This is a good point. It seems like more could go wrong like a bent frame from a hard upd if the p sticks out without support under itself.
Adjustability is also a good point. That may be the hardest part to factor in but is a necessity.
Thanks for the input!
-PJ
Hi,
Below is my post of my recent evolution of my Touring Unicycle build for my KH29.
…the inverted L frame.
On a standard unicycle, you can only put weight on the rear.
Many have traveled with all their luggage on the rear and a backpack.
In this case, you need to be very careful to place the heaviest objects as close to the saddle as possible, and not to carry too much weight.
Having everything behind you forces you to push on the handlebar. On a unicycle with a balanced load, you can take your hands off the handlebar. 
I went for a P-frame design for 2 reasons:
It also allowed me to find a way to travel without a backpack, thanks to the 3L water bladder in the frame pack. The fact that this pack is central means that its impact on balance is negligible whether the water bladder is full or empty.
As for the modular aspect, that’s @jaco_flans idea. But for a touring unicycle, it’s a really good idea! 
What is it like riding with your hands off of the handlebars on a bike saddle?
I would assume it’d be hard to stay grounded and you couldn’t really make adjustments as easily.
I ride regular bike saddles on my Unis and while riding hands free is doable in general I avoid doing it as it does not feel safe as you lack some control.
My saddles are also setup with an angle that is optimal for a riding position that is bent forward - kind of how you would ride a regular hybrid/city/sports bike so if I balance my unicycle in a upright position I slide forward on the saddle. Maybe it is different when the unicycle is loaded with camping gear?
If you practice and make the proper adjustments I’m sure you could master riding hands free on a bike saddle to relax your hands but I would rather focus on a handlebar setup with two different comfortable positions.
You can ride with hands off the handlebars if the bike saddle is adjusted with a nose up angle but that is not advisable because the whole idea of a bike saddle is to eliminate the pressure on the front and put all the load on the back (sit bones). The nose really needs to tilt down a little and that requires hands on handlebars or some other support to hold you back.
By this I mean that I found myself able to let my hands off the handlebars without feeling like I was struggling or sliding off the saddle.
When you’ve got all your weight behind you, even with a unicycle saddle, if you take your hands off the handlebars, it’s almost impossible to stay on the unicycle.
Ohhh I understand now.
Thank you for the clarification!
Quick question, what did you settle on for your frame?
I’m now looking to do the same as you, either a P frame or looking at building a 29" gravel penny Farthings around my carbon 29" wheel.
Ngl, a gravel penny sounds sick. I actually looked at building a penny as well but on a 50” wheel instead.
I’m pretty positive I’ll be going with a v-frame just for the look of it, but I’m unsure when I’m going to build it.
The only thing that might get funky is trying to make the Penny farthing sized right and look kind of proportional… like with the 50” wheels the seat is only like 2 inches from the tire itself, so it might take some brainstorming to make it look proportional if that’s what you’re even going for.
Do you have any concept plans drawn up of your potential Penny farthing build?
BISYMPLE has a design I like, so something like this with adjustable saddle height but also doing a 29/20 instead of a 36/24, the Hopley 29" isn’t super monstrous from what I’ve seen but in def going to have to come up with some drawings and designs for it and do some reading on the physics involved
Or something like a pframe but having the 20" wheel in the front to give some stability and let met lean forward with some support
Practically it might just end up being a P frame for reduced weight and cost.
Reviving the thread because my build came in.
But an alternative for touring, handlebar and cargo cage mounts. This whole build is under 10lbs/4.5kg, and even with a gravel tire it would still be a reasonable weight. If it’s too squirly you can always just add weight to the frame to increase stability.
I have long legs so this build works very well for me, shorter riders may have a harder time but I think it’s doable for most people who don’t ride 100/75mm on a 700c lol.
If you want/need to increase the stability add weight to the wheel rather then the frame. A heavier wheel is more stable and less twitchy.
Here’s my early days work on a P-frame or…. should I call it the B-frame… in fact I’ve currently dubbed it The Flans Flag Frame 
And here’s my childish drawing for you all to have a good laugh at!
I literally did this in 10 mins so better ideas will come up - more to scale as that wheel is meant to be a 700c but it looks more 36er ish.
Here’s the linking to the rim and tyre debate that’s been annoying picking Simon’s brain and past work in this space:
I think my soul is saying get the WG44 as I learned from reading the French forum I can ask LB to drill spoke holes off centre to get a faux asymmetrical rim set up and my spoke tensions on a 32h Schlumpf hub would be 100%/53% which is more acceptable for me.
WG44 Disc Carbon Gravel Rim - Light Bicycle
WG44 Disc Carbon Gravel Rim - Light Bicycle
WG44 - 700c carbon ultra-wide gravel rims of 30 wide int 38 wide ext 44 deep. For (tubeless) tires of 32c-70c. Made for big elevation and off-road pursuits. Light as 385g.
- It’s a gravel rim
- 30mm inside width
- Hybrid Hooks
- 700c
- Tyres 38-70c - so in other words “fat” wide gravel
- They even quote decently high PSI for 38c
So the boxes ticked by the WG44 pretty cover all I want as I’m after a tough, stiff and gravel focused touring wheel where I’m not super focused on it being the lightest wheel.
I also think any downsides of the rims aero nature - will be minimal as the bags and my body will be the biggest wind catch that can’t be taken away. And perhaps (I will have to see) I’ll get more power transfer from the somewhat deep rim.
I have also asked Jakob to what design he’d come up with if this was his P/B frame as I’m willing to entertain the idea of getting bags made. However being the copy cat I am I’d prefer to use the bags from the P frame used again by toutestbon 
There is a possibility I may merge the childish design you see above with this fantastic frame from @Aurelien
In some kind of Flag + MiniFlag type imbalanced affair 
As for tyres - I’m likely to go with what appears to be tried and tested:
But in follow up place would be:
In short - a plan and a childish scribble are emerging and I’m excited to see what this project brings in terms of building fun and future trips!
This design could really give a wondeful uni.
However, I see one major downside to it (and P-frames). It has a huge wind catching area in the front part of the uni. This tend to increase the effects of side wind. I have discovered that when the front bag of my uni got damaged (the zip has got a problem), and I removed it. Since this day, the uni has been way easier to ride with side wind, thanks to the back wind area.
One other thing I really enjoy with my frame is that the saddle is not directly linked to the hub, which allows a really slight suspension, making it really comfortable on not perfectly flat grounds.
In my opinion, the twin V-frame is a really good touring design thanks to those two facts. However, it is quite annoying to bring in a car, train or plane, and hard to manoeuver at slow speeds.
I agree with Aurelien about wind sensitivity.
The P-frame provides a rigid handlebar independent of the saddle and storage space up front. But I tend to think that you shouldn’t think too big for the surface area of the pannier.
I’m very happy with mine, but a smaller pannier might be more interesting for that reason. It’s not the volume that’s most interesting here. What’s interesting is the fact that you can fit the dense, heavy stuff you want to carry (water, tools…).
Wow. Really interesting point. Less is more. In fact I think aesthetically speaking a slimline set up will look nicer too. More refined and not daunting to ride either.
My only gripe with this whole project is how annoyed I am with the lack of length in my legs. It would look so much better if I was a bit taller
I think that when uni-touring (and bike-packing in general), you should always take as little as possible. Having a huge volume available will ultimately make you take more stuff, so more weight, and less manoeuvrability.
Back to the designing here:
@toutestbon - once again hope you won’t mind my picking your brains on this area, but are there any elements of your frame design that you’d add or change now you’ve used it/had it built up?
I’m thinking along the lines of where to get bosses put for possible bolt on items etc.
I am trying to think through where I’d likely find this kind of thing useful and future proof the frame for options that may end up being super useful down the line - but it is fundamentally just guess work on what it will be like in real life.
Is the bag you have shown here - attached via a rack / cage that goes on via bosses?
(And incidentally what bag is that?)
I am 99% going to kit my build out with Restrap’s Race line of bags as they seem very light weight, a good balance between capacity and minimalism - where at a pinch I’ll be able to take a small tent and light weight camping gear should I wish to.
With Restrap’s custom frame bag design service the main bag can be designed to fit the frame - which makes the designing of the frame easier as it is being made according to my height and general desires, rather than to fit one bag.
