Today, Beau rode his Coker to school for the first time. It’s no big deal or anything, but the ride is a lot of fun (about 2 miles with quite a few different types of riding, including a long steep hill). At least it shows a normal sized 11 year old at 4’ 10" height can ride a Coker comfortably, even carrying a pretty heavy backpack. He is using a KH seat with the seatpost at the lowest position. He uses 152mm cranks for now and was surprised how fast we got there - almost as fast as on bike.
First he rides an ultimate wheel to school. Now he’s Cokering in. Beau is a tough rider. Who’s the wimp in yellow trying to draft him in photo #7? Jeez, what a parasite. That guy should learn to do his own work.
What great pics. The old fellow in the backgound of the last picture. a classic.
Harper: How does Beau brake that “parasite” from drafting? Hop off and leave the big ol’Coker wheel laying right where she falls… My prediction, the Coker wouldn’t be the only thing hitting the pavement. --chirokid–
Hey what’s going on?! That little kid is starting to grow up! Stop it, we can’t have that… and starting to ride a Coker now is he!? Unthinkable…whatever is the world coming to!!!
Cool pictures Nathan. I’ve saved up enough money so that when I get back from the tour I’ll be able to buy that KH24 plus a Coker. If things go well and I also go to the college campus close to here I could be Cokering to school too.
Oddly enough, on that same route there is a mountain bike trail where I always see bikers parking their cars (really the only one even remotely close to where I live). So (like I said) if things go well I’ll be not only Cokering to school but Muni-ing that trail too.
Edit: Oh yeah, I leave tomorrow morning so in actuality I will be “Not here” until May.
Great shots…gives this papa something else to look forward to in the next year or so. I think Miles is only a couple inches away from being tall enough, and he’s adding those on pretty quickly these days. Since I’m upgrading to a GB/DS 36", I guess I need to get him into the bidding process when I sell my standard Coker.
So Nathan, does that mean that Beau is ready to put away his 20" and move up to a 24" for the Moab MUniFest? It will make the rest of us feel better if he’s not schooling all of us on a smaller wheel.
I think he’ll still be on the 20" this year for Muni. He is just so comfortable and has no problems keeping up. On last Sunday’s Muni ride (17 riders!) he was gliding and seatdragging on the dirt with the 20 - he just loves it. One of the kids on the ride was about his size and was riding a KH24 - it looked big, but he was doing some great riding. Beau rode my KH24 recently, but didn’t like it since the 170s feel so much different from the 125s that he’s used to.
That’s because 170mm is way too long for anyone, even if they have long legs. I think 140mm or 145mm is a far better length for 24x3" MUnis. 150mm would be a good in-between length to get a bit more leverage probably. I don’t know how anyone can like riding with 170s. Heaps of people do, and Unicycle.com even recommends them! Insanity!!!
Rowan, come ride with us is all I can say. Long cranks for Muni DO make sense on steep terrain. Some ride with 175s and 180s and I even got to try out a Coker with custom 210mm cranks one time - now those are long! I’ve also ridden a Coker with 102mm cranks…lots of variation. In general, after trying many lengths, many of us here in Calif have come to regard 170mm as the ideal crank length using 24x3 Gazz for the Muni rides we do.
I’d love to come riding with you, but unless you come to NZ it probably won’t happen for a while. I don’t know if America would let me into the country with my drug convictions (cannabis). They would probably see me as a terrorist, weilding a Unicycle of mass destruction. I find that short cranks are a bit out of control on some steep terrain, but a brake would make more of a difference than long cranks. For the extra leverage you get with long cranks, you also get more awkwardness and increased likelyhood of pedal scrapes. There are pros and cons for all lengths. I think short cranks make rides more exciting, and smoother. Ask Tony Melton about short cranks on steep hills, I went flying past him down this hill at Red Rocks on the verge of being out of control. I know it is a matter of personal preference, I just think that Unicycles go slow enough as it is, and there is no point in slowing them down by having rediculously long cranks. I have both 170mm and 145mm profiles for my Wilder, and the 170s mostly just sit in my toolbox. I only put them on so as not to neglect them, but when I do I usually regret it and change back to short cranks soon afterwards.
So many times when I see a picture of someone coming down a hill, the picture never does the hill justice. If this photo isn’t doing that hill justice, that is just scary. It really looks steep in the picture!
>I find that
>short cranks are a bit out of control on some steep terrain, but a brake
>would make more of a difference than long cranks.
Ever tried to brake up a hill?
Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
I have a feeling you might need two points of contact with the ground for such a thing to work? Or at least training wheels on the front and rear. - John Foss commenting on a picture of a one-wheeled vehicle he saw on RSU.
If a hill is so steep that I can’t ride up it, I walk. A brake would not help since it is extra weight for uphills, and no I haven’t tried braking uphill except in a car. My unicycle doesn’t have a brake attached. I’ve found that short cranks are just as effective for going up steep hills as long cranks (for me). With the short ones you get more momentum, which carries you up the hill faster. The long cranks do have a bit more leverage, but it seems to be cancelled out by the sluggish nature of them, which increases the likelihood of stalling after each power stroke. I prefer riding downhill than uphill, but both are part of good MUni riding tracks. The other day when I went up the Mountain, I walked the MUni up and rode down (not from the very top). The reeder handle carbon fibre base combo was very good for yanking on for downhill.
Nathan, I’ll look forwards to seeing you. That would be really cool if you came here, we have plenty of awesome scenery and riding. Bring your son and a spare Coker or two and we’ll have a race!
My prediction, the Coker wouldn’t be the only thing hitting the pavement. --chirokid–
