reverse the bike's pattern

Dee said:

My mom has a Schwin Aro-Dyne fitness bike (25 years old). She recently
had a stroke and part of her therapy includes re-learning how to walk
normally (cross pattern: right leg/left arm pattern. Her bike has a
right leg, right arm pattern. I'm hoping that one of you bike techies
will tell us what must be done to switch the arm/pedal pattern to
minmic how people naturally walk. Your help will be greatly
appreciated. (BTW, I visited a local Schwin dealer; no help there, and
I called Schwin Fitness; also, no help there.

Dee
Im sorry I haven't had an exercise bike of any sort, but how did it
develop this pattern in the first place. I mean, if its a defect,
Schwinn will replace or repair it for you. Schwin's operator's manuals
on their website tell nothing about troubleshooting such problems. Its
more like an exercise manual than anything technical, so Schwinn seems
to be the authority on this part of things. Unless you want to get your
tools out and play around a little, risking more potential problems.
You might want to check the website again, I could also be wrong.

http://www.nautilusinc.com/schwinn_fitness_primary/ownersmanuals.jsp#

I'd love to get a look at this thing. I know our gym around the corner
has one.

Meanwhile, I wish the very best to your mom.

B.D

bicycle_disciple said:

Dee said:

My mom has a Schwin Aro-Dyne fitness bike (25 years old). She recently
had a stroke and part of her therapy includes re-learning how to walk
normally (cross pattern: right leg/left arm pattern. Her bike has a
right leg, right arm pattern. I'm hoping that one of you bike techies
will tell us what must be done to switch the arm/pedal pattern to
minmic how people naturally walk. Your help will be greatly
appreciated. (BTW, I visited a local Schwin dealer; no help there, and
I called Schwin Fitness; also, no help there.

Dee
Im sorry I haven't had an exercise bike of any sort, but how did it
develop this pattern in the first place. I mean, if its a defect,
Schwinn will replace or repair it for you.

The "defect" is in her Mom's physiology, she needs to strength train
with a certain pattern and wants the Schwinn to be modified to the
pattern of therapy required.

Quoted message said:

Schwin's operator's manuals
on their website tell nothing about troubleshooting such problems. Its
more like an exercise manual than anything technical, so Schwinn seems
to be the authority on this part of things. Unless you want to get your
tools out and play around a little, risking more potential problems.
You might want to check the website again, I could also be wrong.

http://www.nautilusinc.com/schwinn_fitness_primary/ownersmanuals.jsp#

I'd love to get a look at this thing. I know our gym around the corner
has one.

Meanwhile, I wish the very best to your mom.

B.D

"R Brickston" wrote: (clip) how did it develop this pattern in the first
place. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Sounds like that's the way Schwinn built it. Does it have a sprocket and
chain drive? If it does, just open the chain and reposition the pedals 180
degrees. You're trying to get the right pedal to go down as the right lever
pulls back, right? (I mean, "correct?"😉

If it doesn't have a chain drive, you might still be able to pull off the
crank arms and reverse their positions on the bottom bracket.

Dee said:

My mom has a Schwin Aro-Dyne fitness bike (25 years old). She recently
had a stroke and part of her therapy includes re-learning how to walk
normally (cross pattern: right leg/left arm pattern. Her bike has a
right leg, right arm pattern. I'm hoping that one of you bike techies
will tell us what must be done to switch the arm/pedal pattern to
minmic how people naturally walk. Your help will be greatly
appreciated. (BTW, I visited a local Schwin dealer; no help there, and
I called Schwin Fitness; also, no help there.

OK- I spent a few years in a Schwinn shop, and I remember when the
first Air-Dynes came out. Monsterous machines- and I had to deliver a
bunch of them at Christmas time. My back still hurts.

Anyway, it uses a unique combination of cottered cranks and sub-cranks
and a linkage to the arm levers to synchronize the arm and leg
movement. Since the cottered sub-cranks fit on the spindle one way, and
the cranks fit on the sub-cranks one way, there's only one way the
pedals will move in relation to the arm levers, which is the way it is
now.

In *theory* it would be possible to re-machine the flats on the
sub-cranks so the cranks were 180 degress from where they are now. I'd
guess that this would require a really good bike mechanic, who's
familiar with cottered-style cranks, *and* the services of a very well
equipped machine shop, one that could grind a flat on a hardened steel
part. After that, the part would be weaker, and *could* break off. (I
kind of doubt it- those things were bomb-proof.) I really doubt either
your dealer or Schwinn Fitness would want to advise you on this- the
potential liability is huge.

FWIW: here's a picture of the machine we're discussing:
http://brandscycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=2438
Here's a link to the current "Schwinn" AirDyne:
http://tinyurl.com/mpzue
Note that Schwinn Fitness is no longer related to Schwinn Bicycles- and
probably hasn't been for 15 years. Schwinn Fitness is now a brand owned
by the Nautilus Inc., whose headquarters are about 3 miles from where I
sit.

Jeff

"Dee" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

My mom has a Schwin Aro-Dyne fitness bike (25 years old). She recently
had a stroke and part of her therapy includes re-learning how to walk
normally (cross pattern: right leg/left arm pattern. Her bike has a
right leg, right arm pattern. I'm hoping that one of you bike techies
will tell us what must be done to switch the arm/pedal pattern to
minmic how people naturally walk. Your help will be greatly
appreciated. (BTW, I visited a local Schwin dealer; no help there, and
I called Schwin Fitness; also, no help there.

If it is not using cottered cranks, you could pull the crank arms and
reposition them as needed.
But if you are using cottered cranks you may not be able to do anything. But
if one of those three piece spindle conversions will fit, you could maybe
get it to work. But it depends on how the handlebar push rod is hooked up to
it all.

"JeffWills" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Dee said:

My mom has a Schwin Aro-Dyne fitness bike (25 years old). She recently
had a stroke and part of her therapy includes re-learning how to walk
normally (cross pattern: right leg/left arm pattern. Her bike has a
right leg, right arm pattern. I'm hoping that one of you bike techies
will tell us what must be done to switch the arm/pedal pattern to
minmic how people naturally walk. Your help will be greatly
appreciated. (BTW, I visited a local Schwin dealer; no help there, and
I called Schwin Fitness; also, no help there.

OK- I spent a few years in a Schwinn shop, and I remember when the
first Air-Dynes came out. Monsterous machines- and I had to deliver a
bunch of them at Christmas time. My back still hurts.

Anyway, it uses a unique combination of cottered cranks and sub-cranks
and a linkage to the arm levers to synchronize the arm and leg
movement. Since the cottered sub-cranks fit on the spindle one way, and
the cranks fit on the sub-cranks one way, there's only one way the
pedals will move in relation to the arm levers, which is the way it is
now.

In *theory* it would be possible to re-machine the flats on the
sub-cranks so the cranks were 180 degress from where they are now. I'd
guess that this would require a really good bike mechanic, who's
familiar with cottered-style cranks, *and* the services of a very well
equipped machine shop, one that could grind a flat on a hardened steel
part. After that, the part would be weaker, and *could* break off. (I
kind of doubt it- those things were bomb-proof.) I really doubt either
your dealer or Schwinn Fitness would want to advise you on this- the
potential liability is huge.

FWIW: here's a picture of the machine we're discussing:
http://brandscycle.com/itemdetails.cfm?id=2438
Here's a link to the current "Schwinn" AirDyne:
http://tinyurl.com/mpzue
Note that Schwinn Fitness is no longer related to Schwinn Bicycles- and
probably hasn't been for 15 years. Schwinn Fitness is now a brand owned
by the Nautilus Inc., whose headquarters are about 3 miles from where I
sit.

Jeff

It's hard to tell from the photos, but it looks like the pedal cranks are
linked to the arm levers by connecting rods. Rather than machining hardened
steel pieces, it may be possible to disconnect the connecting rods from the
bottom of the arm levers and rig an attachment point for them at a point
above the pivots of the arm levers. This would cause the arm levers to move
180 degrees out of phase from the stock configuration. This might be able
to be a clamp-on arrangement, or squeezing a flat spot on the arm lever at
the right point and drilling a hole.
Best wishes,
Kerry

Quoted message said:

The "defect" is in her Mom's physiology, she needs to strength train
with a certain pattern and wants the Schwinn to be modified to the
pattern of therapy required.

How so? The AirDyne has a right leg, left arm pattern, unless this is
something I don't know about.

Dee wanted to get a left arm, left leg pattern so he was wondering if
any of us knew how to tweak the mechanism. -B.D

bicycle_disciple said:

Quoted message said:

The "defect" is in her Mom's physiology, she needs to strength train
with a certain pattern and wants the Schwinn to be modified to the
pattern of therapy required.

How so? The AirDyne has a right leg, left arm pattern, unless this is
something I don't know about.

Dee wanted to get a left arm, left leg pattern so he was wondering if
any of us knew how to tweak the mechanism. -B.D

Correction... I meant the opposite...

Quoted message said:

The "defect" is in her Mom's physiology, she needs to strength train
with a certain pattern and wants the Schwinn to be modified to the
pattern of therapy required.

How so? The AirDyne has a right leg, left arm pattern, unless this is
something I don't know about.

Dee wanted to get a left arm, left leg pattern so he was wondering if
any of us knew how to tweak the mechanism. -B.D

Reportedly, the later models came out with synchronized arm and leg
motion that simulates natural human movement, but mom's machine is
25-years old. To all of you that have responded to my request for
information, THANK YOU!

Dee

"Dee" wrote: Reportedly, the later models came out with synchronized arm
and leg motion that simulates natural human movement, but mom's machine is
25-years old. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Mom must be considerably older than than, so what's the problem?

bicycle_disciple said:

Quoted message said:

The "defect" is in her Mom's physiology, she needs to strength train
with a certain pattern and wants the Schwinn to be modified to the
pattern of therapy required.

How so? The AirDyne has a right leg, left arm pattern, unless this is
something I don't know about.

Dee wanted to get a left arm, left leg pattern so he was wondering if
any of us knew how to tweak the mechanism. -B.D

She needs physical therapy applied in the opposite way that is
available on her Schwinn. Otherwise, the way the Schwinn is now would
work for her.