Nathan Hoover

After over 500 miles of use I thought I would write about George Barnes' GB Handle. I've been using one on my Coker since Oct 2002. While it's not as good as a Reeder Handle for offroad use, it's better for road riding, which is what it's designed for.

I first mounted it on the front of a carbon-based air seat by itself. I attached my friction shifter brake control on one side and mounted the cyclometer on the little hanging part designed for this. It worked great and it was nice to be able to finally see my speed without a risky/difficult bending forward. I normally ride with both hands on the handles in the natural position, and sometimes lay them across the top, one hand on the other.

The original setup on Coker

More recently, George made me an aluminum one to try out. It is feather-light, especially compared to the steel one. Having destroyed about 4 aluminum seat posts, I was concerned about it's strength. But the welds look strong and it's not holding my weight all the time. I've ridden the aluminum one 300 miles in the last month, including some insane off road where I was yanking on the handle with every bit of strength I have. It never budged!

With the aluminum GB handle, I've also been using a Wyganowski extension. The two together are great. I have nice soft rubber grips on the GB handle and light-weight carbon fiber bar ends (LP brand) on the Wyganowski. The resulting variety of possible hand positions is fantastic.

The aluminum handle and the extension

The complete KH36 touring unicycle

I'd say the most common hand position I use is with the base of my palms resting on the GB handle, lightly gripping the base of the LP bar ends. Although it's harder than with the Reeder handle, I can now climb the hill to my house (250' of 18% grade) unless I'm bonking. If you don't want to fool around with custom-making handles, get the GB handle from unicycle.com. It's really nice.

---Nathan Hoover

Joe Kisley

The GB handle is a wonderful all around unicycle handle. It works well for commuting, touring, and off-road riding too. It comes equipped with a computer mount so you don't have to crane your neck to try and see a computer mounted on the seat post. Also, the handle is ambidextrous, so it works great for anyone. You can use it with only one hand or with both. Even on my short commute, it's so nice to be able to hold on with both hands to stabilize myself and take some of my weight off of the seat. On windy days, riding with both hands on the handle improves aerodynamics. The angle and position are perfect and it's roomy enough to use in the winter with heavy gloves. This is one of the best, well thought out, comfort aiding accessories I've ever used.