Are there other production options that are of similar or better quality in about the same price range? Where should I look?
Currently I am riding a KH29XC that I love but I am looking onto some serious distance riding and it is pretty clear that the Coker is the answer–I just don’t know what all the choices are. My 29" is great for the 8 miles I ride in the morning but I am interested in the option for 25 mile days.
You might learn a little about rims and tires at this link:
The new big problem is about the airfoil “x” marked rims. For most of us the TA / Airfoil will be just fine. One way to save tire weight is to get two tires. Use one to train on and the other for events. When the first tire gets wore down after a thousand or so miles, change out the tire and train on the new tire. Save the one wore down for events only. You may want to sand down the tire tread shoulders as usually for me the center of the tire wears out fastest.
I have done a one hundred mile day on the UDC 36 with the airfoil rim, stainless spokes, ta tire, and air seat options. I did not get the brake (trying to save weight). I have also done 20 plus miles without stopping or leaning. (After about 20 miles usually nature starts to call real hard.)
I will some time come up with a break set up but will only mount for long down hill work. The long down hills end up wrecking my knees.
It rains a lot here and I commute daily all year. To maintain good contact with wet feet and also to increase efficiency I went to SPD pedals. Now I feel real uncomfortable when not clipped in. If you try clipless pedals make sure you get real good at practicing getting out of them before you start riding. First few days are a little scary.
That is the one I have, I got it with all the basic things. I really like it. I would definitly reccomend it. But I must agree that the tire is pretty heavy, but it’s okay, builds up leg strength.