Thread: Ideas needed: one handed MTB

So I have a friend who just lost his right hand in an ATV accident. You can read more about it [ame="http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/showthread.php?t=168894"]here[/ame]

Anyway, he's rearing to get back on his bike and we're trying to figure out a brake setup for him. I think we've got the shifting thing down with a rapidfire/Shimano Dual Control combo, but still haven't figured out a hydraulic brake solution where he can use both front and rear brakes independently.

Any ideas?

I ran into a guy around here last season who was riding w/ a prosthetic arm. Might be worth trolling around a bit on the Front Range forum in MTBR to see if he posts over there. He was a super nice dude. I also recall reading something in one of the bike magazines about a guy how had recently lost his arm and was getting back into racing MTB's. Pretty sure he had a team going--a google search would probably turn something up.

I know this is some pretty vague info but maybe it can at least be a jumping off point for you and your buddy. Vibes to your buddy and stoked to hear he's getting back on his bike. Good luck!

personally, id just use one lever, tied into both brakes, and rig in a brake bias adjustment somewhere.

It wotn be an on the fly independant braking, but at least you can dial in something like 70/30 F/R and just use that. (this is whats done on cars)

There's a guy on MTBR who posts as 'man w/ one hand'. I believe he rides with a prosthetic, but I'm sure he can help your friend out.

I've got a friend who has rigged 2 shifters on one side, but for the brake opted for front only.

I knew a guy who was missing all the fingers on one hand. He had 2 brake levers on one side, facing the same direction, one above the other and staggered a bit. He used them both with one hand. He said he got used to them fine and can brake independently. I'm not sure whether he used different fingers for the different levers, or if he just adjusted the angle of his fingers for modulation.

Your buddy could also try 2 levers mounted on opposite sides of the grip, facing inwards. He could use index finger for one of them and ring/pinky for the other, grip the bar with middle finger.

As a contingency if the independent hydro doesn't work out...

You could run Avid BB7 cable brakes and rig a splitter like some cross bikes use where they have the STI brake levers and then regular levers for when riding upright. Instead of two levers to one brake, one lever to two brakes like P said.

You would probably only get 50/50 braking but it's better than not being able to ride.

I remember seeing a guy at 24hrs of Canaan a decade ago who was missing an arm. 2 Magura rim levers, a thumbie and a gripshift all on the left half of a handlebar. I was even more impressed by him than the racer with one leg.

yeah you got a couple of options as described above.

one other thing on the two lever idea is to have a longer lever for the back and the shorter one for the front. that way you could two finger both or grab the longer one for just the back.

tying in two hydro lines using a splitter that allows control over one of the lines would be heavy as i have only seen them for cars. i am sure you could make one, but if it failed....no brakes...yikes.
take a small rectangle aluminum block drill one entry hole and two on the other side that intersects the first like a "Y". thread these with mtb brake line ends. on the line leading to the front you will need a dial or close-off that can be adjusted open and closed. kinda like a light dimmer, but for fluid.

back in the old days, circa North Shore Extreme II and III, there was a dude riding the shore with a prosthetic arm that used a specially designed Fox shock at the elbow, and attached to the handlebar with some sort of spring-loaded ball & socket joint -- looked like a Speedplay Frog pedal system idea.

Man w/ One Hand on MTBR does exactly what a few above have said, has his controls all on one side of the bar.

For a true one-handed rider, a steering damper of some sort might be super-helpful, without a 2d hand to slow down the bar twitches that come from uneven terrain.

If I had only one arm, I would find out what that dude in NSX II and III worked out with Fox. I would run either a 1x9 or a Rohloff rear hub to let me do all my gear changing on one side. I would install a Hopey Steering Damper. I would work out a hydraulic fluid/pressure splitter as a few people above have referenced.

Is he far enough along for a prosthetic in his recovery? I know that they sometimes do not want to jump into one from having an amputee Mom with only a single leg.

There should be some modifications as recommended, maybe even if you had a primary brake with a longer lever and a secondary that was a shorter lever that you could adjust to single or both by a movement of the hand and where you grab.

Best of luck in his rehab and getting him out there riding as part of the process.

I'm not sure how significant the difference between the SRAM and Shimano stuff is anymore but doesn't SRAM make a big deal about being able to mount the brake lever inboard or outboard of the shifter with the way the shifter clamp is designed? Would it work to have one lever on each side to have them staggered nicely for one finger braking depending on whether you use index or middle finger(seems like having the index mounted inboard and higher would set up best)? I'm wondering if ditching the front shifter and derailleur would be less to worry about for the time being and going with as wide a range 1x9 (or maybe even better the new 10 cog cassette for a 1X10?) as you can find?


Edit: Here's man w/ one hand's profile on mtbr (well, his gallery anyway, won't let me link a profile?), I'd definitely PM him for advice:
http://gallery.mtbr.com/showgallery....&ppuser=233972

A bunch of pics of his bar setup on this thread, might solves a lot of issues:
[ame="http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=318411"]Codes are strong, levers are tight & solid. - Mtbr.com Forums[/ame]

I remember reading an article in DirtRag or somewhere about a guy who lost an arm and was doing shore stuff/WBP with a steering dampener and a prosthetic, and riding well, but I can't remember any more details, such as how he ran his brakes. You could try to find the article for details, but I definitely remember the steering dampener part. Look into that for sure.

Originally Posted by Conundrum

As a contingency if the independent hydro doesn't work out...

You could run Avid BB7 cable brakes and rig a splitter like some cross bikes use where they have the STI brake levers and then regular levers for when riding upright. Instead of two levers to one brake, one lever to two brakes like P said.

You would probably only get 50/50 braking but it's better than not being able to ride.

i really really like this idea, better than the hyrdo.

you could sort of control bias by adjusting the pads at each caliper.
super easy to adjust with the existing hardware.
have the fronts engage first shortly followed by the rears.

you could also probably rig a stand off post that increase the lever arm length of the rear caliper so the pads move less than the front.

doing this mechanically is the way to go imo

I'm not sure on how to do hydros on one lever but a couple years ago the shop I was working at set up a flat bar road bike for a young girl who last her hand and we used this for the brake lever:



http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...r.aspx?sc=FRGL

I know its not performance oriented but if you go with cable brakes it might work. I've only set it up for rim brakes not disc but worth a shot

Originally Posted by pechelman

i really really like this idea, better than the hyrdo.

you could sort of control bias by adjusting the pads at each caliper.
super easy to adjust with the existing hardware.
have the fronts engage first shortly followed by the rears.

you could also probably rig a stand off post that increase the lever arm length of the rear caliper so the pads move less than the front.

doing this mechanically is the way to go imo

All this is possible, but it would involve a lot of fine tuning to get it to work ok, and then your pads would wear and you would have to replace them and set it up again. Nonstop fiddling. I'd go with the 50/50 hydraulic and see how it works for you. Simple, constant and reliable

great thread! I'm actually back in school (i'm 31) and I'm studying prosthetics. Once I'm certified and i know what I'm doing I'm going to specialize in athletics.

This guy's webpage has a ton of info...some of it outdated.
http://www.mtb-amputee.com/bikemodif...r_Arm_Amputees.

hope this helps.

I don't think that splitting the hydro line would work, the master cylinder would only be pushing half the volume needed at each caliper to move the piston. You would only get half the movement of the pads that you need.

I remember seeing tandems set up with two sets of brakes at some point in the past, you might look into how they do it.

I met a couple of brothers at sunpeaks they were twins and one of them was missing an arm ,he had rigged a splitter using parts from (don't know what its called ) the bmx rear brake system that allows them to do 360 bar spins

buddy was pretty fast

Originally Posted by XXX-er

he had rigged a splitter using parts from (don't know what its called ) the bmx rear brake system that allows them to do 360 bar spins

Maybe a gyro? It's been awhile though.

Originally Posted by drsmonkey

I don't think that splitting the hydro line would work, the master cylinder would only be pushing half the volume needed at each caliper to move the piston. You would only get half the movement of the pads that you need.

I remember seeing tandems set up with two sets of brakes at some point in the past, you might look into how they do it.

Good point. You could go with a larger volume motorcycle master cylinder and somehow reduce the line to mtb size.

Originally Posted by huckster989

I'm not sure on how to do hydros on one lever but a couple years ago the shop I was working at set up a flat bar road bike for a young girl who last her hand and we used this for the brake lever:



http://www.jensonusa.com/store/produ...r.aspx?sc=FRGL

I know its not performance oriented but if you go with cable brakes it might work. I've only set it up for rim brakes not disc but worth a shot

that's a cool item to see. It would naturally introduce some of the desired force bias, since the lever arm is shorter for one of the cable attachments. Some avid BB7s, continuous cable housing, and the right size discs front and rear, and you'd have a pretty simple & bomproof setup.

btw a shimano alfine 8 spd hub has enough range that it would work well enough, and eliminate the need for a granny ring / fr derailleur. Just one shifter would be needed.

sure, the alfine adds a bit of weight, but there are mtb'ers using it (on hardtails, or a FS bike where there's no CS pivot near the rear of the CS) with decent results.

set-up fixie, just run a front brake? Guess it depends on what he's gonna ride and how well he rides as to if this'll work

Originally Posted by uncle crud

back in the old days, circa North Shore Extreme II and III, there was a dude riding the shore with a prosthetic arm that used a specially designed Fox shock at the elbow, and attached to the handlebar with some sort of spring-loaded ball & socket joint -- looked like a Speedplay Frog pedal system idea.

.

Ha! I remember that guy. Rode a Cannondale?

I seem to remember him running two brake levers on one side. I don't remember how that worked.