Now that I have actually been riding my Coker, the homemade air saddle is starting to show some signs of wear from striking the pavement. The bumper on the front doesn’t do much good due to the added thickness of the air cushion. I needed to come up with some type of bumper system and decided to add a handle instead .
The problem was having a 30" inseam, I had to ride with the shortest post and didn’t have any way to attach a handle directly to the post. I did not want to mount a handle to the seat base and shorten it’s life, so this was my solution.
I used an old steel handlebar that I had laying out in the shop and after cutting it to the necessary length and angle, I brazed it to the seat post collar. Next, I mounted a “stubby” Profile bar end and “instant handle/bumper”
P.S.
I may still have to modify the length of the handle and possibly the angle of the bar end after it’s maiden voyage
That looks pretty good. Im taking a welding and brazing course with my dad at the community college this summer. After that Im going to be innovative also!
Another option to consider that’s independent of the seat post is the GB Handle. I’ve used mine for a couple hundred miles and have been pretty happy with it. It’s true it mounts to the seat base, but if you use either the gemcrest CF base (light but pricey) or the GB Stiffener Plate (heavy but cheap), you’re not at much risk of shortening the seat life. With the GB handle and plate combo, you’re basically bolting the handle to steel, which provides a super-strong platform for pulling up, pushing down, hopping, etc.
Cool! I like seeing new Coker handle and muni handle projects. There’s more than one way to make a handle and it’s neat to see people trying different things.
Will made a neat handle from the top tube of a bike. Using that part of a bike frame meant that he didn’t need to weld or braze. Pics are in Will’s Gallery
I’m working on some new ideas for my Coker handle. I’ve got a new boom. It’s a longer single piece of 1-1/8" aluminum tubing now for the boom. I’m playing around with some ideas for the handle part. Right now it’s two bar ends. I’d like to come up with something that gives me at least one additional hand position where I can more easily lift my weight off the saddle. I also just got (last week) a bike rack modified (re-welded) so I’ll be able to mount a trunk bag to carry gear. I’ve got pictures of the beta 2 version of my handle in my Miscellaneous Stuff gallery. I’m currently working on the beta 3 model. I’ll post updated pictures when I get some ideas more figured out.
Keep playing with your handle setup and post pictures of what you come up with.
Thanks guys!!!
There’s quite a variety of handles on your Cokers, but none of those would work for me. That’s what forced me to come up with this design. There wasn’t enough seatpost visible to use for a “standard” mounting application
Working with riders with shorter legs (like me) is a challenge with the Coker. Like Tom said, this is a good reason to keep the handle-attached-to-the-seat designs around. I’ve also worked with Rick Hunter to alter the normal H36 configuration to lower the saddle, and with George Barnes to modify the seatpost design to allow the post to sit lower in the seat tube. Usually the short-legged rider has to use a fixed seatpost rather than a tiltable one.
I used a bike seatpost adapter, ran part of a Y-shaped aero bar up to the front of the seat, and clamped-on custom U-shaped tubing made from modified bar ends. The U handle is 10 inches long so I can set my hands forward. The bottom bar section is attached to the seatpost adapter brake tube with a standard seat clamp.
I have a pic but no web page to host/re-direct the image.
This is all very interesting to me right now as I have just hacked out the foam of my viscount seat to do an airseat conversion and while its off it seems to make sense to fit a handle. I thought I might use a handlebar stem off a mountain bike handlebar that I found in my shed and bolt it directly to the seat base as the seat base seems quite sturdy. It does mean that it wont be at a right angle to the seat and will be more suited to using the right hand which is how I will fit it being right handed. I just hope this wont become too much of a problem. Or maybe using part of the handlebar and an end bar would be a better idea although that will mean robbing an end bar off my mountain bike. Not that I use it much now though sinse discovering MUni.
Yes John,
Thank you, that’s the point that I was trying to get across to everybody!!! I had no other place to mount to handle due to having to lower the seat all the way because of the air saddle.
That’s the beauty of it. If a problem arises, I just buy another cheap seatpost clamp and build another one. I’ll try to post a better picture of it (off the uni) this evening
I have just finished converting my viscount saddle on my Pashley MUni into an air seat and added a handle made out of a mountain bike handlebar stem with a handlebar grip over it, although its at an angle it seems OK to use with either hand. The airseat is fantastic, I should have done it ages ago and would certainly recomend it to anyone who hasn’t.
Here’s the handle, detached from the Coker. Upon reinstalling it, I realized the real beauty of it’s simplicity. It can be adjusted to the left or right (off-center) independently of the seat position.
I’m curious if the Coker handle is mainly used for tourning, which I suspect. Most of my time is spent on a Muni, but I try and put in 2 days a week on my Coker. My main focus had been on speed, and I’ve recently worked up to racing in local 10Ks. For pure velocity, I’m finding that the form is the same I used to use when racing on rollerblades, arms behind my back, bent slightly forward, and peddling like crazy. Since I am basically practicing in a bottle (alone), are you folks finding that a handle IN FRONT actually helps in increasing top speed?
Check out the thread “Road race times for Coker”. John Foss’ (front) handle is set even lower than mine. Without being able to tell you the specific dynamics of that position, I’d have to strongly consider it as functional.
