Help needed! choosing a bike that won't kill me!!

[DOUGLAS BADER]

Hi all, newbie to forum from The Cotswolds (bloody hills!!).

I need help finding a new bike. I ride for just over an hour (my lunch time) each day covering around 18 miles all on road but including some long and steep climbs. I manage the occasional 30 miler at the week end (time permitting).

My right arm is paralysed so I ride with gear shifter and brake levers all on the left handle bar. My bars need to be flat (I can't use drops), I can't rise out of the saddle (1 arm!).

I used to ride a Marin San Rafael (flat bar hybrid/commuter) which was stable and comfortable but rather heavy. I replaced this with a Giant FCR-2 (flat bar road bike) which showed me the delights of light weight and thin tyres but is also too quick to steer and is (relatively) unstable. I never fell off the Marin but have fallen off the Giant a few times, the last one saw me in hospital with a punctured lung and several broken ribs. I can not afford to repeat this experience!!

I need advice - I want the low rolling resistance and lightweight of the Giant combined with the stability of the Marin... any suggestions GREATLY APPRECIATED

Thank you

John

 

[Crackle]

I presume you've considered recumbent trikes, quite a few people here ride them. It would solve the stability issue.

 

[DOUGLAS BADER]

Thanks for the suggestion, not the first time I've been offered it - I fear that the extra width of a trike would have me swiftly dispatched in to hedge on my local roads!

 

[ianrauk]

Welcome to the forum DB. The width of a trike shouldn't be a problem. I have been cycling with Auntie Helen on this forum who owns a trike, a good few times through country lanes and it doesn't seem to be a problem. In fact cars/tractors etc seem to give the trike more room then they would an upright cyclist.

And... 18 miles in an hour... that's fair quick fella.

 

[Crackle]

I guess you need something with a longer wheelbase and a more raked fork, steel frame and forks, all of which will give you a less twitchy and more stable ride without the performance penalty.

For that kind of thing you might be looking at an independent specialist, Roberts, Byercycles or Thorn. I'm also sure I've seen specialist adaptors, custom made, for one armed cycling, I'll have a look, though you may well have already found and considered such things?

 

[summerdays]

Auntie Helen rides a trike because of a weak arm doesn't she?

I'm not going to be tons of help - but if you liked the Marin - have you thought about getting another Marin with a similar but hopefully lighter frame? My friend has a really light weight Marin but I can't remember what it is.

 

[jimboalee]

I was going to say something rotten about riding a bike with false legs, but saw your predicament. Sorry.

I rode, or should I say lounged in, a Windcheetah Speedy recumbent trike a few times during a electric trike project.

It was 'single handed' most of the time. The controls were aranged so either hand could hold the joystick and brake. For giving direction indications.

My only grumble was it was so low. I felt vunerable being sat so close to the tarmac with cars passing and their door mirrors whizzing past above my head.
I felt vunerable also because I couldn't just jump off and drag it onto the footpath if a large vehicle was heading my way.

 

[Hilldodger]

Give Simon at Cyclemagic a call www.cyclemagic.org.uk

Cheers,

Roger@Cyclemagic

 

[arallsopp]

A recumbent two wheeler with under seat steering offers the same arm saving as a trike, but with less weight... Often a little cheaper too. Well worth considering.

Falling off is somewhat more likely, but it normally ends in raspberries rather than broken bones.

 

[Arch]

Welcome to the forum DB. The width of a trike shouldn't be a problem. I have been cycling with Auntie Helen on this forum who owns a trike, a good few times through country lanes and it doesn't seem to be a problem. In fact cars/tractors etc seem to give the trike more room then they would an upright cyclist.

And... 18 miles in an hour... that's fair quick fella.

You do get more room - I rode my new trike for 30 miles a while back when I was test riding it, and in all that time, only three cars didn't cross completely to the other side of the road to pass - and the three only had their left wheels just to the left of the centre line...

I second the recommendation for Cyclemagic, have a chat with them, they do sterling work.

 

[ufkacbln]

Arch and I own Catrikes, which is an American make imported by Ian at Wheel NV

Whereas the Windcheetah is a racing machine and low, some of the Catrikes are much higher.

The Villager for instance has a seat height of 12" and a ground clearance of 5.5" which is much higher than the Windcheetah.

Different ride though as it is not a race machine like the Windcheetah, however having said that the handlebars are more intuitive than the joystick.

Also considerably cheaper!

 

[Arch]

Also, incredibly easy to ride one handed - you only need the lightest touch on just one side of the bars to steer, and there's no issue of falling off a trike, even at very slow speeds.

And even if they aren't racing machines, they are huge fun!

 

[DOUGLAS BADER]

Cheers for all of the responses:

Trike: my problem with falling off is to do with sudden shift of weight - a missed gear/false "neutral" is fatal and has had me on the floor before, now (hopefully) resolved with pedal clips, other causes are braking too hard or pot holes. Holding on with one arm means that once my weight has been shifted over my paralysed arm side of the bike I am off. Can't see how a trike would help, other than the if it has a longer wheel base (so more stable under the conditions which cause the shift in weight?). Also I must admit that the thought of dragging a third tyre along sounds like hard work?

Comment about the false legs: bizzare as it looked, a one legged cyclist was spotted near my house last summer. He had the usual pedals but clearly could only operate one side!! (his leg must be some tool!!)

Cyclemagic: tried to call today but they are not open Monday
(the new Sunday?). Will call tomorrow.

'Other' Marin: am trying to find a Mill or Lucas Valley to try out - although they weigh in at 26lbs (c.f. my Giant's 20lbs). They also have the same 71 degree steering angle and similar wheel base as my Giant...

Specialist build: may look at this - what steering angle and wheelbase would work?

Thanks again
John

 

[Arch]

Cheers for all of the responses:

Trike: my problem with falling off is to do with sudden shift of weight - a missed gear/false "neutral" is fatal and has had me on the floor before, now (hopefully) resolved with pedal clips, other causes are braking too hard or pot holes. Holding on with one arm means that once my weight has been shifted over my paralysed arm side of the bike I am off. Can't see how a trike would help, other than the if it has a longer wheel base (so more stable under the conditions which cause the shift in weight?). Also I must admit that the thought of dragging a third tyre along sounds like hard work?

With a recumbent trike, you have to really try to fall off. Like throw it into a sharp corner, and lean the wrong way, and even then you'll often just lift the inside wheel a little. And you can't go over the bars if you brake hard - you'll just skid if the wheels lock. Look at this pic, and think about where/how your weight is postitioned... Low down, keeping the whole thing glued to the road. And it can't tip over like anything on two wheels can. You don't need to even put a foot down until you want to get up.

And yes, there's a little more resistance from the third wheel, but it does revolve you know - you're not 'dragging' it anywhere....

Upright trikes are different - they can be tricky to master, especially to someone used to two wheels. But even then, they are less likely to tip over unless you push them past their limits, thanks to the three wheels...

 

[DOUGLAS BADER]

Arch, thanks, very interested. Do they weigh much? Do they cost similar amounts of energy to ride? What brand would you recommend?
Thanks again