Handbike info

So nobody has any pointers for me on this? How about a newsgroup where
I could ask the question of people who are likely to have experience? A
disabled racing group, maybe?

In article <[email hidden]>,
ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net says...

Quoted message said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

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Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
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In article <[email hidden]>,

David Kerber ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net said:

So nobody has any pointers for me on this? How about a newsgroup where
I could ask the question of people who are likely to have experience? A
disabled racing group, maybe?

In article <[email hidden]>,
ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net says...

Quoted message said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

I just did a quick Google on:
"everest & jennings" hand cyle
and this is the first item that popped up.
http://www.usatechguide.org/itemreview.php?itemid=373

I'd look at some more of the hits but my dinner's on the stove
and I've gotta get to it pronto.

cheers,
Tom

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I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

"David Kerber" <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested).

Does your wife have an injury or disability, or is her leg just "weak"? A
handcycle seems an awfully big step for someone who's not paralyzed.

David Kerber <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

So nobody has any pointers for me on this? How about a newsgroup where
I could ask the question of people who are likely to have experience? A
disabled racing group, maybe?

There's a handcyclist group over at yahoo that looks relatively active:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/handcyclists/

A useful list of handcycle links is here:

http://www.bike-on.com/handcycle-friends/handcycle_friends_links.html

--Brent
bhugh [at] mwsc.edu
http://www.mobikefed.org

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net says...

Quoted message said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

David Kerber said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

Hi, if her other leg is ok and there would be no pain or discomfort, I
would try to get her on a regular bike. Riding with only one good leg,
is very doable[? is that a word]. If interested, post any reservations
and I'll try to give you some solutions.

Life is Good!
Jeff

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Hash: SHA1

Jeff Starr said:

David Kerber said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

Hi, if her other leg is ok and there would be no pain or discomfort, I
would try to get her on a regular bike. Riding with only one good leg,
is very doable[? is that a word]. If interested, post any reservations
and I'll try to give you some solutions.

Life is Good!
Jeff

I ride daily with one leg weaker than the other without serious problems.
I'm a bit slower and I ride lower gears than before my accident, but I
manage.

Dave, you didn't give any idea how *much* weaker the bad leg is, so here's
my situation for comparison. My injury was only to the knee, so my
hip/ankle are fine. Functionally, I walk with a limp, on a good day, I can
climb a flight of stairs normally (lifting with both legs), on bad days, I
either have to use a hand on the rail to pull myself up on the bad leg, or
just lift with the good leg.

There are a couple problems that I've noticed riding, I habitually put my
right foot down when stopping, leaving my left foot (the weaker leg) on the
pedals to get me moving again. I'm finding that there's generally not
enough strength to push that pedal down and lift me up into the saddle.
I'm working on changing my habit to put the left foot down.

The other problem is that I can't really get out of the saddle. This has
pretty much eliminated my off-road riding, as I can't move my hips around
to move my center of gravity. It also means that I'm stuck in the saddle
during climbs. Low gears help here.

Hope this has been helpful.

Mark

- --
Remove both wrongs to make the email address right.

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In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

"David Kerber" <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested).

Does your wife have an injury or disability, or is her leg just "weak"? A
handcycle seems an awfully big step for someone who's not paralyzed.

Her left foot is 4 sizes smaller than her right, and the muscles and
ligaments are severly atrophied from polio when she was about 2 years
old. I've been trying to tell her that she can still ride a bike with
some practice, even when that leg is only about 10% as strong as the
other, but she's not buying it. 15 years ago she could still ride, but
as she's gotten older, it's gotten much worse.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

So nobody has any pointers for me on this? How about a newsgroup where
I could ask the question of people who are likely to have experience? A
disabled racing group, maybe?

There's a handcyclist group over at yahoo that looks relatively active:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/handcyclists/

A useful list of handcycle links is here:

http://www.bike-on.com/handcycle-friends/handcycle_friends_links.html

Thanks for the links!

.....

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

Hi, if her other leg is ok and there would be no pain or discomfort, I
would try to get her on a regular bike. Riding with only one good leg,
is very doable[? is that a word]. If interested, post any reservations
and I'll try to give you some solutions.

That's what I've been trying to tell her, but she doesn't believe me.
If I could just get her to watch some of the 1-legged riders in the
paralympics, maybe she would!

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

Jeff Starr said:

David Kerber said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

Hi, if her other leg is ok and there would be no pain or discomfort, I
would try to get her on a regular bike. Riding with only one good leg,
is very doable[? is that a word]. If interested, post any reservations
and I'll try to give you some solutions.

Life is Good!
Jeff

I ride daily with one leg weaker than the other without serious problems.
I'm a bit slower and I ride lower gears than before my accident, but I
manage.

Dave, you didn't give any idea how *much* weaker the bad leg is, so here's
my situation for comparison. My injury was only to the knee, so my
hip/ankle are fine. Functionally, I walk with a limp, on a good day, I can
climb a flight of stairs normally (lifting with both legs), on bad days, I
either have to use a hand on the rail to pull myself up on the bad leg, or
just lift with the good leg.

There are a couple problems that I've noticed riding, I habitually put my
right foot down when stopping, leaving my left foot (the weaker leg) on the
pedals to get me moving again. I'm finding that there's generally not
enough strength to push that pedal down and lift me up into the saddle.
I'm working on changing my habit to put the left foot down.

The other problem is that I can't really get out of the saddle. This has
pretty much eliminated my off-road riding, as I can't move my hips around
to move my center of gravity. It also means that I'm stuck in the saddle
during climbs. Low gears help here.

Hope this has been helpful.

Thanks for the comments!

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

"David Kerber" <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
[email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

"David Kerber" <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested).

Does your wife have an injury or disability, or is her leg just "weak"?

A

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

handcycle seems an awfully big step for someone who's not paralyzed.

Her left foot is 4 sizes smaller than her right, and the muscles and
ligaments are severly atrophied from polio when she was about 2 years
old. I've been trying to tell her that she can still ride a bike with
some practice, even when that leg is only about 10% as strong as the
other, but she's not buying it. 15 years ago she could still ride, but
as she's gotten older, it's gotten much worse.

Wow that's tough. Can she do any sort of therapy or strength training to
build up strength? I would tend to think that a handcycle is going to be
something she'd use on multi-use paths only, and that's going to naturally
limit its use(unless you live real near a path). There's no such thing as a
cheap handcycle, either. Good luck in your search!

In article <[email hidden]>,

Gooserider said:

I would tend to think that a handcycle is going to be
something she'd use on multi-use paths only, and that's going to naturally
limit its use(unless you live real near a path).

Those are the only places I've seen them.

Quoted message said:

There's no such thing as a
cheap handcycle, either. Good luck in your search!

I suspect they're more of something that people obtain from
mfgrs who specialize in physiotherapy equipment and suchlike,
via doctors' prescriptions or referrals, and are typically
paid-for through medical coverage.

cheers,
Tom

--
-- Powered by FreeBSD
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

Hi, if her other leg is ok and there would be no pain or discomfort, I
would try to get her on a regular bike. Riding with only one good leg,
is very doable[? is that a word]. If interested, post any reservations
and I'll try to give you some solutions.

That's what I've been trying to tell her, but she doesn't believe me.
If I could just get her to watch some of the 1-legged riders in the
paralympics, maybe she would!

Dave, I'm 49 years old, I ride with an above the knee artificial leg. I
clip the leg in the pedal and leave it there until I get off the bike.
I have to push off with my good leg and then start pedaling. This is no
problem with regular pedals and takes a bit more skill with clipless. I
rode as a kid and as a young adult. I then didn't ride for about 25
years. Two years ago, I got my bike out, put new tubes and tires on it
and rode 700 miles that summer. Last year I rode a total of 2086 miles.
This year I have already rode 1240 miles. Both my bikes are road bikes,
but if your wife started with a comfort or hybrid, with the seat a
little on the low side, I'm sure she could ride short distances, and
then maybe more.

I would think a handbike would require quite a lot of upper body
strength and that distances would be very limited.

If she would be willing to try, I'm sure you could find a suitable bike,
to experiment with. Once she gets her confidence back, then a nice,
maybe new, one would be in order. I get so much pleasure out of riding,
not to mention the benefits of the exercise. I'm in Milwaukee WI, where
are you located? If I can answer any specific questions, please ask.

Life is Good!
Jeff

David Kerber said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Thanks!
Dave Kerber

Hi, if her other leg is ok and there would be no pain or discomfort, I
would try to get her on a regular bike. Riding with only one good leg,
is very doable[? is that a word]. If interested, post any reservations
and I'll try to give you some solutions.

That's what I've been trying to tell her, but she doesn't believe me.
If I could just get her to watch some of the 1-legged riders in the
paralympics, maybe she would!

Dave, I'm 49 years old, I ride with an above the knee artificial leg. I
clip the leg in the pedal and leave it there until I get off the bike.
I have to push off with my good leg and then start pedaling. This is no
problem with regular pedals and takes a bit more skill with clipless. I
rode as a kid and as a young adult. I then didn't ride for about 25
years. Two years ago, I got my bike out, put new tubes and tires on it
and rode 700 miles that summer. Last year I rode a total of 2086 miles.
This year I have already rode 1240 miles. Both my bikes are road bikes,
but if your wife started with a comfort or hybrid, with the seat a
little on the low side, I'm sure she could ride short distances, and
then maybe more.

I would think a handbike would require quite a lot of upper body
strength and that distances would be very limited.

If she would be willing to try, I'm sure you could find a suitable bike,
to experiment with. Once she gets her confidence back, then a nice,
maybe new, one would be in order. I get so much pleasure out of riding,
not to mention the benefits of the exercise. I'm in Milwaukee WI, where
are you located? If I can answer any specific questions, please ask.

Life is Good!
Jeff

Jeff Starr said:

Dave, I'm 49 years old, I ride with an above the knee artificial leg. I
clip the leg in the pedal and leave it there until I get off the bike.
I have to push off with my good leg and then start pedaling. This is no
problem with regular pedals and takes a bit more skill with clipless. I
rode as a kid and as a young adult. I then didn't ride for about 25
years. Two years ago, I got my bike out, put new tubes and tires on it
and rode 700 miles that summer. Last year I rode a total of 2086 miles.
This year I have already rode 1240 miles. Both my bikes are road bikes,
but if your wife started with a comfort or hybrid, with the seat a
little on the low side, I'm sure she could ride short distances, and
then maybe more.

I would think a handbike would require quite a lot of upper body
strength and that distances would be very limited.

If she would be willing to try, I'm sure you could find a suitable bike,
to experiment with. Once she gets her confidence back, then a nice,
maybe new, one would be in order. I get so much pleasure out of riding,
not to mention the benefits of the exercise. I'm in Milwaukee WI, where
are you located? If I can answer any specific questions, please ask.

Life is Good!
Jeff

DAYUM! A big WOW, to you, sir. You have guts and the heart of a lion, man.

You must be an inspiration to all those around you.

Best,

-Badger

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>,

Gooserider said:

I would tend to think that a handcycle is going to be
something she'd use on multi-use paths only, and that's going to naturally
limit its use(unless you live real near a path).

Those are the only places I've seen them.

There's a guy I see regularly on a hand-trike going up and down the same
roads I'm riding on. He's the only one, though.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

There's no such thing as a
cheap handcycle, either. Good luck in your search!

I suspect they're more of something that people obtain from
mfgrs who specialize in physiotherapy equipment and suchlike,
via doctors' prescriptions or referrals, and are typically
paid-for through medical coverage.

Could be, though I've seen them for around $1200 with some Google
searching. They seem to use lots of standard bicycle components:
Ultegra cranks and cassettes, etc. One racing model I saw even had Zipp
3-spoke wheels.

--
Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
newsgroups if possible).

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I would tend to think that a handcycle is going to be
something she'd use on multi-use paths only, and that's going to

naturally

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

limit its use(unless you live real near a path).

They have a whole group of hand cycles that do the complete Ride the Rockies
each year. They even have their own special support wagon.

Around here they are pretty common, both on the paths and the roads. Generally
they will have a flag for visibility.

http://members.aol.com/foxcondorsrvtns
(Colorado rental condo)

http://members.aol.com/dnvrfox
(Family Web Page)

David Kerber <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

David Kerber said:

My wife is interested in looking into getting a handbike because of a
weak left foot/leg (I've tried to get her on a tandem, but she's not
interested). I've done a google search and found a few sources, but
could anybody here give me any experience they've had with any specific
brands or sources? Especially a possible source for a used one?

Hi, if her other leg is ok and there would be no pain or discomfort, I
would try to get her on a regular bike. Riding with only one good leg,
is very doable[? is that a word]. If interested, post any reservations
and I'll try to give you some solutions.

That's what I've been trying to tell her, but she doesn't believe me.
If I could just get her to watch some of the 1-legged riders in the
paralympics, maybe she would!

She doesn't need to watch the paralympics, she just needs to look
around at plain regular one-legged cyclists. Just today, riding to
work, I passed by a woman with one leg commuting on her bike herself.
And I'll never forget the time, while on the STP (a 200 mile bike ride
from Seattle to Portland), a guy coming up to his bike, taking off his
artificial leg, strapping it onto his top tube, and taking off. I felt
like, damn, he's doing 200 miles on one leg -- how can I complain
about doing it on two?

Warm Regards,

Claire

"Gooserider" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"David Kerber" <ns_dkerber@ns_ids.net> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

. . .

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Her left foot is 4 sizes smaller than her right, and the muscles and
ligaments are severly atrophied from polio when she was about 2 years
old. I've been trying to tell her that she can still ride a bike with
some practice, even when that leg is only about 10% as strong as the
other, but she's not buying it. 15 years ago she could still ride, but
as she's gotten older, it's gotten much worse.

Wow that's tough. Can she do any sort of therapy or strength training to
build up strength? I would tend to think that a handcycle is going to be
something she'd use on multi-use paths only, and that's going to naturally
limit its use(unless you live real near a path). There's no such thing as a
cheap handcycle, either. Good luck in your search!

There's a group of handcyclists that regularly ride a Saturday morning
ride I sometime go on. I also saw them on a 60 mile ride a couple of
weeks ago. I'd guess they do about 10-12 MPH on average, in other
words just as fast as or faster than a lot of people who cruise around
town on WalMart bikes with knobbly tires.

So they ride on the street just like everybody else and they don't
appear to be any more low/dangerous etc. than, for example, a typical
recumbent bike. In fact the handcycles are higher and more visible
than some of the really low tadpole recumbent trikes like Greenspeed.

That does make me think, though--another option for your wife might be
a regular recumbent trike. The advantage of the trikes over a bike is
that you can go as slow as you need to without ever feeling like your
going to tip over. You don't have that moment of instability when you
start and stop, that might be making her feel uncomfortable with the
idea of riding a bike. Nice set of recumbent trike links:

http://home.mindspring.com/~kb7mxu/

Another interesting option would be something like a rowing bike. The
advantage of this is that you use arms/legs/torso to row, but both
legs move together, so possibly the weak leg could just ride along
with the other leg and do as much work as it can or as little work as
it needs to. Nice rowbike links:

http://www.geocities.com/rcgilmore3/land_rowers.htm

BTW, here is just one link with a variety of handcycles for around
$1000. That's really not bad, considering:

http://www.spinlife.com/wcstore.cfm (look at near the bottom of
the page for the "handcycles" link)

--Brent
bhugh [at] mwsc.edu
www.MoBikeFed.org