I read the article that was recently posted about the mountain unicyclist in Alaska. The feedback suggests that the article was highly successful in bringing about new interest to the sport. Is it possible that the same can be done with the cocker?
I’m thinking about doing an article on Cockering. My motive is solely an attempt to spark some interest in the sport. The idea is to target the cycling community. The Cocker works extremely well for transportation and distance riding. It’s a vehicle that is as comfortable as a bike, more fun, and possibly a better form of exercise. Having been a distance cyclist for many years, I believe the distance / endurance cycling community is ready for a new challenge.
I could give the readers some history of the Big Wheel. Reveal the struggles that we all encountered when attempting to find a comfortable vehicle for distance riding at an affordable price. Then comes the Cocker fulfilling most of our desires. I would not be doing distance riding with such enjoyment if it weren’t for the Cocker
Through the newsgroup, I witness many people contributing to the sport. Some reply to beginner’s questions, while others start clubs, build new innovative unis, etc. I am not a great writer. However I do have some good ideas along with the ability to organize them in a way that might spark some interest. As a salesman by profession, I have become a good promoter. Fortunately, I’m around some excellent writers that would help.
I’ve met two other unicyclists, and they both were riding big wheels at
the time. They told me that once you try it, you’ll never go back to the
smaller unicycles again. I got on a Coker, and my initial impression was
that it felt very heavy and would have lots of momentum. I didn’t try to
ride it because the seat was adjusted too high for me.
I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable riding a big wheel in heavy traffic here
in the city. I’m still learning at 4 months, and I always hop off my 24"
whenever I encounter traffic on the street. I can’t concentrate on riding
and at the same time watch for cars, and I’m probably going to dismount
anyway to avoid the car, so I just hop off. Having to mount/dismount much
of the time wouldn’t be fun for me.
Where do you ride a Coker, anyway? Out in the country, in the city,
anywhere a bike goes?
“dan” <forum.member@unicyclist.com> wrote in message news:9tcmht$qnn$1@laurel.tc.umn.edu… > I read the article that was recently posted about the mountain > unicyclist in Alaska. The feedback suggests that the article was highly > successful in bringing about new interest to the sport. Is it possible > that the same can be done with the cocker? > > I’m thinking about doing an article on Cockering. My motive is solely an > attempt to spark some interest in the sport. The idea is to target the > cycling community. The Cocker works extremely well for transportation > and distance riding. It’s a vehicle that is as comfortable as a bike, > more fun, and possibly a better form of exercise. Having been a distance > cyclist for many years, I believe the distance / endurance cycling > community is ready for a new challenge. > > I could give the readers some history of the Big Wheel. Reveal the > struggles that we all encountered when attempting to find a comfortable > vehicle for distance riding at an affordable price. Then comes the > Cocker fulfilling most of our desires. I would not be doing distance > riding with such enjoyment if it weren’t for the Cocker > > Through the newsgroup, I witness many people contributing to the > sport. Some reply to beginner’s questions, while others start clubs, > build new innovative unis, etc. I am not a great writer. However I do > have some good ideas along with the ability to organize them in a way > that might spark some interest. As a salesman by profession, I have > become a good promoter. Fortunately, I’m around some excellent writers > that would help. > > What are your ideas or thoughts? Would it work? > > Dan > > > > > – > dan Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums
My apologies for misspelling Coker. Been reading to many other recent threads.
I see the Coker as the ultimate transportation and over the road/ distance unicycle. There are far better choices for muni’s and freestyle unis. Surprisingly (in my opinion) riding a Coker over the road is far easier to master than riding the others the way they are intended. All you really need to master on a Coker is riding forward. Once mastered its as easy to control as the smaller ones.
I ride my Coker anywhere I ride a bike. I live in Salt Lake City where the traffic is fairly heavy. I try and find country roads with less traffic whenever possible. I have ridden up to 75 miles on several different occasions. Some people have ridden over 100 miles.
Ride what you are comfortable with- then gently push the envelope wider. Safe Cokering (like anything, realy) is dependant on your judgement.
I had trouble with the very things ICF mentioned, at first. It was slow to respond, difficult to manuver and requires alot of streangth. However, after a month, I’v seen alot of improvement: my turning arch is getting smaller, hills are starting to be manageable, mounting more dependable. Riding today at lunch, I iddled the Coker for the first time: I was coming to the end of a turn only lane, willing the light to change as space ran out. I crept slower and slower… then rolled back…then forward… then back… I did 5 roll backs before relizing I was even doing it! I was watching the road and the light the hole time, and was a bit suprized by myself.
I made several decisions that fell outside of my zone of comfort today, as well; I will recognize those situations more readly the next time I ride. I lern something every time I get in the saddle- I guess that’s why I like the Uni so much.
I have been practicing iddling and hopping the 24" just about every day- I think it has been a great help with the 36". While it does take much more streagth to manage the Coker, once it’s performance become predictable you can apply effort where it will best serve you- instead of fighting it (which is what I did alot of, on my first city rides).
“Import Car Fan” <dsholt@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:V8EK7.197562$W8.7422344@bgtnsc04-news.ops.worldnet.att.net… > > I’ve met two other unicyclists, and they both were riding big wheels at > the time. They told me that once you try it, you’ll never go back to the > smaller unicycles again. I got on a Coker, and my initial impression was > that it felt very heavy and would have lots of momentum. I didn’t try to > ride it because the seat was adjusted too high for me. >
The momentum is great, combined with the big wheel it means it will run
over most bumps very easily, it is also very stable side-to-side, you have
to put in real effort or go very slow to fall off sideways. Once you’ve
got your legs used to controlling the Coker, you find it seems to control
itself largely, you really don’t have to think about it. Cokers seem much
better at this than smaller lighter unicycles, where you have to
concentrate a bit more. I sometimes find myself surprised that people are
looking at me when I’m out riding with bikers until I remember that I’m
riding a coker not a bike.
> I’m not sure I’d feel comfortable riding a big wheel in heavy traffic > here in the city. I’m still learning at 4 months, and I always hop off > my 24" whenever I encounter traffic on the street. I can’t concentrate > on riding and at the same time watch for cars, and I’m probably going to > dismount anyway to avoid the car, so I just hop off. Having to > mount/dismount much of the time wouldn’t be fun for me. > > Where do you ride a Coker, anyway? Out in the country, in the city, > anywhere a bike goes?
I ride a Coker anywhere a bike goes, most rides are in the city cos thats
where I live, but I’ve also taken it offroad, not anything terribly
difficult though. It’s much nicer to ride in traffic on a coker than on a
smaller unicycle because you can go at a sensible speed. You’re also very
visible being so high up, so drivers are less bad than on a bike. Once
you’ve got up the confidence to ride on the road, you shouldn’t need to
mount / dismount all the time. I probably dismount once or twice maximum
on a six mile journey into work.
With any luck the improved Coker deluxe will actually become a reality. If
your intention is to interest bicyclists the quality of the stock Coker
will make it a harder sell. The quality of the stock Coker is poor,
especially the rim. Bicyclists are typically gear heads and appreciate
quality components. Showing them a stock Coker and saying “yah, you can do
75 mile rides on this” would make them double over with laughter. It would
be about the same reaction if you took a stock KMart bike and said “yah,
you can ride a century (100 miles) on this”.
If you want to sell Cokering to the cycling community wait till we have a
better rim. Then you would have something additional to promote and the
gear heads might actually take it more seriously.
john_childs, ex-roadie but still a gear head
>From: dan <forum.member@unicyclist.com> > >My apologies for misspelling Coker. Been reading to many other >recent threads. > >I see the Coker as the ultimate transportation and over the road/ >distance unicycle. There are far better choices for muni’s and freestyle >unis. Surprisingly (in my opinion) riding a Coker over the road is far >easier to master than riding the others the way they are intended. All >you really need to master on a Coker is riding forward. Once mastered its >as easy to control as the smaller ones. > >I ride my Coker anywhere I ride a bike. I live in Salt Lake City where >the traffic is fairly heavy. I try and find country roads with less >traffic whenever possible. I have ridden up to 75 miles on several >different occasions. Some people have ridden over 100 miles. > >Check out http://www.outtech.com/Unicycle/EUT/ This is a European tour >that a bunch did on their Cokers. > >These kinds of questions are what the cycling community is eager to learn >about. I think the time is ripe. > >Dan
If you want to sell Cokering to the cycling community wait till we have a
better rim. Then you would have something additional to promote and the
gear heads might actually take it more seriously.
i have been riding my cocker (i think cocker sounds better. er maybe its the wild turkey talking) to and fro work for several months now and havent havent had any trouble with my rim. i ride it off a few different curbs every day. i weigh 215 and havent bent it or anything. the rims doin just fine for me. has anyone had any trouble with them?
ticklemevaughn writes: > >i have been riding my cocker (i think cocker sounds better. er maybe its >the wild turkey talking) to and fro work for several months now and >havent havent had any trouble with my rim. i ride it off a few different >curbs every day. i weigh 215 and havent bent it or anything. the rims >doin just fine for me. has anyone had any trouble with them?
I weigh 190 with my clothes and fanny pack. I ride 20mi/day and frequently
ride down curbs up to 6" high. I ride down steep hills and sometimes have
to slow down fast. I think I ride fairly roughly for someone who stays off
dirt paths. I have never had any trouble with the rim (and still haven’t
changed the tire after 2000+miles, tho I will as soon as I have time). I
understand that riders with brakes on their Cokers have trouble bc the rim
isn’t too true, but since I don’t have the brake yet, I have no complaints
about the Big One.
David Stone Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday @ Central
Park Bandshell
1:30 start time after 11/1/01
PS: Thanks to ticklemevaughn for advice about the UW.
