I have not seen aero bars mounted on the KH T-Bar before, so I’m curious to hear about any concerns in doing so. My setup is pictured below. The 22.2 mm t-bar is shimmed with a 1" pvc tubing and there is no slip.
I just rode 25 miles on this setup yesterday and it was a wonderful experience, but I’m interested to know if there are concerns with the strength of the t-bar when used with aero bars. It appears that most riders that use aero bars have a much more heavy duty setup, possibly with a stoker stem.
(The brake is pretty much useless with this setup, so I’ll likely be removing it for the time being - unless anybody has suggestions :))
I don’t know much about them either - just getting started - but I shouldn’t have said “useless.” The stability that the bars provide made me much more confident going down hills at higher speeds, so for the small hills on the nearby streets it is not necessary for me anymore.
It is still easy to pull the brake with a hand between the bars on the T.
Looks great! Only thing that would make me wary is the width. In a sudden dismount the armrests are going to create some chaos. I don’t crash much, but when I do I really, really need to get my legs out!
Don’t worry about your brake. If you don’t need it right now, you’ll find use for it in the future when you hit some bigger/steeper downhills, or when you get older…
Now I want to try a handlebar setup like that with armrests, but not if they block my exit strategy…
Hi John - I’ve dismounted from the front a few times successfully after failed free mount attempts. I’m 6’4" and my legs seem to make their way around the pads easily, but I haven’t upd’d at speed.
Just to make sure: no concerns about the ability of the T-Bar to support the aero bar riding position? I’m a lightweight at 165 lbs, but the bar is definitely taking more weight than it did when I was riding with the standard bar ends.
Yeah I tried it on my t-bar when I first got it. My handle ended up breaking at the adjustment bracket a day later from doing it though. Luckily Kris was cool about replacing it free of charge. I think the new 2010 t-bars have a reinforced bracket to solve that problem. The whole setup was pretty comfortable once I was used to it. It puts a lot of stress on the handle though. I don’t think I’ll try it again untill I get the better bracket thing.
Dave Cox rides (or at least rode) with aero bars on a t-bar.
In a full-out aero tuck, at least from measuring photos people have posted, the seat angle should be around 81 degrees - exactly what most triathlon bikes are. Have you thought about trying a bicycle seat? Don’t know exactly how that’ll work out with the T-Bar…
I’ve been thinking of getting a KH36" with the nimbus Handle set up with areo bars, just need the money to do so… any ideas weather this will work or not? pros and cons?
I have had aerobars with armrests on in the past. It is fantastic. It can really help reduce the weight on your saddle, and the resulting problems that causes.
I don’t remember having any trouble with the width. I didn’t UPD with them much, but they have some scrapes so I must have done, and it wasn’t much issue. It is not as ‘safe’ as UPDing with a smaller handle, or with none at all, but as it is a more ‘advanced’ way of riding that should correlate with UPDing less too.
So, I’d recommend trying them - as long as you feel fairly confident about not falling off much.
I have ridden with this exact setup. The only bummer is that over time metal fatigue on the mounting plates on the saddle caused the handle to fail - after rewelding it for the third time I gave up and used a kids’ bike frame top tube for a handle. It’s tank-like and won’t break on me in stupid ways.
I can especially recommend the aero bars if you’re doing solo touring - much less weight from the pack on your butt, makes multi-day rides possible, let alone more comfortable
I’ve been wanting to try something like this when get a chance to play with a big wheel. If you don’t already have aero bars, I’d think bars with spring loaded arm rests that fold up would be a good idea on a unicycle. Has anyone made a setup like this where you can use a bike saddle? It seem like it should be possible to move the seat back a bit for more efficient peddling. (Don’t know how hard it would be to balance; I’ve only been unicycling for two months.) A four hour bike ride is no big deal, but anything much over an hour on a uni becomes uncomfortable.
Whoa! Those arm wrests are awesome. I wonder if they would fold up and out of the way during a upd, or if they would fold up and into the way of another body part.
I thought they might fold up in the way, but I’d think that since the unicycle seems to always fall faster than I do, and since you wouldn’t have to throw your legs out to the side so much, it would be OK.
Wow, I never knew about those; sounds perfect for what we unicyclists need! There may be a set of those in my future…
Yes, some 36" riders have used/use bike saddles. They are more comfortable in your aero position, but I imagine no fun at all when riding upright. You’d have to be someone who does the vast majority of your riding in your tuck for best results. I’ve never tried this myself, so it would be great to hear from riders who have…
I like the pi Bar especially on downhill and steep uphill. I welded an aluminum tee that slides into two holes I drilled into the front of a Pi Bar. The tee is adjustable front to back itself and the Aero Bar is also. You can adjust the angle of the Aero Bar easily as well. The center support idea I stole from Brycer because he is a helpful “bastard”. The center bar protects the machine during a UPD nicely. I haven’t had an issue tripping on the Aero Bar rests yet during a UPD. The short cranks have helped nicely with some wonderful UPD s. The PI Bar is good and the Aero Bar gives you more options to go into a tuck or just ride comfortably with one hand and drink from a water bottle. It’s nice to have options and a way to change your body posture and points of contact during a long ride.
I keep playing with seat/saddle ideas but I seem to comeback to the 2010 KH Freeride. The seat seemed hard at first, almost like the foam was too thin and too soft but I did a 60 mile ride with no issue at all. I am getting farther into a ride with less trouble everytime. I read a post by a guy that does distance and who is a doctor and I am thinking the flat saddle idea has some good merit.
