Road Unicycle Set-Up and T7 Handle Modification

played a little bit with the T7 there is an other possibilitiy (will try
it in the afternoon)


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I couldn't resist to try my bike seat setup yesterday in spite of my
cold, which has actually gotten better now. I think I tried about all
the possible variations:

1. stem and boom angled downwards + T7 part rotated downwards

This was very difficult to free mount. The guy who was watching me
while trying and failing about 7 times in a row probably had his own
thoughts about it. I finally made it when he left... It put me in a very
low tuck which might be useful for racing, but not for long distances.
It took a lot of pressure off my bum and of course added a lot of
pressure to my hands, which I didn't like, because it was just too much.
It could be improved with the addition of an aerobar, I guess. Another
problem of this position was that the handle was very close to my knees
and I was afraid to hit them on it. Climbing in this position was very
uncomfortable and almost impossible. So I decided to try the next
possibility:

2. stem and boom angled downwards + T7 part rotated upwards,

This was more comfortable in every aspect. My riding position got a
little more upright and the pressure was a bit less on my hands. The
angle of the handle didn't feel very good on my hands though, so I
decided to flip the stem and boom around. The result was the following:

3. stem and boom angled upwards + T7 part rotated downwards

This was of course a compromise between the ultra low tuck and the
second more upright variation. Not too bad, but also worthless for
climbing. Possibly a good position for going fast on flat or slightly
downhill terrain. Anyways, I decided to flip the t7 part upwards again.

4. stem and boom angled upwards + T7 part rotated upwards

This turned out to be the most usable position for me. Free mounting
and climbing got much easier, while still more difficult than with a
regular unicycle seat. The thing about climbing with a bike seat is,
that you can't pull on the handle cause otherwise you slip off the
seat... So you have to keep pushing it down, which feels very strange.
It may be something one gets used to, though. Of course the 102mm cranks
don't help the climbing either...

Within all four variations described above I also fiddled around with
seat angles and positions a lot. I also tried two different saddles, of
which one was a lot more comfortable than the other.

I also experimented with the brake lever and mounted it to the part of
the t7 that goes into the boom. I think I saw that on Saskatschawanian's
36" rig. The reasoning for that was that it might be handy if I wanted
to flip the front of the handle around in the middle of a ride, then the
brake could stay in the same position. That did not work out very well
though, because it made braking a lot more difficult, so I put it back
on the front of the handle.


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i tried the setup i showed above on my kh 29" on a 3 hour muni ride with
my son (8 years). i really liked the setup! but how everybody said the
T7 is to weak...mine is gone more or less

a V frame with two kh29" frames like the double crown just wider would
be perfect for xc and maybe also with the 36". i just don't have enough
money to try this...

kris could you send me two kh29" frames?

with this setup i could even rolling hop and drop (hold on the T7 right
in front the seat)...


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I want to try all these set-ups right now but I'm afraid to snap my T7
the rails on my T7 are pretty mangled and I'm surprised the front plate
hasn't already snapped on it by now, every time I climb a hill I can
hear it creaking haha.


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I did another long ride (about 3.5 hours) today with my current setup.
It was a great success. I had taken the KH saddle along just in case,
but I didn't even consider changing saddles during the whole ride. The
only thing that bothered me was that I just couldn't free mount it
uphill. Maybe I have to practice that...

Saddle soreness did occur in the last bit of the ride, but it was
definitely less than with the old KH fusion + T7 setup. So it seems I
have found my ideal handle and seat combo. The saddle by the way is an
el cheapo gel saddle that cost me no more than €8,50 at a local
discounter. I used to have it on my mtb, which is now waiting for a
replacement. I'll try to get one that works on the 36er too, of course,
and compare them once more.

Here are some pics of today's very beautiful snowy winter ride:


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This thread rocks. Great to see so much innovation in progress. Looking
at all the photos, one can see yet another benefit to a more extended
riding position --- we won't look like we're grabbing our jewels while
we ride!


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munimutant;1168832 wrote:
This thread rocks. Great to see so much innovation in progress. Looking
at all the photos, one can see yet another benefit to a more extended
riding position --- we won't look like we're grabbing our jewels while
we ride!


if we all start riding V frames a lot more people will be doing double
takes as we pass them on the road as well. haha


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I can tell you first-hand, I purposely filed no IP rights on the
V-frame. That design is open for anyone to manufacture and sell.

And the V-frame is no heavier than the overall weight of most of those
"T", "R", and long boom rigs.


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What about leverage? Besides comfort and aero benefits, how does an
extended uni position work within the model of "opposing forces" that
bicyclists get from pulling on the bars? Without having done any
experimenting on my Coker yet, it LOOKS like the extended position moves
the maximum opposed force point to the "push over the top" of the pedal
stroke, whereas it was at the "push down" phase with the traditional T7
or Pi bars.

If so, maybe it would be good to have TWO hand position points on an
extended bar setup (regardless of T, 7 or V frame) --- one close in for
climbing and acceleration, the other extended for more comfortable and
aerodynamic spinning???

(I skimmed through the whole thread and didn't see anything this,
so forgive me if it's already covered)


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unisk8r;1168878 wrote:
I can tell you first-hand, I purposely filed no IP rights on the
V-frame. That design is open for anyone to manufacture and sell.

And the V-frame is no heavier than the overall weight of most of those
"T", "R", and long boom rigs.



Hi Pete,

I've been going on about your V-frame for years, ever since I saw your
first design. It was well ahead of it's time, but I think people are
more acceptable of the bike position now (because they're all using
super long bars to try and get into this position!)

Munimutant: The leverage is maximised by having the bar extended out
far enough that your elbows are only slightly bent and your arms
extended outfront. With the current designs (eg T7 in std position or
GB4 handles), your elbows end up fully flexed when you bend over. There
is not much mechanical advantage pulling upwards or towards you (your
elbows already flexed and arms are against your body!).
See the second photo on my AU article:
http://www.adventureunicyclist.com/?page_id=263

Munirocks: I found freemounting alot easier now after a few rides. In
fact, it feels just as natural as riding a normal seat, you just have to
remember to keep your arms extended in front of you when freemounting.
And I agree with you about the bike seat. The more I ride it, the more
I like the bike seat. Once I get the reach and angles dialed in, I
don't think I could go back to riding a regular unicycle seat again.
BTW, how do you ride in Snow????

Turtle: The T7 was never designed to be a T-bar design. I only used it
because it was convenient to test the concept with. I'm sure there are
many more ways of doing a T-unicycle design that would be stronger than
this. You still look very hunched over in your photos....I think ideally
you wound need a longer reach still.

Good to see so many experiments....keep them coming!


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