Zivit,
Cool, I like simple and low cost. My first homemade unicycle had a saddle similar to yours. That was about 60 years ago.
My current 36" unicycle has a homemade handlebar that cost about $3.00 (192.22 ₽ Russian Rubles).
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I got inspired by Flansberriums asymmetric T-Bar design. I don’t have a lot of spare cash to order a custom piece that I’m not sure I would like, but my dad has a shed with a Mig welder and a few angle grinders. So I got KH T-Bar ends, some steel tube and flatbar from the hardware store, and spend some hours turning those into the finished result you can see in the picture.
First ride impressions: great for cross country, since compared to the standard plastic handles, I now have a space for two hands. I’m still not 100% used to it on technical sections, but I think once I have a few more hours on this setup I may prefer it over the trusty old plastic handle. The brake is in a very natural spot, on the smaller hops I did it felt great. I haven’t done any larger gaps, or really rough sections, so I’ll still hold my final judgement, but so far I’m optimistic. It makes the seat tilt a lot more when pulling on it, which is noticable on uphills, or jumps. That will probably require a slight change in technique.
If I do a second version, I’ll have a few small changes I’d do to the angles, and also the distance between the handles. But as a first try, it is great.
This probably is by far the most “structually important” welding I’ve done, so I’m also a bit anxious to see if it holds up to the stress. (I’m pretty sure it will).
If you don’t have the tools, skill, or time, Jacob @flansberrium will sell you a much prettier product. If I end up liking this a lot, and finding some spare cash, I might end up buying one from him.
Nice job. For saddle flex prevention, you can still extend/replace the flat part so it also attaches at the seatpost bolts (like the KH reinforcement plate does).
Can’t wait for the second part of the review 
I hadn’t seen Jacob’s thing before (probably because I don’t use Facebook!), it looks pretty nice.
My muni handle is a single bar “droopy dick” sort of thing, mounted to the saddle with a gadget ex-forum-member (ex-rider?) Nurse Ben made. I really like it, but the saddle mount is wearing out. Maybe I can just get that piece from Jacob and figure out another single bar thing.
Part two (but not quite final). I took it for a longer ride, with much more difficult sections. It feels great to ride one handed too, and having a place to rest my second hand for the more boring sections (and Berlin has quite a lot of those inbetween the short but good trails), is great. I think I will even be fine with using my left hand to brake for a bit on long rides, to rest my right hand.
Speaking of that, I think it is easier and more relaxed to hold onto/pull on this handle compared to the plastic bumpers, since you can get a good wrap on it with your fingers. Which is nice on uphill sections.
I haven’t done much maximum braking, but I think I am slightly weaker with my braking finger with this handle for some reason. Not much, but a bit (I have also changed brakes to a shimano a few months back so that may also be the cause of that feeling). But I was getting a bit of arm pump with the shimano before, and didn’t experience any since switching to this handle.
It does pull the saddle “behind” me a bit on jumps, and going uphill (so when I’m pulling on it), but not as much as I thought, and I’m completely fine with it.
Overall: It’s almost freaky how fast I’ve become used to this, I’m normally pretty sensitive to setup change. Need to tighten the bar ends more, because they move when I do bigger stuff.
Somehow, I don’t really care about saddle flex much… I may end up doing the reinforcement for strength, but I’m not really all that bothered by the movement. This bar isn’t that much longer than the plastic handles, so the flex doesn’t feel increased to me
Very nice WB!
Thanks! i’m very happy with it so far
Wow WB, nice craftmanship. It looks very good.
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Thanks buddy. I made this one as proof of concept and with intentions of using it as a pattern for a metal fabricator and/or as a mold pattern to make a glass filled nylon or other composite material version but after using it for a bit I think I’ve decided to just let this be the final product
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Are you planning to take orders from woodworking newbie ? :o)
@ WB. That birch handle is a work of art.
Is it still possible to fit a Uni Frame onto a brake post mount? Like the KH, Nimbus, or Qu-Ax ones? I want to make the custom handlebars above with a 20" frame since I have one lying around, and I can’t find the inner diameter or outer diameter of the brake post mounts.
They should be 22.2 outer diameter …as this is the standard diameter for handlebars in the bike world
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As all the picture links in my original post are broken, here’s the link to the post with the original photos in the german category:
Picture dump of the new version of my mini t-bar.
Found someone who made me these brackets out of aluminium on his CNC mill for an extremely small amount of money. Looks a bit bulky (it’s still a prototype-ish thing, I could slim down the design, but in this case that would have made it a fair amount more expensive). One half bolts to the seat, and the other half acts as the clamp.
I welded up a new “T-bar” from a 22.2mm seatpost. It’s ridiculously heavy, as the steel tubing has a large wall thickness, but I had a hard time finding 22.2mm tubing in reasonable quantities anywhere. On the plus side, this way my amateur welding should be more than plenty. I might try to find someone to weld me a version out of aluminium, or a higher grade steel to get the weight down.
I like this “asymetrical-T-Bar” design a lot, but I might also want to try a few different ones at some point, with the clamp I have a really good starting point for that.
It required a very slight notch in the seatbase up front (2mm or so). If anyone has access to a cnc mill and wants to recreate it for themselves, I can send you the CAD files. It should fit all current seatbases that use allen bolts to the seat.
I have a few little things I would ideally like to change though, like building in a slight downward angle for the tube, a cutout on the bottom so it would fit on saddles like the stadium better. (The bolt pattern should fit, but if would sit “up” on the raised section. Which is probably functional, but not very neat.) Instead of a downward angle on the bracket, it may be easier to bend the tubing of the T-Bar by a few degrees.
I also suspect that while it is a tight squeeze, the 4 bolts for the “clamp” could be in front of the 4 bolts that go into the seat, which would be a bit neater. I was initially worried that for brakes with longer levers than my XT that might be an issue, but:
a) Looks like that isn’t an issue, at least with my T-bar design and handles (the clamp could be used for different ones too).
b) I pretty much threw the possibility to fit the brake “clamp” under the seat away by having the tube so close to the base anyway…
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Dear Forum,
Perhaps someone with more engineering knowledge can tell me if the following is possible. See the attached picture of my 24" (brakeless) handlebar setup. There are two forward facing and two rearward facing sets of bar ends attached to the Shadow straight T. I have a similar setup on my 26" Oracle, but with a brake attached.
My idea is to place metal sleeves over/around the front facing bar ends. If the sleeves are twisted outward, the brake is actuated. The two sleeves would be connected such that if one were turned, the other would turn, and either or both sleeves could be used for braking. My current setup, without the brake, feels dialed-in, ergonomic. It’d be cool to add a brake without feeling like I am compromising my hand-hold. Also, the range of braking power, from minimum to maximum, would be greater, which could potentially help with control.
Interesting thought. I have no idea about making it possible though.
I think two interconnected brake sleeves on the in the handle would be quite complex. Maybe a single brake lever that is large enough to easily reach from both sides and below the handles would be something to consider.
Maybe something like this but reconfigured some:
Hi elpuebloUNIdo,
How about garbage pick a childs mountain bike with twist grip shifters? all the attachment and cable access already exist. install a 2 to 1 cable sleeve and return spring so they both work together, the twist part is only 2" long total and come on right and left sides, so post us a picture.
PS. Just checked the garage, have one 24" b#*ke out there with them pointing to the garbage can. You Close to Buena Park?