I searched for a thread like this and couldn’t find one so now my question. I have heard that you can get your T7 handle modified to be bent Down instead of up, what do you guys think about flipping the T7 upside-down would it help speed? would it work well and how does the T7 help speed in the first place can anyone who happens to be smart about these kinds of things, explain how it works? thanks for the help.
I can’t imagine why you’d possibly want the T7 bent the other way to set it lower, it would force you to adopt an extremley uncomfortable position that wouldn’t be at all helpful in getting good speed.
I don’t think the T7 necessarily helps with speed, I got it because it helps me control the big wheel in traffic, it gives me somewhere to put stuff and it increases comfort on long rides a huge amount, by making it easy to carry some of my weight on my hand, or even stand off the saddle completely for short bursts. Of course if you’re comfortable you can cycle faster for longer.
well Hazmat on the forums has a modded T7 handle and he broke 28 MPH… he said without it he was slower… I have a normal T7 on my Nimbus 36’er that I got 2 days ago…
Did he compare it to riding with a normal, upwards facing T7 first? If it was his first big handle for his coker it might just be the presence of the handle that helped, not necessarily the direction…because handles do help, a lot.
I think he had a normal one first, because he has only had the forced down T7 Handle for about 6 months…
He’s an aussie, he’ll mean 28 km/h. Which is only like 17mph, loads of people can do that.
The T7 handle has only been out for about 7 months.
Joe
Everyone has a different riding style; one’s ideal hand position is different from another. Since everyone doesn’t have access to a custom, the best mass market design might be to have some fore/aft or up/down adjustment.
Would be nice but of course it makes the handle heavier, more fragile, more expensive and less stiff. You can adjust the handle height to some extent by altering the saddle pitch.
I think the T 7 is an awesome handle and the best bang for the buck so far in a mass produced uni handle.
Everyone’s riding style varies but for me the angle of the handle is perfect, I wouldn’t mess with it one bit. And, yes, it made a load of difference in terms of my speed when unicycling and my ability to ascend and descend hills more quickly and with a greater degree of control.
I just returned from a quick 25 km ride and found that at the end of it, when it took both hands off the handle, I was surprised at how my speed seemed to naturally drop and, not only that, my 29’er actually felt a tiny bit more twitchy without the strong connection the handles offers me.
28 kmph is pretty darn fast. On my 29’er with the handle, I’m close to 20 kmph as my fastest continuous speed as opposed to just an explosive burst.
The T7 on my 36" has helped me top out from about 18.5MPH without it to 22.1MPH with it (very scary, but i got it). The 29 I had it on before I got my 36 was about able to top out at the speed of my coker without it when the handle was on the 29.
Love the T7. I have my seat tilted back a long way so that the handles stick up quite high… nonetheless, leaning right down on them gets me quite low. I wouldn’t personally want to go any lower.
I’m not sure how you’d get it pointing further downwards (other than adjusting the rail adaptor down)… The handles are welded on at an angle. Maybe if you used a pipe bender (or somesuch) it would be possible to change the angle further. But they’re cromo, so I’m not sure how well they’d bend or if that would have any adverse effects (I expect it’d crack the powder coat).
Another alternative would be to angle the T7 using the rail adaptor and then rig up something on top of that to set your seat angle independently - e.g. using long seat bolts and adjust the angle by stacking washers on them. This might weaken the seat interface a little.
Try to borrow one, see what you think in the default configuration.
A few months actually. 
Nope and i’m aware of the fact that the T7 has been out for 7 months now. If not more
Congrats my friend, do you want to go faster by any chance?? 
I’;d like to, but at a higher gearing ratio. It just gets too unbalanced even with very short crank arms. I actually got that speed going slightly uphill (very slight grade). I find I’m more stable and confident in going fast when its not a downhill.
[post=1169680]I already have one…[/post] it’s awesome as is but I want more speed!
Wow, that’s the first time I’ve seen the T 7 look good in its original colour. It goes really well with the Nimbus 36’er.
Yes, well you look like maybe you’d be into riding more slumped over so perhaps a downward slope of the handle may indeed work for you. Can’t hurt to give it a try. The worst that can happen is that you damage the handle getting it bent to the angle you want but hey, you’re down south so it wouldn’t be that expensive for you to buy another one.
Adding another thing from my experiences. I had originally experimented with handles in a lower position, but my preference became positioning the handles further in front in order to get a lower body position. Relative to the axle, your hands in front (even way out in front as I have them now) give more control than just lowering the hand position. I believe that lowering the hands is inefficient because, relative to the axle, you have less leverage on the machine. Keeping the hands at waist height but placed more forward seems to give more precise leverage. And it is easier to get to the dynamic “triangulation effect” of the 3 contact points for hands, seat, and axle all coming into play.
In short, it may seem a radical idea, but I like to ride a road uni like a bike, in the same overall body position.
makes sense.
+1
The only thing I will add to this is that if you want some fast handles, make your own. The T7 is made for a large audience, mainly touring people, if you want to ride fast and want some handles to go with that, then experience with it. I don’t think upturning the T7’s is a very good idea.
I just got the T7…but I’m now thinking I definitely should’ve returned it. It came with a few scratches on the right handle (which first made me consider returning but I decided against it). Now after close examination, I’ve concluded that they did a poor welding job on it. It sits slightly angled and off to the right :(. It isn’t noticable while riding. But if you’re looking at it from behind you can see it doesn’t line up with the back of the handle.
Anyway, just thought I’d share that.
I like the idea of trying to move the handle independently of the seat…that can be done with some modifications I’m sure.
The front water bottle holder threaded inserts pulled right out of mine; not even a week old. I have had a few UPD’s off the front, but nothing I would consider hard enough for it to break. The threaded bushings are spot-welded front and back, so any side impact on the water bottle or frame will snap the spot welds off. I have some threaded inserts that work like a rivet gun, so I put them in, but they are aluminum, so I’m not sure if they will hold up. If not, I’ll just drill the holes all the way through and out the top and use some locking nuts and bolts to hold the thing in place.
Also, why is the water bottle so far forward, and not flush to the neck, like the rear bottle holder?