Wheelchair handcylcle

I use a 'handcycle' which bolts on to my wheelchair. A few days ago, my single calliper brake cable
snapped... leavening a few skidmarks... not on the road!

The leaver on the right (middle bottom pic, see link below) has since been removed as I don't have
good use of my right hand.

Any thoughts on how to attach a second brake would be welcome.

http://homepage.ntlworld.com/asteen/trike/trike_2.htm

TIA,

Andy,

Sunny Scotland

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In article <[email protected]>, "Mac"
<[email protected]> writes:

>I use a 'handcycle' which bolts on to my wheelchair. A few days ago, my single calliper brake cable
>snapped... leavening a few skidmarks... not on the road!
>
>The leaver on the right (middle bottom pic, see link below) has since been removed as I don't have
>good use of my right hand.
>
>Any thoughts on how to attach a second brake would be welcome.

I'm not certain what is needed here, but I'll try. There are brake levers intended for tandems,
one of which will pull two cables. Is that what you are looking for? I don't think they are
impossible to obtain. I have a Diacompe set but they are for "road" handle bars. I believe there
are "splitters" that can accomplish the same thing without being locked into a certain kind of
brake levers, an adjustment you probably don't need along with all the other adjustments you've
had to make.

Good luck.

Tom Gibb <[email protected]

 

"Mac" <[email protected]> wrote:

> I use a 'handcycle' which bolts on to my wheelchair. A few days ago, my single calliper brake
> cable snapped... leavening a few skidmarks... not on the road!
>
> The leaver on the right (middle bottom pic, see link below) has since been removed as I don't have
> good use of my right hand.
>
> Any thoughts on how to attach a second brake would be welcome.

First off, you need to be able to actuate two brakes. You can get levers intended for freestyle
bikes, which pull two cables. I include two examples in the links below:

http://danscomp.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?action=DETAIL&item=486033_gry
http://danscomp.com/cgi-bin/hazel.cgi?action=DETAIL&item=486063

It looks like you have cantilever brakes on your handcycle. The cheapest, easiest way to get an
emergency backup brake would be to add a BMX caliper brake to the rear of the fork crown, and have
one of your brake cables pull it. Long-reach caliper brakes are not that great for stopping power,
but they're a lot better than nothing should your main brakes fail. Including the 2-cable lever,
that would likely cost about GBP ?30 plus installation.

Otherwise, you could get another pair of brake studs brazed on the back of the fork, and use
V-brakes back there. This would cost more than the aforementioned scheme (perhaps ?50 for a cheap
V-brake, 2-cable lever, and brazing), and would leave burns on your cycle's paint.

You could have a wheel built with a drum brake hub, and run one of your cables to it. That would
require a new wheel but no frame modifications.

Most costly but also possible would be to have a disc brake tab added to your fork, and have a new
wheel built up with a disc brake hub. The combination of a disc brake with a small-diameter wheel
could make for excessively powerful braking, which may not be desirable.

Best of luck. Let us know how you get things sorted out.

Chalo Colina

 

"Mac" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...


Why do handcyclists use both cranks together instead of having them spread at 180 degrees as foot
cranks are. Is it for steering purposes or does this way of using them give more power. It must be
harder on the lower back.

 

"n crowley" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Mac" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
>
> Why do handcyclists use both cranks together instead of having them spread at 180 degrees as foot
> cranks are. Is it for steering purposes or does
this
> way of using them give more power. It must be harder on the lower back.

I asked a handcyclists this very question once. He said that it's actually easier to crank
"in-synch" because 180 degree cranks would induce a continuous twisting motion to your back and that
would actually be more tiring. The muscles which stabilize the spine laterally are really quite
small. Pedaling together is akin to rowing which uses larger back muscles.

 

Also helps with stability, a lot of people using the H/Cs have little or no abdominal control so the
crank being in sync means you don't have to lean. In-fact you can actually push your back against
the backrest for leverage.

Andy