Re: How old is Coker?

The first Cokers (aka The Big One unicycle) were sold in 1998 and were
produced by the 'Coker Tire Co' (http://www.coker.com).

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My understanding is that Guy Hansen, from Utah, made the first unicycle
with a Coker wheel. He used the wheel that Coker was using on their
Monster Cruiser bicycle. Guy, or someone else, then convinced Coker
Tire Company that making a unicycle would be a good use for that tire.
The tire was originally created for use with their 'Monster Cruiser'
(http://www.unicycle.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=435) bicycle. The
unicycle idea came later.

I did a search on the forum, and the first mention of "Coker" was in
March of 1998. When Mike Payne broke the news in 'this post'
(http://tinyurl.com/7yov6).

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john_childs said:

I did a search on the forum, and the first mention of "Coker" was in
March of 1998. When Mike Payne broke the news in 'this post'
(http://tinyurl.com/7yov6).

No (to pick a nit), the first mention was all of one day earlier in a
post by David Maxfield, as found on Google Groups (I hope the link
gets through):
<http://www.google.nl/groups?hl=nl&lr=&threadm=3509C2D7.62A3B72A%40Octacon.co.uk&scoring=d&prev=/groups%3Fas_q%3Dcoker%26as_ugroup%3Drec.sport.unicycling%26as_drrb%3Db%26as_mind%3D12%26as_minm%3D5%26as_miny%3D1981%26as_maxd%3D31%26as_maxm%3D3%26as_maxy%3D1998%26lr%3D%26hl%3Dnl>.

Klaas Bil - Newsgroup Addict
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Yes it was Guy who took a cruiser bike, stripped the wheel and converted
it into a unicycle. Then persuaded them to produce it as a standard
unicycle.
His initial design was as in the small person's coker as it was designed
for his son to ride it as well. (I borrowed his design when I produced
our one).
What has always puzzled me is what he was doing with 2 cruiser Coker
Bikes?

Roger

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Klaas Bil said:

*I hope the link gets through*

Well it didn't and it seems you can't repair it because part of it fell
through the cracks. The correct link is 'here'
(http://tinyurl.com/4m8w3).

Klaas Bil

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Klaas Bil said:

*Well it didn't and it seems you can't repair it because part of it
fell through the cracks. The correct link is 'here'
(http://tinyurl.com/4m8w3).

Klaas Bil *

How historic!

I also came across this from that link:

'It sounds absolutely fascinating. I've never heard of a Coker
unicycle(?), or a
Coker 36" tire. Are they selling a unicycle, or the most expensive cycle
tire
I've ever heard of?

I didn't find any reference to unicycles on their web page.

John Foss'

JF didn't know something back then!

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Brian MacKenzie said:

*JF didn't know something back then! *

Yes, it's true! We all had to find out about it at some time. Now I
remember that whole exchange.

Apparently Coker put their unicycle into their catalog many months
before they had any to sell. The demoed them at the 1998 National
Unicycle Convention in Monrovia, CA, at which time they still weren't
quite on the market yet, but I think they became available soon after.
Gilby might have gone home with the demo model from that convention.

I remember riding it and thinking "This thing will never hold up." It
had a regular uni hub, not something built specially for such a large
wheel, and was otherwise made of ordinary low-end uni parts.

Fortunately, I was wrong. They have held up fine, and spawned a whole
new area of unicycling.

It would be interesting to learn more of the story of Guy Hansen and his
communications with Coker. I wonder how much urging it took for them to
decide to make a unicycle out of their giant tires. I'm glad they did!

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johnfoss said:

*Gilby might have gone home with the demo model from that
convention.

I remember riding it and thinking "This thing will never hold up." It
had a regular uni hub, not something built specially for such a large
wheel, and was otherwise made of ordinary low-end uni parts.*

Yes, I'm the one that took it home. I think I still have the wheel, or
part of it, from that one as it had a stripped axle. The nut for that
hub did not go on very far and was only held on with a few threads. I
think they used a different hub on the retail models, or at least the
one I got a year later had a different hub in it.

Quoted message said:

-Originally posted by rogeratunicycledotcom-
*His initial design was as in the small person's coker as it was
designed for his son to ride it as well. (I borrowed his design when I
produced our one).*

Here a pic of Guy on what may be the first ever Coker:
[image: http://gallery.unicyclist.com/albums/UAM-Day4/aae.sized.jpg]

And one of his sons:
[image: http://gallery.unicyclist.com/albums/UAM-Day5/aal.sized.jpg]

You can see that he has the frame made with two tubes that go from the
axle and directly to the seat, so the seat can be as close to the wheel
as possible.

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