Going shopping for a Coker (finally!)

Unicycles and Equipment
1

After reading soooo many threads about how much fun Coker’s are, I am finally ready to put together my own. I’m planning on building a custom setup (as most of them seem to be) and would like some advice on how to contact the frame builders (and maybe even some subjective comments on who makes the best frame). I’ve read some good things about GB and Wyganowksi, but when I try searching the web for them, I can’t seem to find any info that would allow me to contact them. Do any of you Coker riders who have built your own know how I can get in contact with any of those guys?

Also, while I am planning on getting a stock Airfoil hub from unicycle.com, I wouldn’t mind getting my hands on a Dave Stockton wheelset if it’s not too expensive. While I’m sure I’ll never do any significant drops with my Coker, or do the type of riding that HardcoreCokerRider does (an awesome poster on here!), I would like to take it on some mild offroad trails (we don’t exactly have many mountains here in Kansas, which has been scientifically shown to be flatter than a pancake).

I am looking forward to joining the Coker “tribe” soon (as HardcoreCokerRider puts it), hopefully by mid-summer or early fall, at least before the cold weather gets here again. Hopefully I’ll soon have some stories to share about how awesome the thing is to ride. :slight_smile:

Thanks in advance for any input.

Mark

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Re: Going shopping for a Coker (finally!)

I have a George Barnes frame and can recommend it highly. Great value for the price, plus very well designed and manufactured. You can find his website at http://www.gb4mfg.com, which includes a Contact option. You can also PM him via this site…his user name is gbarnes.

My GB4 frame is connected to the road via an Airfoil rim (not hub) and Dave Stockton wheelset. The Dave Stockton wheelset IS expensive. As to whether it is “too expensive” depends on how you define “too”. I have never regretted buying it, and I look forward to willing it to my son when I die, which will hopefully be while riding it, and at least 40 years from now. Maybe during all those years I’ll have to tighten a few of the spokes, but I’m not betting on it. Dave does great work.

Here’s a shot of my GB4 36 with U-Turn wheel: http://gallery.unicyclist.com/GB4-36-custom/IMG_0632

Good luck, and welcome in advance to the Wide World of Cokering. The Seattle Area Riders took to the trail today, and we had a great 25-miler with multiple Cokers and bikes on the Sammamish River Trail.

3

I have just ordered a George Barnes cocker frame.
I just ordered a wheel built in uk with the airfoil rim and the UDC wide cocker hub. I think this unicycle is more than expensive enough, but if you have the money maybe a Stockton wheel is the way to go.

Rusty
Norway

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Coker

I purchased the basic Coker through Unicycle.com for $350.00ish. I have since upgraded the seat to the Kris Holms airseat, added hanglebars, and a Cateye computer. Will probably upgrade wheel and frame also at some point.
Good Luck!

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I, like you (mth32871) am putting together my own coker after reading a lot of threads and after trying one out. I already bought all the parts from unicycle.com but am waiting for certain items to get back in stock like the coker tire, and the airfoil rim wheelset. I wanted a GB4 coker frame but it was way out of my price range so I am going to be making my own frame with the help of a friend that is an excellent welder. I ordered 2 pairs of bearing holders from unicycle.com (http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=635) which will be welded to the frame.

After reading many great reviews on the GB4 handle I also bought extra metal to make one.

Eventually I want to put Maguras on and a cycle computer.

-Lee

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The GB4 Coker frame and the Hunter Cycles are two very good custom Coker frames. Contact info for each are on their web sites. I don’t know what current costs and availability are for each.

If you’re a shorter rider or a rider with fatter thighs you may find the Hunter to be a better choice. The Hunter is narrower up at the crown so it will be less likely to rub your legs as you pedal.

Both frames are well made and have quality bearing holders. Both frames are stiff so there is minimal frame flex which is especially important if you plan to run a brake.

The GB4 frame is only available in a width to fit the Super Wide Hub or an expensive custom widened Miyata hub by The Unicycle Factory. Hunter can make his frame to fit any width hub you want to use.

The Wyganowski Coker frames are no longer available. Wyganowski is no longer making frames.

I have a GB4 Coker frame. It works very well for me.

The most important part of a Coker though is the wheel. A quality wheel build is better than having a quality frame. A comfortable saddle is next on the list. The frame is not the most important part of the unicycle. If you splurge then splurge on the wheel first.

Getting a Coker wheel built locally may be a challenge. Any local wheel builder you take it to will have no experience with a wheel that big and will probably also have no experience with the unique demands of a unicycle wheel. They’ll have to learn as they go and the wheel will be an experiment for both you and the wheel builder. You can get a quality wheel build done locally but it may take several iterations as the wheel builder fine tunes how much tension is appropriate. You’ll get a better build if you can find someone who has built a quality Coker wheel before.

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Thanks to everyone for the replies. I have already contacted George Barnes and Dave Stockton (via the NYUC web page). I really have no idea what to expect one of his wheels to cost, but I do want to get the best that I can afford.

John, thanks for the info on wheel vs. frame. After reading a post by HardcoreCokerRider last night about his experiences after switching from a steel rim to an Airfoil rim, ride feel has a lot to do with wheel type (stiffness and inertia, wide hub vs. narrow). Quite interesting.

As one last question, is anyone willing to share what they paid to build their Coker? I really don’t have any idea if my price range is anywhere close to what it’ll actually cost. I’m guessing that a Dave Stockton wheel will cost $400-$500, and a custom frame about $1100, not to mention what a comfy airseat and Magura breaks will run. And I thought that unicycling was a cheap sport when I got into it (I say that that a year later and 4 more unicycles).

Mark

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I believe that you are correct on the price of the wheel, but you are very high on the frame cost. GB4 frames were around $250 fully equipped set up for brakes.

You also have the option of building the wheel yourself. You can get all of the components from a few different sources.

Check out this thread for doing it yourself.
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=39213&highlight=DIY

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Dave Stockton has a web page for his unicycle business: LiveWire Unicycles. He has pricing info on his Coker wheels there.

I think the Hunter frames are in the $350 to $400 range, depending on what kind of options you want (brake mounts, or other things). But don’t quote me on that. It was about a year and a half ago that I was looking in to the Hunter Frame.

I’m not sure of the price for the GB4 frame. I got mine second hand so I’m not sure about the price new.

Unless you get really exotic and have a frame truly custom designed and made you’re not going to have to spend $1100 on a frame. If you went for a custom designed carbon fiber frame then I could see a $1100 price tag.

I’m not sure how much I spent on my custom Coker. I’ve never added up all the prices for the various pieces. I bought the pieces over a long period of time. My guess for mine is somewhere in the $1300 range, but that includes things like a carbon fiber seat base, handlebar setup, trunk bag, and things like that. I had my wheel built locally, it’s not a Stockton wheel. It’s an airfoil rim, Tom Miller spokes, Tom Miller widened Suzue hub. There are some pictures of my Coker here. The wheel was built before the UDC wide hub was available. The UDC hub would have saved over $100 in cost compared to the Tom Miller widened hub.

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What a relief! For some reason I was expecting the frame to cost a lot more. My wallet breathes a sigh of relief.

I would love to build my own wheel sometime. However, since a 36" is a different beast altogether, I’m not sure it would be the best kind to learn on. My nephew, who learned to ride with me last summer, wants to build his one uni from scratch, including the wheel, and I thought that would be a good project to work on together, but I don’t know how well we’d be able to do without any experienced guidance. Maybe I ought to get a cheap rim, a cheap hub, and some spokes and use them as a learning platform. I’ll check out the link. Thanks.

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I love my Magura brakes, now that I have an Airfoil rim (a U-Turn special at that) if you want brakes then you MUST have an Airfoil, the standard steel one is worse than the phantom bumps. I got my Maggies off of eBay, for a much lower price than new.

My comfy air seat I made my self, it’s easy, patterned after KrashingKenny’s.

Unicycling is a cheap sport, consider skiing - a full set of good boots, skis and poles will cost more than most uni’s and then you have to pay $50 per day to use them, as well as travel time.

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I love these threads :slight_smile:

A good wheel to start building with is a 36 spoke 20" freestyle. No brakes, easy to work with, good geometry, lots of choices for rim, hub, tire. Build it, tinker with it, watch it age, etc.

Thanks for the nice words above. As John said, the link is www.livewireunicycles.com . It’s a crude site for now.

A basic custom distance uni built of foundational high quality parts (i.e., except seat and cranks) runs somewhere around $1600 or so, according to a recent estimate I did for a customer. This includes custom-fit Magura brakes with grey pads, the more expensive 36" wheel, one of Scott Wallis’s CF paddles, all-weather Azonic A-frames pedals, Thomson seatpost with rail adapter, Salsa QR clamp, Fusion saddle, Bike Euro cranks, custom-spec’d Hunter frame. In addition, I can do a reinforced air seat, lights, cyclo, more advanced handles, trials-capable cranks, custom-length cranks, multiple-hole cranks, and the like. (This number is not a quote; prices and availability of components change all the time.)

The nice thing about me doing the uni is that I design it as a package and handle all the compatibility issues, brake trimming, and the like. I also take your size, riding style, and goals into account when designing the uni to get the proper crank and frame dimensions, then work with the frame builders and other manufacturers to achieve that package. Then I handle all warranty issues (if any) so that you only have to work with one source. So far I’ve only had two warranty issues: a broken seat post clamp and a tire that went bad after about 20 minutes of riding. For the distance uni project described above, there are seven different sources of parts, so these things can add up.

If you want to do the uni as a project, that is a good way to go too; just be prepared to think a lot (a good thing!), and perhaps bear the cost of a couple of mismatched items, as well as all the shipping costs and communications.

The website will evolve to tell you all these things in a better way, until then I apologize for the off-the-cuff presentation.

I now have two wheels built with the UDC hub and out being used extensively for road use. So far so good!

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But the big question is… How long to get one of these custom wheels or frames?

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It depends mostly on the parts suppliers. Occasionally family things come up here, for example my 12 year old daughter was here all last week, and she always gets first priority. But 2-4 months is typical. Sometimes the customer becomes busy and takes a while to answer my emails. The thing to remember is that this is not your typical point-and-click uni or wheel. Some potential customers get frustrated with this approach, and decide to go elsewhere. They are often quite happy with a Sun, or other uni.com uni, or a Bedford. I’m glad that they do this, since they are happy there.

Lately, though, the Airfoil rims have (are still) out, Rick Hunter has been out of town, and Scott Wallis has been busy. The Airfoils, in particular, are going on 6 months delay. Things are starting to pick up again. These things are largely out of my control. I’ve learned to appreciate them, because they are part of the ebb and flow of a living business, instead of an impersonal corporation that runs 24/7 like HP or Microsoft.

A non-36" wheel can often be quite a bit faster, since none of the components is custom.

Sometimes stock components are in high demand, and become out of stock even at the larger distributors. If that component is a key element of a new design, then it can delay the entire project chain.

Sometimes even secondary elements can hold up the process. For example, I’ve been slipping a key meeting with an Alps Tour rider for 6 weeks because of a holdup at a powdercoater that Rick Hunter uses. No reflection on Rick at all, who does great work. That piece of uni gear also makes use of a bicycle component which is scarce, so I have had to wait (in parallel) for that component to become in-stock.

When you add up all the custom, specialized pieces and shops involved in one of these unis, you easily see that 8 weeks is really pushing it hard.

If a person keeps in mind that they are looking for the best available, and that it will be a couple of orders of magnitude better, then the wait may be a little more bearable.

I know of custom guitar and hiking boot makers that have a minimum 1 year, sometimes 2 or 3 year, waiting list. This is of a similar nature.

If a customer starts early, thinks hard, communicates with me a lot, and exercises patience, they’ll be thrilled. If this process sounds horrible to him or her, then another source will make him much happier.

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I hope that I am reading this incorrectly…did you just say the airfoils rims are going on a 6 month delay? :astonished:

-Lee

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Heehee, I hope not. What I meant to say was that we are at about the 6 month mark now. :sunglasses:

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I was about to ask the same thing. I even called UDC and got no answer(didn’t answer the phone), so I was coming back to see if I read what I thought I read. :astonished:

I hope they are on their way!

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AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Not six months more, puh-leeez!

MUST … GET … NEW … COKER … SOOON!!!

:wink:

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That’s great news, Mark. Congratulations on taking that first critical step of making the decision to build your own Coker… and “become a member of the tribe!” I look forward to hearing more about your progress as your custom unicycle materializes from a bunch of hand selected components. Can’t wait to see pictures of the finished product, too!

Unless you develop the extremely rare case of AntiCokeritis, which afflicts maybe 1 in 50,000 individuals (I think jagur may be afflicted with the condition, but I’m not aware of anyone else who has it), you are essentially guaranteed to enjoy countless hours of unprecedented exhilaration, fun and excitement blasting around on your incredible one-wheeled riding machine!

Glad to hear you enjoy reading my posts. I look forward to offering my official congratulations on your membership in the tribe once your machine is fully built and you have taken it on its maiden voyage.

I’m sure the time it takes to build your uni exactly the way you want it will be extremely worthwhile. As you know, any work done by Dave Stockton is absolutely incredible and worth every penny. Good luck!

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Is it any wonder I love reading posts from this guy? HardcoreCokerRider, you are probably the most enthusiastic Coker rider on here. And I love watching your videos, too.

I can’t wait to start building my machine, and hopefully I’ll be able to borrow a digital camera at the various stages, but be patient, folks, what with the backordered parts at unicycle.com and my nearly empty wallet, the thing will probably get built over the course of a few months, BUT if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it right!

After chatting with a couple of individuals, I have decided that I am going to build my own wheel. That’s right, I have absolutely no experience whatsoever at building wheels (although I have tightened a few spokes :slight_smile: ), but I totally want to give it a try, and truly make it mine (after chatting with Dave Stockton a couple of times, I would love to get one of his high-quality wheels, as I’m convinced they’re worth every penny, but I have a passion for doing things myself when I can, so my decision to build my own wheel is no reflection of my opinion towards his product).

As I get closer to deciding exactly what I want, the more questions that I come up with. The two of the latest ones are:

  1. Would it be better to get a seat frame mounted handle (such as the GB handle) or get one that attaches to the seat tube/seat post?

  2. I’ve heard a few people mention Tom Miller spokes. How are they different from, say, the spokes sold at unicycle.com? And I here that he is not making anymore, what’s left is it. If that’s true, am I then “stuck” with what uni.com sells?

I can’t think of anymore questions at the moment, but if any of you are mindreaders and can anticipate what I’m going to think of next, I’d love to hear your answers. Thanks again to everyone who’s participated in this thread. I thought that it would be closed by now, but I just keep coming up with more thoughts. Thanks for all the input and advice.

Mark