rcharlton

Hi

I am faced with a situation not contemplated by most ebike developers.

I suffer from ALS (Lou Gherig’s disease) and I’ve lost the use of my hands and arms.

I currently ride a recumbent trike. It is a front wheel drive with one wheel out front and two in the rear. It has a Shimano Imotion hub (internal gears) in the front wheel which has a coaster brake – so I can brake with my feet. It has lean steering so I don’t need hands to steer. The only thing that causes me problems is shifting. I have a grip shifter to which I have attached a vise grip. Every time I need to shift I have to get off my trike and move the vise with my foot.

I only bike on trails never the road.

The manufacturer of my trike does ebike conversions using “bionx” but this requires replacing the Imotion hub. By losing the Imotion hub I lose my coaster brake. By losing my coaster brake I lose my ability to stop my trike.

So what I am looking for is an ebike conversion that will allow me to keep my coaster brake.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Sangesf

Here's an idea, get a mobility scooter.
There's a guy here in my town that goes EVERYWHERE on that thing, all day long.
That's a powered vehicle worth it's weight in gold... Yeah, sure it doesn't go that fast, but it would be the easiest way of getting around with a "powered" vehicle.

rcharlton

Thanks Sangesf - but as I can't use my hands or arms I would not be able to operate a mobility scooter. Steering, acceleration and braking are all hand controlled. Plus my legs are still strong and I can walk faster than most scooters. Finally I need a range of at least 30 miles.

Right now I don't need my hands to ride my trike. I just need an ebike conversion that allows the use of a coaster brake.

gerald_g 

Could you put the hub motor on one of the rear wheels, and keep the coaster brakes on the front?

Sangesf

The cutoff of the electric motor is controlled usually by a brake level (re: need use of hands).
I would go to your local bike shop and have them construct something for you.
You prolly won't be able to get away with a basic setup. Look into the motor and specialized controls at a cost of around $1500 including batteries that will travel 30miles distance.
If your looking to get away with something cheap, it's prolly not gonna happen.

gerald_g 

I had an idea once of mounting a freewheel inline with the chain, so as the chain goes forward nothing happens. It simply spins along. As the chain is held still for coasting, again nothing happens.
If you pedal back, the pawls engage, and it turns. Now you fabricate a cable mount onto the hub so that when it turns back, it pulls the cable. The cable could be attached to brakes.
I thought of this once as a possibility for someone who is unable to squeeze brake handles.

gerald_g 

Nah nix that idea - would not work on anything with a derailleur due to backpedal simply pulling on the springs, unless it was mounted on the low part of the chain running along the return side, then maybe.

liksmuzic

Off the cuff, I am wondering if a front wheel hub with a disk brake could have a the brake activated by a foot pedal setup
Another thing would be to maybe send an email to an ebike supply store, such as www.ebike.ca, and pose the question to
them. After seeing what some of these people have come up with, they might be able to help.
One more thing, if you are by a large center, find the stores for mobilty devices. When my father in law was alive, he was
restricted to a wheel chair. We had gone into a shop that fitted his van with a wheel chair lift, and the things they had
there to help people were amazing. They fitted his van with the wheelchair lift, and made the gas and brake pedals
activate by hand controls. Maybe they have something that would work.

rcharlton

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll do a bit more digging and see what I can find out.

dumbass 

I don't think you mentioned if you were intending on peddling while using the drive motor. And I know little about recumbent trikes but could you use an "on demand" type of setup? You could have the motor installed on one or both rear wheels. And with a sensor on your crank sprocket or built into the peddles the motor would be activated only when you are peddling. IT would be speed controlled by you as you peddle. This type of setup would have no effect on your front wheel and therefore, not effect your braking.

Bob

rcharlton

Thanks - I will be pedaling so the rear wheel set up you guys suggested sounds perfect - now I just need to find someone in Toronto to do the work