One handed cycling

Colin Anderson said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed.

Which hand? What sort of gear system, if any?

For starters, put the front brake on the side with the good hand.

Quoted message said:

I broke my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and
not very rich so building / buying a tandem / recumbant is out.

Sheldon "Insufficient Data" Brown +------------------------------------------+
| So we'll go no more a roving |
| So late into the night, |
| Though the heart be still as loving, |
| And the moon be still as bright. |
| |
| For the sword outwears its sheath, |
| And the soul wears out the breast, |
| And the heart must pause to breathe, |
| And Love itself have rest. |
| |
| Though the night was made for loving, | And the day returns too soon, | Yet we'll go no more a
| roving | By the light of the moon. | --Lord Byron |
+------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

One-armed people can ride normal road bikes (my brother-in-law is one). With downtube shifters one
hand can do both front and rear. But take care to:

1. Put your front brake on the side where you can use your hand.

2. Figure out, in advance of having a flat, how you are going to change and pump a tire
one-handedly. A CO2 device may help but is no substitute for a pump. If fixing flats proves too
difficult, you should consider measures such as puncture-resistant tires (like Specialized
Armadillo) or at least tires with a Kevlar belt, and buttress these with Mr. Tuffy tire liners
and possibly self-sealing slimed tubes. Or, if going with a group, get others to help you.

Mike Yankee

(Address is munged to thwart spammers. To reply, delete everything after "com".)

Colin Anderson said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I broke my wrist falling off
my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not very rich so building /
buying a tandem / recumbant is out. Cheers Colin

Once my rear rack broke and I needed to ride home with a milk crate full of groceries that no longer
stayed on top of it. I tied the crate to the rack (though it was not able to stay upright itself, it
attached okay) and held it upright with my left hand behind me while I steered with the right hand.

Amazingly, it was incredibly efficient; I was zooming up hills more easily than with two hands on
the handlebars.

Pulling up just aft of the seat (on a handle a bit lower than the seat) with one hand is ideal for
riding, steering with the other hand. A fore-and-aft hand arrangement.

Well, try some similar thing, only arranging to pull up with the arm instead of the bad hand; and
steer with the good hand. I bet it works really well.
--
Ron Hardin [email hidden]

On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

Colin Anderson <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I broke my wrist falling off
: my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not very rich so building /
: buying a tandem / recumbant is out. Cheers Colin

Geeze... I broke my arm in a crash last year and the last thing I wanted to do was get back on that
damned evil bicycle.

Do you have a bunch of steel pins sticking out of your wrist attached to some hardware to keep it
all together?

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' [email hidden]
--------------------------------

Colin Anderson said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I broke my wrist falling off
my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not very rich so building /
buying a tandem / recumbant is out.

I'd say you'll have to ride with the good hand near the front brake. If it's your right hand that's
busted, you're good. Otherwise, just move the front brake cable/housing to the right lever (a
better, though not standard, position). It's also possible to rig it up so one lever pulls both
brakes, the question there is if it's safe. You probably also want a very upright position so you
don't have to lean on your one wrist at all (or only minimally). A shorter stem with considerably
more rise (maybe one of those extenders, too) would do the trick for not too much. Clipless pedals,
if you don't already have them, would be good because you can't pull up on the bars to sprint.
They're just a good thing to have regardless. Also, a good hard wristpad might be a good idea for
your busted wrist so if you fall again you wouldn't mess it up as easily. I'm sure there's other
things I'm not thinking of, but this should get you started. Just be careful - you don't want to
re-injure yourself. Good luck! Matt

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

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I

broke

Quoted message said:

my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not
very rich so building / buying a tandem / recumbant

is

Quoted message said:

out.

I have one good hand(left) and little more than a palm and a thumb on the right. I have worked out a
solution that permits me to shift and brake all with my left hand. See jrees.netLeftyOpen ↗ For
pictures. Brakes are easy, since you normally use only one. However, if riding in mountainous
regions, you may want to be able to operate both with one hand. My solution is to use a part of a
Gyro from BMX bikes that splits a cable into two. The front brake goes straight through the unit,
and the rear is attached, by a carrier to the front cable. Bias is towards the front brake.

Shifting is accomplished by downtube shifters mounted next to the left brake lever using a special
Kelly Take-Off that has both downtube bosses on one unit.

Dia-comp makes brake levers that have two cable mounts for tandems. You can replace your brake lever
with this lever and also operate 2 cables. If you're right hand is the good one, you are in better
luck than I. Since, presumably living in the UK, your right lever operates the front (and more
important) brake. Also, your more frequently shifted gears are on the right side as well. If I were
you, and had the right hand working, I'd mount a thumb shifter on the right bar near the brake
lever. Then, you could shift the front der from the right side. This would very likely be all you
need to do in that instance. Cheers John (lefty) Rees

Colin Anderson said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I broke my wrist falling off
my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not very rich so building /
buying a tandem / recumbant is out.

Bummer.

I once had a neighbor who had totally lost the use of his right arm, yet rode a bike to work every
day. His bike was highly adapted for his use, and I had quite a bit of opportunity to study it.

You must sit upright. Not touring-bike-upright, not roadster-upright, but basically straight up, as
if sitting on a stool. (Otherwise you will be bearing weight on your hands.) This will require a set
of chopper bars like these maybe--
3gbikes.com18inch chopper bars.htmlOpen ↗ --or you could have a clever
welder fab something up for you (like cut a steel stem in two and add an extender), or you could
find a recumbent shop and see if they have some repurposable piece of stem extension sitting around.

Once you can get enough height, meddle with the tilt until you can sit straight up in a natural
position with your good hand well in control of the bars.

Pad the broken-side handlebar end so you can prop your splint there without bungling it all up.

Use a twist grip shifter for the rear mech, in combination with a good old thumbshifter lever for
the front. Put them both on the "good" side, whichever that is. Alternately, you could ignore the
front mech entirely, depending on the terrain in question.

You may wish to conjoin your brakes, unless you want to try it with just the front brake.
BMX/freestyle riders use a contraption called a "gyro" that requires that one lever pull two cables,
so that community is a good source for cable splitters such as the Primo Pervert.
harriscyclery.netpage.cfmOpen ↗

There's a technique to stopping hard with only one hand on the bars; it involves bracing your
opposite side knee against the frame to keep from steering around wildly. Be familiar with the
technique before you go out into traffic.

Sitting plumb on your butt like that may well require the use of a more furniture-like saddle than
you have now. Reckon in advance whether you think the seat you have chosen is nice 'n comfy, or you
could be in for protracted torment.

Good luck!

Chalo Colina

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

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I broke my wrist falling off
my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not very rich so building /
buying a tandem / recumbant is out. Cheers Colin

I don't know the details and the requisite treatment/packaging for your wrist injury, but would
aerobars be a possibility? Although certainly not ideal for all situations, they would give you an
opportunity to get out of the wind, and avoid the bolt upright positions understandably reccomended
by other posters, but with resting the weight on uninjured parts of your arm. perhaps you could
shift them back and rest the weight on your elbows, which would stress the wrist much less. and
steer with the good hand.

if you did this, though, getting back to the drops for an emergency stop would prob be impossibly
slow, so youd either need brakes on the aero bars for emergency stops (sketchy.). i dont think
they'll take big forces. maybe you could get a one-piece aerobar/normal bar and a solid four bolt
faceplate stem.

thoughts,

good luck

anthony

no pins luckily just a strange purple fibreglass cast. I've got the bike on rollers at the mo but
the broken ribs haven't healed yet so I can't breathe after about 5 mins! Cheers Colin
<[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Colin Anderson <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I

broke

Quoted message said:

: my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not
: very rich so building / buying a tandem /

recumbant is

Quoted message said:

: out. Cheers Colin

Geeze... I broke my arm in a crash last year and the last thing I wanted to do was get back on
that damned evil bicycle.

Do you have a bunch of steel pins sticking out of your wrist attached to some hardware to keep it
all together?

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' [email hidden]
--------------------------------

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

Quoted message said:

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

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I

broke

Quoted message said:

my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not
very rich so building / buying a tandem /

recumbant

Quoted message said:

is

Quoted message said:

out.

I have one good hand(left) and little more than a palm and a thumb on the right. I have worked out
a solution that permits me to shift and brake all with

my

Quoted message said:

left hand. See jrees.netLeftyOpen ↗ For pictures. Brakes are easy, since you normally use only
one. However, if riding in mountainous regions, you may want to be able to operate both with one

hand.

Quoted message said:

My solution is to use a part of a Gyro from BMX bikes that splits a cable into two. The front
brake goes straight through the unit, and the rear is attached, by a carrier to the front cable.
Bias is towards the front

brake.

Quoted message said:

Shifting is accomplished by downtube shifters mounted next to the left

brake

Quoted message said:

lever using a special Kelly Take-Off that has both downtube bosses on one unit.

Dia-comp makes brake levers that have two cable mounts for tandems. You

can

Quoted message said:

replace your brake lever with this lever and also operate 2 cables. If you're right hand is the
good one, you are in better luck than I.

Since,

Quoted message said:

presumably living in the UK, your right lever operates the front (and more important) brake. Also,
your more frequently shifted gears are on the

right

Quoted message said:

side as well. If I were you, and had the right hand working, I'd mount a thumb shifter on the
right bar near the brake lever. Then, you could

shift

Quoted message said:

the front der from the right side. This would very likely be all you need to do in that instance.
Cheers John (lefty) Rees

Now that's just the type of thing i was thinking of - nice work - definitely going to go for the
brake arrangement. The custom take off bar with a rapid fire sti 9 spd shifter on it should do the
job for the rear gears. Unfortunately it's my right hand thats u/s and strangely most bikes here in
the UK still have the front brake on the right hand side - not mine though I built it myself and
have always put front on left. It's a full sus aluminium mountain bike i'm working on so there'll be
different probs - not the least of which is the pain from the wrist when working on bike parts!
Cheers Colin

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

Quoted message said:

"Colin Anderson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I

broke

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not
very rich so building / buying a tandem /

recumbant is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

out. Cheers Colin

I don't know the details and the requisite treatment/packaging for your wrist injury, but would
aerobars be a possibility? Although certainly not ideal for all situations, they would give you an
opportunity to get out of the wind, and avoid the bolt upright positions understandably
reccomended by other posters, but with resting the weight on uninjured parts of your arm. perhaps
you could shift them back and rest the weight on your elbows, which would stress the wrist much
less. and steer with the good hand.

if you did this, though, getting back to the drops for an emergency stop would prob be impossibly
slow, so youd either need brakes on the aero bars for emergency stops (sketchy.). i dont think
they'll take big forces. maybe you could get a one-piece aerobar/normal bar and a solid four bolt
faceplate stem.

thoughts,

good luck

anthony

I thought about trying some of those aero bars but wasn't sure a) if they'd fit on my mountain bike
and b)how I'd get to the brakes in a hurry. Maybe i could cut a set in half and fit it facing
backwards and rest my u/s wrist on
it. (right hand broken by the way) Cheers Colin

It's my right hand that's bust. Already have front brake on left hand side. I've got a 27 speed full
sus MTB which I have just built. (crash on 2nd trip out )! Cheers Colin

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

Quoted message said:

Colin Anderson said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed.

Which hand? What sort of gear system, if any?

For starters, put the front brake on the side with the good hand.

Quoted message said:

I broke my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK
and not very rich so building / buying a tandem /

recumbant is

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

out.

Sheldon "Insufficient Data" Brown +------------------------------------------+
| So we'll go no more a roving |
| So late into the night, |
| Though the heart be still as loving, |
| And the moon be still as bright. |
| |
| For the sword outwears its sheath, |
| And the soul wears out the breast, |
| And the heart must pause to breathe, |
| And Love itself have rest. |
| |
| Though the night was made for loving, | And the day returns too soon, | Yet we'll go no more a
| roving | By the light of the moon. | --Lord Byron |
+------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts Phone
617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

Colin Anderson <[email hidden]> wrote:
: no pins luckily just a strange purple fibreglass cast. I've got the bike on rollers at the mo but
: the broken ribs haven't healed yet so I can't breathe after about 5 mins! Cheers Colin

You shouldn't ride with broken ribs. Even a minor fall can send the already busted ribs into your
lung. Did you ask the Doc? Heal soon and ride safe.

--------------------------------
Bob Masse' [email hidden]
--------------------------------

Colin Anderson said:

It's my right hand that's bust. Already have front brake on left hand side. I've got a 27 speed
full sus MTB which I have just built. (crash on 2nd trip out )! Cheers Colin

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

Quoted message said:

Colin Anderson said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed.

I asked:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Which hand? What sort of gear system, if any?

For starters, put the front brake on the side with the good hand.

Colin replied:

Quoted message said:

It's my right hand that's bust. Already have front brake on left hand side.I've got a 27 speed
full sus MTB which I have just built. (crash on 2nd trip out )!

The number of speeds doesn't matter, the number and type of shifters does. Since your left hand is
the working one, this shouldn't be to hard.

If you have Shimano shifters, buy a right-side GripShift and install it on the left. You'll be able
to twist to shift the rear, and use the RapidFire to shift the front.

If you already have GripShift, remove the left one and replace it with the right one. Unfortunately,
you probably can't buy just a front rapidfire, but you can get a pair of cheapo top mounts and use
the left one to shift your front mech.

It also could be possible to mount two GripShifts on the left, either one inboard ot t'other, or
with one mounted on a bar end.

Sheldon "Needs Must" Brown +-------------------------------------------------------+
| Disclaimer: | The above are the Official Views of the | Institution, and are
| not necessary my own. |
+-------------------------------------------------------+ Harris Cyclery, West Newton, Massachusetts
Phone 617-244-9772 FAX 617-244-1041 harriscyclery.comharriscyclery.comOpen ↗ Hard-to-find parts shipped Worldwide
captainbike.comcaptainbike.comOpen ↗ sheldonbrown.comsheldonbrown.comOpen ↗

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

Quoted message said:

Colin Anderson <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I

broke

Quoted message said:

: my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not
: very rich so building / buying a tandem /

recumbant is

Quoted message said:

: out. Cheers Colin

Geeze... I broke my arm in a crash last year and the last thing I wanted to do was get back on
that damned evil bicycle.

Do you have a bunch of steel pins sticking out of your wrist attached to some hardware to keep it
all together?

HA! Not in the UK you don't.

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

Quoted message said:

Colin Anderson <[email hidden]> wrote:
: Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed. I

broke

Quoted message said:

: my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not
: very rich so building / buying a tandem /

recumbant is

Quoted message said:

: out. Cheers Colin

Geeze... I broke my arm in a crash last year and the last thing I wanted to do was get back on
that damned evil bicycle.

Sounds like a good way to mess up the other arm, to me.

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

Quoted message said:

Any suggestions for modifying a bike so it can be ridden one handed.

Am I the only person warped enough to have read the subject and thought "Dr. Richard Kimball
wants to meet this guy?"

(in the TV series "The Fugitive" Dr. R.K. was always looking for the one-armed man who had
murdered his wife)

I broke

Quoted message said:

my wrist falling off my bike and now my cycling holiday is under threat. I'm in the UK and not
very rich so building / buying a tandem / recumbant is out. Cheers Colin