Well, there’s a glob of overpsray on the frame-more like a big drip of dried paint…so I guess it’s not powdercoated as I had assumed. And the seatpost clamp diamteter is HUGE even though it’s supposed to be 25.4mm. My QR 25.4 mm from my radial won’t come close to fitting over the seat tube, even after spreading out really far!
Also, the brake bosses on the big one are brazed on backwards; at least IMO the brakes should be in the back not the front, as the pictured instructions indicate.
Plus that little seat tube slit is on the the opposite side of the bosses, so apparently the brakes are supposed to be in front. Weird. Also, when I checked the bearing holders, they were cranked down so tight, the wheel would barely turn! So I eased them off and it seems ok now.
So far I’m not overly enthused about things so far. And The way the brake is set up with the cable sheath being made only long enough to fit under the saddle-and it comes with a brake lever adapter that fits under the seat- I can’t use it with my T7 setup since it would be in the way of not allow room for the lever where it would go under the saddle.
So I guess I just have to wait for the coker touring bar to be available. I’d rather go without the brake right now than the T7.
Seatpost clamps are sold by the OD of the frame’s seat tube, not the ID/seatpost size, so this doesn’t surprise me that much given that you’re switching from a steel to an alu frame.
You can buy a cable and housing for a regular cable brake for under $10 at most bike shops, and it’s really simple to install (way easier than mucking with Maggies), in case you don’t want to wait!
I’m jealous of all you new Coker owners! They look like a blast.
Wow, that’s right! I didn’t even realize that. :o And I think I’ll just use the cable from my radial 36er, which is long enough to reach the T7 handle with the brake mounted on the back, which I prefer.
If they brought out a 20" trial frame like this aluminium frame, they would earn allot as people now want to buy a roundcrown aluminium trial frame.
Just a thought.
It appears that the wheel is centered and trued well. I’ll probably just have my LBS install the brake. I’ll post some pics later. Looking forward to the first ride!
You are a piano technician, you can install the brake yourself. It is very easy, takes five minutes, with simple tools. You need to be one with your machine!
After reading that I went to my new Coker Big One to see where my brake bosses are..and mine are the opposite. The seat tube slit is on the same side as the bosses and so if I ever put on the brakes (which they sent me accidentally…) they’d be on the back.
WTF? And you also have the New Alum. Big One? WHy the heck are they not all the same I wonder! That’s weird. Maybe they screwed up on the second batch…of which mine apparently came from.
I’m going to see if I can find out the official story about why Coker intends the brake to go in the front on the Big One. It’s not the “opposite” on the V2. On the V2 the brake is in the center, which makes perfect sense for that frame, though the bosses come out of the front legs.
I can think of two reasons they would put the brake on the front:
Same as a bike
Protects the mechanism from all the junk that comes up the back of the wheel when you ride through water, mud, etc.
But if the brake and your legs don’t get along, you can turn the frame around. For best results, you should probably leave the seat clamp facing backwards, but I’m not sure how much difference that makes. In theory, the slot should be lined up with the gap in the clamp. I don’t think there are any ill-effects to running a brake out the back, especially since the same brake is set up this way on the V2.
My Coker came disassembled, including the brake. It came with plenty of cable and housing, which you cut to length when you set it up. You also have to cut the seat post to size, which in my case involved finally buying myself a proper pipe cutter. I’ve been sick of the crappy hack saw method for a long time now. Not that it’s a crappy method for cutting your post, but I have a crappy hack saw. Pipe cutters make a much better cut, though they require more filing afterwards.
Who am I to doubt what John Foss thinks is probable? But I think that a seat clamp does its job significantly better if the slot in the seat tube lines up with the gap in the clamp. Otherwise there’s a lot of friction to overcome when the clamp is tightened and has to ‘compress’ the seat tube.
Yeah, it’s the new aluminum Coker Big One. And I have no idea. I think it’s completely strange. Obviously…the Coker company doesn’t know how to assemble their products very well.
Does anybody know if the UDC TA tire will fit on the new coker big one wheel? Also, I wonder if the Big one frames and UDC’s radial frames are interchangeable with each wheelset; if anyone’s knows about this too I’d appreciate it!
