To lay things out for you… I live in a residential suburbes, little traffic, near long country roads but also store plazas etc. Which would be, in your oppinion, better for me to invest in? Give your pros and cons to BOTH the 29er and the Coker. Thanks! (I know there are other threads, ive read them but i want some more information)
29er- Much much lighter, much more “managable”, but the only way to get coker esque speeds (in my opinion) is smaller cranks. This makes it much harder to control. I would only really recomend a 29 if you live in a really heavily populated area.
Coker- Bigger, Awesomser, Faster, if you arent afraid of a heavy uni, ie.harder to stop and turn. Then get the coker. I love it much more than my 29er with small cranks. Seeing as though you live in a suburbian type area, Id get the coker, others will disagree… but thats my 2 cents
I know this is a slighly biased answer. But i vote coker.
Other than cost and cross country riding (which the coker is suposedly actualy pretty proficient at) I would say the coker is definatly the better vehicle.
For a big wheel the idea is speed, with a bigger wheel you get more speed, simple as that. (at least I think it is)
Cost is my main problem when deciding which tourer to go after. I know the Coker is just bigger and better all around, but it’s also around 400 bucks, while the Nimbus 29er, which is what I was considering buying, is 230.
Yeah the price was what drove me down the 29er route, I figure if/when I get a coker I will go all out and get a geared tubless airfoil fancy seat coker.
I agree with ntappin a 29er is half the cost and still a lot of fun.
I can bring mine on the bus when I have to I don’t think that would fly with a coker.
Yes but not indefinitely. It basically means pedaling that percentage faster that is equal to the wheels’ difference in diameter.
Like riding a bike in a lower gear.
Here’s another aspect of the choice. If you never ride with other unicyclists, or if your other local riders don’t have Cokers, the 29er will seem huge and fast enough. But if your friends have Cokers, you won’t be able to keep up without knocking yourself out!
One of the universities at Rochester had a very active juggling and unicycling club at the time that Jeff Lutkus was active. Search around and try to locate them. If they still exist they may have a collection of stuff you can try.
I have done several distance rides with Coker riders, on and off road, on my 29er with 125mm cranks. I was near the front of the pack each time. There is no way I could keep up with the fastest Cokers when their riders decided to go all-out, but I could easily cruise along with them; the 29er was faster for some conditions, the Coker faster for others.
Those Cokers all had at least 140mm cranks; if the Cokers had 125mm cranks it would have been more difficult. Hilly terrain is easier than flat terrain, in terms of keeping up on a 29er.
If you want to cruise, get a Coker. For handling and slow speeds, you can learn to do that on a Coker. When I went to university, I rode my Coker in heavily crowded sidewalks at slow speed with little problem (I only ran into a girl once, who decided to stop in front of me and I did not predict that), but it does take practice to get that skill. Right now, since I don’t ride in that sort of situation, I would not have the same agility.
Of course, if you have the funds (and the addiction), get a schlumpf, a 29" and a very nice equivalent geared up 44", all in one little package.
Thats the RIT Juggling Club, they have a Juggle-In every year. Thats how I first got into unicycling! I first went to it two years ago, missed it last year, but hopefuly I will be able to make it this year. I think it’s held in March, April, or May. Even if I do go there is a chance of there not being a Coker, or a 29er for that matter. I could try to get a hold of Jeff Lutkus, but I’m not sure of his contact information.
Just for grins… how much would one of those run for?
And also while I’m at it… does anyone have a Coker or 29er for sale by chance?
You can pay them as much as you want and they still won’t run. You have to pedal them. (Actually, I think they’re of order $1000 to $1500.)
Jeff graduated and I have no recent contact info for him. I thought perhaps you could find the club on the web and contact someone that way. Good luck.
http://www.rit.edu/~jugwww/ Thats the site for the Juggle-In. I don’t think that the RIT Juggling Club has a website or anything, but I’ll keep looking.