Nimbus Shadow Handle first impressions

[corbin]

whoa; yeah, that is weird to break right on the weld! That totally sucks, steve. It seems like the 1.0 of all the new handlebars go through some period of time where they start breaking.

corbin

[steveyo]

Originally Posted by corbin

whoa; yeah, that is weird to break right on the weld! That totally sucks, steve. It seems like the 1.0 of all the new handlebars go through some period of time where they start breaking.

corbin

It's part of the evo of the sport.

It doesn't totally suck. I mean I still have the last setup, different from the seatpost up. So I'm going to swap out quick and easy, and still have an awesome 29er guni to ride! <OT>Especially since I've put in a lot of miles, I'm really starting to enjoy that higher gear, rather than fear it!</OT>

I've get an email into Amy Drummand at UDC. I'm pretty sure they'll try to help me out since it seems to be a welding problem.

[jtrops]

Originally Posted by redwelly

Do bike shops have 22.2 posts? I thought that was a unicycle oddity. 22.2 is a standard handlebar diameter (at the hand ends, not the middle) and is also the size of most non-ergo bar-ends. It shouldn't be hard to find some 22.2mm tube around somewhere with bike odds and ends.

Sam

22.2 is 7/8", and was the standard size for American seatposts until bikes stopped being made in the states. All of the old cruisers, and BMX bikes until the "mid school" '90's, had this size.

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by steveyo

Those times I couldn't catch the uni, it whammed done right onto the bar-ends. Besides scooping up a little sand, the only negative result was that in the hardest crash, the straight bar twisted about 10 or 15 degrees in its clamp. I was quickly able to twist it back straight and get back underway immediately.

I give this bar top marks for versatility and durability.

Originally Posted by steveyo

Last night, I was riding up a steep hill, and torquing up on the handle when something gave, and suddenly it felt I was pulling the seat up under me. The Shadow handle makes the seat beautifully stiff, and suddenly all that stiffness was gone. I thought I was going to have to call for a ride, but, by carefully sliding the tube back together, and not pulling up on the handle AT ALL, I was able to gingerly ride the thing home.

You don't still give it top marks for durability do you?

With long bars and big crashes a handle does have to be very strong. My T7 handle gave me a sinking feeling when it snapped 100km into a 150km ride, and I had to do a similar procedure but avoided pushing down on the handle because I only usually pull up on the inner KH handle, and push down on longer bars to get back in the seat. I've been thinking about getting the Shadow handle but maybe I should wait and see how many break.

Since the T7 I've never trusted long handles too much for pulling/pushing hard on, and treat them as more of a guide for the wheel, because the leverage can be too much for the handle to handle. If only a new handle would come out that is compatible with existing seatposts!

[steveyo]

Originally Posted by Rowan

You don't still give it top marks for durability do you?

Hmm...tough to give it top marks now, but hopefully, this is a manufacturing defect (i.e. lousy weld).

I really love the integration of the handle with the seat, and the resultant stiffness of the seat. I also like how the KH seat is "slung" across the Shadow base, instead of the post being directly beneath me. The long bar itself seems quite strong, but time shall tell with that, too.

[steveyo]

I just wanted everyone following this thread to know: Unicycle.com is bending over backwards to make this right for me. I knew they would.

They're sending me a new Shadow seat base and a pre-paid UPS label with which I'll ship back the base with the broken/defective weld. They want to send the defective one back to the factory to be reviewed, to see if this was an anomaly or a design flaw to be improved upon.

I even mentioned an extra small part I needed to purchase for another uni, and UDC is throwing it in FOR FREE.

While they're not perfect, and some of the new equipment may have a few bugs to work out, I've never know a company with better customer service. I LOVE UDC!

Meantime, after thinking about this problem, I'm wondering if a few hard UPDs may be hammering the t-bar end right into that welded part of the tube. With my new seat base, I'm going to slide the bar all the way in, but then 1/4 inch or so back out, so the t-bar isn't in direct contact with the welded end of the tube.

[DavidHood]

Originally Posted by rogeratunicycledotcom

locktite should deal with it

just to follow up (sorry not to report back earlier but I have been having too much fun riding) the fix seems to have worked. I cleaned all the parts, put plenty of grease on everything, put it in and out and wiped off excess grease, and applied Blue (Medium) locktite threadlocker for final install. I also used a lock-washer this time. Had done a bit of damage (might just have scratched the paint) where I was just trying to tighten it before. Thanks everyone for the advice. My Shadow Handle is back to being solid as a rock and I love it!

[DavidHood]

Originally Posted by steveyo

defective weld

My Shadow Handlebar broke in the exact same spot (right on the weld) as the pictures provided by Steveyo's earlier post in this same thread. I took it to a welding shop and they fixed it. We will see if it holds. Might turn out to be better than the original. I have not dropped (UPD) it yet but it feels solid as new. I will report back. Thank you.

[juggleaddict]

mine is ok so far, it's been dropped once : / I put 1 1/8th inch round furniture ends on it, they don't look goofy, and although I don't drop it much, if I ever do it's peace of mind. Not that that helps at all if it broke while you were riding.

[Rowan]

I was curious about all this Shadow talk so my one arrived today even though they are breaking I figured they have to be better than the T7.
My first impression is the seatpost is short! I didn't have to cut any off, and would have cut it a bit longer if possible for 28" use. I mounted it to a new Street saddle. I tried the straight bar but soon changed to bent bar down.

Originally Posted by redwelly

using the curved T part pointing down and with maximum length out of the front

I'm surprised not everyone is following your lead... it feels natural that way for me too.
I'm pleased at how there is plenty of room for my green side light.

Originally Posted by steveyo

I'm wondering if a few hard UPDs may be hammering the t-bar end right into that welded part of the tube. With my new seat base, I'm going to slide the bar all the way in, but then 1/4 inch or so back out, so the t-bar isn't in direct contact with the welded end of the tube.

I'll follow your lead on that too. It can't hurt to leave room for it to move a bit if it needs to- and it is good to have maximum length out the front!

[EoinC]

Originally Posted by steveyo

After riding my Shadow Handle-equipped KH29 Guni on a good, long ride, complete with a couple sprawling UPDs, I can give it some more review...

<OT>Excellent write-up on your ride, Steve. Very well done. The 29" x Schlumpf sounds like perfect combination for that event.<OT>

[mtnjeffe]

Black Ops makes a 27.2 x 300 pivotal seat post for any of you who don't like using the adaption collar.

[rogeratunicycledotcom]

We have the Macneil 'Pivotal' 320mm Seatpost Black - (27.2) in stock

http://www.unicycle.uk.com/macneil-p...ack-27-2.html/

Roger

[Rowan]

Originally Posted by saskatchewanian

I wonder if anyone has stuck a curved handle from the Shadow in a KH T-bar yet.

Yeah- it is the best of both worlds. It is more adjustable and the bar is a bit lower under the front handle so it allows my bell to fit. I soon gave up on my Shadow base after the hard to access bolt came loose. The KH base plus the Shadow bent bar allows so much adjustment that you can make the handle too long and too low, which I was unable to do with just the KH T-bar.

Originally Posted by DavidHood

I cleaned all the parts, put plenty of grease on everything, put it in and out and wiped off excess grease, and applied Blue (Medium) locktite threadlocker for final install. I also used a lock-washer this time.

I could do that- but for an expensive new product which took two years to design, I shouldn't need to fix it! It should come with loctite if it needs it.

Originally Posted by Nimbus Shadow- Product Description

The ‘Shadow’ handle is constructed to offer maximum versatility without any compromise in the performance.

To me the versatility of the construction seems to compromise performance. I found it difficult to access the bolts- bolts which are easy to access on regular 4 bolt setups. The pivotal seatpost bolt doesn't seem like a bright idea to me, considering I have been having no trouble with the 4 bolt patterns and the single bolt which you can't get to easily comes loose! The old saying "if something works, don't fix it!" keeps coming back to haunt me whenever I buy unnecessary new parts to upgrade.

If anyone owns the KH touring handle and is curious about the Shadow- I recommend buying just the bent bar and perhaps the bar ends. It slots into the KH holder fine and the bar is longer and the T is wider at the end.

Ample room for bells, whistles, computers, horns, lights and whatever else you might want to put on your handle.

[DavidHood]

Originally Posted by steveyo

defective weld?

The Shadow Handlebar (version 1.0) on my Nimbus (disc) Impulse broke right on the weld just like Steveyo's (see link below for pictures) did. I had an auto mechanic weld it back together. It ain't pretty but it does seem to be holding up rather well (knock on wood). Still it's the first thing I check after every UPD.

I will install a new Shadow Handlebar on my KH36G. I know that version 2.0 of the Shadow Handle Base was reinforced that specific weld but I have seen others (see second link to SmugMug) since then that have broken in that same spot.

My question is: would it help if I took it to my welder BEFORE it breaks as sort of a preventative measure? If not, I might switch the new base on my KH36G with the ugly welded base from my Impulse. I walked over 5 miles to the Jeep the day it broke and I do not want to do that again nor do I want the fear of hiking it out of the woods restricting the distance (away from Jeep) I am willing to travel.

Here is the link to Steveyo's pictures in post # 57:
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/sho...4&postcount=57

Here is the link (I hope John does not mind) to show the December 2010 model (presumably version 2.0) is still susceptible to break at the weld.
http://gallery.unicycling.com/Unicyc...543_XwMet-A-LB

Here is the link to a Uni Vision video where UDC demonstrates the durability where as the seat post bent but the Shadow Handle Base was unharmed. Granted the video is a side-to-side hit whereas mine broke with a direct hit to the front (had post butted in too far) and Steveyo's broke pulling uphill.
http://unicyclist.ca/b/videos/985/ni...w-base-testing

Any tips for making the Shadow Handle Base bombproof?