Personally, I haven’t bought a coker only because of the price. Yeah, the starting price is only $300, but the basic setup isn’t very good for long distance riding. I’d have to customize, but customization is expensive.
So, what I’d really want in a coker is a complete package for a lower price ($600-700 is just too much). What it comes down to is the current basic coker is not configured for long distance riding, not even at an entry level (by my estimation). It seems like more of a novelty than anything else.
I went out in the garage and measured. I am 6’ tall, with about a 32’ inseam. That’s a little taller than the average adult male, but not a lot. Measurements from top of tire to top of seat:
Coker: 13.5" (with 125mm cranks)
45" Tom Miller big wheel: 8" (with 165mm cranks)
The point being, I still have 8" left on a 45" wheel with long cranks (short cranks make the seat higher). It’s not really 8", because you have to leave some clearance above the tire, and have at least an inch of padding or you defeat the purpose of the air tire.
Put a “normal” unicycle fork, normal seat and normal-type post in there, and you eat up a lot of vertical height. I’m sure Troy already gets all this; this is for anyone who doesn’t (and to find out those numbers for myself).
Now, if you build the unicycle conventionally, you need a minimal amount of seat tube to hold the seat post safely, even if you don’t need to adjust it. As many of us know, extra post will either make the seat too high, or interfere with the tire.
But really big unicycles have to be built differently. Once upon a time I visited Goran Lundstrom in Sweden. At the time he was owner of the world’s largest unicycle at 63.5" or so. I believe his frame used a Schwinn seat base as the fork crown, with the fork legs welded directly to it. This didn’t allow for any adjustment, but Goran was taller than me in the first place. Who would need the seat any higher? http://www.unicycling.com/garage/bigwheel.htm
Naturally, any production unicycle needs adjustable seat height. So the question is whether there’s a workable solution that doesn’t require a vertical post and all that height? I think the horizontal post idea would work on a design intended for use with handlebars or a handle at the front. Or something else. The horizontal post idea might only work for a limited range of rider sizes. When somebody comes out with a viable design, whatever it is will seem obvious over the vertical post idea.
I would be very interested in talking to you about doing an interview or feature about the Coker redesign for Uniplex/Unicycle.tv Uniplex is a video podcast - basically a TV show distributed over the web. Obviously, or focus is unicycling and the unicycling community. We have a growing audience of active unicyclists.
If you or Coker are interested in interacting with the unicycling community and getting information about your products out there, Uniplex can be a good resource for you.
If you’re interested, I would love to hear from you. Please email me at nbrazzi-at-yahoo-dot-com.
in the end, a better stock seat and pedals are only so good, you can customize those very easily later
what’s hard to customize without a high price tag is the hub and rim
a really nice wheel (wide, strong hub and strong, light rim) would be very nice to have stock
as well as a “stock” frame that will fit the wide hub w/ no adjustment required (like is required today w/ the stock Coker frame)
a couple color choices would be cool, but i a buyer really wants a color, he/she can just go get whatever they want at a powdercoating shop
As an avid Coker rider, my riding ranges from beach to MUni, I would request the following;
-wider hub/axle and rim combination for stronger wheel. My Coker holds up well after numerous falls while I MUni. But I am afraid to ride up stairs and hopping due to its ‘poor’ wheel design and reputation for ‘tacoing’
-Please replace the plastic pedals which are useless for heavy riding.
-Soft gel or air seats
-OPTIONAL: Brake as an option is a definate YES for us MUni Coker riders.
-OPTIONAL: Bigger selection of Coker tires from: smoother tread for racing to FAT tire(2.5-3 inches) for MUni riders like me.
-OPTIONAL: cyclometer
I think the absolute #1 things that need to be done to today’s cokers are:
wider hub
2)strong light rim
stainless steal spokes
and this one might be a bit much, but sell a new style of sadle with a Gb4 type handle built in
5)and lastly 2-3 choices for tires
a road one, with smoth tread and a 1.5-1.75 tire.
and a more agressive wider 2.5 ish XC lightly knobied tire
Yes but how would you adjust it? The one in your picture appears to use a telescoping tube, but of course that tube doesn’t point at the tire like it would on even a Hunter-style frame.
Plus I doubt the functionality of that type of seat on a unicycle, where the seat needs to be rigid to the wheel. A suspended seat, unless redesigned, would twist side to side and make it hard to steer.
I don’t own one yet, but if you guys put out a 42-45" coker, especially one with a nice wide hub, good stock seat and a strong frame (which I’m sure with a bit of research and talking to some of the big wigs around here - john foss, u-turn (dave stockton) and others could be very well designed indeed), you’ve got a sale right here even if it does cost the earth. who needs the earth when you have a 40+" unicycle!
I’m hoping to get a Coker sometime this year. One thing I would definitely like to see is a square-crown frame, because it would allow for a greater variety of trick riding.
Since I bought my 360 5-6 months ago i have already upgraded the wheel to the Airfoil with the UDC eide hub and changed seat mount type to a rail type seat adaptor, I did not have to upgrade the seat cause it came with a KH Gel saddle
One thing I would like that you mentioned earlier was a Black frame, Here is a picture of my 20" Nimbus for reference, I think a black airfoil rim with polished stainless spokes and a nice shiny black frame that says COKER on frame rail and/or come up with a nice emblem for seat post part of frame and a black seat post and naturally keep it light weight where possible
Just curious what type of alloy wheel you were thinking of? One of the reasons many use the Airfoil rim is because it is really rigid, and doesn’t flex. With stainless spokes there is some seriously high tension that the wheel is able to handle. This is very important when adding hydraulic brakes. I personally have a Custome Hunter frame. Not much better design out there for me, but also had a GB4 that was really stiff as well. The GB4 had a square crown, but this was an issue since I have short legs and a thich quads. I spent well over a grand on my setup, but if it was a production set up, could have likely gotten the same uni for half that.
I am helping with the 2006 North American Unicycling Championships which will be in Memhis, and also work on the editorial staff for the USA Newletter/Magazine. I would love to talk to you about a few things off the forum, so send me a PM on how I can get in touch with you.
Thanks for asking for input You have read alot of verbage and some complex schemes. Important changes would keep Coker in a class by itself, just a better one. Don’t compete with geared unis; why bother. Coker is Coker because it is already a big gear and has an awe-inspiring appeal. In order, the new Coker would be more desireable with
1.) a larger diameter wheel and tire
2.) an aluminum alloy, lightweight, strong rim
3.) a wider, stronger hub and a wheelbuild with 14 gauge stainless steel spokes
4.) a comfortable stock saddle
Everything else is fluff. The saddle is probably fluff. The first three items are what put a large diameter, pneumatic tire unicycle in a class by itself. People can add fancy cranks and pedals and specialized saddles on their own. You can’t satisfy everyones individual tastes. Colors are nice, especially if a selection does not add appreciably to the cost.
The 22.2mm standard unicycle seatpost is stupid. Consider going to a standard bicycle size seatpost like 27.2mm on the frame design.
Thanks for taking the time to listen to a bunch of eccentric crackpots. Deliver the product and we will provide the market.
I am somewhat biased toward this suggestion, but consider adding a 3" long dual-slot bracket to the back side of the right frame leg, 1" wide between the slots. This will allow anyone so inclined to simply drop in a jackshaft and a free spinning track hub (or the equivalent), allowing a simple geared wheel on the same frame. It may cost as much as few pennies to add such a bracket in the production process, but it would make the new frames infinitely valuable to the unicycling world. Let someone else make the gearing kit, but it’s important to just have the jackshaft bracket there and ready to go.
Any questions Troy please PM me.
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even if it does cost the earth. who needs the earth when you have a 40+" unicycle!
