My mom wants to start riding again, but the arthritis in her hands does not give her the strength to consistantly use a handbrake. Any suggestions on a alternative solution?
Bike Recommendation for someone with arthritis in her hands
- Thread starter mkmccarron
- Start date
The first two options that spring to mind are a bike with a coaster brake and one with hydraulic, rather than cable, operated brakes. Bikes with hydraulic brakes generally are pretty expensive but bikes with a coaster brake, where you just push back on the pedals, can be found at fairly reasonable prices. I don't look at anything other than racing bikes much I don't know much about pricing on such bikes. From what I remember seeing in Sports Chalet, the Townie brand of bikes had a coaster brake on the back and a cantilever on the front... and they do womens versions of those.
Modern cable operated cantilever brakes have a very light action and some feature adjustable spring tension. Less tension - the easier it is to pullon the brake. It takes far less "effort" to operate than brakes of 10 years ago. Some of the newer brake levers are also adjustable for reach too - which is good for someone with smaller hands or limited movement. The "reach" is how far the lever is away from the handlebar.
If there's a bike that she likes and the "deal breaker" is that she finds it difficult to move her fingers to reach over and pull the brake lever, it is possible to adjust the angle of the brake lever to make this easier and it's also possible to swap just the lever to one that's adjustable for reach.
A local bike shop, rather than a place like WalMart or the local sporting goods store, would be a good place to look because they may have some (albeit limited) with people in a similar situation and access to brake levers and handlebar grips that they might be able to swap out that might provide a good alternate solution.
Modern cable operated cantilever brakes have a very light action and some feature adjustable spring tension. Less tension - the easier it is to pullon the brake. It takes far less "effort" to operate than brakes of 10 years ago. Some of the newer brake levers are also adjustable for reach too - which is good for someone with smaller hands or limited movement. The "reach" is how far the lever is away from the handlebar.
If there's a bike that she likes and the "deal breaker" is that she finds it difficult to move her fingers to reach over and pull the brake lever, it is possible to adjust the angle of the brake lever to make this easier and it's also possible to swap just the lever to one that's adjustable for reach.
A local bike shop, rather than a place like WalMart or the local sporting goods store, would be a good place to look because they may have some (albeit limited) with people in a similar situation and access to brake levers and handlebar grips that they might be able to swap out that might provide a good alternate solution.
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