Serious Coker Riders I have questions???

I have the Odyssey A Brake on my Coker. Is it possible to adjust it to
prevent your thighs from hitting it?

At what point do you feel comfortable riding. I feel like I am
precuriously balanced on top and any wrong move that bad boy is flying
out from under me.

I read of some of you riding to work, up huge mountains, in and around
town in traffic. It seems to me one wrong move and that big tire full
of momentum is flying 30 feet from you, or you come off the front at
full run with no control. Like to know at what point you gained the
confidence to commute/tour on these huge beasts. How many miles under
your belt? Do you ever get as comfortable with your control as on
something smaller like a 24"?

I am really interested in your experiences.


--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with
his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive
achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
Ayn Rand
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....Like to know at what point you gained the confidence to
commute/tour on these huge beasts. How many miles under your belt?....
138


--
muddycycle - Nonchalance

"What can possiby mystify a madman?"
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muddycycle wrote:
* 138 *


Too much info!


--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with
his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive
achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
Ayn Rand
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I’ve had my Coker for about a year and a half, I ride it almost every
day for about 6 to 8 miles with 110 cranks. Last winter while I was
unemployed I rode the Coker in the hills outside of town for about 3-5
hours a day. Thinking back to when I first got it I remember the feeling
you describe and marvel at how much progress I have made. Keep at it, it
will get easier or at least you will feel more at home after a feel
miles under your belt.


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muddycycle - Nonchalance

"What can possiby mystify a madman?"
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I guess I probably had a couple of hundred miles in on the Coker before
I was comfortable enough to ride into work. At first it was definitely
an effort just to stay up, as that got easier the effort went into
keeping up the pace.

As for the A-brake, I havn't had any problems with it hitting my legs.
There is a little trick to getting the very end of the wire wrapped back
under the spring that the A-brake uses to function. I'll try to attach a
picture of my brake.

And, no I don't think I'll ever be able to control the Coker quite the
same as my 20" unicycle. Even the really serious guys don't idle on a
Coker the same way as it's done on a smaller uni. I've seen them get
similiar results, but it's done differently.


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jl0r - TCUC Unicyclist
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For a while after I got my Coker I wasn't very well balanced on it. I'd
be riding along and then suddenly need to apply backpressure to the
pedals to regain balance. Then I'd continue on again and then suddenly
need to apply backpressure to the pedals to regain balance. It was
constantly like that and would happen at random times.

It wasn't just my Coker riding that suffered from that. My regular uni
riding and my muni riding also suffered from that lack of balance and
control, but the Coker accentuated it.

Then I started practicing freestyle skills and my balance improved. I
practiced one foot riding (with either foot), backwards, wheel walking,
spins, and basic freestyle stuff in the level 1-5 range. My balance and
pedaling improved for all the different types of unicycling that I did.
But most noticeably my Coker riding improved dramatically. My pedaling
on the Coker got much more smooth. I no longer had those sudden out of
balance moments that required backpressure on the pedals to regain
balance. I was riding in the balance zone all the time.

I don't think that just regular riding around does a lot to improve your
balance and pedaling. I had been just riding around for 15 years or so
and was still having those out of balance moments. It wasn't until I
started working on freestyle skills that forced me to have good balance
and smooth pedaling that I improved and made it over that hump. When I
was just riding around for fun it was too easy to be sloppy and I was
never forced to improve my balance and riding.

So work your way up to level 5 and level 6 freestyle skills. Your Coker
riding will improve.

Of course that doesn't explain how people who do not do freestyle, like
Lars Clausen, are so good on the Coker. There may be a slight flaw in
my theory.


--
john_childs - Guinness Mojo

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Never a boring time with Uni. Always something new to learn. I
defenitely know what you mean about seemingly unrelated skills being
improved by working on a new skill. That makes sense to me.

Some good input so far. Still curious about the brake. Do I just have
unusually close thighs? Or have others had this issue? I might mention
that occasionally I would rub the crown w/o the brake. That didn't
really bother me since the surface is smooth.


--
bugman - Survivor 2004 Wolfman Duathalon

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with
his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive
achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.
Ayn Rand
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bugman wrote:
*Still curious about the brake. Do I just have unusually close
thighs? Or have others had this issue? I might mention that
occasionally I would rub the crown w/o the brake. *

I've been having this problem (rubbing the crown, not the brake) with my
new 36 frame which has a flat crown. I didn't really notice it on my
original Coker with its sloped crown. Haven't figured out what to do
about it yet.

The condition John Childs describes in his first paragraph I also had,
and to a certain extent still have. I don't practice freestyle, so
perhaps I'll be a good "control group". I'll just keep adding the coker
miles, and see if I ever get any better.

To the mileage question, I'm probably at close to 500 total on the 36"
wheel. I would say only for the last 200 have I started to really feel
comfortable. Even though I did some 20 mile plus rides during the first
couple hundred, I always felt about one good sneeze away from a complete
train wreck. Not feeling that way so much any more, but I still pay
MUCH more attention to my riding on the big wheel. There is no autopilot
for me yet.

I'll try to find a thread from Milefule which discussed the ways in
which the Coker will always keep you humble, regardless of miles. Or
maybe Mike will see this and do it for me....it was a classic bit of
prose.


--
tomblackwood - Registered Nurtz

Tailgate at your own risk.....

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john_childs wrote:
*Of course that doesn't explain how people who do not do freestyle,
like Lars Clausen, are so good on the Coker. There may be a slight
flaw in my theory. *


I can do three freestyle skills (side mount, spin and pirouette) all
rather badly and am definately not a freestyle rider. But I do have a
good pedalling style.

I think I learn't spinning the coker by riding it loads. I had an
alright spin on a bike beforehand, I've ridden road bikes as transport
since I was about 7 or so. I also did lots of flowing muni, which helps
as riding smoothly is very important for riding trails, it really helps
you hit drops and roots right. I think I was also helped by having
commuted to work on my 24 for a bit and having tried to ride that faster
and faster, which requires you to improve your spin.

I think the key thing is to do something that forces you to ride
smoothly or fall off, which both muni and freestyle do. I don't think
most trials really does, except riding rails and on a small wheel just
riding around you can get away with riding really jerkily without many
problems.

As for when it becomes controllable, I reckon about 500 miles is where
you really start riding the coker rather than it riding you. Whilst
it'll never control quite the same as a 24, you can get it to the point
where you can idle, ride forwards + backwards, stop almost instantly, do
tight 180 degree turns etc. It takes a bit more effort to do these
things, but you can do them almost as quickly.

Joe


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joemarshall - dumb blonde
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I have an idea. Or rather, Gus has an idea. The problem could be in
the spacer setup you have for the brake pads. The brake pads have two
spacers, one thin and one think on each side, and stock they have the
thicker spacers on the inside (the rim side). this causes the brake
arms to stick out a bit farther than disired. Try switching so that the
thin spacers are on the inside (the brake pad side) and the thick
spacers are on the outside (the nut side). This should help move the
arms in a bit, reducing the knee hitting problem.


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Max_Dingemans - Hey Look, who's that?

BLAH!
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