I am looking to go up to a 36" wheel. I learned to ride a couple of years ago and did 300 miles on my 24" tire last year. I’m 5’11" and should weigh about 210 lbs. I was considering either the Coker V2, big one or the KH. I am not sure which one would be best? It’s a pretty good amount of cash to invest. Anyone have some helpful advice?
I personaly like the Nimbus Titan. It is cheaper than all the options you are looking at and with my experiences with it, it seems to be very good quality. I would get either the Nimbus Gel seat or the KH one.
Get a Triton frame and custom build for twice the price like I did
The sensible money goes on an Oracle. It is well made and a fitted inboard brake so is ready to go. KH is awesome as well but needs more money spent to fit a crank mounted brake to be comparable, whilst fine unis I am sure if you are spending KH money I don’t think cokers get a look in.
Get a Triton frame and custom build for twice the price like I did
The sensible money goes on an Oracle. It is well made and a fitted inboard brake so is ready to go. KH is awesome as well but needs more money spent to fit a crank mounted brake to be comparable, whilst fine unis I am sure if you are spending KH money I don’t think cokers get a look in.
and post it twice then
I see that you are a little older than me. A little heavier (not much…especially after the holidays). Probably have about the same kind of terrain as I do (I live in Central Pa…Appalachians). Based on that, I recommend the Coker Big One. $440 shipped from Coker Cycles web site (with a free T-shirt). I have the brake…took it off - never used it. At my age, if I encounter a situation on a unicycle that requires a brake, I shouldn’t be doing it in the first place. Bought Dialed dual hole cranks from Trek dealer (152/125 or 140/120) for $30 - see my other post on this. The hub is square taper, but no biggie unless you’re jumping off shipping containers (Unigeezer). Pi bars are nice. I think it’s well built and I like the No Skid tire. I’ve been riding mine for several years with no problems.
I broke a square taper hub after 6 months of newbie riding. I can jump max 10cm. And I don’t think I ever did a drop higher than around 30cm. I am 95kg. It broke while riding downhill, no jumping.
I know I would only recommend square taper to kids or really slim people.
OP never mentioned that they wanted a brake?
Any 36-er is ‘ready to go’- brakes are not compulsory, many ride without them, many prefer not to have a brake.
It probably broke cos you did a 30cm drop.
I can’t speak for the op, but they are 50yrs old and didn’t mention that they were planning to do 30cm drops. I’ve been riding 15yrs on a variety of wheel sizes and never felt the desire to do any drop higher than off a curb.
I’m pretty confident that a square taper hub will hold up indefinitly if you’re just riding it (i.e. no 30cm drops).
I have broken a square taper before. I was not doing drops but just riding it. What is the opinion on the V2 vs. the big one?
Just out of interest, how did the square taper break?
IDK I was riding it and it snapped at the crank. It was a cheap uni I bought off of amazon. I bought an nimbus isis hub and a frame and had it built. It’s my best 24 now.
I bought a cheapie like this one a year ago. I have a lot of miles on it. I like it. Money was an issue…
I like the price of that one too.
So the isis hubs are much stronger than the square taper hubs?
Correct.
Funny, I have ridden for hours at a time, on and off road, over a 25 year unicycling career, on square taper hubs and never had a problem. In the grand scheme of things, splined hubs are a new idea. Some of us can remember when “cotterless cranks” on a cycle were cutting edge technology - and yet somehow people managed.
Stoopid phone
Nor did they advise that they didn’t want one but they did say they were looking at a KH and for the same money you can get an Oracle with a brake so it is a fair point to make, also if you are getting a new 36er why not get a brake?
Just before disc brakes appeared I would wager most people had a rim brake and a 36er with short cranks is probably the best application for a decent brake.
Life is great as we are free to choose and that goes for Unis too (I have a brake-less uni as well)
As with anything, there are variences in material quality…be it a cheapie Avenir or a KH. I’ve read on here about KH this and that snapping and cheapies lasting forever and vice-versa. ISIS hubs are stronger. But for me, at least, the more affordable square taper is a better choice because I use my Coker almost entirely for road and rails-to-trails and a little Muni. I’m sure it’s possible for my hub to snap while just riding down the road…it’s also possible for a meteor to hit me while riding down the road. For the savings and lower-cost cranks, I’ll take the chance.
Unicyclists adopted ISIS because square taper hubs tended to break with repeated high drops.
As far as I know, when it comes to straightforward riding around, square tapered hubs are as good as isis ones- certainly none of my square taper hub unicycles have ever broke.