No, I had never saw this uni, it looks wonderful!
I don’t really know if there is flex in the middle part, there might be a bit, but I can’t feel it.
And you’re right, I could weld a new handlebar, but this one feels perfect for me.
It’s great to see more details of your frame and its history.
I didn’t invent anything with my V-frame. I had seen Corbin’s frame, turtle’s frame. Later I discovered on this forum the Red Menace. Finally it’s the closest to my frame, since it combines the V-frame and the use of aerobars.
I had thought my frame for performance and not for travel, so I made different choices.
At the end of May, I crossed the Alps with an ungeared 36" unicycle (9 days / 620km / 14300m D+). I haven’t talked about it much. I plan to write the travel story and use it as the voiceover for a short video documentary. I have lots of photos and video, of which this is one of the best:
It went really well, and I plan to cross the Pyrenees next year. And I want to make a 29" travel frame (for a G29). I was inspired by the geometry of your frame and my experience, I make some drawings like this:
The idea is to use a bike saddle, and a saddle bag like the one I used on my 36" (apidura 17L).
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For your 29 frame, I would recommend you to add inserts in the front and the back, in order to be able to add easily bottle cages, bags, pumps or anything that you could think about.
Another thing: You should not do vertical tubes. It doesn’t give you a lot of storage volume, but it increases the weight a lot.
A few hours ago, I had a typical UPD. I was 16 kms in a half marathon, on a part of the road that I know for being really bumpy. I had slown down a bit, so I think I was around 18 kph when my road did catch on the road. I think that I jumped a very little bit on a part that was going up, and I landed on a hole. Anyway, my wheel stopped, I went forward, I jumped over my handlebar and ran a few meters. I went back to my uni and got back on the road. I stopped for just 30 s.
So I can confirm that on that kind of fall there is no big risk.
I like to ideal of storage in the frame. However the front storage will have to be relatively thin to allow for leg clearance. In actual use if you look at the rider weight, the frame would likely look more like this. The total center of gravity needs to be centered over the axle.
I don’t really agree. Yes the bag has to be quite thin, but not that thin. On mine I can put a hamac inside.
For the angle of the uni, you are right, the center of gravity has to be over the wheel, but you can put heavy stuff in the front of the bag, and make it a bit wider at the front. This way the center of gravity will go forward. Another thing is that when you are really used to riding with aero bars (wich is @toutestbon case), you can and will put a big part of your weight on it. In the end, the uni should be quite well balanced. And he could add a bag on front of the front tube.
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Thank you for your comments.
This is a rough drawing, there are problems with the proportions.
The bag will probably be higher than long, at least more than on the drawing.
The basic idea is to build the frame to put a thin bag over the entire area where the thighs and knees put a restriction of space.
For the exact thickness I don’t know. It may be in the standards of the frame bags of bicycle… I would use a pair of cranks with Q factor.
I plan to use the same saddle bag at the back, to store bulky stuff like the sleeping bag. In the end, the idea is to distribute the load a bit more forwards.
As you can see on the following picture, my 3L triangular bag is far from occupying all the space on my 36". And with a 29", there would be even more space, 10L at least.
I really like the handlesaddle L, but I’m considering a position a little lower and a little further forward. The most comfortable position has to be the upright position. Besides, I’m not sure about aerobars. For me, the interest is on the flat.
For the center of gravity, I’m not too worried. I almost always have both hands pushing on the handlebars, which moves the center of gravity backwards a lot. And the more weight I put in front of the saddle, the more the frame will tilt backwards. That’s also why I want to put more weight on the front.
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I would recommend using the aerobars, it should allow you to really put weight on it and remove a lot of weight from your butt. And after several hours of riding, it is really a good thing.