One (left) handed rider

A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. She is therefore getting a new bike. I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. I
wondered later if the left ergolever can be modified by inserting the
right-hand mechanism (perhaps in mirror image?) so that the ergolever
would shift the rear derailleur and the bar-end the front derailleur.
My thinking was to have her left hand firmly on the bars as much of
the time as possible to enhance stability. I have searched the group
archives but did not see this possibility described.

Secondly, is it worth the effort to run both front and rear brakes
from the left lever (if possible) or just to make do with the left
lever running the front brake? My estimate is that she weighs no more
than 130 pounds, and has a strong left hand. The bike will not likely
be used for loaded touring, but she will sometimes ride in the
mountains around Lake Placid.

Paul

Paul Slavchenko wrote:

A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. *She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. *Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. *She is therefore getting a new bike. *I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. *

It does not make sense to me for someone who lacks the use of her
right hand to have a handlebar designed for crouching over. She's
bound to suffer discomfort, overuse injury, or worse by supporting her
torso weight on only one arm. Unless I'm seriously misunderstanding
her situation, I think she should sit up straight, and use a handlebar
designed for comfortably sitting up straight.

I knew a man in my neighborhood in the late '90s who had a paralyzed
right arm from an accident in his youth. He was about seven feet
tall, and he used a custom Skip Hujsak bike with a short top tube and
high handlebars. He had a grip shifter and a thumbshifter on the
left, plus one of the old Dia Compe MTB levers that pulled two cables
for the brakes. He might as well have cut off the right half of his
handlebars, but he used it to prop up his paralyzed arm.

The latest common iteration of a dual cable brake lever contains a
rocking linkage so that the brake cables are pulled with equal force
even if they are not identically adjusted. (The rocker has a limited
range so that one slipped or broken cable doesn't take out both
brakes.) It's inexpensive and effective, but it only works on normal
22.2mm diameter handlebars:

http://www.amazon.com/Pyramid-Alloy-.../dp/B000AO7H16

Chalo

On 5 Jan, 08:20, Paul Slavchenko wrote:
A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. *She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. *Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. *She is therefore getting a new bike. *I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. *I
wondered later if the left ergolever can be modified by inserting the
right-hand mechanism (perhaps in mirror image?) so that the ergolever
would shift the rear derailleur and the bar-end the front derailleur.
My thinking was to have her left hand firmly on the bars as much of
the time as possible to enhance stability. *I have searched the group
archives but did not see this possibility described.

Secondly, is it worth the effort to run both front and rear brakes
from the left lever (if possible) or just to make do with the left
lever running the front brake? *My estimate is that she weighs no more
than 130 pounds, and has a strong left hand. *The bike will not likely
be used for loaded touring, but she will sometimes ride in the
mountains around Lake Placid.

Paul

On 5 Jan, 08:20, Paul Slavchenko wrote:
A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. *She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. *Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. *She is therefore getting a new bike. *I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. *I
wondered later if the left ergolever can be modified by inserting the
right-hand mechanism (perhaps in mirror image?) so that the ergolever
would shift the rear derailleur and the bar-end the front derailleur.
My thinking was to have her left hand firmly on the bars as much of
the time as possible to enhance stability. *I have searched the group
archives but did not see this possibility described.

Secondly, is it worth the effort to run both front and rear brakes
from the left lever (if possible) or just to make do with the left
lever running the front brake? *My estimate is that she weighs no more
than 130 pounds, and has a strong left hand. *The bike will not likely
be used for loaded touring, but she will sometimes ride in the
mountains around Lake Placid.


Use a pair of downtube shifters. I have no trouble using one hand
(left or right) operating both levers together and have always done
so. If your friend can still support herself well with her right hand
and arm with the left off the bars, this is the easiest way to go.
She might want to add a drag brake on the rear for downhill sections.
The bar end gear shifter would come in useful here. If the bar end is
trimmed short then modulation of the rear brake becomes possible with
the front brake applied.

On Jan 5, 8:10*am, thirty-six wrote:
On 5 Jan, 08:20, Paul Slavchenko wrote:



A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. *She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. *Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. *She is therefore getting a new bike. *I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. *I
wondered later if the left ergolever can be modified by inserting the
right-hand mechanism (perhaps in mirror image?) so that the ergolever
would shift the rear derailleur and the bar-end the front derailleur.
My thinking was to have her left hand firmly on the bars as much of
the time as possible to enhance stability. *I have searched the group
archives but did not see this possibility described.

Secondly, is it worth the effort to run both front and rear brakes
from the left lever (if possible) or just to make do with the left
lever running the front brake? *My estimate is that she weighs no more
than 130 pounds, and has a strong left hand. *The bike will not likely
be used for loaded touring, but she will sometimes ride in the
mountains around Lake Placid.

Use a pair of downtube shifters. *I have no trouble using one hand
(left or right) operating both levers together and have always done
so. *If your friend can still support herself well with her right hand
and arm with the left off the bars, this is the easiest way to go.
She might want to add a drag brake on the rear for downhill sections.
The bar end gear shifter would come in useful here. *If the bar end is
trimmed short then modulation of the rear brake becomes possible with
the front brake applied.


Thanks for the replies so far. A few more details: Her right hand
fingers were amputated in a farm accident, then re-attached but now
have only limited function. The rest of her arm still has normal
strength, so she is OK leaning on it. She wants to do occasional
triathlons, and is flexible enough that tribars would be a
comfortable. She is inspired by a one armed triathlete in her town
who has shifters on her tri-bars, but my friend would like to be able
to use the clip-on ones so that she can take them off for conventional
riding. Thus she would like shifters on conventional road bars. She
hopes to get one of the modern carbon fiber frames which do not
usually come with downtube shifter bosses. She likes the idea of at
least one of the shifters being an ergolever (and preferably the rear
shifter) so that she can keep her hands on the bar as much as
possible.

Paul

On Jan 5, 4:51*am, Chalo wrote:
Paul Slavchenko wrote:

A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. *She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. *Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. *She is therefore getting a new bike. *I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. *

It does not make sense to me for someone who lacks the use of her
right hand to have a handlebar designed for crouching over. *She's
bound to suffer discomfort, overuse injury, or worse by supporting her
torso weight on only one arm. *Unless I'm seriously misunderstanding
her situation, I think she should sit up straight, and use a handlebar
designed for comfortably sitting up straight.


No doubt. If this is a temporary situation, then there are a couple
good solutions. One is to simply choose different exercise till it
heals up. Nothing wrong with a stationary cycle and a nice book in the
middle of winter. The other is to use the injury as an excuse to
purchase a proper Dankso-pean upright bike, which doesn't need more
than one hand to work. Coaster brakes--great for children, coffee
lovers, smart phone users, and people with disabilities.

http://www.erlan.net/cyklar/monark/o...-dam-klassiker

On Jan 5, 7:37*am, Paul Slavchenko wrote:
On Jan 5, 8:10*am, thirty-six wrote:



On 5 Jan, 08:20, Paul Slavchenko wrote:

A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. *She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. *Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. *She is therefore getting a new bike. *I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. *I
wondered later if the left ergolever can be modified by inserting the
right-hand mechanism (perhaps in mirror image?) so that the ergolever
would shift the rear derailleur and the bar-end the front derailleur.
My thinking was to have her left hand firmly on the bars as much of
the time as possible to enhance stability. *I have searched the group
archives but did not see this possibility described.

Secondly, is it worth the effort to run both front and rear brakes
from the left lever (if possible) or just to make do with the left
lever running the front brake? *My estimate is that she weighs no more
than 130 pounds, and has a strong left hand. *The bike will not likely
be used for loaded touring, but she will sometimes ride in the
mountains around Lake Placid.

Use a pair of downtube shifters. *I have no trouble using one hand
(left or right) operating both levers together and have always done
so. *If your friend can still support herself well with her right hand
and arm with the left off the bars, this is the easiest way to go.
She might want to add a drag brake on the rear for downhill sections.
The bar end gear shifter would come in useful here. *If the bar end is
trimmed short then modulation of the rear brake becomes possible with
the front brake applied.

Thanks for the replies so far. *A few more details: *Her right hand
fingers were amputated in a farm accident, then re-attached but now
have only limited function. *The rest of her arm still has normal
strength, so she is OK leaning on it. *She wants to do occasional
triathlons, and is flexible enough that tribars would be a
comfortable.

Guess she's pretty much stuck with limited finger strength on the
right then. As cheeky as you might have thought my other post--the use
of a foot brake could really be a great solution. A Nexus 7 coaster
braked road bike might be just the thing for her. It would have a
limited gearing range, though.

You could also run the front brake as usual and rig the rear up to a
bartop cross lever to use on slippery surfaces.

For shifting, the barend option is the obvious choice, but don't count
out right-hand gripshifting. It doesn't require much dexterity and can
be modded onto drops or some tri-extensions.

On 5 Jan, 13:37, Paul Slavchenko wrote:
On Jan 5, 8:10*am, thirty-six wrote:



On 5 Jan, 08:20, Paul Slavchenko wrote:

A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. *She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. *Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. *She is therefore getting a new bike. *I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. *I
wondered later if the left ergolever can be modified by inserting the
right-hand mechanism (perhaps in mirror image?) so that the ergolever
would shift the rear derailleur and the bar-end the front derailleur.
My thinking was to have her left hand firmly on the bars as much of
the time as possible to enhance stability. *I have searched the group
archives but did not see this possibility described.

Secondly, is it worth the effort to run both front and rear brakes
from the left lever (if possible) or just to make do with the left
lever running the front brake? *My estimate is that she weighs no more
than 130 pounds, and has a strong left hand. *The bike will not likely
be used for loaded touring, but she will sometimes ride in the
mountains around Lake Placid.

Use a pair of downtube shifters. *I have no trouble using one hand
(left or right) operating both levers together and have always done
so. *If your friend can still support herself well with her right hand
and arm with the left off the bars, this is the easiest way to go.
She might want to add a drag brake on the rear for downhill sections.
The bar end gear shifter would come in useful here. *If the bar end is
trimmed short then modulation of the rear brake becomes possible with
the front brake applied.

Thanks for the replies so far. *A few more details: *Her right hand
fingers were amputated in a farm accident, then re-attached but now
have only limited function. *The rest of her arm still has normal
strength, so she is OK leaning on it. *She wants to do occasional
triathlons, and is flexible enough that tribars would be a
comfortable. *She is inspired by a one armed triathlete in her town
who has shifters on her tri-bars, but my friend *would like to be able
to use the clip-on ones so that she can take them off for conventional
riding. *Thus she would like shifters on conventional road bars. *She
hopes to get one of the modern carbon fiber frames which do not
usually come with downtube shifter bosses.

OOps. If a downtube or top tube mounted shifter is not out of the
question it would be worthwhile sourcing clamp on mountings to suit
the frame.

*She likes the idea of at
least one of the shifters being an ergolever (and preferably the rear
shifter) so that she can keep her hands on the bar as much as
possible.

Which can result in discomfort for some riders. Also bicyclists need
to signal to other road users with an arm removed from the
handlebars. Changing gear with a dowtube shifter takes less than 1/2
second if performed well whereas signalling to other road users takes
three seconds. Eating and drinking is also usually performed on the
bike with one or both hands off the bars

Paul Slavchenko wrote:
On Jan 5, 8:10 am, thirty-six wrote:
On 5 Jan, 08:20, Paul Slavchenko wrote:



A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. She can still prop herself up
using the right hand. Since she cannot work as much as she used to,
she has decided to ride more. She is therefore getting a new bike. I
suggested that she use a Campy left ergolever for the front combined
with a right-sided bar-end shifter on the left for the rear. I
wondered later if the left ergolever can be modified by inserting the
right-hand mechanism (perhaps in mirror image?) so that the ergolever
would shift the rear derailleur and the bar-end the front derailleur.
My thinking was to have her left hand firmly on the bars as much of
the time as possible to enhance stability. I have searched the group
archives but did not see this possibility described.
Secondly, is it worth the effort to run both front and rear brakes
from the left lever (if possible) or just to make do with the left
lever running the front brake? My estimate is that she weighs no more
than 130 pounds, and has a strong left hand. The bike will not likely
be used for loaded touring, but she will sometimes ride in the
mountains around Lake Placid.
Use a pair of downtube shifters. I have no trouble using one hand
(left or right) operating both levers together and have always done
so. If your friend can still support herself well with her right hand
and arm with the left off the bars, this is the easiest way to go.
She might want to add a drag brake on the rear for downhill sections.
The bar end gear shifter would come in useful here. If the bar end is
trimmed short then modulation of the rear brake becomes possible with
the front brake applied.


Thanks for the replies so far. A few more details: Her right hand
fingers were amputated in a farm accident, then re-attached but now
have only limited function. The rest of her arm still has normal
strength, so she is OK leaning on it. She wants to do occasional
triathlons, and is flexible enough that tribars would be a
comfortable. She is inspired by a one armed triathlete in her town
who has shifters on her tri-bars, but my friend would like to be able
to use the clip-on ones so that she can take them off for conventional
riding. Thus she would like shifters on conventional road bars. She
hopes to get one of the modern carbon fiber frames which do not
usually come with downtube shifter bosses. She likes the idea of at
least one of the shifters being an ergolever (and preferably the rear
shifter) so that she can keep her hands on the bar as much as
possible.

Paul


You may want to see if you/she can get in touch with Sarah Storey.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/othe...ng/8319661.stm

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...GeGuangNiu.jpg

Paul Slavchenko wrote:
A friend of mine has injured her right hand such that she cannot use
it to shift gears or brake on a bike. ...

This is probably a stupidly expensive and not very appropriate option,
but out of interest I noticed Pashley produced a limited number of their
"Guv'nor" bicycles having a Sachs Duomatic on the rear and a speed drive
front chain wheel. That would give four gears and braking without any
need for hand-operated controls at all!

I think the main reason for this combo if truth be told is for a 'fixie
with no brakes' look without the inconvenience of no gears and no brakes.

--
www.slowbicyclemovement.org - enjoy the ride