High end big wheel

Unicycles and Equipment
1

I enjoy distance unicyling at fast speeds. Sort of a hang-over from my distance cyling days I guess. We all know that high end bicycles are precise with very tight tolerances. By comparison, big wheeled unicyles have a long way to go for obvious reasons ( supply and demand)

Is a high tech big wheeled unicyle possible or is it just another pipe dream of mine? Just imagine a high end aluminum rim with a pneumatic tire. I have actually dreamed I am riding one, moving along smoothly at 20 MPH! Its great!

Has anyone attempted to get pricing from makers of wheels, tubes, tires, in order to build a big wheeled unicycle? I have a 45 inch Ridable Replica and a Cocker. The first is not even ridable over long distances. The Cocker is a big improvement but a bit combersome and a little small.

Dan

2

Dan:

I, too, would like to find a large off-the-shelf pneumatic tire and rim. I asked Greg Barron At Rideable Bicycle Replicas about this last week, here was his reply:

Hi David,
Thanks for the inquiry. If you are lucky you may find someone somewhere that can hand fabricate a tire that big for you but to the best of my knowledge there isn’t anything made like that anywhere. You might get David Coker from Coker tire to make something but it would not be cheap! As far as a wheel with a solid tire, no problem. I’ve made some wheels 8 feet tall before. The question is… how much are you willing to spend? My sandard wheels run about $465 to $525. Custom is more. Let me know what you think.
Greg Barron
RBR Inc.

I also asked Coker:

No sir, I’m sorry we do not and I do not know of anyone who does either. If there is anything else I can do please let me know.

Thank you, Andy

I’m not enthusiastic about solid tires. If I find anything else I’ll let you know.

  • David Hastings
3

David,
Thanks for your reply. I dont know much about the manufacturing process of rims and tires. Just thinking out loud, im sure they set thier machines to stop at a certain point for 26 inch or 28 inch rims and tires. It would seem to me like it would not be a big deal for them to extend the process to produce a 45 inch tire and rim. Im guessing a smaller manufacture of wheel and rims might at least listen to what we have to say. I think we would be wasting our time with the big producers such as Mavic and Contenential. Any body know of any that may listen?

I realize it always comes down to money. I belive that with persistance and enough people interested we can make it happen at an affordable price.

There are probobly only several dozen distance enthusiasts, however all are probobly ready for the next evolution. It can happen!

dan

4

Dan, I too would like to buy a larger pneumatic tire big wheel. However,
even if we could get enough interest & enough dollars together, we would
also have to agree upon a wheel size. The Coker works partially because
even short adult rider can fit…so it would also depend on how many
distance riders have long enough legs to warrant all this cash to start
building giant “Cokers”. If it was just up to me, I think I could reach
the pedals of about a 60" unicycle :)…but of course I’d be willing
to consider something smaller. If we are just talking about a 42" or so
(that many people could ride) it might not be worth enough to me as it
would cost for the start up costs. -Mark

> David, Thanks for your reply. I dont know much about the manufacturing
> process of rims and tires. Just thinking out loud, im sure they set
> thier machines to stop at a certain point for 26 inch or 28 inch rims
> and tires. It would seem to me like it would not be a big deal for them
> to extend the process to produce a 45 inch tire and rim. Im guessing a
> smaller manufacture of wheel and rims might at least listen to what we
> have to say. I think we would be wasting our time with the big producers
> such as Mavic and Contenential. Any body know of any that may listen?
>
> I realize it always comes down to money. I belive that with
> persistance and enough people interested we can make it happen at an
> affordable price.
>
> There are probobly only several dozen distance enthusiasts, however all
> are probobly ready for the next evolution. It can happen!
>
> dan
>
>
>
>
> –
> dan Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums

Sent via the Unicyclist Community - http://Unicyclist.com

5

> I too would like to buy a larger pneumatic tire big wheel. However, even
> if we could get enough interest & enough dollars together, we would also
> have to agree upon a wheel size.

Correct. There was talk of this earlier this year as well, when riders
were preparing for Unicycle Across Europe. Though frames and other parts
of the unicycle are relatively easy (though not necessarily cheap) to
make, rims and tires require highly specialized tools and methods. A
custom batch of either would be very expensive.

I would start by calling Tom Miller to talk about rims. I believe Tom has
gotten custom batches of rim material in the past, either for big wheels
(with no valve hole) or for ultimates (no spoke holes). His contact
information could be useful. (765) 452-2692

I think the tire would be the most expensive part. Though it may be
relatively easy to roll out rims to custom sizes, what little I know of
tire manufacture suggests that they are made in molds. Custom molds would
be way expensive. Tom Miller made an air tire big wheel once (way back
in the 70’s), but he said it was too much work to do again. And he never
did. He somehow vulcanized two regular bike tires together. I can imagine
that it would be extremely difficult to get the exact right size to fit
the rim, and the smoothness of the joint for it to roll without two
annoying bumps with each revolution.

But even an alloy rim on the existing tire from Coker could be a nice
upgrade. Combine that with a wider axle and you would have a big
improvement over the stock Coker wheel.

I know there are several people out there who have indicated a willingness
to chip in on such a project. You could start by polling them to find out
how much they’re willing to spend on a rim and tire. Just the rim and
tire, to get an idea how high they’re willing to go. As a safe estimate
(for a truly high-end cycle) assume $1000 US for the rest. Add that all
up, and see how much money you have to work with.

Then you just need an investor type, who’s willing to drop a whole bunch
of money to have a production run made, and wait until all the parts get
sold. Once those high-end big wheels are out there, others will want them
as well, but it will take time.

Yesterday I saw Gary Kanauch’s (sp?) road racing unicycle. This is one he
built specifically for the Mt. Diablo Challenge, a 10 mile bike race with
about 3500’ of climbing up Mt. Diablo. It has a 700c road bike rim, with
very narrow tubular tire. The tire is red white and blue, and the cycle
really looks cool! I’ll have pictures up eventually; they’ll be with my
pictures from the Flume Trail ride of September 30.

Good luck, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com

“Freedom is not free”

The Coker works partially
> because even short adult rider can fit…so it would also depend on
> how many distance riders have long enough legs to warrant all this cash
> to start building giant “Cokers”. If it was just up to me, I think I
> could reach the pedals of about a 60" unicycle …but of course
> I’d be willing to consider something smaller. If we are just talking
> about a 42" or so (that many people could ride) it might not be worth
> enough to me as it would cost for the start up costs. -Mark
>
> > David, Thanks for your reply. I dont know much about the
> manufacturing
> > process of rims and tires. Just thinking out loud, im sure they set
> > thier machines to stop at a certain point for 26 inch or 28
> inch rims
> > and tires. It would seem to me like it would not be a big
> deal for them
> > to extend the process to produce a 45 inch tire and rim. Im
> guessing a
> > smaller manufacture of wheel and rims might at least listen
> to what we
> > have to say. I think we would be wasting our time with the big
> > producers such as Mavic and Contenential. Any body know of
> any that may
> > listen?
> >
> > I realize it always comes down to money. I belive that with
> > persistance and enough people interested we can make it happen at an
> > affordable price.
> >
> > There are probobly only several dozen distance enthusiasts, however
> > all are probobly ready for the next evolution. It can happen!
> >
> > dan
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > –
> > dan Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums
>
>

> Sent via the Unicyclist Community - http://Unicyclist.com
>

6

> > I too would like to buy a larger pneumatic tire big wheel. However,
> > even if we could get enough interest & enough dollars together, we
> > would also have to agree upon a wheel size.

Oops, I forgot to mention about wheel size. You can’t go too big, because
it would cut down on your rider base. That’s why 36" was probably a very
good size for Coker to start out with. Of course they just adapted a
large bicycle tire to a unicycle, but the size allows a wide range of
riders to fit.

My 45" big wheel automatically disqualifies many riders. 40" or so is
probably about as large as you’d want to go and still be able to fit a lot
of people.

But with custom frames, it’s possible to eliminate the whole fork and head
tube part if necessary. The 63.5" wheel I rode in Sweden in 1983 had the
seat practically welded to the tops of the fork legs. This is how you’d
get a bigger wheel under a relatively short rider.

The best way to settle on a wheel size for a custom high-end wheel would
be to poll the people putting up the money. If you can get all of them to
agree, you’ve got it!

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com www.unicycling.com

“Freedom is not free”

7

Would it be possible to have a wheel made up for you and construct your
own pneumatics? A few years ago “straight” bike tubes were available. This
was just a long tube with a valve in it, thus you could change your tube
without needing to take the wheel off your bike. You could possibly use
two tubes to make a really large wheel, or could work out some way of
clamping and heat-sealing an existing circular tube that had been cut.

nic

On Sat, 29 Sep 2001, Bikehead wrote:

> Dan:
>
> I, too, would like to find a large off-the-shelf pneumatic tire and rim.
> I asked Greg Barron At Rideable Bicycle Replicas about this last week,
> here was his reply:
>
> Hi David, Thanks for the inquiry. If you are lucky you may find someone
> somewhere that can hand fabricate a tire that big for you but to the
> best of my knowledge there isn’t anything made like that anywhere. You
> might get David Coker from Coker tire to make something but it would not
> be cheap! As far as a wheel with a solid tire, no problem. I’ve made
> some wheels 8 feet tall before. The question is… how much are you
> willing to spend? My sandard wheels run about $465 to $525. Custom is
> more. Let me know what you think. Greg Barron RBR Inc.
>
> I also asked Coker:
>
> No sir, I’m sorry we do not and I do not know of anyone who does either.
> If there is anything else I can do please let me know.
>
> Thank you, Andy
>
> I’m not enthusiastic about solid tires. If I find anything else I’ll let
> you know.
>
> - David Hastings
>
>
>
>
> –
> Bikehead Posted via the Unicyclist Community -
> http://unicyclist.com/forums

8

Thanks for everyone’s input. Since the consensus is that the tire will be the most expensive item, I’m going to start with it. No since in polling people until I find out if the tire can be done, and how much it will be. Again, if anyone knows of any tire manufactures that may be interested please let me know.

I’m going to get a hold of as many high-wheel bike manufactures as I can to see if any of them may be interested. This may be a way to expand the pool. Who knows, they may have a news group like this one. If anyone knows of a high-wheeler news group,please let me know. I don’t know if pneumatics is as big of a performance/comfort factor on high-wheelers as with unicyles. The fact that us unicylers ( probably) need a larger tire may pose a potential conflict. John Foss enlightend us all on the performance differences between a pnuematic Cocker and a hard rubber 45’’. The shear size of the tire on the Cocker makes it much more controlable (and enjoyable) than the narrow hard rubber on his 45. This may or may not be the case with high-wheelers. If anyone has any insight on performance/comfort differences between high wheeled bike tires and unicyle tires please let me know. I’m sure if there is enough interest with them as there is with us, we can come to an agreement.

Dan

9

Dan, forum.member@unicyclist.com writes:
>Thanks for everyone’s input. Since the consensus is that the tire will be
>the most expensive item, I’m going to start with it.
<snip>
>John Foss enlightend us all on the performance differences between a
>pnuematic Coker and a hard rubber 45’’. The shear size of the tire on the
>Coker makes it much more controlable (and enjoyable) than the narrow hard
>rubber on his 45. This may or may not be the case with high-wheelers. If
>anyone has any insight on performance/comfort differences between high
>wheeled bike tires and unicyle tires please let me know. I’m sure if
>there is enough interest with them as there is with us, we can come to an
>agreement.
Well, I have a 20" uni tire that can go up to 85psi, and I must say that
it feels somewhat odd – I can’t imagine you’d want anything that hard
for a Coker. 50-55psi feels about right – less is too lethargic for
turns and idling, more is too bumpy if your ‘track’ isn’t a track (like
if you ride on concrete). A hard tire would be pretty awful. I have a 46"
tire with the hard rubber, and it certainly doesn’t want to take me as
fast as the Coker.

David Stone Co-founder, Unatics of NY 1st Sunday / 3rd Saturday
2:30 @ Central Park Bandshell

10

I remain hopeful that an improved unicycle based on the Coker tire will
become a reality. Hopefully a rim manufacturer like Avro, Hed, Arrow, Sun,
Alex, Snocat or someone else will make a high quality alloy rim that will
fit the Coker tire. After the rim an improved hub and frame are the easy
part. I’m willing to pay the $$$ that such a high end Coker would cost. I
don’t know how actively anyone is pursuing getting such a rim made, but I
hope someone is working on it. I want it.

What was the tire that the Japanese guy used for his 100 mile ride? I
recall that it was a 42" pneumatic tire for a rickshaw. Is a tire like
that still available? If it’s a good tire it would make a good start for a
high end big wheel that is bigger and better than a Coker.

john_childs

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

11

I was just about to say something about rickshaw wheels too. There’s a
‘cycle-rickshaw’ company listed here, but I think cycle-rickshaws may have
smaller wheels than proper rickshaws.
http://dir.indiamart.com/indianexporters/ag_water.html
http://dir.indiamart.com/indianexporters/bicycle.html

Actually having looked at a few places, it seems indian rickshaws may have
smaller (28in) wheels so the above might be a bit of a red herring. We
really need to find some people in China, Japan or Indonesia who can find
a rickshaw builder who sells these big rims / tyres.

As for improved Coker rim, the original snowcat rims were two rims welded
side by side, how possible would it be to weld one and a third decent wide
26in rims together end to end to make a good Coker rim? I mean doesn’t
every rim have a point where the two ends are welded together anyway, this
solution would just have two of those points?

Out of interest, how many people have actually caned their Coker rim? I
managed to break my hub, but that was mainly bad / lack of maintenence. A
bit lighter rim would be nice, but I think a lot of the weight is in the
tyre? I guess a stronger rim would be cool for offroading though, I still
feel a bit nervous about doing any serious offroad on my coker.

Joe

“John Childs” <john_childs@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:F293KM10KR6TvWr1Vaf0000cf09@hotmail.com…
> I remain hopeful that an improved unicycle based on the Coker tire will
> become a reality. Hopefully a rim manufacturer like Avro, Hed, Arrow,
Sun,
> Alex, Snocat or someone else will make a high quality alloy rim that
> will fit the Coker tire. After the rim an improved hub and frame are
> the easy part. I’m willing to pay the $$$ that such a high end Coker
> would cost.
I
> don’t know how actively anyone is pursuing getting such a rim made, but
> I hope someone is working on it. I want it.
>
> What was the tire that the Japanese guy used for his 100 mile ride? I
> recall that it was a 42" pneumatic tire for a rickshaw. Is a tire like
that
> still available? If it’s a good tire it would make a good start for a
high
> end big wheel that is bigger and better than a Coker.
>
> john_childs
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at
> http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

12

>I remain hopeful that an improved unicycle based on the Coker tire will
>become a reality. Hopefully a rim manufacturer like Avro, Hed, Arrow,
>Sun, Alex, Snocat or someone else will make a high quality alloy rim that
>will fit the Coker tire. After the rim an improved hub and frame are the
>easy part. I’m willing to pay the $$$ that such a high end Coker would
>cost. I don’t know how actively anyone is pursuing getting such a rim
>made, but I hope someone is working on it. I want it.

UnicycleSource is working on high end rims for the Coker. They are coming
from this company: http://www.dhbike.com/ If all goes well, they should be
made available rather soon (I hope). The rims are double walled, and
drilled for 48 hole hubs. The cost of the rim alone may be somewhere
around $100 (that number is not exact and may change as this is a special
order). After getting the rims, the next challenge will be to get the
spokes to fit (UnicycleSource is working on that as well). For the high
end Coker rider, this rim will be the way to go.

-Andy

Andy Cotter - Andy.Cotter@OutTech.com Unicycle Video “One Wheel - No
Limit” - http://www.tcuc.org/nolimit/ Twin Cities Unicycle Club -
http://www.tcuc.org European Unicycle Tour -
http://www.outtech.com/Unicycle/EUT/ International Unicycling Federation

  • Director
13

Greetings

In message “RE: High end big wheel”, Andy.Cotter@OutTech.com wrote…
>>I remain hopeful that an improved unicycle based on the Coker tire will
>>become a reality. Hopefully a rim manufacturer like Avro, Hed, Arrow,
>>Sun, Alex, Snocat or someone else will make a high quality alloy rim
>>that will fit the Coker tire. After the rim an improved hub and frame
>>are the easy part. I’m willing to pay the $$$ that such a high end
>>Coker would cost. I don’t know how actively anyone is pursuing getting
>>such a rim made, but I hope someone is working on it. I want it.
>
>UnicycleSource is working on high end rims for the Coker. They are
>coming from this company: http://www.dhbike.com/ If all goes well, they
>should be made available rather soon (I hope). The rims are double
>walled, and drilled for 48 hole hubs. The cost of the rim alone may be
>somewhere around $100 (that number is not exact and may change as this
>is a special order). After getting the rims, the next challenge will be
>to get the spokes to fit (UnicycleSource is working on that as well).
>For the high end Coker rider, this rim will be the way to go.

Please put me of the waiting list – I would like to buy one asap.

Stay on top, Jack Halpern Executive Director for International Development
International Unicycling Federation, Inc. Website: http://www.kanji.org

14

> What was the tire that the Japanese guy used for his 100 mile ride? I
> recall that it was a 42" pneumatic tire for a rickshaw. Is a tire like
> that still available? If it’s a good tire it would make a good start for
> a high end big wheel that is bigger and better than a Coker.

I don’t know much about the big air tires, but I know they are very heavy
duty, meaning heavy. They are made to fit the wide steel type rims that
are common on older Chinese bikes. I don’t know if these tires are still
made, or in fact if they’re actually from rickshaws, but I think that’s
the origin. Jack Halpern may be able to shed more light, as it was his
unicycle that was used in the 100 mile record.

Stay on top, John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com
www.unicycling.com

“Freedom is not free”

15

> Out of interest, how many people have actually caned their Coker rim?

?

My Coker spray painted on a wall in Singapore. That was the only time mine
was caned… :slight_smile:

JF

16

I don’t know if this is completely applicable, but there’s a company
called Green Tyre (www.greentyre.com) that makes solid tires for bikes.
Their hype says that the feel is comparable to pneumatic tires, although I
have no experience with them to substantiate that claim. The tires aren’t
solid rubber, but are some kind of foam (with rubber tread) and give the
equivalent feel of (for instance) a mountain bike tire at about 50 psi.
From what I understand, they can vary the foam density to achieve
different feels for specific tires. A few years back, some German riders
were making big wheels using these tires, I think–perhaps they could shed
light on this. Anyone on the ng ridden these tires? Since the previous big
wheelers used these, perhaps this company would be more likely to work
with uni-ers again.

Peter

Peter Kittle English Education Adviser Department of English CSU, Chico
Chico CA 95929-0830 ph: 530/898-5305 fax: 530/898-4450 email:
pkittle@csuchico.edu www: http://www.csuchico.edu/~pkittle

> ----------
> From: dan Reply To: dan Sent: Tuesday, October 2, 2001 5:55 PM To:
> unicycling@winternet.com Subject: Re: High end big wheel
>
> Thanks for everyone’s input. Since the consensus is that the tire will
> be the most expensive item, I’m going to start with it. No since in
> polling people until I find out if the tire can be done, and how much it
> will be. Again, if anyone knows of any tire manufactures that may be
> interested please let me know.
>
> I’m going to get a hold of as many high-wheel bike manufactures as I
> can to see if any of them may be interested. This may be a way to
> expand the pool. Who knows, they may have a news group like this one.
> If anyone knows of a high-wheeler news group,please let me know. I
> don’t know if pneumatics is as big of a performance/comfort factor on
> high-wheelers as with unicyles. The fact that us unicylers ( probably)
> need a larger tire may pose a potential conflict. John Foss enlightend
> us all on the performance differences between a pnuematic Cocker and a
> hard rubber 45’’. The shear size of the tire on the Cocker makes it
> much more controlable (and enjoyable) than the narrow hard rubber on
> his 45. This may or may not be the case with high-wheelers. If anyone
> has any insight on performance/comfort differences between high wheeled
> bike tires and unicyle tires please let me know. I’m sure if there is
> enough interest with them as there is with us, we can come to an
> agreement.
>
> Dan
>
>
>
>
> –
> dan Posted via the Unicyclist Community - http://unicyclist.com/forums

17

> John Foss enlightend us all on the performance differences between a
> pnuematic Cocker and a hard rubber 45’’. The shear size of the tire on
> the Cocker makes it much more controlable (and enjoyable) than the
> narrow hard rubber on his 45. This may or may not be the case with
> high-wheelers. If anyone has any insight on performance/comfort
> differences between high wheeled bike tires and unicyle tires please
> let me know.

That’s easy. There is no such thing as a unicycle tire. That is not 100%
true (Schwinn used to make them, for instance), but is definitely accurate
above the 24" size.

I have a little bit of experience riding high-wheeled bikes, but not
extensive. I would imagine that for the most part they are used for
display or exhibition riding more than anything else, and people who take
them on long rides are a small minority of owners. But this still should
leave a larger pool of potential customers than big-wheel unicycle
enthusiasts.

For bikes, if you want to go fast or far there are bikes designed for
this. For unicycles, we are still using some pretty ancient technology.
Though wheels can be geared up, they do not provide as nice a ride as a
big wheel with lots of gyroscopic stability and rolling inertia. They
don’t fit in the back of a Mini but we’re willing to live with that.

The only drawback I can think of in the high-wheeled bike arena is that
those bikes are either antiques, or meant to look like they are. An air
tire would ruin the look. So this would cut that market down to only
people who aren’t worried about what the bike looks like. But that may
still leave more of them than us, if I imagine correctly.

The high-wheeled bikes I’ve ridden have the same road feel as my 45" hard
tire big wheel. Harsh! There is an advantage in that you’re sitting down
more normally, with more of your butt and less of your crotch on the seat.
But it’s still a bumpy ride, and a bicycle would benefit from an air tire
the same as a unicycle. It would also help the bike in that high-wheelers
are heavy, and the air would smooth the ride.

To join up with the bikers it might be necessary to work toward a narrower
tire though. This should not be a big problem, as the Coker tire is
probably wider than what you need for serious road riding anyway. The
Coker 36" tire I believe was meant as a giant cruiser bike tire, and its
large width is part of achieving that look.

A skinnier tire would still absorb the shocks of the road, and yet be
lighter and cheaper to make. I would shoot for 1.5" or less. For tread
design or tire profile, I highly recommend a round cross section rather
than a pointed one. This may not be as important as it is on smaller
wheels, but tires with center ridges or points are definitely annoying (to
me) on 20" and 24" wheels.

So who makes unusual tires? I already knew about the Coker Tire company
before they made a unicycle because my dad is a model car collector and
all-around car enthusiast. Go to any car museum and you are likely to see
Coker tires on some of the oldest cars in there. Coker makes all sorts of
rare and unusual tires. But they have already said they are not
interested. They may still be working on paying for their investment in
the original 36" tire. So who else? I don’t know.

Good luck on your quest for the ultimate big wheel,

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone jfoss@unicycling.com www.unicycling.com

“Our time is a most precious commodity, but it’s how we spend it that
makes us rich.” - John Foss

18

Hi.

Just a thought. While I was at the Australian UniNats I saw a geared uni. I’m not sure who owned it (Peter Bier or Wayne van Wijk may know more details).

It was based on a 24" wheel with a variable chain driven gearing that allowed 24", 36", 48" and 52" equivalents. It had four gearings and had to be set before starting off.

Maybe this might be the approach - use the common, available technologies for wheels and put the engineering/manufacturing effort into the hub/gearing.

The uni was impressive - it flew around the track at the AIS.

Phil

philowen@cisco.com

19

> I don’t know if this is completely applicable, but there’s a company
called
> Green Tyre (www.greentyre.com) that makes solid tires for bikes. Their
hype
> says that the feel is comparable to pneumatic tires, although I have no
> experience with them to substantiate that claim. The tires aren’t solid
> rubber, but are some kind of foam (with rubber tread) and give the
> equivalent feel of (for instance) a mountain bike tire at about 50 psi.
From
> what I understand, they can vary the foam density to achieve different
feels
> for specific tires. A few years back, some German riders were making big
> wheels using these tires, I think–perhaps they could shed light on
> this. Anyone on the ng ridden these tires? Since the previous big
> wheelers used these, perhaps this company would be more likely to work
> with uni-ers
again.

I’ve ridden greentyres on a bike, ick ick ick. They give a very harsh
ride. My dad tried commuting to work on them for a bit, but went back to
quite high pressure pneumatic tourer tyres. I’ve also heard that they wear
quite badly, although I’ve never actually met someone who rode them long
enough to find out.

Joe

20

> To join up with the bikers it might be necessary to work toward a
> narrower tire though. This should not be a big problem, as the
> Coker tire is
probably
> wider than what you need for serious road riding anyway. The Coker 36"
tire
> I believe was meant as a giant cruiser bike tire, and its large width is
> part of achieving that look.
>
> A skinnier tire would still absorb the shocks of the road, and yet be
> lighter and cheaper to make. I would shoot for 1.5" or less. For tread
> design or tire profile, I highly recommend a round cross section rather
than
> a pointed one. This may not be as important as it is on smaller wheels,
but
> tires with center ridges or points are definitely annoying (to me) on
> 20" and 24" wheels.

The fat tyre on the coker is great though, really helps in mud / rocky
sections of trail.

Errrm, is it just me who wants speed both off road and on?

Although much bigger than a coker might be a bit hard to handle off road,
so maybe what I want is just a coker with a strong rim.

Or maybe a 26in with gears would be best, I don’t see only being able to
switch gear when off the unicycle as too much of a problem. The biggest
problem I have with that idea is having to have a chain (or maybe even two
for smooth idling etc.) which would be a bit of a bugger as one of the
best things about unis is the low maintenence. You would be able to
guarantee a relatively cheap rim / tyre etc. though. Sturmey Archer gears
would be nice but I don’t know if the hubs are strong enough for direct
drive from pedals, or if they work backwards or not.

Whats the minimum height for a 26in giraffe, I suspect it might be a bit
high for muni?

Joe