This really grinds my gears that the current airfoil rim will not accomodate the original Coker tire! So my question is, does it even matter? That is to say, is the 4-grooved TA tire even better as the utlimate 36er road tire for speed, wear and performance then the knobby coker tire?
I can see the advantage of the coker tire for offroad riding, but for smooth surfaces such as the 50 miles of concrete beach bike path, wouldn’t the TA tire be smoother, with less rolling friction, and therefore faster?
The one big negative I can see is that at $82, the TA tire is $20 MORE than the coker tire.
Funny, over here they’re the same price. The TA does reputedly last much longer, so in the long run may well work out cheaper. I like my TA, it runs smoother than the coker tyre on my mate’s coker. It is damn slick if you hit a bit of loose mud tho.
Its like comparing a mountain bike tire to a road tire. They’re both nice for the purpose the tread would meet. If you ride distance like I do, Id use the TA. It will last longer and is smoother with a few lengthwise grooves for light traction. If you ride in gravel/sand/dirt/wet (especially wet) a lot you would want to coker tire.
My coker has the TA tire. I’d assume that you are right about everything you said. The knobby ‘coker’ tire would undoubtedly be better offroad…as the ‘TA’ tire should, by concept, be smoother on a flat surface. Neither one is really “faster” than the other…although they both have their perks.
I love the TA tire. Its incredibly smooth and completely silent (enough to sneek up on people ;)). I can’t compare it to the ‘coker’ tire because I’ve never ridden on one. I also don’t think it would be any problem with the extent of ‘off-roading’ that you’d likely be doing on a coker anyhow. The huge size of the wheel gives you good traction on any surface really.
Seeing as how the coker tire won’t fit on the airfoil rim…you aren’t left with much of a choice. But if you insist upon the airfoil, have no worries - the TA tire is great.
I have the TA tyre on my JC Coker. I got the TA back when the Coker tyres were out of stock so I had no choice.
But in the end I like the TA better for road riding. It even does fine for XC Coker muni. For me the TA tyre handles road crown better than the Coker tyre. It’s not right though for me to give a direct comparison because I’m comparing a worn Coker tyre to a newish TA tyre. But the TA tyre does well.
The TA tyre does have a slick skin on the rubber. That slick skin is slippery. Once you wear down through that skin the rubber is more grippy and I haven’t had any problems with traction since rubbing away the skin. You can speed up the wear process by buffing with sandpaper to remove the slick skin.
One odd peculiarity is that the groves in the TA tyre tend to pick up little rocks. I’m not sure if that is ever going to cause a flat. The tyre is still plenty thick even in the bottom of the groves.
I’ve heard many reports of slipping on the TA in wet and snow/ice/etc…I’ve personally used the TA in all sorts of weather here (rain snow and ice/sleet) and found that if you ride rain like its dry or ride ice like its sticky you’re going to fall no matter what tire you use. You just have to know how to ride what you’re riding on and compensate for bad conditions with more care and slower speed/less sudden acceleration/deceleration. The only thing that seemed too hard to deal with was bare ice on the TA tire. I imagine that bare Ice would suck on most other unicycle tires though. The coker tire will likely hold on a bit better, but its not like the TA tire is butter slick though because for how it looks, it grips fairly well. You also have the option of using a tire groover to cut your TA with whatever tread pattern you’d like since it sort of is like a blank slate for whatever tread pattern youd like.
Yeah I think I’ll be going withe the TA for the reasons stated, but reading another thread, I’m definitely NOT buying the current “X” Airfoil!
So many ppl saying they get blowouts at a mere 35psi! Since I’m planning on doing 100% of my cokering on smooth, beach bike paths, where there’s virtually no climbing, I think the smart choice would be to get the Nimbus 36 with the steel rim, while waiting for the airfoil issue to be resolved.
Also, I don’t have to worry about blowouts, and then I can run a decent 50 psi! Good call? Of course I’d want to also get the T7 handle and the KH freeride fusion saddle!
If money isnt a problem you may be able to see about obtaining a Qu-Ax 36" rim. I don’t think they have the same problems as the X airfoil rim. I agree with you and support your decision not to buy a X airfoil as mine blew out at 32PSI exactly on a 70 deg F day.
Hmmm, where can I get that rim? Wait, doesn’t that rim have 48 spokes? That means I would also need the corresponding hub. Does anybody have good experience with this rim compared to the original airfoil?
I’m not too sure. If it is 48 spokes you may be screwed because I don’t think a super wide hub is made with 48 holes and thats the hub size the nimbus 36 frame natively supports.
You could still use 36 spokes on a 48-hole rim by doing a custom lacing pattern.
I’m not saying it’s best practice, but if you do an internet search on custom or non-standard wheel lacing patterns, like “crow’s foot”, you’d probably be able to find a pattern that would work with 36 of the 48 holes.
Well, unless I can find someone willing to sell me a used original airfoil, (I’m willing to go up to $100 for one in excellent shape!) I’ll just have to get by with the Steel rim until the current "X’’ debacle is resolved.
Terry - the steel rim is fine, especially with the wide UDC hub. For guys like you and me (I’m 150 lbs), the steel rim is bomber strong. I’ve never experienced even slight deformation, even when torquing my hardest up steep hills or riding XC trails. The steel rim on my Radial 360 is still true from when I bought the thing.
Also, another vote for the TA tire. It’s smooth, like “butta”.
For the riding conditions you suggested, you’re right, you don’t need an airfoil hub…and I was going to mention that I had heard of the blowout problems as well. Your described riding conditions also shouldn’t require the 48-spoke rim… I think you’ll save money in the long run if you buy the steel-rim and wait for a better rim to come out - like many of us are doing. The steel rim is much stronger than it gets credit for; especially with the extra-wide hub.
I appreciate all the help and great info! Yeah I’m going with the steel rim while I wait for either a good used orig. airfoil or a new, improved version that won’t have blowout issues. Thanks everybody!
one of my teammates must torture his steel rim…I rode it a few months after he purchased it and it was noticeably not true (even after a truing). Brakes on it made the differences very evident though. If you guys say its strong then maybe adam was just rough on his until it became bent
