is required to keep the wheel in check and the lack of “tank-like” stability of the 24'' made me a little more nervous, but more saddle time with the 26'' would cure that quickly. I still managed to ride the trail very well though and was actually surprised at how well I did. I would like to try the 26'' with a 3'' Duro tyre. It will make the unicycle a fair amount heavier, but would give it a lot more stability and turn it into a true downhill mountain unicycle in my opinion, capable of doing anything the 24'' would be able to do.

On the jeep track/fire road the 26'' outshines the 24'' due to being able to ride faster and roll over everything much easier. This however is the realm of the 29'' in my opinion. Jeep tracks, cross country tracks, and easy flowing single tracks will be eaten up with the 29''. While the 26'' will keep up it will take more work to do so. The 29'' is also lighter making it a much better option on the trails mentioned above.

Overall impression of the 26'' is that it is an amazing unicycle. While it will take some getting used to as with anything, I see it replacing the 24'' as the preferred downhill mountain unicycle in the future. There are more tyre options with the 26'' due to that being the preferred size of mountain bike, and other wheel spares will be more readily available.

The 26 is the new 24....