Heylo, I’m considering the purchase of a coker and was simply wondering if for just casual and long street rides if the rim is a huge deal. I was thinking id get the remanufactured coker with just the allow rebuilt rim. Should i go to airfoil? What are your thoughts? Other options?
COle
It depends on how much you plan on doing with your coker. The stock rim is good for all but situations where you need a very strong wheel (coker-MUni) or a quality brake system (long, steep downhill). The stock rim isn’t very trueable and doesn’t work well with brakes.
For casual rides, the stock rim is just fine. I’d say go for the cheap, and upgrade if you find yourself getting deep into coker. If you build a better coker later on, this can become your beater.
Lars Clausen rode all 50 states with a stock wheel!
Actually, according to his book (I just read this part), he got a new wheel when he passed through Marietta, GA and visited Unicycle.com.
But he probably could have finished all 50 on the stock rim. I’d go with Mike’s advice. You can always upgrade later.
I read that too, but when I met him in Capitola during his recent book tour, his coker had a beat up rusty stock rim.
I think it also depends on where you are. If you live anywhere outside of the US- it costs so much to ship a Coker rim anyway that the relative difference in price between the two is not that much.
If you decide to do any serious Cokering in future (Lars Clauson being the exception), you will likely regret not having a Airfoil rim. It’s so much stronger, lighter, doesn’t rust, and easier to upgrade (spokes, brakes-better braking surface, tubeless).
Ken
I’ve done hundreds of miles on and off road on a standard Coker wheel. It’s weight and momentum are part of its charm. On the other hand, it needs truing every few hundred miles. Standard is good enough. Aero might be better.
Its not just standard…Its the recycled rim, dont forget. Do you think this has any effect towards your decisions? I don’t think unicycle.com would sell crappy merchandise but im not sure. Does nayone know if these rims will come and be all rusty and gross or will they look basically new?
Mine came and looked new. My one friend thought it was new and not the remanufacured.
Re: Coker wheel importance
Cole,
The remanufactured Coker should be fine. It does come with a wider hub than the stock Coker and that will help. I taco’d my stock Coker wheel twice very badly and then rebuilt it with a widened hub. The wheel is not perfectly true any more, but it feels solid. George Barnes rode across Iowa on GURAI with a stock Coker rim.
Buy cheap and upgrade later if you want.
And if you upgrade later, you can make your old rim into a bomb-diggitty Ultimate Wheel…
Mojoe
My coker came completely tacoed… So clearly, the stock rim isn’t strong enough for UPS. But for just street riding/commuting, it’s fine.
I think you were probobly (hopefully) a very rare case. Did unicycle.com help you out with that or did ups or anything? Hopefully they did. I will probobly get refurbished and then if i get really into it ill go to airfoil and georges extra wide hub.
Yes, if i change rims the 36inch should definitly go to a ultimate wheel or impossible wheel or sumthing…it would rock my socks off.
Cole
Yeah, I just sent it back and they sent a new one. And it was all good.