I’m thinking of getting onto a big wheel, I also don’t want to get something that I am going to have to upgrade so I have set my sites on the KH 29er and the coker deluxe.
I would like to know the similarities and differences. I would also like to know what the limitations are of each.
I ride a Yuni 29er and would encourage you to consider this cycle if you go with that size. Anything KH is probably great, but many people on this list have discussed the advantages of the Yuni 29er.
An air saddle is something I have found to be essential for endurance. And bicycle pants.
Since my time has been limited on a Coker, I can only say that it’s a much more difficult machine to control than a 29er. It’s like driving an SUV; you need to make allowances for all your maneuvers. I’m sure that the diehard Cokerlovers will disagree, but there’s something streamlined and wonderful about riding the 29er. You don’t get the speed but you get the finesse of a wonderful cycle that glides along. It also will fit in your trunk, if that’s a consideration. Comparing unicycling to fencing (or stage combat?), Mikefule said it best: if the 29er is a rapier, then the Coker is a broadsword.
Good luck with your choosing!
Phil
Indianapolis
Good question, and exactly the question I asked 2 months ago. I commute 20 miles per week, and I enjoy long distance riding, so decided I needed to buy either a 29er or a 36er. I contacted Kris Holm and he offered to let me try his 29er (thanks Kris) - he said that once I tried the 29er I would never want to go back to my 24" Torker DX. I’m sure he was right, but … then I started reading the many wonderful Adventure trip posts, and I’m afraid I’ve caught the uni travel bug. I plan to join the 36er riders in the future, after I learn to ride my new big wheel.
So, to make a long story longer, I’m getting a Coker Deluxe for Christmas!
Here’s a really short version of an answer:
If you want to go fast, get the Coker.
If you need better flexibility, get the 29er. The Coker takes up a lot more room than a 29er, which can be a consideration for transporting it, parking it, storing it, etc. And you can still do upgrades on a Coker Deluxe. The KH will pretty much be really, really good right out of the box.
But if speed is the ultimate consideration, the Coker wins.
I’ve had both sizes, I sold the Coker and decided to build a custom frame for the 29’r. I prefer the manuverablity and light weight of the smaller uni. For me, comfort and control are more important than high speed;)
This is the ultimate answer. I think you know it deep inside. You just have to choose which to get first. I got the 29er first. Its great. I ride it Crosscountry and little jaunts. Love it.
But it aint no Coker. I ride the 36er speed and distance. (10 or 20 miles). There is nothing like it. No uni collection is complete without one. It is necessary.
But I can’t ride it on the more hilly/difficult offroad spots. If you get one, you’ll find a situation where the other would be perfect.
And for the super hilly offroad spots I got a 24 MUni. It never ends. I’m hopelessly hooked.
Now that I’m getting older, I try to keep my “hi-speed” activites restricted to vehicles with more than one wheel:D
I’ld set my eye on the Nimbus 29er instead of the KH…
Those cranks won’t be good for road riding, they will feel very very long in a lottle while.
I ride my 29er with 102mm cranks, on snowy roads…
Will change to my 89mm when spring reaches this part of the world, probably may.
Not to mention that it’s a lot cheaper…
But if you’re in to XC municycling… go for the KH!
Why the Nimbus? You can get the Yuni 29r for a few bucks more and it comes with a 700c double-walled, lightweight alloy rim and the Nimbus is single wall
Yer point? You would 99.999991% of the time never have to worry about the rim while road riding. Second, there is no chance of hitting your knees on the Nimbus frame, while on the Yuni you can very easily. Third, the pedals on the Yuni stink pretty bad, and the Nimbus comes with wonderfully grippy pinned pedals. Finally, the cranks on the Nimbus are much lighter and more stylish. Finally again, the Nimbus has a sweeght alloy quick release that never goes loose! Nimbus all the way. Daytripper, you just got told.
You need to give more information about what your current unicyles are and what you hope to gain.
If I could only own one unicycle, I would consider the KH29 (with all three available crank sizes). With 125s it would be an OK road machine (I would miss my coker!!!)
With 170s you could do fairly technical MUni (again, a significant compromise).
With 150’s, it would be an awesome cross country machine. I think this is really where it really shines.
For all-out speed on the road, nothing compares to a 36er.
I’ve got both a 29er (a custom set of bits on a nimbus II frame) and a coker.
If there are no space constraints and you don’t want to take it on public transport regularly, for all out road riding, I’d get a coker. If you ride regularly, you’ll be able to control it just fine. I’ve got 110 cranks on mine and I can still stop quickly, idle, do tight turns etc.
29ers are cool for several things.
Firstly if you’re not riding regularly, or using it for transport, a coker can be a bit hard to control. If that’s so, a 29er may be more you. Having said that, cokers are rather addictive, so you may ride it more than you’d expect. I found myself commuting daily to work on mine very soon after I bought it.
Secondly, if you want to ride a combination of offroad and on road, a 29er is great fun. Not as hardcore as a 26 or 24, but a 29er with 125s is fantastic for riding fast down singletrack and rides really nice over roots and things like that. With a brake and 125s, you’ve got a really flexible machine that you can hit pretty much any riding that doesn’t have big drops on, yet ride at almost bike speeds, and still have decent speed for getting to the trails or riding road sections between trails. Having a wide rim like the KH one really makes a difference if you’re running a 29er tyre, as with a narrower rim you get problems with the tyre folding over. I’m not sure what the Yuni rim is though, I think it might be quite wide.
Thirdly, 29ers are so easy to transport, just pop the wheel in a standard wheel bag and it’s just another piece of luggage.
Fourthly, you have a good choice of tyres, so you can tune them more, from the mini-coker Big Apple, to narrow road racing tyres, to some okay muni tyres.
Speed wise, as always it’s more about the rider than the bike. If you ride a lot, you can go quite fast on a 29er with 125s. I could keep up fine with coker riders when I was riding a 29er all the time, but I was riding 20 miles a day for a couple of years, which kept me rather fit. Not being able to put shorter cranks than 125s on the KH29er may be bad if you want an all out speed and distance machine, but in that case I’d just get a coker.
Where the coker really comes into it’s own isn’t so much speed, it’s distance. For a 30 mile ride, I’d be happy on my 29er or coker. I wouldn’t do a 50 to 100 miler on a 29er if there was any possibility I could use the coker, it’s way more relaxing to ride.
Joe
Breaking News! To all interested in becoming a Coker rider.
Coker riders can do what 29” riders can do. 
From riding the sidewalks of NYC to Muni to steep hills on road and off .
Other than a few tricks, trials and extreme Muni ( Santa Barbara must have 24”/26“).
You will actually have more fun on a Coker if you give it the time.
An unfortunate misconception has been, it’s so big so it’s unable to maneuver as well. NOT TRUE!
I own a KH20”, KH24”, KH29” , Sun 28”, Sun 26”, Torker LX 24", Coker Deluxe and a few others.
I ride 5-8 mile a day, day or night, rain or snow, 0-100 degree’s on and off road with my dog.
100% of the time it’s on the Coker. The rest of my uni’s/Muni’s are for group rides or demo’s/training.
There is no better feeling than riding a Coker.
Only downsides as Joe said, Travel (air, mass transit) and if you don’t give it the time you will not master it to ride like a 29”.
Once you get on a Coker it’s hard to get off. You invent places to go.
If anyone would like to visit NYC or Long Island let me know, I will be glad to give you a personal Coker demo.
YOU WILL THEN UNDERSTAND THE TRUE ABILITIES OF THE COKER!
Happy Holiday,
Adam Cohen
I have a coker, a muni, a trials, a 36" ultimate wheel, ec…
i will probably never own a 29r. I have ridden them, they are faster than a muni, but nothing in the world is like a coker.
I have taken the coker to super fast speeds on road an off, i negotiate gnarly, twisty trails, ride along bridge railings, drops, stairs, skinnies, log bridges, whatever you want.
the coker can plow over, through a lot more stuff than a 29r. it can also be as nimble as a 29r. I want to show some footage that completely blew away even me, the footage I got in NYC this last month. Those guys, even as far as I’m concerend, are far nimbler than me, and anything I have seen.
While I will not give away the footage quite yet, I will defnitely include the shot that Adam Cohen knows I’m talking about, in the trailer for my next movie. TWNR introduced the Coker as a very capable beast, this one is going to blow your mind.
I would bet that 90% of the people who own 29rs, or even muni’s could not do this manouvre. I know for a fact is the coolest I have ever seen in terms of unicycle negotiation, and manouvreablibity, hands down.
David stone and Adam Cohen blew me away. And I pride myself on what I can accomplish.
The main thing the 29r is better at is carrying. (I carried one for about 10miles while riding my coker)
PS…not even Ryan Atkins on a 29r could keep up to me over 60kms 
I think the only real limitation, other than airplane portability, is the learning curve involved with the coker.
i would bet that those who don’t like it never really figured it out
It couldn’t be said any better!
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Practice, Practice, Practice.
Short term pain=long term gain.
You can master the big wheel, it’s only a matter of time.
It will be time well spent.
Adam Cohen
Well, I’ve had a tough descision for a long time now. I don’t know If I want a KH24", KH29 or a Coker. I like an easy ride. I don’t really want to work hard, I want to ride and have fun. I realize the small MUni is going to be fun, but do i really want to ride that hard to go any distance? Nah. Then theres the 29. Great on the trails but again not great for the street and then there is the thought we ALL keep hearing on this thread…why not just get the Coker!!! I have seen a Coker do almost everything a MUni can and nothing can compete on the street with it. Also a MUni has to stop, hop and roll. Coker just barrels over everything.
So as you can tell I’m leaning towards the Coker 1st. I’ll try to master that, then in the future I’ll get the 24" MUni. The 29" is out of mind!!!
what is the nimbus 29er like is that any good for XC with a different tire?