I am a big wheel enthusiast and have been riding a Coker (with the Kovachi wheel and Kris Holm seat upgrades) for about two years now. I started on a Tom Miller 42" big wheel in 1982 but the hard tire seemed to become much harder as I grew older. The Coker has been great but i would love to find a better (lighter) fork and seat post. I would also like to know about the best cycle computer for a Coker and the easiest way to calibrate. Also, if anyone in the Detroit suburbs would like to form a weekly big wheel ride…let me know.
Hey goldman,
I doubt you can make it much lighter by putting another frame or seatpost on, if I were you I’d go for comfort instead, if you get like a KHE or Rod 22.2mm seatpost and a KH rail adapter you can make your uni more comfortable. There are some custom coker frames out there, Hunter, GB4 and Nimbus is going to make coker frames too, but they’re probably more heavy than the standard coker frame.
I use a Cateye Velo 8 on my coker, I havn’t had any trouble with it, it cost me 19.50 euros and I paid too much for it 
it’s easy to calibrate and it’s a luverly machine.
Good luck on yar unicycle,
Dustin
EDIT: If you want to save weight go for a 29" tube or a tubeless set (like mister world champion Ken Looi!)
Another way to save weight is to get the wheel rebuilt with the airfoil rim and stainless steal smaller gauge spokes. That along with the previously mentioned lighter tube set up will greatly reduce weight. Reducing weight in the wheel is also much more easy to notice when riding. Frame weight really isn’t going to slow you down as much as wheel weight, it will also make the wheel stronger and it will make it easier to control.
I have a Hunter 36" that is phenominal. I spend a chunk of change on it but it was well worth the investment. I don’t know how much lighter than the others it is but as DustinSchaap stated, your not going to save much weight on the frame. The two best places to look to lose some weight is the wheel/tire/tube and the rider. Often overlooked but the one area where you can lose the most weight is from the riders body. While you can only shed ounces off your uni, most people can shed pounds off their bods.
As for cycle computers, I’ve switched to a GPS device to avoid wires, wheel sensors and flying computer heads when I UPD. I use a Garmin Forerunner 201 that I wear on my wrist. It’s a bit bigger than the newer “spiffier” models but it was a lot cheaper and it works just fine.
What Dustin said 
Best to save weight on the wheel first- SS spokes, Airfoil rim, Coker (not TA tyre), Tubeless or 29’er inner tube. I’ve heard lot’s of people having problems with 29’er inner tubes, so personally I think tubeless is better. Tubeless rides nicer too- you get a springier feel to your wheel.
I still use a Std Coker frame- most of the custom frames are overly built- possibly to eliminate flex. But I don’t notice much flex in my Std Coker frame, but then I don’t use a brake either. To get a really light frame you need to get one custom made- maybe with thin, double butted good quality steel, aluminium, or carbon-fibre (glue them on to the crown) bike tubing.
Don’t forget the cranks and pedals- these can be quite heavy. Get some alloy cranks. I hate plastic pedals, but if you really want to sacrifice performance for weight, then these are probably lighter than most of the BMX/Trials pedals out there.
I am upgrading my Diet Coker this weekend- will post pics and a weight once I have it up and running.
The specs will be:
Coker Tyre- Stans tubeless conversion
Airfoil Rim
Tommy Miller SS spokes
UDC hub
Schlumpf alloy 114mm cranks
Wellgo MG-1 Magnesium pedals 390g (the lightest, broadest, flattest, grippy platforms I could find)
Schlumpf 36" rejected Generation-1 frame
Cut down steel seatpost (will upgrade to aluminium later)
Miyata carbon fibre seat, dual density foam, leather cover
Wallis Deathgrips (I actually prefer GB4 handles for distance, but will put these on for the exercise of building up the Diet Coker).
I can’t think of anything else to make it lighter right now.
Ken
tubeless?
I haven’t hear of a tubeless solution for a coker tire/wheel. Tell me more.
goldman
I just started riding unicycles, I’d like to learn to ride a big wheel after I figure out how to not fall off this tiny thing I’m trying to cruise around on.
I’m in Royal Oak, so not to far from you.
Don’t sit on it.
Sorry I missed you and Tony in Bangkok.
Coker weight is all in the tire and the tube. Frankly, I view this as an advantage because the rotational intertia adds stability. It also, however, makes turning cumbersome. I’m not looking for a nimble Coker, I’m looking for a cruiser. That’s just me. I don’t own a cyclometer, a custom frame, or GPS. I don’t have spider-web, tapered spokes or a tilt rail adapter. I don’t even own a cell phone. I probably never will. I like to ride in scenic areas with friendly people on a zone-out, comfortable machine that runs on autopilot. And I like to stop a lot.
I have only owned a Coker for less than two months with 600+ miles on it. But I must agree with Harper. I also enjoy a nice long ride too. Also, the first pound of weight can be removed fairly easily. To remove the second or more pounds the trouble and/or expense increase substantially.
Like everyone else said. 
For computer, I have had great success with the Cateye Enduro 8. Good old fashioned wire, great magnet setup, takes a lickin’ and keeps on tickin’.
For calibration, check out this great resource from forum activist Klass Bil.
Re: Coker Riders
On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:10:07 -0500, goldman wrote:
>I would also
>like to know about the best cycle computer for a Coker and the easiest
>way to calibrate.
Calibration for a standard Coker wheel, without having to measure the
rollout yourself, is described on my Coker Rollout page:
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“I’m slowly but surely stealing Wales and bringing it back to my house on the wheel, frame and cranks of my muni. - phil”
Welcome David Goldman!
I love my Coker, and used to ride it 8 miles each way to work. Now I don’t work there anymore, and it’s hard (for me) to get the discipline to ride lots of road miles without a destination. I haven’t been on mine for a while.
But the last unicycling I did was on a 2-speed Coker (Schlumpf hub) in the Marathon race at Unicon. That was a blast!
Yes, like a bike, the main weight to try to reduce is whatever rotates. But if your goal is a good workout, leave it heavy. Your part of Michigan is flat enough…
Most any cycle computer will work. I’ve got one sitting in a box and one day I’ll need to hook it up. At that time I’ll have to dig up the right number; the one that represent the wheel’s circumference. Anyone got that handy? Oh, it’s probably linked just above this post…
Anyway, Goldman has been around unicycling for a while. As he said, he got his first big wheel the same year I got mime. He rode in (or at least he was there for) the first Unicon Marathon, a measley 8 kilometers at Unicon IV. This most recent one was the real deal, 43k!
I never do when I’m climbing
How was your trip? Yeah, I was considering spending a couple of days in Bangkok but in the end I had to get home, so shame we missed you.
You can easily drop half the weight and it will still feel stable and comfortable over long distances.
Me too, except for the last bit
Do you have any updated rollout input with the introduction of the TA tires?
It was a gas. I PM’ed you a description of some of the things (I remembered) that we did.
Re: Coker Riders
On Thu, 31 Aug 2006 10:06:34 -0500, pdc wrote:
>Do you have any updated rollout input with the introduction of the TA
>tires?
No I don’t.
I could do the exercise again if I have good data from at least six
people, preferably ten or more. What about the different rims now
available, do they all have the same width as the original Coker one?
Because that would matter too, to a slight degree. Then I need even
more data, obviously.
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
“I’m slowly but surely stealing Wales and bringing it back to my house on the wheel, frame and cranks of my muni. - phil”
In a study of this precision, it is important to maintain as many elements of consistency with the original body of evidence as possible. Skew can be introduced in so many seemingly insignificant ways…the quad size of a new rider, the thickness of the padding in their shorts, pinned pedals versus those cheap plastic ones on the stock coker. It is critical to minimize variation!
As an original participant, I will agree to maintain an ongoing role in this important research. PDC, I believe you have my address from our previous transaction. Please mail me one of those new TA tires as soon as possible. I will promptly enlist john_childs to install it so I can begin gathering data for Klass immediately.
If you act promptly, there’s no reason we can’t have this whole thing pinned down by Christmas.
TB