All you Coker owners out there: How’s the Durability on the Coker wheel? Can you
at least hop on them without creating Mexican food? What upgrades do you
recommend for improving their longevity?
Assuming I want a Coker that I can ride up curbs with and do a little hopping
on, should I… Have the wheel tensioned? Replace the axle? Replace the cranks?
Somehow beef up the rim? Wait for the Diet Coker to come out? Wait till it
breaks, then fix it? “Take it easy?”
Chris
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
MaxfieldD@aol.com wrote:
>
> Yeah, the wheel builder, Val at Bikesmith here in Seattle, took all the spokes
> out before straightening the rim. When I got it back from him (the first time)
> he thought that it would work. He had taken pains to make sure that the
> tension was even and high.
That’s cool. Sounds like you’ve got a great wheel builder. A lot of bike
mechanics just say “buy a new rim”. By the way, does Coker sell just a wheel? I
haven’t bought a stock unicycle for three years-- I’ve always pieced them
together. The thought even crossed my mind to piece together a couple motorcycle
rims and just buy the Coker tire.
How much room is there between the Coker forks, anyway?
I may be up for the Hilly Chilly, especially if some off-roadies are showing up.
Got any good trails/trials around there? I’m not driving six hours and leaving
my MUni at home:)
Chris
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
Rough treatment on the Coker should not be advised. It is not designed to
handle it. You can get a little rough with it occasionally, but if you abuse it
it will fail.
I have done some light muni riding on my Coker with no problems. Light muni
means a tame trail with no big rocks, no big roots, no drops. I’ve taken the
Coker on gravel roads, rails to trails trails (old railroad right of way turned
into a trail), wide walking/biking dirt trails, and tame smoothish single track.
On the right trail the Coker is a blast.
The rim on the Coker is barely adequate. It’s a hefty steel rim but there is no
box section to add additional strength to the rim. It’s just a flat slab of
steel formed into the shape of a rim. The only thing giving it any strength is
its heft. I’ve seen better rims on an old Schwinn unicycle.
The Coker also uses a standard sized hub. For a wheel that large the hub should
be wider than it is. Combine the narrow hub with the wimpy rim along with
spokes that don’t like to stay taught and you’ve got a wheel that won’t take
much abuse. Lateral forces should be avoided as much as possible which means no
side hopping.
I ride mine off curbs without much worry about the wheel collapsing. But I avoid
riding it up curbs. Yes that big wheel and fat tire makes it fairly easy to go
up a curb but that weak wheel won’t like it. If you hit the curb too hard or if
you hit the curb at an angle (which will cause lateral forces on the wheel) you
will taco the wheel or put a ding in it. My regular Coker ride includes a 2"
curb to get on a footbridge and I ride up that with no problem but even then I’m
careful to make sure I hit it square on and not an any angle. If that little
curb was any bigger I’d dismount and walk it up.
The frame on the Coker is also wimpy. It has a lot of side to side flex. When
I’m holding on to the front of the seat and cranking hard up some short steep
hills I can feel the tire rubbing on the frame. The button tread design on the
tire actually makes a buzz and rumble that you can hear and feel when it rubs.
The Coker frame does not have a lot of clearance on either side of the tire so
it doesn’t take a lot of flex to make it rub.
I wouldn’t worry about the strength of the hub because you shouldn’t be jumping
on it enough to break a hub.
Upgrades that I’ve made to my Coker are: Miyata air seat, BMX double bolt
seatpost clamp, grippy metal platform pedals, and a cycle computer.
The stock crank length is actually just right for me. I ride on too many hills
to consider going to shorter cranks. In fact, for the Chilly Hilly I’m thinking
about putting on some 160’s or 170’s.
The improved frame that Andy Cotter is working on will be nice improvement. Now
we just need to find a source for stronger rims. A stronger rim on a better
frame and you’ve got something that can take more abuse. The only improvement
after that would be a wider hub but then the frame would have to be redesigned.
I don’t want this to sound like I’m ragging on the Coker. The Coker is fine for
regular road use. It’s only when you start riding it hard and start abusing it
that you have to worry about its weaknesses.
john_childs
>From: Chris Reeder <reed8990@uidaho.edu> Reply-To: Chris Reeder
><reed8990@uidaho.edu> To: “unicycling@winternet.com” <unicycling@winternet.com>
>Subject: 3 Foot Tacos Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 21:47:10 -0800
>
>All you Coker owners out there: How’s the Durability on the Coker wheel? Can
>you at least hop on them without creating Mexican food? What upgrades do you
>recommend for improving their longevity?
>
>Assuming I want a Coker that I can ride up curbs with and do a little hopping
>on, should I… Have the wheel tensioned? Replace the axle? Replace the cranks?
>Somehow beef up the rim? Wait for the Diet Coker to come out? Wait till it
>breaks, then fix it? “Take it easy?”
>
>
>Chris
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
>Why will taking a curb at an angle cause lateral forces on the wheel? Is it
>because the tire might slip and get shoved to the side instead of gripping and
>riding straight?
Exactly. Try taking a curb at an angle. The wheel will want to slip along the
curb causing the wheel to turn to the side. You continue to try to go up the
curb, the wheel tries to skoot along the curb. You’ve got a recipe for disaster
with a Coker wheel.
>Is spoke loosening a big problem? Sounds like I should loc-tite the nipples
>before tensioning the wheel. What about wide hubs? Does anyone know how far
>apart the cranks can be before it gets “uncomfortable”
I’ve noticed that my spokes don’t stay tight very long after getting the wheel
fixed up. I’m pretty sure there is no loctite on the nipples of my wheel so that
may be one reason that they loosen. My theory is that the spokes are loosening
because the rim is bending and flexing so much. My experience has been that with
strong rims the spokes stay taught, with weak rims the spokes loosen up faster.
The Coker rim goes in the category of weak rim.
The Coker reminded me about another problem with the flexy frame. On my ride
today one of the bearings got a little loose and started “walking” along the
axle. This is due to the frame flex. As I was climbing I could look down at the
bearing and watch it move around on the axle and could actually see the flex in
the frame down at the axle. Grrr!!.. Now I’ve got to play amature mechanic and
reseat the bearing. I use Loctite high strength 640 sleeve retainer on the
bearings when I put them on so the bearing should have stayed put. But that
flexy frame gave it other ideas. I’m trying to wait patiently for the improved
Coker frame, but it’s getting very hard to wait.
I don’t have any experience with wide hubs on a big wheel. One of the big wheel
experts will have to pipe in.
And I should mention that the 2" curb I mentioned in my previous message is on
an uphill approach to the footbridge so the 2" curb actually feels higher.
john_childs
Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
Chris Reeder wrote:
>
> Assuming I want a Coker that I can ride up curbs with and do a little hopping
> on, should I…
> Have the wheel tensioned?
Yes!
> Replace the axle?
Eventually
> Replace the cranks?
Put on shorter ones.
> Somehow beef up the rim?
Possibly.
> Wait for the Diet Coker to come out?
You’ll be waiting a while
> Wait till it breaks, then fix it? “Take it easy?”
___________ =================================================== ___ /_/
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========================================================Re: 3 Foot Tacos
You might as well go all out and start doing trials on the thing 
It would,
however, be most cumbersome.
Carl
Chris Reeder wrote:
>
> All you Coker owners out there: How’s the Durability on the Coker wheel? Can
> you at least hop on them without creating Mexican food? What upgrades do you
> recommend for improving their longevity?
>
> Assuming I want a Coker that I can ride up curbs with and do a little hopping
> on, should I… Have the wheel tensioned? Replace the axle? Replace the
> cranks? Somehow beef up the rim? Wait for the Diet Coker to come out? Wait
> till it breaks, then fix it? “Take it easy?”
>
> Chris
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
Chris,
Coker’s are surprisingly durable. They definitely need the spokes tightening
when you buy them. After you used to the beast, change the cranks to something
shorter. I have not tacoed my wheel yet and I have used my quite extensively
off-road - including in anger at the Red Bull race and during the Polaris. The
wheel has been run-over by both unicycle and bike: it bends terribly but then
springs back in to shape. It is not easy to get much height on a Coker because
of it’s height. It is possible to get up quite bit steps because the steps are
proportionally smaller: I would recommend only doing this if you have no choice.
Definitely get a Coker though… they are fun!
The UK's Unicycle Source <a href="http://www.unicycle.uk.com/">http://www.unicycle.uk.com/</a>
----- Original Message ----- From: “Chris Reeder” <reed8990@uidaho.edu> To:
<unicycling@winternet.com> Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2001 5:47 AM Subject: 3
Foot Tacos
> All you Coker owners out there: How’s the Durability on the Coker wheel? Can
> you at least hop on them without creating Mexican food? What upgrades do you
> recommend for improving their longevity?
>
> Assuming I want a Coker that I can ride up curbs with and do a little hopping
> on, should I… Have the wheel tensioned? Replace the axle? Replace the
> cranks? Somehow beef up the rim? Wait for the Diet Coker to come out? Wait
> till it breaks, then fix it? “Take it easy?”
>
>
> Chris
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
On Fri, 12 Jan 2001, Chris Reeder wrote:
>All you Coker owners out there: How’s the Durability on the Coker wheel? Can
>you at least hop on them without creating Mexican food? What upgrades do you
>recommend for improving their longevity?
>
>Assuming I want a Coker that I can ride up curbs with and do a little hopping
>on, should I… Have the wheel tensioned? Replace the axle? Replace the cranks?
>Somehow beef up the rim? Wait for the Diet Coker to come out? Wait till it
>breaks, then fix it? “Take it easy?”
…wait until you see how much the thing weighs…
Hopping the thing would require a LOT of strength. And the cranks aren’t long
enough to give you much leverage for things like curbs and stuff. It’s
probably possible (by someone much better then me), but for me, the thing is a
street cruiser.
I remember someone posting in this newsgroup a year or two ago about how he did
a spin on his in a parade and the wheel collapsed on him.
Greg
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
Am I the only one who has actually turned my Coker into a 3 foot taco? I had no
trouble going down curbs, but made the mistake of trying to go up a curb. The
first time was fine. The second time was taco-time.
I’ve since had the wheel trued twice (try saying that three times fast). After
each truing the wheel was fine for about half a mile, then the wheel warped
enough to rub against the frame. The good folks at rec.bicycle.tech tell me that
it is probably hopeless to ever get the rim to stay true again.
I love riding Cokers. I am waiting to see what the new and improved Coker looks
like. I wish someone could develop a better rim, but I guess they won’t.
For now I’m riding with a lightweight 28" wheel on my Telford. The super light
weight makes it sort of the opposite of a Coker–but it is lots of fun.
David Maxfield Bainbridge Island, WA
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
John Childs wrote:
>Combine the narrow hub with the wimpy rim along with spokes that don’t like to
>stay taught and you’ve got a wheel that won’t take much abuse.
Is spoke loosening a big problem? Sounds like I should loc-tite the nipples
before tensioning the wheel. What about wide hubs? Does anyone know how far
apart the cranks can be before it gets “uncomfortable”
> If you hit the curb too hard or if you hit the curb at an angle (which
> will cause lateral forces on the wheel) you will taco the wheel or put a
> ding in it.
Why will taking a curb at an angle cause lateral forces on the wheel? Is it
because the tire might slip and get shoved to the side instead of gripping and
riding straight?
Thanks for the input, John
Chris
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
The UK's Unicycle Source <a href="http://www.unicycle.uk.com/">http://www.unicycle.uk.com/</a>
Chris wrote:
> Why will taking a curb at an angle cause lateral forces on the wheel? Is it
> because the tire might slip and get shoved to the side instead of gripping and
> riding straight?
No, the reason is that there is no lateral component if you hit the curb
straight and any rim is at it’s strongest without any lateral component. In fact
I would say that without a lateral force you will not buckle a wheel… that is
not to say that you do not get any lateral forces when you hit a curb due to
movement of tyre and your body not being directly in line of the force but is
better than going at a curb not straight.
Roger
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
David Maxfield wrote:
> I’ve since had the wheel trued twice (try saying that three times fast). After
> each truing the wheel was fine for about half a mile, then the wheel warped
> enough to rub against the frame. The good folks at rec.bicycle.tech tell me
> that it is probably hopeless to ever get the rim to stay true again.
Have you tried taking the wheel completely apart (so that there are no spokes),
straightening the bare rim, and then re-lacing the wheel? You may be able to do
the same thing without actually un-spoking the wheel. As long as you loosen all
the spokes so that there is NO tension in them before you bend the rim back to
shape, it should accomplish the same thing.
If, however, spoke tension alone is used to straighten a bent rim, the wheel
will end up with more spoke tension on one side than the other. It may be true
at the beginning of that first ride, but it won’t be by the end.
I had a 20" Schwinn run over by my mom’s car years ago, and the bike shop
wouldn’t touch it, the rim was so badly bent. So we fixed it ourselves. Set the
rim on a block and jumped on it several times till it was relatively straight,
replaced a few missing spokes, then trued the wheel. It rode again.
Good Luck,
Chris
Re: 3 Foot Tacos
<<Have you tried taking the wheel completely apart (so there are no spokes),
straightening the bare rim, and then re-lacing the wheel?>>
Yeah, the wheel builder, Val at Bikesmith here in Seattle, took all the spokes
out before straightening the rim. When I got it back from him (the first time)
he thought that it would work. He had taken pains to make sure that the tension
was even and high.
I will be having Val build me a Monty wheel later this Spring–or whenever Monty
is able to get more US inventory. I’ll bring my Coker back to him then. Maybe he
has more tricks up his sleeve.
Thanks,
David Maxfield