hand bikes ... BIG respect

northernneil

passed a guy on the otley road this afternoon on one, I gave a cheery wave in the knowledge i was unlikey to get one back !

they look hard HARD work

Stewie Griffin

My skinny roadie arms are just about strong enough to pull my brakes, change gear and stop my face from smashing into the stem.

Cleat Eastwood

I saw a guy on one of these about a month ago.....going up hill. I was on my way down the hill and it looked for all the world like a mtb knob job doing a wheely, but as i got closer i saw a guy who must have been in his 60's big smile on his face happily...well...handling himself up the hill.

rhnb

Have seen a few of these on the Fred Whitton Challenge over the years. Now that MUST be hard. I wouldn't get up the first hill of the day! let alone Hardknott and Wrynose.

One thing I've always wondered about them. Why are the cranks not offset like on a bike?

Chrissz

I rode with a bunch of guys (from H4H & Battle Back - the American counterpart) on a 5 day ride from Brussells to Arnhem (a loopy route - not straight). Some of the guys could get a fair lick of speed on the flats, cornered like madmen but struggled like hell up the hills. I managed to persuade one of the guys to let me have a spin around the block - bloody hard work!

Got a huge amount of respect for the guys :!:

Pokerface

I've them out and can confirm they are MUCH harder to ride than a regular bike!

My teammate is currently the World Champion in the road race for handbikes. I shared a room with him at the World Championships - and what those guys go through is TOUGH.

deptfordmarmoset

rhnb wrote

One thing I've always wondered about them. Why are the cranks not offset like on a bike?

I was at a seminar hosted by Wheels for Wellbeing at the Cycle Show a couple of weeks ago and a speaker demonstrated what happened when you move your hands alternately in a wheelchair - the wheelchair wobbles from side to side - it's simply not stable. Apparently there's another reason - using alternate force with the arms under stress can dislocate your shoulders. Not good when you 're actually aiming to relocate yourself...

I think there's also a third reason. About the only reason our hands swing alternately when we walk is to counterbalance the effect of walking. For most other things, though, arms work better in unison. Try rowing on your own one arm at a time! The 2 arms always work together. And watch those wheelchair athletes - it's both arms at a time unless they're changing direction.

father_jack

hmmm a bike with combined leg and hand powered.

BigG67

deptfordmarmoset wrote:

rhnb wrote

One thing I've always wondered about them. Why are the cranks not offset like on a bike?

I was at a seminar hosted by Wheels for Wellbeing at the Cycle Show a couple of weeks ago and a speaker demonstrated what happened when you move your hands alternately in a wheelchair - the wheelchair wobbles from side to side - it's simply not stable. Apparently there's another reason - using alternate force with the arms under stress can dislocate your shoulders. Not good when you 're actually aiming to relocate yourself...

I think there's also a third reason. About the only reason our hands swing alternately when we walk is to counterbalance the effect of walking. For most other things, though, arms work better in unison. Try rowing on your own one arm at a time! The 2 arms always work together. And watch those wheelchair athletes - it's both arms at a time unless they're changing direction.

There's a 4th reason, it's much harder to steer if you work cranks. A mate of mine did a 250 mile on/off road in 10 days fund raiser in NZ earlier this year to get money for the spinal unit that treated him when he had his accident.

I've nothad a go on his yet but the fittest bloke in our gang and a keen paddler reckons it's about as tough a thing as he's done.