I’m thinking of adding a handle to my 29’er for the upcoming longer distance ride season. In the winter I tend to whip around in the rain for an hour or two and my stock KH seat set up works just fine for the 25’ish km winter fitness routes that I ride. But the cherry blossoms are out here in Vancouver, spring is about to burst on the scene and longer distance rides are beckoning.
On the 29’er a touring handle, as it does on all long distance uni’s, would provide a good way of relieving pressure on long rides without disrupting the momentum of the roll by requiring intermittent dismounts. For this reason I have been pondering this addition to the Big Apple clad one wheeler for a while now.
My only concern is that the T 7 seems a bit imposing…would it be too much for the 29’er to handle, visually and practically speaking?
I dont think it would be too “imposing”, but it might be a bit on the larger side for just a 29’er. If you really enjoy riding your 29’er and dont want to purchase a coker with and add a t7, then I would suggest fabricating your own handlebars.
Here are a couple decent threads reguarding this topic:
The T-7 is definitely not overkill for a 29er. It works the same for a 29er as it does a coker. I have one on my 29er and love it. It works great to better situate yourself on the seat, on the go, and is a definite asset for long distance rides. Add to that the fact that you can mount your horn/bell, cycle computer and under the handle seat bag and it is a great addition to a unicycle.
The T-7 also adds a nice customized look to a uni.
It would be way overkill for trials, street or muni’s and would seriously get in the way for those types of rides, but not for a distance uni.
Hey Rob, thanks for your encouragement! Do you happen to have any pix of your 29’er set up with the T7?
BYW, did you order from uni.com or does Darren have the T 7 in his inventory?
bawls44, oh that is quite a web handle now, isn’t it? I have looked at a lot of do it yourself threads and even contacted a few do it yourself’ers for help but seems like its a load more work than its worth. Always some part that isn’t just quite the ticket or some tweak that just won’t cooperate. I’m glad to see the T 7 out there and it looks to me like a good mainstream touring handle for those of us that are less handy.
I’d think it’d be useful for riding long distances on a road 29er - whats more it integrates a rail adaptor. The tilt afforded by this improves the ride comfort once you’ve got used to it!
The handle might look slightly large, but I guess it might fit in OK. If you don’t like the rear handle, you could probably cut it off and stick a plug in the end for neatness although it possibly helps balance the weight of the front section…
I have a light, compass/bell, thermometer and a cyclometer on my front handles, plus I used to mount a bottle under them (but the bottle bosses broke and I haven’t gotten them fixed yet - Roger’s working on a solution). On the rear handle I currently have a mudguard (a Crud Catcher is about the right size to make a uni rear mudguard, fits on perfectly) and a rear light. In the summer I’ll consider removing the mudguard and just sticking a second bottle on the back.
You do have to be careful where you mount stuff so it doesn’t get broken when you drop the uni; also the paint is vulnerable to chipping in some place. But it is a great handle.
Darren does not carry the T-7 at the moment! I picked up mine from UDC. I mentioned mine to him at one of our club meetings and recommended he stock them, but I don’t think Darren is too impressed with handles. He is personally more of a purist on his uni’s and does not recommend handles beyond the regular seat handles. But he does sell other handles so maybe if enough people express an interest and request them, he will start to stock them.
An idea on a wrap for the handle instead of handlebar wrap is to use a couple of cheap foam handlebar grips instead of the tape. It looks nicer and offers very good protection from the occaisional upd’s. I don’t have a picture of mine, but will take one this weekend and post it, so you can see what I mean.
Our snow is about to disappear here in Toronto and the ice is melting…it is time for some serious outdoor riding!
Thanks for your post Rob. I’ll be interested to see your photos and, eventually, to hear back after you get in some some distance rides with the T7.
I know what Darren means about a clean look on the uni, that’s my preference too when it really comes down to it. But on long rides I already know that the practical applications of the touring handle will outweigh its slightly negative impact on the aesthetics of the 29’er.
Oh yeah, another question I had for those of you using the T7 was how much extra room does the handle take up under the seat?
The reason I am asking is I’m trying to anticipate whether I will need to cut down my uni’s seat tube in order to accomodate the touring handle.
Currently my 29’er is a Bedford frame with a stock post mounted with a stock KH seat. The seat post shows only 1/2 an inch above the seat tube. So if the T7 sucks up more space than that I’m not going to be able to comfortably reach my pedals and will have to consider cutting down the seat tube to get more clearance. This is something I’d rather not do especially given that the uni sports a sweet deep purple powder coated finish and brazed on seat post clamp.
I can sense that I’m going to have to cut down my gorgeous frame…sigh…
I am in the process of ordering the T7, through a local UDC dealer, and I think I’ll just wait to see how ‘too high’ the set up leaves me. Once I have seen how it all comes together it may be time to cut some metal.
To save height, with a little work, you can mount the T7 on a non-rail adapter seat post. It requires hacksawing about a 1-2mm off the ends of a standard uni seat post bolt plate to get it to fit inside the T7, then putting longer bolts in the seat. You will want a few washers to use as spacers handy to adjust the seat angle higher in the front. Be sure to use those locking nuts on the seat bolts because it becomes necessary to remove the seat from the unicycle to tighten them. This modification will lower the seat about an inch from with a the rail adapater.
I would first try the stock setup with the rail adapter, then cut the neck short enough to use the rail adapter, as a last resort give up on the rail adapter and mount the T7 to a seat post.
I have the T7 directly mounted without a rail adapter on my Nimbus 36. It works out well, good and solid with no worries.
