Today I went on a coker ride and noticed that when i was riding straight lines it would here this sound almost like a spoke rubbing something, i dont know what it is or if its bad, i checked the spoke tension and they seemed prudy damn lose, but i dono what they are suppose to feel like. I checked and made sure that my cranks are on nice and tight. Anyone know what this could be? It was Prudy quite too, so i thought it might not be the spokes. Hummm…
Also does any one have any tips on turning? I had to use about 25-30 ft to turn.
Dude… while I don’t exactly have a resolution to your problem I do have a story to relate. My spokes are consistantly loose. I’ve already had them tightened once and they’re already starting to get loose again. I’ve only had it for about a month. Right now I’m probably just going to get a spoke wrench that’ll fit the nipples.
The only thing that I can think of is that the rim wasn’t true when it was installed. But other than that… I don’t know.
Congratulations on getting a Coker and welcome to the “Big Time”… it’s great to have another member of the tribe! Like you said - “it opens a whole new door to unicycling!”
Regarding the noise… when I assembled my Airfoil Coker with the wide hub… one spoke actually did rub against the frame slightly. There was barely enough room to get the hub to fit into the stock frame. The rub was so minor, that I think I probably just shaved off a tiny amount of metal from the spoke constantly hitting the frame… or I just don’t even notice it when I’m riding. Do you have the stock rim and hub?
Regarding turning… in order to make a tighter radius turn, you have to lean the Coker over to bank it in the turn. If I have to make a real tight turn (especially if I’m going decently fast), I’ll hang my butt off the seat on the opposite side that I’m turning and then I’ll kind of counter steer to initiate the turn. I find that works quite well for sharp turns. If you’re going real slow, just use your hips to do a pivot turn.
Relax and don’t be afraid of it. You can turn a Coker like a normal unicycle - on the spot or very nearly so.
So, slow right down and time the turn as the inside pedal goes down.
Or, for more gradual turns at normal speeds, look where you intend to go, and just go there. Don’t be afraid to lean.
Just practis.
There are stages to learning to ride a Coker. You need to get used to being on top of it before you feel happy steering it. Soon, you get bored because it’s so easy… then you start to ride it harder, and it becomes fun again.
A friend’s just bought the stock coker from uk unicycle.com. It’s got some fairly dodgy-looking loose spacers in between the wheel and the frame which rattle a lot if you bump it or anyuthing, I wouldn’t be suprised if they made the noise you described whilst riding…
As Mikefule said… Look to where you are wanting to go. It’s a simple thing, but really effective. I learned this to be very true when turning slow on a motorcycle. it makes a big difference.
Practice riding in an open area and just do a bunch of turns, each direction. figure eights, etc. You’ll get better at turning and will get more comfortable on the coker.
Give it a little practice and some time, you’ll settle in just fine.