While I enjoy riding my Coker down flights of stairs… I seem to have run into a couple of limiting factors regarding my abilities to ride my Coker (at it’s current configuration ) down more than 15 stairs or so (depending upon steepness):
I pick up too much speed and it’s impossible to slow down, and
As a result of the speed, the impact from the transition off the last step and back to level ground can be a killer on my ankles.
I figure brakes would probably solve both problems. Does anyone on the forum have any experience using brakes while riding their Coker down flights of stairs with more than 15 stairs or so? … or even fewer as long as you’ve used your brakes to reduce your speed while going down the stairs. Any pointers that I could learn from your experience would be helpful. Also, can someone reccommend a relatively inexpensive set of brakes I could get that would be good for what I’m looking to do? Thanks for your help!
Andrew (HCR)
I have found the longer cranks offer a much more controlled ride, and you are able to make more explosive (it’s still not a MUni!) quick last minute decision turns, a more forceful startup, and you are also able to control yourself better on the steep down and in your case, many stairs
What length cranks do you run, anyways?
brakes would be a great advantage here, don’t get me wrong, but I love pushing the coker to those limits as well…how fast can I still go down something under control? (but also couldn’t care at all if I had to walk down something that was too long or steep…which doesn’t often happen , where brakes would work there)
i don’t know about stairs but GB4 rode a coker with brake across iowa on ragbrai a few years ago. you could pm him and ask for info/advice on how/what to do.
For the stuff you are going to be doing, I would stay away from a Hydraulic brake.
Breaking a lever on a cable brake is only 10 bucks or so, the hydro is a lot more, as braking the level usually (2 out of 3 for me) hydro line and you end up haivng to pay like 50 more or so to get it working.
I only tried one more brake after swearing off them because there was one sitting on my never to be ridden again mountain bike.
The argument of which sort of brake is better (in terms of grippyness or strength) will never affect a unicyclist no matter what they do, as those performance gains are only really achieved when the wheel is spinning as fast as a mountain bike wheel who’s rider does not have a 1:1 direct drive hub with supplied leg power to assist them
Actually, I’ve been pretty busy today (definitely too busy to write and post 100 messages)… but not quite as busy as I had anticipated due to the fact that my helicopter lesson was cancelled because it was snowing at the airport in Princeton. Plus, if I’m working by a computer, I like to take a few short breaks for a couple of minutes to check the forum (if possible) to read a few posts (and maybe post a quick message or two) if I have enough time.
Thanks a lot for your help, jagur! The picture looks like those breaks would be perfect… any idea of the price and/or a decent Internet site to buy them from (unless they’re easy to find at a local bike shop or they’re available from Uni.com)? I guess as long as the topic doesn’t pertain to Rays or Rolling Trials, you CAN be quite helpful! Thanks, again.
Andrew (HCR)
ive seen them from $20 all the way up to 40 bucks… since its a BMX componate getting one at a bike shop would be a cinch, there most likly one in stock somwhere localy in your area.
I have heard many people say that stock rims and brakes don’t mix very well, but I have no personal experience in the area.
I was going to get bmx type brakes but the bike shop said it would be hard to drill through the chrome, what is the best way to go about drilling in the frame?
, where brakes would work there)