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Adaptive Cycling: Handcycles, Amputee Adaptation, Visual Impairment, and Other Needs Have a need for adaptive equipment to ride to compensate for a disability or loss of limb or function? This area is for discussion among those of us in the cycling world that are coming back from traumatic circumstances and tell the world, "No, you are not going to beat me down!"

Home built handcycle

Old 10-05-20, 02:47 PM
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v2505
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Home built handcycle

I have a 17 year old son that fell in love with biking just about like every other kid on the planet when he got his first handcycle when he was 5. Then he outgrew it and we bought him a second bike. When he broke that we bought a third. When he broke that......I couldn't afford to buy him another new one so....I set out to build one.

I used three donor bikes, chopped them up, reassembled them in a new order. I had two old steel frames and found a 'donor' bike that had a perfect solution for a front drive. Total cost was less than $200 for the bike.

The welds are ugly, the drive train funky (but very functional) and he absolutely loves it. Two of the frames were hacked and leaving a seatpost/BB/downtube. Passed a tube through the BB to serve as an axle. The 'donor' bike was purchased for its perfect front fork solution. It was a foldable bike, cut in half, took the back half with drivetrain intact and inverted it. I welded a steer tube on it and voila I had a solution for a front drive fork. You can see a bit of a unique chain line situation but it really worked out well. solved a lot of chain tension issues, chain alignment etc.


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Old 12-10-20, 09:52 PM
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RonInBC
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Just saw this thread. I've also built hand crank bikes for disabled people. Lot's of similarities but mine just use a single long chain.

I'll post a photo when I get my 10 posts in.

Ron
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Old 12-11-20, 10:28 AM
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my first attempt went with a single long chain but i struggled getting chain tension and alignment correct. mostly because of my crappy welding skills and a crooked derailleur hanger. going this route really simplified it for me. i would be interested in pictures of other builds. im going to try a new one this winter with some electric assist for him.
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Old 12-11-20, 05:42 PM
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Makes sense, I didn't notice the derailleur down there.

Yes, the long chain is a bit floppy but for a single speed application it did work well.

Ron
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Old 12-11-20, 06:33 PM
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Russ Roth
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Looks pretty cool. Well done. It's projects like this that remind me I need to learn to weld.
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Old 12-11-20, 07:09 PM
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Having a welder can be so handy. I'm lucky that I have a TIG welder and can weld s/s and aluminum.

I've had it for 20 years. My welds have always been OK but not nearly as nice as a friends who does it for a living. Got a new auto darkening helmet and just tried it out. My first weld was a piece of art. Better than I've ever done. I've always suspected that the cheap helmet that I was using didn't let me see the work clearly. If you get a welder, get a decent helmet. It only took me 20 years to discover that.

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