Jayne Greaves

Hi All
I am new to forums and adaptive cycling, however my husbad has been cycling for years. Following an accident in France on a charity ride he lost the use of his right arm, he is slowly starting to re-build his bike with adaptations and all functions to the left handle bar, however we are struggling to see how we can attach his failing arm to the right handle bar. I have seen adaptations for amputees, but not for loss of use.
Does anyone know of any product on the market that may assist, he has been given a metal brace that can be set to different angles, but how can we attached the hand to the bar.... Any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully recieved.

CbadRider

My first thought would be something simple like hook-and-loop Velcro. Put a strip on his cycling glove and a strip on the handlebar. It should hold his hand in place and also be easy to remove.

Yo Spiff

Maybe something as simple as Velcro? Put it on the bars in various places where he might like to place his hand, and sew the mating portion to his glove.

Jayne Greaves

Thank you both, I thought of velcro, but Paul has some movement in his shoulder and was hopeful to complete his Mont Vontaux challenge in July, where his accident happened back in September to get rid of those demons, I am not sure velco would be strong enough to let him lift out of his seat to ride the mountain. I have sent a couple of emails to specialist velcro companies following your suggestions and fingers crossed they will come up trumps xxx

runner pat

Kinda pricey but there are handcycle gloves intended for quadriplegics.

100bikes

There may be a relatively simple solution.

A frame which rigidly attached to the brace, and through the use of a C
( or open front D) shaped " dropout" at the other end, with the opening large
enough to accommodate a handlebar. A large carabiner with the spring
removed may be a good template.

The opening would allow the handlebar to be be grasped/hooked in either the
push or pull mode, yet allow the brace to be be quickly disengaged, with a
relatively natural movement.

This device would be able to both support the riders weight to a degree when pushed
against the handlebar.

It would also allow the rider to pull back with their shoulder against the handlebar
when needed, likely on ascents.

The length of of the arms could be fit to the system is such a way as to incorporate
the velcro/glove solution as well. This dropout would be made to fit both on the top
flat of a bar, but also to fit on the drop or tourist type bar. It may need to have some
pivot built in to do this.


Just some ideas.