im planning on building up a 29er this spring for long distance city commuting and im looking for ideas on what to use to do it on the cheap if its possible. i have thought about the handles they sell on UDC and they look great but i dont have a viscount saddle or a CF miyata base to bolt them onto and well the shipping to Canada plus the 50$ UDS price tag puts it just beyond my reach. has anyone has success with Magiver’n handles out of old doner bike parts perhaps somthing that will bolt onto the seatpost?
Here’s a few, including one of mine:
http://www.unicyclist.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=31267
Also have a look at the handle that John Childs uses on his Coker. He has done a fine job of carefully piecing it together from a Stoker stem, an extension and bar ends. Really impressive.
I am also on the hunt for affordable handle options for my 29’er and have talked to a local machist about making one for me. At this point he hasn’t given me a quote on the price yet. If it is reasonable I may go for it but my only worry is that I’m going by the seat of my pants in terms of angle and length given that I have never riden with this type of handle.
As well he was planning to make it from Cro-Moly and I was concerned that this may be too heavy for the 29’er.
If you have a Miyata (or the Torker version of the Miyata) you can use the GB4 stiffener plate to strengthen up the plastic seat base enough to use the GB4 handle or other similar handle that’s bolted to the front of the saddle. But that combo is going to be over your budget.
I made a Coker handle. Pictures and descriptions are in my Miscellaneous Stuff gallery. But that again will be way over your budget. Maybe it will give you some ideas.
Another option made from recycled bike parts is this one. If you can get an old bike thats suitable and can get some recycled parts from old bikes, you might be able to put it together within your budget.
is that meant to be machinist or masochist? 
im still trying to decide how i want to approach this… the pictures you linked to in your gallery have what looks like a bike stem attached to your seat post but it sort of looks like a telscoping bike stem? i have not seen this before is this a stock item at the LBS? as well has anyone had any sucsess attaching areo bars to a 29er?
recently i have been riding a 26er with 102 cranks i should really get a handle for this as well…
I used part of an adjustable stoker stem to attach the handlebar to the uni. A stoker is the rear rider on a tandem bike. The handlebars for the stoker attach to the seatpost of the front rider (the captain). The stoker stem is the piece that makes that attachment.
There are different styles of stoker stems. Some are fixed in length and others are adjustable. I used an adjustable stoker stem. You can order it online here. I ordered mine from a seller on eBay. Your LBS can also order the part.
Some people have experimented with adding on aero bars. Pete uses an aero bar setup on his Purple Phaze uni to get a more tucked riding position. There’s pictures of his Purple Phaze and a picture of him in his tucked riding position in the Florian Schlumpf in Seattle gallery. It’s a unique riding position. Not many other people are experimenting with that extreme of a tucked riding position.
Jack Hughes uses an aero bar on his Coker handle. For him it’s a way to use the arms to help support some of the weight instead of having all the weight carried on the saddle. There’s a picture of his setup here
Others also use aero bars of some sort as part of their handles. Scot Cooper is one. And there are others. I haven’t seen any that are making use of the forearm rests that the bike folks use with aero bars. On a unicycle you generally need your arms more free so you can adjust your balance.
thank you so much John you got my gears turnng i think i may have the problem solved finally. i will have to post pics when it is complete.
Excellent, I look forward to your pix Phil.
did a 4.2 mile ride home form work tonight, good time nice cruising speed on my 26er with 4" cranks. i realised a set of aero bars would really really help with control and comfort. i also realised my wheel is out of true… next step is to find a cheap set of aero bars.
Philip, are you going to go with the stoker stem idea for the section of the handle that attaches to the seat tube? I am still toying with whether to get this handle built for me of try to assemble it myself, a la JC style.
(Maybe if you come up with one that works well for you, you can produce a copy and we can turn the tables…you become the seller, I become the buyer. 
)