Is inner city coker commuting possible?

Well, the honest answer from me is that I don't know because I've not
spent enough time on a 36" wheel.

-However-... I commute 8 miles each way each day through central London
on a 29" wheel, and have covered a fair few hundred miles (or thousand
even) in the last year or so. So, I know about busy roads and
junctions.

For most of the ride most of the time, I'm sure I could get away with a
coker in London. Sure, there are times when you need that bit extra
agility, or a slightly shorter stopping distance, but these will happen
on whatever size of wheel you are on. So, unless you are right in the
center of a busy bustling metropolis, then I think the answer is yes.

There is a *but*, however. I also have my eye on the new hunter style
36"er, and whilst a part of me wants it to be thoroughly tried and
tested before I buy one, a bigger part of me wants to be the first to
buy one, so, I'd suggest that no, no way, under no circumstances should
you even consider riding to work on the new 36"er ;-)

STM

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semach.the.monkey
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Thanks for the input, a 29" would no doubt be a far more suitable uni
for this particular commute but overall id much prefer the 36 for the
extra speed, and because riding 29 when your friends ride 36 (or 54) is
not much fun.

You should have gone for reverse phsycology, I want one more now. I
should imagine that someone will get to the first one before either of
us.

--
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Dave

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if you have a place to put your 36" when you get to work, it will be a
far nicer commute. you will have all the control you need after
several rides. Cokers are quite nimble when driven properly.

--
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kington99 said:

You should have gone for reverse phsycology, I want one more now. I
should imagine that someone will get to the first one before either of
us.

Ooops, sorry, I've just noticed my typo. What my post should have said
was "Pah, go ahead and get one. See if I care. They're rubbish
anyway, and besides, I'm waiting for the 2008 model which I've heard is
much better"

I hope that clears up any confusion :-)

STM

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Brian MacKenzie said:

if you have a place to put your 36" when you get to work, it will be a
far nicer commute. you will have all the control you need after
several rides. Cokers are quite nimble when driven properly.

It will have to go in the outside bike rack with all the other cycles,
but a large chunk of it is undercover and away from prying eyes. Going
to need to invest in a serious bike lock, atleast this one i can lock
up properly due to the dual frame. I was planning to practice the route
if i do get one before riding it in rush hour.

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Dave

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Make the Coker as light as possible...and use long cranks

I've noticed quite a marked increase in maneuvaribility with my Diet
Coker.

--
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The Monguni tour 2008....
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I commute 5 miles (8km) each way in Seattle on my Coker. I go through
eight traffic signals and eleven stop signs each way. It varies from
main streets to side streets to bike lanes. I live at 300 feet above
sea level and commute to 60 feet above sea level on slightly hilly
roads. My goal each day is to make it both ways without having to
dismount at all. I am almost always successful on the Coker using
combinations of light timing, idling, still-standing, and hopping. I
also ride curbs on long street sections with well manicured lawn-curb
interfaces. Way more fun than bicycling, almost as fast, and more
success with the "no foot on the pavement" goal. Visibility is much
better at that height as I am able to see over even tall vans. My
visibility to drivers is better, too, because the I am up so high and
as a cycle I am so bizarre looking to them.

--
harper

-Greg Harper

B L U E S H I F T

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This is still my nth post....*AWESOME!!!*

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kington99 said:

riding 29 when your friends ride 36 (or 54) is not much fun.

If your 36er riding friends ride aggressively, then yes, you won't be
able to keep up so easily. But if the ride is a bit more leisurely
then a 29er with short cranks will do just fine. I tagged along with a
group of Cokeurs at the recent Berkeley festival on tholub's 29er with
125mm cranks and found it to be no problem to keep up.

To be quite frank, I had a blast. I'm a bit turned off by the
"clunkiness" of a stock Coker and really appreciated the responsiveness
of the 29er, as well as the fact that I could ride side-by-side with
the 36ers. But that's just my personal opinion...

--
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i ride my coker every day from school about a mile or two across town,
through the center of town.

It's plenty nimble for what i need.
go for it.

--
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Cheers, Matt.
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carsonpalooza said:

it's not over until the cake is all gone.

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I used to commute to work through London on a Coker (so did Joe, I'm
sure he'll appear soon), I used to do between 5 and 20 miles a day
depending on where I was going.

It takes a little getting used to, and it took me a while to switch
down to 125mm cranks, but providing you can pick a fairly sensible
(quiet) route then you should have relatively few problems.

You're a lot more visible on a Coker than on a bike, and drivers tend
to give a slightly wider berth because they're not really sure what's
going to happen next 😉

Do it!

Paul

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yeah, works okay, particularly with the stock 150mm cranks. I used to go
across 'Vauxhall Cross' (http://tinyurl.com/ybwy8b) every day on mine,
which is one of the biggest and busiest junctions in London.

I used to idle at lights, but nowadays I just hop on the spot, saves
loads of energy compared to idling it, and you're always ready to go.

Joe

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kington99 said:

Basically, im interested in getting in to distance riding, my bike is
shot and the new nimbus 36 has just come out. I don't feel i can spend
the money unless i can use the coker for the daily commute to the
department but im not sure how it would handle it. It's not very far
but i have to cope with riding in the road with heavy traffic (both
automotive and bikes, lot of them), 4 sets of traffic lights, riding up
the inside of lines of queuing traffic etc. I'd value the advice of
anyone who rides in similar conditions and can suggest if it's going to
work or not.

That's the problem with The Other Place, you have lots of traffic
lights. The straightforward solution is to come to Cambridge, where we
have less traffic :p

Anyhow, I'd think that riding a Coker through lots of sets of lights on
busy streets would be a bit stressful - it's quite hard to idle
something that big, although I've not tried hopping mine much. The
other problem is that you don't have somewhere to remount in your own
time if you have to ride on busy roads.

To ride to my department, I can follow cycle paths all the way. Riding
other places I sometimes choose a slightly longer route to make
Cokering more practical. A 29er would probably be easier if you're on
busy roads. Alternatively if you don't have far to go, you could use a
20" or 24" with really short cranks (100mm or less) and pedal fast,
then use the Coker for riding friendlier routes.

--
mark williamson

Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat? And no
pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
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Mark: My wheel has a wheel!
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Its up to you. If you want it to be possible, then make it possible.
JUST DO IT!

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The thing about the coker, even the stock coker, is that if you're
riding it every day, suddenly it becomes way more manouvrable than
you'd think. A daily coker rider can turn it, stop it, still stand, hop
etc. at least as well as a normal rider can ride a 29er. The clunkiness
goes away after a few hundred miles.

The really key things I'd say are-

1) Learn to hop on the spot. Idling is nice, but takes up a lot of
room. Hopping on the spot takes next to no effort compared to idling,
and also translates directly to riding on very short cranks, where
idling becomes a bit less practical. You only need to hop a tiny bit
up, then do a stillstand, then hop again once you lose balance. If
you're really lazy, then just ride in the left hand lane and grab the
railing or the traffic light.
2) Learn to do tight turns - it's useful to be able to turn 90 degrees
on the spot to pull behind a car in a traffic jam and then turn 90
degrees back to ride the other side of it.
3) Learn to stop and start quickly.
4) Don't dismount - mounting the coker is hassle in traffic.
5) Don't ride too fast on major roads - always ride slow enough so
there's no chance you'll fall off. I've never averaged much over 13mph
on my commute, and even that is pushing it.

For when you're learning to ride the coker, you might want to use
smaller roads, until you're sure you can ride everywhere without
falling off. But once you've got it, you'll be fine.

Joe

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I had only ridden a coker a couple of times before I was out and about
in traffic. The best tip I think I was given is to grab the uni if I
fall off, so as not to smash it into a car, pedestrian.... Right now,
I have 150mm cranks, and I can cover a good distance pretty quick.

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I found going from a 29er with 127mm cranks to an airfoil 36er with 150s
didn't feel much less nimble or much harder to ride. Going back to a
29er (albeit with 150mm cranks) did feel like riding a 20", however :-)

--
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Dave: Just a question. What use is a unicyle with no seat? And no
pedals!
Mark: To answer a question with a question: What use is a skateboard?
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Brian MacKenzie said:

if you have a place to put your 36" when you get to work, it will be a
far nicer commute. you will have all the control you need after
several rides. Cokers are quite nimble when driven properly.

I agree!

I ride my Coker around town, through the trails, through the streets of
Manhattan and even through Manhattans packed sidewalks when I'm looking
an instant obstacle course.
What you can do on a 29er you can do on a Coker, it will just be a more
enjoyable ride.
Like Harper said the height of the Coker helps you stand out in traffic
and also gives you a visual advantage.
The Guni's are great but there's nothing that can imitate "the feel of
the wheel" (Coker 36"😉.
If you by a 29er you will eventually have to buy ONE more uni.
If you buy a Coker your done.
The only unhappy Coker owners are the ones who didn't spend enough time
in the saddle.
Practice, Practice, Practice!!!!!!!!
Adam
Just One Wheel

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There is no better way to have Fun and Exercise. "UNICYCLE"
Every one should have "FUN ON ONE"
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Thanks for your help everybody, I finally took the plunge this
afternoon, i'll let you know how the commute goes when i've had some
pratice.

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Dave

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kington99 said:

Thanks for your help everybody, I finally took the plunge this
afternoon, i'll let you know how the commute goes when i've had some
pratice.

Hurray. Welcome to cokerdom.

--
cathwood

Cathy

http://www.chuckingandtwirling.co.uk
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