What length Coker cranks?

kokomojuggler said:

What's the optimum crank length for you on a Coker?

You should really get used to going fast with 152's before you go any
lower, but crank length is a very personal choice.

my distance cranks are 110's. my normal cranks are 175's (this allows
me to bomb around super fast and still ride very aggresively through
town, and the woods. you really have to learn how to spin properly
before you really enjoy the longer cranks, but you can get them going
quite fast if you try.

127's seem to be everyone's second pair of Coker cranks, you can go
alot faster and more smoothly than with the 150s, and still keep hills
manageable. 127's change it from 'a big unicycle' to a Coker!

it all depends on what you want to do. the benefits of one crank size
have limiting factors compared to another size

--
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There's always
these...http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?t=48964

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On my Coker I used to sustain over 12 mph for an hour at a time on 150s,
and I'm no spring chicken. Having been there and done it myself, and
spent a fortune on cranks, my advice is, get to the limit of what you
can achieve on the size you have before you change. Can you idle it?
If not, there's still more speed and control to be found with the
cranks you have.

Short cranks on a very big wheel make a very specialised machine. A
little bit more top end speed, but at the cost of low speed control and
versatility. Then you're restricted to easy routes, and you start to
blame the uni for being boring.

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Thanks for the help. I've never really tried to idle on it. I do idle on
my 20". You've given me motivation to try idling on my Coker. I think
I'll go back to the longer cranks first.... Oh, I just remembered my
long cranks are on my 20 inch uni, which someone has borrowed to
unicycle in a High School Play.

This will have to wait.

-Mike

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kokomojuggler

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When buying a new Coker, do they come with 150s? it sounds like that
would be the optimum length for me to get used to the bigger wheel. My
plan is to use it for distance riding.

I find freemounting very easy on my 20" and more difficult on my 28".
Will it be noticably more difficult on a 36"?

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patmoore said:

I find freemounting very easy on my 20" and more difficult on my 28".
Will it be noticably more difficult on a 36"?

A different technique, and a bit more difficult. The difficulty is
more with starting to move than actually getting up there in the first
place.

--
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Mikefule said:

A different technique, and a bit more difficult. The difficulty is more
with starting to move than actually getting up there in the first
place.

I'm 5'8". I'm imagine it's easier if you're taller.

I hope to do a fairly lengthy ride 60km in about six months so I guess
I'm going to need to do a lot of training. Complicating things is a
surgery-induced delay. I had a "tune-up" on my right knee (very
advanced arthritis) a few days ago and won't be able to ride for a
while.

--
patmoore

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Mikefule said:

Short cranks on a very big wheel make a very specialised machine. A
little bit more top end speed, but at the cost of low speed control and
versatility. Then you're restricted to easy routes, and you start to
blame the uni for being boring.

This is the main reason I chose to have a geared hub in my 36" uni. I
knew i'd want it to be both these things; easy cruise and smooth spin
on flat & downhill routes, with high speed and lower control, as well
as off road capability, hill climbing and maneuverability. Since my
schlumpf coker can be both of these things at the flick of an ankle, it
serves my purposes perfectly.

I currently ride with 165mm cranks, which are far too long for a normal
road coker, BUT in 1:1.5 they equate to 110mm cranks. This change
(although abrupt, and takes some getting used to) is perfect for
changes in terrain & environment, as well as gradient. I use the low
gear for technical work close to traffic, bumpy terrain and low speed
maneuvering. As soon as I reach a wide, open stretch of (at the moment
at least) clear cycle path, I kick the button across, panic for half a
second, recover, overcompensate, recover the other way, slowly smooth
out my cadence then concentrate on slowly building speed. I've only
clocked one trip on it so far using my GPS, which gave me a peak speed
of 16mph (in high gear) and I seemed to be averaging about 12, although
I have to slow down slightly to take my hand off the saddle to read the
display. My change up/down speed is at about 5mph.

I would recommend, on a 1:1 coker for versatility and speed, 125s are
pretty much perfect. 150's are good to learn on, but are too slow for
distance work, there is much greater potential in the wheel. 110's and
below make it hard to climb steep gradients, and reduce
maneuverability.

Loose.

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I went between the 125s and 150s and got a set of 140s

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Last night I ground off the sproket from a bicycle we found in the trash
and now I have another pair of 6" cranks. (150mm). It's amazing the
bicycles people throw away around here. I am donating 9 bicycles to a
school fundraiser rummage sale and all were given to me or found in the
trash. Some look brand new. Most needed work, but nothing too major.
The one I took the cranks from was sacrificed to fix at least 3 of the
others, including new tires for Tom Miller's training unicycle.

http://tinyurl.com/zjzor

Yes, Cokers come with 6" cranks. Last summer I exchanged the cranks
with the 5" cranks from my 20" uni. I learned to idle the 20" with the
long cranks, and have gotten comfortable with the 5" cranks on the
Coker. It's taken me quite a while to exceed 10 MPH on the Coker, even
w/ 5" cranks. My next goal is 11 MPH for 6 miles. My times depend on
the wind direction and traffic on the roads.

O.K. On to my first Coker idling session!

--
kokomojuggler

Kokomo Juggler
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I don't own a coker. I have ridden probably 15 different cokers (no 2
are the same!).

I think 125 is a good crank to try because you will then know whether
you want to go up or down. Its a good median. I like a 110 but I have
MacKenzie-esque quads. 102's were too short for me. Basically for road
riding you want the shortest cranks that you are comfortable riding in
traffic. I could ride the 102s but once I got going I found it took me
several rotations of the wheel to slow everything down.

Edit: Proper use of a brake changes everything...I may be willing to
try 102s if I had a brake.

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cranks arn't very expensive so it would probably be wisest to get a
whole set of 'em.. I have 90,102,114 and 127 and I like 90 best for
indoor riding* and 114 for touring, I'll probably be using 102 in the
summer when there's little or no wind.

* Any idea where to get shorter cranks? I've asked Roland but except
for the TryAll he can't get any shorter than 90mm.

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For my style of riding and physical condition I really like 140's. I
don't like 125's on hilly rides.

DustinMichels said:

I have 90,102,114 and 127 and I like 90 best for indoor riding* and 114
for touring

Dustin, are those your cranks for Coker? Your neighborhood ride profile
probably doesn't look like this:

+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: BrierShorelineProfile.JPG |
|Download: http://www.unicyclist.com/attachment/13209 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Steve

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UniBrier said:

Dustin, are those your cranks for Coker? Your neighborhood ride profile
probably doesn't look like this:

Yeah they are, I don't really use my coker in town, mainly touring and
I've recently taken to indoor riding. 90mm cranks are still okay for
turning and slowing down, I can still U-turn in a street and I don't
have to come to sudden stops as I don't ride in town.

Right, what's this called in normal english? Someone called it a 'bike
ring' but that sounds wrong..
[image:
http://www.unicyclist.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=192612&g2_serialNumber=2&g2_GALLERYSID=8c66b262a995f35d0b40e255802ecf07]

Most people use 125mm cranks, but don't be scared to try shorter ones,
I wasn't disapointed when I tried them.

Edit: Can't make image smaller, sorreh :S

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Looking for the work "Velodrome"?

Fair enough for short cranks. I've said before that I'm impressed by
those that can control big wheels with short cranks. For my personal
taste they just don't offer any advantage in hills, I have to be too
careful.

--
UniBrier

Steve

Hop Drop & Roll

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stick that guitar in the closet next to your
shortwave radio, your karate outfit and your unicycle and we'll go
inside and watch TV.” – Homer
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