Three-wheeler recommendations for left-side impaired rider

Calvin Jones said:

I am looking for recommendations and suggestions regarding a 3-wheeled
bike for a friend. He has a lot of experience with road and off-road
riding, but has had a stroke that resulted in his left arm being pretty
much useless. A three-wheel vehicle might be the thing to get him back
out and active. I am sure the shifting and braking can be rigged to
right side. There are some nice 3-wheelers made these days, but my
concern is the handling given there will basically be only one hand
available. Some three wheelers require two-handed control to offset
the effect of pedaling.

Any experiences out there with a similar situation?

Calvin Jones

Hi,

No direct experience with that sort of thing, but if he has had a
stroke, he shold make sure there is no damage to balance, depth
perception, etc before trying any sort of vehicle. Maybe some test
drives in an electric wheel chair or something first to make sure
that's not a problem.

I used to have an old Workman trike. It had a coaster brake and a
3-speed hub. It would have worked out fine for someone with one usable
arm.

If he is otherwise active, he may be able to graduate to a regular bike
eventually. I broke my wrist once and was in various casts for several
months all the way up to my shoulder. My right arm was useless. I rode
all over the place. Centuries, mountains, traffic, road-bike, fixed.
One-armed riding might add some strain to the back, but shouldn't be
too difficult. On par with the rest of life with one arm I'd presume.

Joseph

Calvin Jones said:

I am looking for recommendations and suggestions regarding a 3-wheeled
bike for a friend. He has a lot of experience with road and off-road
riding, but has had a stroke that resulted in his left arm being pretty
much useless. A three-wheel vehicle might be the thing to get him back
out and active. I am sure the shifting and braking can be rigged to
right side. There are some nice 3-wheelers made these days, but my
concern is the handling given there will basically be only one hand
available. Some three wheelers require two-handed control to offset
the effect of pedaling.

Any experiences out there with a similar situation?

As another poster wrote, the important issues here are impairment of
vision, balance, etc. If, after sorting all that out, impairment is
limited to the arm, there should be lots of options.

One rider in our club is missing one arm. STI and a bar-con plus a
dual-pull brake lever (or something close to that combination) and he's
riding and racing on a regular upright two-wheel bike. Another rider
had a stroke some years back, but appears to have a bit more use of her
impaired arm (I haven't asked). Again, all controls on one side, and a
regular upright bike.

Agree, though, that depending on your friend's situation, a three-wheel
may be the preferred option. Good luck to both of you,

Mark