Hey all. I’m still editing the gallery, but the net is slow so I thought I’d go ahead and put this up.
Taking on all challengers!
Here’s the strongest Coker wheel in the world. I finally have pics to demonstrate it. I’m working on a website to present all the details, but here the pictures speak for themselves. I’ve been working on this project almost a year. Thanks to all the testers and vendors and people who answered my many questions.
What hub are you using? It looks like it might be the Schwinn hub.
Nice work, is that the Big Girl: “Wide Suzie” hub?
Can’t wait to see the rest of the photos.
How is the Q? any noticable difference in the wobble?
i think its one of those modified hubs that the freshly inflated lungs guy made.
After looking at the large full size pic in the gallery it does look like the GB modified Suzue hub. Very cool. There aren’t many of those hubs around.
yeah they were sold on uni.com for awile but they sold out.i dont know what the run numbers were on that hub,but anytime i see stuff like that for sale its best to buy it fast.
i didnt buy one because,well you guys know my Coker story… 
Yes that’s the wide hub. It’s a great product, invented by Chris Reeder and made by Mr. GB4 using a forge produced in the fires of Unidor using a bellows formed from a human lung.
Be sure to watch the “3 person stand test” avi. It’s worth it! I didn’t mention above that after that test we rode to the store, etc., and eventually did the side mount shown.
Did George really make my stiffener plate?
Andrew
Yes, but beware — there is another, lost in the corridors of time, that is Master of all Stiffener Plates. Lost now, but it will be found, and it was made to Rule all Stiffener Plates.
Well then thank you George!
My Precious
I’ve added an extract of the 3-person test video so people can see 490 lbs of people on a Coker without having to download the entire video.
Why dont you do some drops on that bad boy to really test it?!?!
Hey Scott. That’s one of the tests we haven’t found a tester for yet. I’m not yet a 3-4 foot dropper and for those who are, the Coker is pretty intimidating. It’s also quite heavy for hopping so it takes some adaptation to get control. I haven’t tried hopping SIF with it, another one of my many weak points.
I have ridden it SIF, though; I’ll get a video up sometime.
I also want someone to try a floor mount. I can’t do one yet.
I gave a few shots at a kickup mount, but the leverage and weight make it pretty tough. I think the wheel is strong enough, though.
But as the weather gets better, I may have to concentrate on those skills.
Re: Strongest Coker Wheel in the World
U-Turn.jp63n@timelimit.unicyclist.com writes:
>
>Scott Stephens wrote:
>> *Why dont you do some drops on that bad boy to really test it?!?! *
>Hey Scott. That’s one of the tests we haven’t found a tester for yet.
>I’m not yet a 3-4 foot dropper and for those who are, the Coker is
>pretty intimidating. It’s also quite heavy for hopping so it takes some
>adaptation to get control. I haven’t tried hopping SIF with it, another
>one of my many weak points.
I’ll be happy to test the SIF and the hopping, Dave!
David Stone
OK David, I’ll bring it next meeting with the camera. Bring your pads and helmet!
Holy Toledo,
Did the frame recover? Someone needs to donate a stock coker wheel and jump it so you can use it as a “control”. Then jump the Strongest Coker Wheel in the World and compare the two.
I was worried about the frame, and waited for a while because I didn’t really want the “non-destructive” test to turn into a “destructive” test. Finally I decided I was going to get scooped if I kept being a chicken. But I really was surprised at how well the frame did with 490 lbs of angled load. It was too easy to cold-form the frame to fit the wider hub, so I expected it to “mush over” at a rhombic angle under test. But it appears to have recovered completely.
I really think we could have piled a couple more people on, if we had had the room on the crank!
When I get the website up, I’ll show with photos how the stock Coker compares (unfortunately, it doesn’t). Essentially, I could taco a stock Coker wheel with my bare hands at benchtop height. The weak rim permits less than 1/6 the tension of this one, and the narrowness of the stock hub moves the three metastable states too close together. Even with careful tensioning, a light pressure with two palms on either side of the wheel causes it to flip over into the potato chip state. To tell the truth, the max tension of the stock wheel is so low that it is way off the tensionmeter’s minimum calibrated tension.
Once we’ve done a couple more tests, I’m hoping to increase the tension on this wheel an additional 40 kg per spoke. If that doesn’t destroy the wheel, and it shows no signs of instability, then it will be even stronger and livelier. It really should be able to take more than that tension, but spoke windup is already an issue and will become even more of a build issue as the tension increases. I may run into problems with the spoke wrench coupling too; racing bikes with that high of a tension use hexagonal-head nipples, which I believe are unavailable for the size holes that were drilled in the rim (for the larger diameter spokes on the stock Coker). With those nipples, you must tension and true the wheel with the tire off, because your wrench attaches to the end of the spoke.
I must say that my riding has improved with this wheel simply because I now have confidence in it. Especially during cornering, I’m not afraid the wheel will buckle under me. I’m looking into what’s required to build these for riders. If anyone is interested, please contact me. The email address under my profile is valid.
Thanks for your questions, everybody!
U-Turn,
Thanks for posting. I’m ready to build a wheel like yours. I’m going with the Wyganowski frame & extension (with rack), SS spokes & airfoil.
I’m having the wheel built at the LBS (uni.com store). The owner has done some nice work for me in the past. (he unicycles too).
Any advice you can give us, or will it be a pretty straightforward wheel build?
I will post pics when I’m done.
-Mark
Hey there Cokerhead.
Not really that straightforward, I’d say, especially if you are looking for the strength demonstrated.
Be sure to tell Paul you are using the wide hub. He needs to know that; he already will have the jig axle made.
You need to use nipples with a wide flange.
Use washers under the spoke heads.
Use a very high tension. The wheel shown uses 110kg per spoke. Soon I will see how high I can get.
Build as well as he knows how. Use all the tricks in the book. I mapped the wheel tension many times during construction.
I hope that helps; good luck!