Coker Ready, Custom Ready?

Is there a base level of experience or skill level you would recommend
mastering before moving up to a big wheel? I know I want to pursue
unicycling as a regular hobby - I live right on a great network of bike
trails, but I hate bicycling. I'm new to the sport. I have a 24"
torker LX. I can free mount about 75%, ride up and down moderate
hills, and handle most of the varying crown in the path. I stilll wipe
out on steep uphills. I don't have a whole lot of stamina in the seat
comfort department yet. Maybe I'm not wearing the right clothes...?

I'm considering ordering a custom uni, but also think I might be better
off getting a coker deluxe to learn with. I figure I can always sell
it later or give it to my daughter who's also learning to ride. I just
hate to spend significant dollars on the deluxe, when I know I realy
want the custom. I guess I'm trying to figure out whether I'd really
be able to ride a big wheel, or if I'd really mess up the nice custom
in the learning process. Any comments would be appreciated, thanks for
your attention,

Axe


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Axe wrote:
Is there a base level of experience or skill level you would recommend
mastering before moving up to a big wheel? ...I have a 24" torker LX.
I can free mount about 75%, ride up and down moderate hills, and handle
most of the varying crown in the path.

You want to make sure you can do the '\"static\"'
(http://munimanpete.unicyclist.com/basic.htm) freemount. A "roll-back"
mount doesn't work (for many folks, at least) on a bigger wheel.


Axe wrote:
I know I want to pursue unicycling as a regular hobby - I live right on
a great network of bike trails...

Are they paved or dirt?



Axe wrote:
...but I hate bicycling.

Why do you hate bicycling? I hope it's not the pedalling part!


Axe wrote:
I don't have a whole lot of stamina in the seat comfort department yet.
Maybe I'm not wearing the right clothes...?

Two words: bike shorts.


Axe wrote:

I'm considering ordering a custom uni, but also think I might be better
off getting a coker deluxe to learn with. I figure I can always sell
it later or give it to my daughter who's also learning to ride. I just
hate to spend significant dollars on the deluxe, when I know I realy
want the custom. I guess I'm trying to figure out whether I'd really
be able to ride a big wheel, or if I'd really mess up the nice custom
in the learning process. Any comments would be appreciated, thanks for
your attention,



Get a high quality 29" and then move up to your custom 36". That way
you can have the variety later on.


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steveyo

steveyo

...like having your own personal rollercoaster...
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Axe wrote:

I'm considering ordering a custom uni, but also think I might be better
off getting a coker deluxe to learn with. I figure I can always sell
it later or give it to my daughter who's also learning to ride. I just
hate to spend significant dollars on the deluxe, when I know I realy
want the custom. I guess I'm trying to figure out whether I'd really
be able to ride a big wheel, or if I'd really mess up the nice custom
in the learning process. Any comments would be appreciated, thanks for
your attention,




I got a coker after riding for not all that long. I could mount a
normal unicycle 100% and idle a bit. It was fine. I got the coker cos I
was riding to work every day on the 24" and wanted a bit more speed.
Some people have learnt on cokers, and I know a lot of people have
ridden cokers before getting idling down.

Looking at the web, the only difference between the wheel on a coker
deluxe and a super-posh custom unicycle is the spokes, it doesn't say
if they use stainless spokes for the deluxe wheel. It might be worth
phoning them up to ask, as I know unicycle.com have just got in a large
stock of quality stainless spokes that are cheaper than stock coker
spokes, they may be using these in wheelbuilds now.

Other than the spokes being potentially different, the wheel is the
best you can get. You won't be throwing away the wheel if you upgrade
to a custom uni, and that's a large part of the cost of the coker.

The wheel being the most important part of the uni, everything else on
a custom unicycle is mostly posh stuff for the sake of shinyness, or
things to make riding really super-long distances easier. For most
people custom unicycles are mainly vanity projects, to have a nice
shiny toy, they're not something you need to have in order to ride
hard, or that makes you a better rider. If you ride regularly and ride
hard, you'll know exactly what parts you need to upgrade and what to
upgrade to, rather than just buying a really expensive custom uni that
will probably not be the right one for you.

The other thing about custom uni parts, is that coker wheels are
expensive to post and hassle to upgrade. Everything else is easy to
upgrade and easy to fit, it's easy to buy a new frame or a new seat
later on, once you know what you're going to use it for. The money you
save over a custom uni, you could spend going somewhere nice to ride
it, or on something more useful than shiny parts, (eg. beer).

Something else to note, whilst a lot of people on here moan about the
stock coker and how poor it it is, if you're not of a heavier
persuasion, they are actually fine. Many of them have done thousands of
miles and are still in one piece. You could just buy a radial 360 and
save up for a custom unicycle if you decide you need it.

What are the bike trails like? If they're hard-core mountain bike
trails, you might have more fun riding a 24, 26 or 29 on them. If
they're wide trails, then the coker will be super.

Joe


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I say go for it!
I had been riding maybe six months when I went coker. I had a devil of
a time mounting it, but I really enjoyed the learning to ride it.

Riding a coker really isn't any harder, as soon as you realize you
have to get up a little speed before it stabilizes.

I'd get the "Radial 360" which is on sale for a shade over three
hundred. It's a perfectly good uni, and when you go custom, you'll have
a spare for a friend. It's also nice to have a "beater" you can take to
the beach or other abusive situations.


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mscalisi
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If you're planning on doing distance riding, get the coker. If you're
planning on riding through town a lot, I'd suggest getting a 29".. I
hate riding my coker through town, you have to dismount and brake a lot
and a 29er is so much better for that (it might be my short cranks
(102mm) that drive me mad on the TOWNCOKERING (new word?) you might
want to ask some more experienced coker riders who've used more
cranksizes)

Cokers are pretty bloody amazing though.


--
DustinMichels

Biologically speaking, if something bites you it's more likely to be
female. - Desmond Morris

If you try and don't succeed, cheat. Repeat until caught. Then lie. -
Rask

Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's
too dark to read. - Groucho Marx

I can resist everything except temptation. - Oscar Wilde
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I LOVE riding my coker through cities (like SF). There are some skills
that help, such stillstanding (with corrective hops) which might be
difficult with 102m cranks!! Also, in downtown areas where I live,
there's almost always something to grab on to in intersections (such as
stop signs and pedestrial walk/don't walk signals.)

...Ok for most people, a 29er might be better, I'm just pointing out
that the coker becomes more managable as you put more and more miles on
it.

Another thought on going cheap with your first coker, is that as you
get experienced, you discover which improvements you might like on your
custom coker.


DustinMichels wrote:
If you're planning on doing distance riding, get the coker. If you're
planning on riding through town a lot, I'd suggest getting a 29".. I
hate riding my coker through town, you have to dismount and brake a lot
and a 29er is so much better for that (it might be my short cranks
(102mm) that drive me mad on the TOWNCOKERING (new word?) you might
want to ask some more experienced coker riders who've used more
cranksizes)

Cokers are pretty bloody amazing though.


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mscalisi
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Thanks for the input everyone. The bike trails near me are paved, about
4 ft wide, a fair amount of side to side slant, and up and down short
(1/2 block) hills.

I never took up bicycling, because I had a couple of Harley's (one at a
time) to cover the miles with. Like many of you, I'm sure, I have
always enjoyed being slightly outside of the mainstream. Unicycling
allows me that noteriety plus the advantage of using this new hobby as
a challenging "project" for my wife, 2 kids, and me to work on
together. (new owners of 24",20",18", and 16" unis.)

The point about re-using the expensive wheel, first on the deluxe, then
on a custom later is well taken. So about half the value of a deluxe
can probably be carried into the custom.

I'm also hearing that nothing really prepares one for mastering a big
wheel like practicing on a big wheel...I guess that's pretty obvious, I
wanted to make sure that just being able to ride A unicycle is a pretty
good lead on being able to ride THE unicycle.

Thanks again!

Axe


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steveyo wrote:

Two words: bike shorts.





i think i'm gonna get some because my "jewels" get pretty umm,
uncomfortable on the seat.

i hate to be dumb, but i've never had bike shorts. so do u like, wear
anything underneath them?

i think if i got them, i'd wear them and wear a pair of pants over them
because bike shorts are just, well, weird unless ur riding a fancy road
bike.


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pythondrummer
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u don't wear anything other, that defeats the purpose
and you can get cool, baggy mountain biking bike shorts that still have
the pad, it just looks cooler on teh outside :-)

check REI or similar outdoors stores for good baggy ones, or Fox Racing
for good baggy ones that carry a higher price (just because of brand)


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ColDawG

Your friendly, neighborhood Muniman


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oh maybe i misunderstood what the shorts are used for.

i thought the tight bike shorts are just to keep everything "in place"
and keep stuff from getting squished. so, it would be the same as
wearing a pair of tighty whities.

whats the pad?


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