In short, my now previous bike had several failures that left me stranded. Fortunately, the person I coach with was able to get me home but I don’t want to have to depend on him as he’s regularly out of town.
The new bike is an Invacare Force 3, bought from How I Roll. I had originaly tried to purchase a demo model of a different bike they were selling but due to a mixup, I was charged for a bike that was already sold(by a few hours). Prompt refund and an offer of an additional discount by the owner. Offer accepted.
1x10spd drivetrain, disc brake(cable), shift triggers and brake lever mounted on the right handpedal.
It feels substantially more solid than the last bike ever felt and is much lighter. It actually feels eager to accelerate.
I guess the explains the wheelie bar on the back. Don’t want any backflips under hard acceleration.
Seriously …
That looks like an awesome ride and I expect you’ll get a lot of happy and low-effort miles out of it. Amazing how strong and light we can make things these days compared to the vehicles (and especially cycles) of our youth.
Nothing better than getting a new “toy” for Christmas. No matter how useful or practical it may be.
Forgive me if I’ve missed this before, and also please tell me to mind my own business if you’d rather not share: Why the handcycle? With your username, I always pictured a runner and thought that was a recumbent as your avatar. I guess “arms of steel, leg of jello” gives indication of handcycle usage
No prob.
I started running in high school(1976, grad '78) I was hit bicycling to work in 2004, tore up my leg pretty thoroughly. I can walk with a cane but cannot bear full weight or pedal a regular bike. I coach cross-country and track at a local high school.
Handcycles are recumbents except for a few like this.
Glad you survived and can still be active, with modifications. Both my wife and I have been hit by cars: I was hit while commuting on my bike and my wife was ran over while crossing a street in a crosswalk. I was pretty much uninjured (couldn’t say the same for my bike), while my wife ended up in the ICU, then normal hospital room, then a recovery center (three weeks for all of it). She has recovered amazingly well but has some ongoing issues that will always be there.
Her rebuilt leg is a bit painful at times, but we’ve done large backpack and hiking trips, and she still is able to run multiple times a week. The real issues are from the brain injuries including a total lack of smell from severed olfactory nerves. Not being able to smell sucks.
And I agree that it is amazing! I was worried she might die and she not only survived, but recovered to a huge degree.
Many foot powered recumbent trikes are tadpole (two wheels in front) are there any/many tadpole handcycles? or does that make routing the chain(s) too tricky?
