The muni (mtn. unicycle) wave is picking up steam. I personally know five or six of these characters who ride various types of unicycles on rough mountain trails, rolling through sections that give trouble to the masses on their springy Santas Cruz.

One thing that I've noticed about these cycloptic machines is how burly they tend to be, with the toughest BMX cranks and pedals, downhill rims and huge tires. They are as heavy as they are tough. Is it really necessary that they be so overbuilt? Robert Reid, owner of multiple overbuilt unicycles, was in town yesterday, and I had a chance to ask him about it.

"The big tire is good for rolling over rocks and other $#!* in the trail," he explained. "And you need the big rim to put the big tire on there." Robert uses a three-inch tire on his 26-inch Surly muni. It looks just like a dirtbike track on the trail. At one point he tried an even more freakishly huge four-inch tire but found it was actually so wide that it caused more trouble than it solved, because he couldn't get past anything.

The bomb-proof components are also necessary for jumping off of walls, cliffs and other high places. Well, not so much for the jumping, as for the landing. To see what I mean, check out Yogii (highly skilled Frenchman) in the Monocycle Au Taquet video. Before you click on that, know that it involves some manic French rap music and various scenes that will shake your faith in the physical laws of the universe.