Re: Coker Info

I love the Coker. I just learned to unicycle 1 year ago. I bought a
Coker this year and rode 1500 miles. I LOVE the tire. The knobs are
great for bike trails (crushed limestone).

I would say upgrade to a KH seat.

I opted to get the airfoil rim, as I knew I would use my Coker very
much and did not want it to wear out quickly.

Offering different frame colors would be cool. I recently had mine
painted yellow. Perhaps Red, Blue, Black, Yellow? Charge $25 extra
for this, still a bargain.

Stainless Steel spokes would be a very nice upgrade.

Many people upgrade and add a handle. A handle option would be nice.

If you are thinking really BIG, a 42 or 45 would be THE KILLER!!!!!!
Thanks for listening
Bruce

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Regards improvements, be aware that most of the people I know who ride
cokers put serious miles on them. Duribility is an important factor.

The tyre is incredibly durable and I put about 2000 km on mine before I
needed to replace it. When I bought my coker I upgraded the axle,
bearings, frame, rim, saddle, cranks and pedals.

On the stock standard coker I know of several common problems.

Poor quality bearings and crank arms have caused difficulty and in
several cases I know people have had problems with the cranks rubbing
on the frame. Quality control is one area which could be improved.
Upgrading the quality of the basic componentry will not result in a
huge price increase but it will save much frustration for customers.

The steel rim is durable but difficult (impossible) to keep true and is
very heavy. Something like the airfoil would be preferable.

--
peter.bier

-Peter Bier
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I found out about the Coker unicycle in 2001 and immediately bought one.
Seeing (and then purchasing) the Coker is what got me back into
unicycling after a fifteen year absence from the sport. Since I’m back,
the only kind of unicycle I ride is a Coker. I now have two Cokers –
one with the stock rim which I rode for over three years and one with
an Airfoil rim and a wide hub. I was also fortunate to have a 1.5:1
internally geared Coker on loan to me for several months (search ‘der
Uber Coker’, if interested) which I enjoyed riding tremendously. The
Coker is my exclusive form of transportation in Manhattan (where I
live). Unless I’m leaving the City, I am riding my Coker to get around.
It is extremely useful to me because it (just) fits in the trunk of my
Honda Civic, making it very convenient for me to throw my Coker in
there and then find a parking spot. It’s extremely difficult to find a
parking spot in my neighborhood, so I’ll drive to other areas and then
commute back and forth between my apartment and my parking spot on my
Coker. Before I had the Coker, I had to pay over $350 per month to put
my car in an outdoor parking lot. I commute to the grocery store on my
Coker as well, since it leaves me with both hands free to carry the
grocery bags. I have become somewhat well known in my neighborhood
because people see me riding my Coker so often.

My favorite form of Coker riding is at skateboard parks and Mountain
Bike parks, such as Ray’s indoor mountain bike park
(http://www.RaysMTB.com). The speed and momentum of the Coker enables
me to get up some decently steep and tall ramps and quarterpipes and
have fun on berms. I have a video of some of that kind of riding online
(there should be a link on the forum, if you’re interested) – all of
which was done on your stock steel rim Coker. I did taco the rim a few
times (mostly when I first got it and weighed a lot more), but have
found that as long as I avoid certain types of aggressive maneuvers or
riding up anything bigger than a curb, the stock rim holds up
incredibly well. For more extreme riding, especially riding up things
(such as stairs), a stronger rim is definitely needed. While many of
the improvements mentioned, such as a better seat and pedals, would be
nice, I’d probably upgrade both to my own personal preferences anyway
(unless it came with an airseat and a good set of platform pedals with
pins). Overall, I’m extremely impressed with your product. The
suggestion that is most exciting to me, which I also think would be
extremely desirable, is a larger rim Coker. I think a 42”, or even a
44” Coker would be really great! With lots of Coker riders out there
who have become quite adept at riding a 36” wheel uni (and now that
geared unicycles are available and becoming more popular, too), I
believe there would be much interest.

I have often wondered how much interest your company has in the
unicycle division. Coker unicycles seem to be selling extremely well,
but being that unicycles are such a small part of your company’s
overall product line, I was concerned that they wouldn’t be given too
much attention. I am extremely impressed and happy that you are taking
an interest in this division of your company and seeking feedback.

Being that I am extremely passionate about Cokers, I had thought about
contacting your firm to see if you had any interest in sponsoring some
type of Coker event or events. I envisioned a “Coker Days” sort of
event that would feature a multitude of Coker competitions, such as
racing (individual, slalom, downhill slalom, team relay, one-leg,
etc.), a freestyle and/or tricks competition, a rolling trials
competition, and perhaps some other events as well. If you and/or your
company has any interest in this sort of thing, it would be great if
you could respond on this forum and let us know… that way you can gauge
for yourself how much interest there is. I think it would be a great
promotional vehicle (no pun intended) for your company, as it would
probably be worthy of television coverage!

Anyway, thanks for taking an interest in us Coker riders (or as some
have referred to us - Cokernauts and Cokeurs). If there is anyway I can
help, please feel free to contact me.

Andrew

--
HardcoreCokerRider
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joemarshall said:

The coker is fantastic, because it's relatively cheap,

In France the Coker is extravangantly expensive, so there were very
very few Cokers until Qu-ax provided us with their 36" -the Quaker in
local slang-
edit: ah yes mine came with a terrible rim, badly welded and trued, I
needed 2 months to get somebody who could true it

--
wobbling bear

One Wheel : bear necessity
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It's great to hear from someone from the Coker Co.
You guys have changed the face of unicyling- it's become a practical
distance and cycletouring machine, and made so many things possible.
Organised group unicycle tours are now being run because of the advent
of Cokers.

I've been riding a Coker for about 2yrs and set the 24hr World Record
on a Coker (378km), so some serious mileage is possible:
http://tinyurl.com/77mkt

The original Std Coker is OK to start with, and probably does not need
serious upgrades, especially if it made it a lot more expensive. It's
a great entry level distance unicycle for the masses.

However, most serious riders upgrade their Cokers to something lighter
and stronger. Check out www.aut.unitours.org and www.laosunitour.org
on how people set up their Cokers. Most of the time, the only original
part is the Coker tyre.

My personal preference is for a lightweight set-up. When you are going
seriously long distances and doing lot's of climbing, a regular Coker
feels really heavy and sluggish. My Diet Coker set-up is much faster
and more maneuvarable (see photos in the link above).

I think the most important things are:
- Alloy rim- most serious Coker riders use the Airfoil rim
- Stainless Steel Spokes- lighter than regular spokes, and doesn't rust
as easily. Would be good to have a double butted version.
- Tubeless tyre. Several people have done a tubeless coversion the
using Stans Tubeless system (www.notubes.com). Saves' weight and makes
for a much nicer ride especially off-road.

Less important:
- Frame- most serious riders use a custom frame. I still use the stock
frame and it's fine.
- Brake- I don't use one but most people seem to like them for steep
downhills.
- Wide hub- I like my skinny unicycle.com hub but a wide hub is
probably stronger. Ideally a lightweight splined version with good
selection of cranks (100, 115, 125, 150, 175mm).

Anyway, the #1 thing that would be great to have is a lighter Coker
tyre. You can do custom upgrades on just about anything else, but what
limits custom builds is the heavy tyre.

Or perhaps have a regular Coker tyre and a lightweight Kevlar beaded
2ply (instead of 4ply) version. It doesn't have to be absolutely
bulletproof, especially if you convert to Stans no-tubes. The sealant
seals any holes instantly. I don't know of anyone that has managed to
puncture a Coker Tyre (excluding pinchflats).

Looking forward to the Generation II Cokers 😎

Ken

--
GizmoDuck

'www.adventureunicyclist.com' (http://www.adventureunicyclist.com/)
'Laos Unicycle Tour' (http://www.laosunitour.org)
'New Zealand Unicycle Federation' (http://www.unicycle.org.nz)

"It's not a unicycle ride if it's less than 30km." - note to self
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I would hate to see the present Coker tire change.

Why is this?

Because no one knows how to design a good unicycle tire. We as a
community only find that some bike tires work better than others, and
then buy the heck out of those few.

If the present Coker tire changed in pursuit of a new design, we might
lose the one we have.

If Coker Tire Co. wanted to make a new design, while maintaining the
old, that would be great.

In that case, I continually get interest in a mountain-bike-like knobby
tire, something along the lines of a Motoraptor.

The newer 36" tire from overseas is extremely slick off-road and is
thus more limited than the Coker's button tread. I'd hate to see Coker
Tire head in that direction, because the current button-tread tire is
great for the mix of road and mild off-road that basically all 36"
riders end up doing.

A lighter tube that is designed for 36" size would be *fantastic*. The
29er solution is nice and light but loses pressure too quickly over
time and has a relatively sensitive installation process.

Since you asked, I'd want Coker Tire Co. to do what they do best and
improve the tube and add an off-road tire. The 36" unicycle world is
changing very fast and it seems like it's outside the scope of Coker
Tire's mission to try to keep up with it.

--
U-Turn

Weep in the dojo... laugh on the battlefield.
'LiveWire Unicycles' (http://www.livewireunicycles.com)
'Strongest Coker Wheel in the World'
(http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery/albup39)
'29er Tire Study' (http://u-turn.unicyclist.com/29erTireStudy/)
'New York Unicycle Club' (http://www.newyorkunicycle.com)
-- Dave Stockton
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I think an off road tyre and a change of seat would be the best upgrades
although I am told it can be quite hard to get hold of the tyres when
they wear out so better availability might be a bonus.

I do like the idea of a bigger wheel too, a 42" or even a 48" would be
great to try out.

I've not done much coker riding though so I think a 36" will be my next
investment.

--
plumsie
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let me just say i'll be first in line if coker makes a 42" or bigger
wheel. also a wide hub would be the easiest upgrade and it would give
the wheel a lot more strength.

--
boo radley

"This is your work! You'd better take care of me, Lord...because if you
don't you're gonna have me on your hands." -Raoul Duke
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Wow, it's great someone from Coker Tire Co is interested in what we
unicyclists think. I had the pleasure of meeting David Coker in 1998
and trying his amazing huge wheel. As a beginner it was so difficult to
ride that I thought it was just a novelty. Early the next year though,
I had my first of many Cokers. I still have that original cycle and
have at least 4000 miles on it. I have 3 more now, one for each member
of my family, with upgraded components.

Others have pretty much said it all, but the basic design flaw in the
Coker unicyle is the hub. It is too narrow. Upgrading that to 100mm and
using stainless spokes results in a hugely different cycle. A cycle
that I've taken all over the world and ridden so many thousands of
miles. It's the cycle that does it all. My dream would be a new version
of the tire (exact same diameter) but 25-40% lighter and nearly as
strong.

Thanks for posting here!

---Nathan Hoover

--
nathan
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Dear Todd from Coker Tires,
If you have chance to read these feebacks from some of the greatest
Coker riders in the world 😄 you can see the Coker unicycle have
started a revolutionary in unicycling! We all love riding our Cokers.

My humble opinion on this discussion:
-two selection of tires; button tread for MUni rider and smooth tread
of distance riders
-I would be second in line to buy a 40' or 42' uni from Coker(if
developed)
-Stronger rim and hub combination
-Metel pedals(instead of the plastic)
-Optional:
1)brake for MUni riders
2)KH gel seats
3)different crank sizes

--
leadpan

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever" - Lance Armstrong
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Late to the discussion.:o

I have a standard Coker. I upgraded the cranks and pedals. It's been
good for many rides on and off road in the 20 -30 mile bracket, and a
few longer ones.

The riders in this forum are a self-selected elite: people keen enough
to take their sport seriously, and ride regularly and hard. I wonder
how many Cokers are sold to less serious riders.

Most unicycles sold have 20 or 24 inch wheels, and I guess that for
every one that is ridden properly, 10 are ridden occasionally, and 20
are hardly ridden at all. The profit is the same for the manufacturer
whether they sell one to be ridden or thrown in the shed.

I guess that Cokers would tend to be sold to people with more
enthusiasm and commitment, so the ratios would be better. Maybe half
or a third of them are ridden "hard". Who knows? Aim too high with
the product and you might price yourself out of the wider market.

Serious riders will always upgrade peripheral components. Seats,
pedals and cranks are readily available and very much a matter of
personal choice.

Where Coker Tire Co. would need to specialise would be the tire, wheel
and frame. These are the unique Coker components. (It takes serious
effort and commitment to source custom made wheels and frames. If
Coker Tire Co. makes it easy to buy an upgrade off the shelf, I'm sure
they'll get the business.)

The heavy cheap wheel is part of the charm of the Coker - but this is
making a virtue of necessity. A better wheel would be better, by
definition.

Better means lighter, stronger and structurally more stable. That
means an alloy rim and a wider hub (and/or a hub with deeper flanges).
The present tube is heavy. Many people now stretch a 29 inch tube onto
the Coker rim. A lightweight 36 inch tube would be better.

A good unicycle tire has a rounded cross section (like a motorcycle
rear tire) rather than a square cross section (like a car tire). The
difference it makes to the enjoyment of the ride is massive.

The tread pattern on the standard Coker tire is, er... rudimentary. It
works, but there is room for a more road-friendly one, and a more
aggressive off road one. An even fatter tire (3 inch section?) would
be great. Unicyclists like fat tires. It's the only suspension we
have.

The frame is pretty basic. Not much can go wrong with a unicycle
frame, though.

If I were trying to market Coker unicycles, I would perhaps have a
"design your own" menu on the website offering 2 or possibly 3 options
on most major components, and three "off the peg" models. Make the top
model "to order" only, and it will increase the cachet. If you offer
three, then most people will choose the middle one.😉

A larger wheel would be fantastic for those of us who are real
enthusiasts. However, the bigger the wheel, the smaller the market.
Somewhere around 42 - 45 inches would be a dream come true for most
serious riders.

You could liaise with manufacturers of the geared hub to introduce an
off the peg geared Coker.

The Coker unicycle is unique. However, it is the Harley Davidson of
the unicycle world. Its the "real thing", but as things stand, there
are sound practical and economic arguments for a 29 inch tire, with or
without a geared hub. Coker's USP is the big wheel, and that's the way
to go.

I hope you appreciate that an Englishman has used "tire" in place of
"tyre" throughout. (And through gritted teeth.).😉

--
Mikefule

"Freedom cannot be won without sacrifice. If you set a high value on
her, everything else must be be valued at little."
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I don't think a bigger wheel is going to make too much difference to
speed, it just starts getting more cumbersome and heavier and limits
the amout of people that can ride it. 42" is probably not going to go
much faster (because of the additional weight and inertia) and I think
you would need to be over 5"5' to be able to ride it, with next to no
seatpost.

With geared unicycles now coming onstream, I think 42" will have a
rather limited market.

--
GizmoDuck

'www.adventureunicyclist.com' (http://www.adventureunicyclist.com/)
'Laos Unicycle Tour' (http://www.laosunitour.org)
'New Zealand Unicycle Federation' (http://www.unicycle.org.nz)

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I emailed to Todd at Coker Tires. This is what I got when I emailed to
Todd.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your input. I sincerely appreciate your opinions. I will
post a followup on the thread soon. I cannott believe the amount of
input that has been generated in just a day's time.

All the Best,
Todd

Todd Harless
Director of Marketing

Coker Tire Co.
1317 Chestnut St.
Chattanooga, TN 37402

--
leadpan

"Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever" - Lance Armstrong
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Maybe keep the entry model but like everyone else I reckon the seat,
wheel upgrades, cranks, pedals etc (my Coker is exactly the same as the
day I bought it, but I have upgraded everything except the tyre) make a
big difference, so maybe two models.
I would love to have a light offroad tire (something mild like the
nanoraptor or Rollex) and I would love a 42 or 46" Coker.

--
onebyone

Bill Blogs is an alien!
www.municycle.com.au
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As mentioned before, a larger diameter tire and wheel would be a
dramatic contribution to the unicycling community. The added weight
would be insignificant compared to the added benefit of higher top
speed and greater stability. Unfortunately this represents a large
initial investment for an already small market. That already small
market becomes smaller as the wheel diameter increases.

Thanks, Coker tire company. The 36" unicycle in any form has adopted
your name as its generic. Herds of Cokers abound everywhere thanks to
your initial development.

--
harper

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

*jc is the only main man. there can be no other.*

This is still my nth post....*AWESOME!!!*
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Thanks to those of you who finally started chiming in on the idea of a
possible larger wheel size.

GizmoDuck said:

42" is probably not going to go much faster (because of the additional
weight and inertia)

My suggestion for a 42" (or so) size would be to aim it at road riders,
using a narrower tire (not too narrow; minimum 1.5"😉 and possibly
smoother/lighter tread with the goal being no increase in weight, or
preferrably a decrease.

Quoted message said:

and I think you would need to be over 5"5' to be able to ride it

I'm not sure the exact minimum rider height, but I do believe it would
still include the majority of Coker fans. The idea would be to keep a
36" model in any case.

Quoted message said:

With geared unicycles now coming onstream, I think 42" will have a
rather limited market.

This *may begin* to be true *if* the price of a geared unicycle ever
gets down to under $500US. Right now a Schlumpf runs $1500 for us
Americans, is that right? Only affordable by a few very serious riders.

Plus, I'm sure a significant percentage of Coker buyers are less
interested in speed than they are in the look of the bigger wheel. I'm
sure many, many Cokers are used by people mainly for "showing off"
purposes, just as I use my 45" wheel today. It looks cool.

Along those lines, a 42" wheel would look even cooler. The wide tire of
the 36" Coker makes it almost look smaller than it really is, because
it's so thick. A 42" wheel with narrower tire would look even bigger!
But enough "lobbying" for the bigger wheel... 🙂

In the "thanks" department, I'd like to amplify what Gizmoduck and a
few others have mentioned. The Coker unicycle has created a whole new
category of unicyclist; the road or distance rider. Before Cokers, this
category was limited to a very small number of very hardy individuals.
Small, because the cycles were handmade and expensive. Hardy because a
hard rubber tire takes a lot of the enjoyment out of any long ride!

A 36" air tire, at a very affordable price, made distance unicycling
possible for anyone who wanted to make the modest investment. The word
"Cokerhead" was born and people started cranking out the miles even in
the first year of availability. This has gone much farther today, and I
hope you folks at Coker are aware of the exploits of the many
uni-tourers, aspenmike, and many others.

Before the Coker, the idea of using a unicycle to go anywhere over 10
miles was usually not taken seriously. Now I ride 8.2 miles to work,
and 8.2 miles back, whenever I feel like it. Thanks for creating a
whole new area of unicycling.

So what does the world need to keep that area growing? First of all
there has to be an inexpensive, entry level version. This is probably
more important than any refinements that may be made; don't let the
base model get expensive!

I will agree with the many riders who recommended a seat upgrade and a
wider hub. Those should be possible without a big impact on production
cost, I hope. And this is coming from a guy who helped design the
Viscount seat. I did the drawings, but I was never crazy about the
comfort level. It's better than the old Schwinn seat, which is what it
was designed to replace...

So my suggestions for higher-end components and a larger wheel would be
add-ons to the original model. I don't know what kinds of numbers you
would need to justify the creation of a new tire, but I think the
market for one is there, even more than it was for the original Coker
in 1998. Now you already have a base group of people who know how
useful these things are.

Lastly, consider this. Many owners of 36" Cokers will be tempted to
upgrade if a 42" (or other larger size) comes out. Some people just
want to have "the biggest" of whatever it is. Look at all those Ford
Expeditions and Hummers out there!

Oops, lastly-lastly, I am reminded that you are in Tenessee. This is
where the Unicycling Society of America will have its 2006 convention
and North American championships (Memphis, around July 4). It would be
great if you could have a presence there. You could certainly learn a
lot about your market, and meet many of the people who've posted to
this thread. It would be great to see you there!

--
johnfoss

John Foss, the Uni-Cyclone
"jfoss" at "unicycling.com" -- www.unicycling.com

"Read the rules!" -- 'IUF Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/iuf/rulebook/) -- 'USA Rulebook'
(http://www.unicycling.org/usa/competition/)
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johnfoss said:

My suggestion for a 42" (or so) size would be to aim it at road riders,
using a narrower tire (not too narrow; minimum 1.5"😉 and possibly
smoother/lighter tread with the goal being no increase in weight, or
preferrably a decrease.

This *may begin* to be true *if* the price of a geared unicycle ever
gets down to under $500US. Right now a Schlumpf runs $1500 for us
Americans, is that right? Only affordable by a few very serious
riders.

Lastly, consider this. Many owners of 36" Cokers will be tempted to
upgrade if a 42" (or other larger size) comes out. Some people just
want to have "the biggest" of whatever it is. Look at all those Ford
Expeditions and Hummers out there!

Bit of interest in the 42" department, but there are a few problems:
- it's great if Coker wanted to give us extra choice, but IMHO the
effort would be far better served if it they were to produce a second
or even a third 36" Coker tyre- probably a lightweight and/or offroad
version to complement the existing button tyre.
- a 42" will require a new rim to be designed as well
- a 42" is only slightly bigger than 36", and I doubt very much that it
will go faster unless you reduce the weight very significantly. And
that IMHO it going to be easier on the 36" than to go back to the
drawing board and design a 42". Remember with a bigger wheel, you'll
probably need an even wider hub and thicker spokes and heavier rim to
maintain the same stregth.
- 42" is even bulkier for shipping than 36". if you look at how much
non-US riders pay for a 36" Coker, it makes a 29" geared Schlumpf only
marginally more expensive.

I just want to add to the list of verbs and nouns that have been coined
because of the Coker Company. It's now a generic term for 36"
Unicycles- I don't know anyone that rides a 36". We're all Cokeurs or
Cokernuts or Cokerheads. We go Cokering rather than 36"ing, and we
Cokered up the mountain rather than rode up on our 36" Unicycles. We
go Cokering rather than go on a long distance unicycle ride.

And I love my Diet Coker!

Ken

Disc: 165cm/5"5' and owns a Schlumpf

--
GizmoDuck

'www.adventureunicyclist.com' (http://www.adventureunicyclist.com/)
'Laos Unicycle Tour' (http://www.laosunitour.org)
'New Zealand Unicycle Federation' (http://www.unicycle.org.nz)

"It's not a unicycle ride if it's less than 30km." - note to self
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Yes, that's worth bearing in mind for the Coker Tire Co. marketing
department.

Coker has become the generic noun for 36 inch unicycles. If Michelin
brought out a 36 inch tyre, unicyclists might say, "I have a Coker with
a Michelin 2.5" tyre".

How many other companies' products have become the generic name?
Hoover (for all vacuum cleaners), Coke (for all cola drinks), Walkman
(a product name, not a company name). Not many others.

But Coker has moved into that elite number of companies whose products
have become a verb too. How many others can I think of? Er... Hoover.

--
Mikefule

"Freedom cannot be won without sacrifice. If you set a high value on
her, everything else must be be valued at little."
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Mikefule said:

How many other companies' products have become the generic name? Hoover
(for all vacuum cleaners), Coke (for all cola drinks), Walkman (a
product name, not a company name). How many others can I think of?
Er... Hoover.

Kleenex. Zamboni.

--
tomblackwood

Tailgate at your own risk...
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