Bicycles, through the years, have had very cool metal emblems attached to the front of their forks (know as a “Head Badge” - sometimes written as one word “Headbadge” ). The names on these vintage head badges include: Roadmaster, Rollfast, Black Beauty, Flyer and many more
Wouldn’t one of these classic emblems be perfect on a Coker?
I know that a bicycle tube is much wider than a uni’s, and any head badge would need to be reshaped if it would fit at all, But imagine this proudly displayed on the front tube:
I’ve wanted to put a head badge on my Coker. Unfortunately due to my handlebar design and rear rack I have no room on the neck for a head badge.
I did have a head badge of sorts on my muni. It was fashioned from a Guinness can and given the name Guinness Mojo. The badge got messed up earlier this year. I need to cut up another Guinness can and attach it better this time.
UDC make headbadges, or at least UDCUK do. I’ve managed to get a handfull off Roger over the past few meets for our groups unicycles. There has been a lot of love/hate conversations on here about them, but I think they’re nicely made, solid metal and easy to wire brush down & spray in a colour to match the frame (I’m thinking of blacking one up & putting it on my 26)
A vintage one would be seriously cool though, especially on a coker.
I haven’t heard it called a deep sea fishing rod yet. Usually it is referred to in innuendo by other names.
The boom on the handlebar is long like that to protect the water bottle. If the boom was shorter the water bottle would hit the ground during a UPD and damage the water bottle cage or the water bottle cage holder. The front of the boom hits the ground first rather than the water bottle.
I have since shortened the boom and removed the water bottle. I found that I didn’t like the weight of a full water bottle out at the end of the boom like that. The extra weight out there on the boom made it more difficult to turn the Coker. I cut the boom a couple inches above the computer mount. The end of the boom still hits the ground first before the bar end handles do.
The luggage rack is also removable. It’s easy to slide the rack off of its boom as you can see here. That gets rid of extra weight hanging off the back. Most of the time I ride with the trunk bag removed. It’s extra weight and affects handling just like the full water bottle affects handling.
Nothing could be cooler.
If Guinness had a proper head badge I’d get it as long as it wasn’t priced like an antique rarity.
The handlebar hasn’t gotten in the way during UPDs. I use that handlebar for road riding and not muni style riding. When you UPD off the front you sail right over the handlebar. It’s not a problem or a hazard. For muni style riding I remove the handlebar boom because UPDs are not always cleanly off the front.
The rear trunk bag does complicate mounts a little bit. It gets in the way for static mounts so I have to do a rolling mount. Not a big deal. A lot of weight in the trunk bag does make mounting more difficult than when the trunk bag is empty. Overall it’s not a problem.
The other pictures in that gallery explain more about the handlebar and rear rack.
The only problem is that I don’t have space for a head badge.
JC
does the handlebar and trunk bag reduce wheel wobble when riding on road?
just asking out of curiousity as i was out riding last night and thought the extra weight in the plane of the wheel may reduce wheel wobble.
Thanks
Probably. I haven’t done any observations to confirm though. I try to ride with minimal wobble or wavey “S” patterns on the road to begin with.
The extra weight in the full water bottle and in the full trunk bag does make it more difficult to initiate a sharp turn and then exit from the turn. The extra weight hanging out there creates more inertia that resists turning. And once you get the whole thing turning it is harder to pull out of the turn because of the same weight in the water bottle and trunk bag is now in motion and needs to be brought back into control.
Removing the extra weight makes the unicycle much more responsive and more fun to ride. The handlebar itself is very light and made of all aluminum parts.
