Advice sought re Vikings desease

[taximan]

One of my bike buddies suffers from a condition known as Vikings disease, as a result of which his fingers are gradually curling up. He is now at the point where when holding his handlebars he is having difficulty reaching his brake lever. Can anyone suggest a modification which might help. My own thoughts were to see if it would be possible to adapt a gear twist grip to operate the brakes but I think they are a bit on the flimsy side for the job.

 

[MichaelW2]

Hydraulic brakes may offer better control for weak hands.
You could add a paddle or adapter made from fibreglass or carbon fibre, or use SUGRU.
You could fit a brake lever to the trailing edge of the bar and use a push action. Be careful with over-braking.
Or use a back-pedal rear brake.
Twist controls are generally bad for people with weak grip.

 

[Arrowfoot]

An American colleague underwent surgery for it and he told me that it is the only to fix it as it gradually gets worse. He is of Scottish immediate descent but the doctor told him that his early ancestors were conquering Vikings.

 

[taximan]

Hydraulic brakes may offer better control for weak hands.
You could add a paddle or adapter made from fibreglass or carbon fibre, or use SUGRU.
You could fit a brake lever to the trailing edge of the bar and use a push action. Be careful with over-braking.
Or use a back-pedal rear brake.
Twist controls are generally bad for people with weak grip.

SUGRU ?

 

[YahudaMoon]

Brake lever shims?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/slim-shim-brake-lever-spacer-ec008424

 

[mickle]

It is possible to adapt a derailleur equipped bike to activate the brake or brakes by turning the pedals backwards. I know of two by different manufacturer's, one pulls cable, the other drives a piston. Easy to set up but not cheap.

 

[taximan]

An American colleague underwent surgery for it and he told me that it is the only to fix it as it gradually gets worse. He is of Scottish immediate descent but the doctor told him that his early ancestors were conquering Vikings.

I told my pal to have his thumb chopped off but as he has already had one of his fingers amputated he was not impressed with my idea.

 

[classic33]

Operate both brakes using one lever and the good hand?

SUGRU ?

https://sugru.com/

 

[Dayvo]

Is he beyond treatment?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupuytren's_contracture#Treatment

 

[Brandane]

This runs in my family (2 of my elder brothers suffer from it), so I am probably in line for it at some point.
Both my brothers have undergone operations for it, with successful results. Only problem is; it comes back after about 5/10 years and my eldest brother, age 63, has now had the operation twice. It can sometimes be fixed by injection, depending on the extent. Surely better to fix the problem, rather than ignore it and modify the bike?

 

[taximan]

Is he beyond treatment?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupuytren's_contracture#Treatment

I am not certain, I haven't asked but he has had treatment in the past.

 

[Dave 123]

Contact British Cycling and find out who runs the adaptive cycling side of things there.

 

[Hacienda71]

Coaster brake. I didn't know that you can get ones like Mickle said where you can run a rear mech as well, as that would have been the down side imho, but with gears they would be a good option.

 

[Globalti]

Some Ergon grips will give a more comfortable contact with the bike if the fingers can get around them.

 

[Snorrarcisco]

My dad suffered from something similar although in Portugal it was never associated with the Viking disease, he worked all is life as a waiter and on both hands the ring finger started to curl. He underwent surgery and took about 2 months to get full movement of the fingers again.

Hope he gets it sorted