What Cycles do the Elderly and those with Impaired Health Ride?

[Audax67]

The late Monsieur Robert Marchand riding with his bike club on the occasion of his 107th birthday:

Monsieur Robert Marchand @ 107.png

Poor guy. I read his obit in a French newspaper, and apparently he was bored to tears and lonely in his final years. Everyone he'd ever loved was dead and if he wasn't being an object of curiosity on the bike he was bouncing off the walls of his small flat and trying not to go potty. He'd said something along the lines that everyone admired his wonderful heart, but all he'd wanted for years was that the bloody thing would stop. To his relief it finally did.

[squeaker]

Just some things to be aware of with regard to recumbent Trikes, I happened on words of ‘warning’ from Squeaker on another thread:

viewtopic.php?p=1600257#p1600257

“Finally, gearing: unless you live somewhere very flat you are going to need a far larger gear range than you may be used to with a road bike. An 8 speed won't hack it, especially if your health issues will have an impact. For example, the ICE 'T' in our garage has 15 to 90 inch gearing. At age 72 I need that to get up our local 18% hill with a full load of luggage, whereas on my upright I can 'honk' up it with a 31" bottom gear... Oh, and use a foot retention system, especially with a tadpole trike “

18% Jeepers hope his brakes are good too.

1) I'd like to think they were words of 'advice' And I wouldn't get up that hill on my upright bike with a full load of luggage and 31" bottom gear - would need the 2ft gear
2) Tadpole trikes have the enormous advantage of two braked front wheels, usually 20", so 70mm SA drums are very effective, although for alpine descents 90mm seems to be preferred.

[[XAP]Bob]

ICE trike braking is astonishingly effective, but in terms of gearing I know a few trikes with gearing down into single digit gear inches. There is no minimum speed on a trike, so you just need to keep traction and keep the wheels turning, winch yourself up any hill you like.

[Cowsham]

Just some things to be aware of with regard to recumbent Trikes, I happened on words of ‘warning’ from Squeaker on another thread:

viewtopic.php?p=1600257#p1600257

“Finally, gearing: unless you live somewhere very flat you are going to need a far larger gear range than you may be used to with a road bike. An 8 speed won't hack it, especially if your health issues will have an impact. For example, the ICE 'T' in our garage has 15 to 90 inch gearing. At age 72 I need that to get up our local 18% hill with a full load of luggage, whereas on my upright I can 'honk' up it with a 31" bottom gear... Oh, and use a foot retention system, especially with a tadpole trike “

18% Jeepers hope his brakes are good too.

1) I'd like to think they were words of 'advice' And I wouldn't get up that hill on my upright bike with a full load of luggage and 31" bottom gear - would need the 2ft gear
2) Tadpole trikes have the enormous advantage of two braked front wheels, usually 20", so 70mm SA drums are very effective, although for alpine descents 90mm seems to be preferred.

Right enough two small wheels at the front will need less braking power. The non electric one had a larger rear wheel to accommodate the cassette and derailer assembly but the electric bike had 3 small wheels since it had an 8 gear hub.

[Cowsham]

ICE trike braking is astonishingly effective, but in terms of gearing I know a few trikes with gearing down into single digit gear inches. There is no minimum speed on a trike, so you just need to keep traction and keep the wheels turning, winch yourself up any hill you like.

Never thought about it that way -- you forget you don't need to be balancing like you are on a bike so just sit and winch yourself up.
Getting more of an appealing machine.

[squeaker]

Right enough two small wheels at the front will need less braking power. The non electric one had a larger rear wheel to accommodate the cassette and derailer assembly but the electric bike had 3 small wheels since it had an 8 gear hub.

IME a 20" rear wheel has not caused any derailleur issues, but then you don't usually need to go larger than 32T on the cassette.
As Bob hinted at earlier, traction can become an issue (even just on greasy/frosty roads), and a short wheelbase, easier with a smaller rear wheel, is a help (again IME) as the % weight on that wheel increases. But larger rear wheels look faster

[Grandad]

Never thought about it that way -- you forget you don't need to be balancing like you are on a bike so just sit and winch yourself up.
Getting more of an appealing machine.

I made good use of this when riding an upright trike, to the extent of coming to a standstill for a brief respite on a particularly steep bit.

[Carlton green]

Looking towards impaired health it stuck me that the thread hadn’t covered that in any breadth. Electric assist helps heart, lungs and joints and a Trike helps with balance issues ... a Trike might also allow you to manually winch yourself along without resorting to electric assist gears.

A few days ago I replaced my front and rear brake cables (both inner and outer) *. The new cables seem to transmit more of what force is applied at the brake lever on to the brake callipers. Control and stopping distance is now a useful bit better . The new inner and outer cables seem to have less friction and maybe less spring in them. Fortunately for me I have a good grip and my hands are not arthritic but how do less strong and arthritic hands manage?

Edit. * I fitted Clarks Universal cable sets with stainless steel inner cables, the outer cable has a fixed plastic sleeve for the inner to run within. Early results are positive and the cable sets weren’t expensive.
The replaced rear cable and outer appears to predate plastic inner sleeves within the outer ... goes some way to explain the rear brake’s not so good performance . The front cable set did have a plastic inner sleeve, but it was broken in places ... suppose that’s to be expected after say a couple of decades.

Edit. I looked at the brake arms whilst operating the levers. Yes, there is a bit of spring in the cable - particularly the rear brake cable - but in addition the brake arms flex (spring) whilst the break shoes move nowhere ... but perhaps this is really a topic for the technical section. Whatever, it’s interesting to consider ‘cycle control with hands that are no longer in perfect health.

[Cowsham]

Looking towards impaired health it stuck me that the thread hadn’t covered that in any breadth. Electric assist helps heart, lungs and joints and a Trike helps with balance issues ... a Trike might also allow you to manually winch yourself along without resorting to electric assist gears.

A few days ago I replaced my front and rear brake cables (both inner and outer). The new cables seem to transmit more of what force is applied at the brake lever on to the brake callipers. Control and stopping distance is now a useful bit better . The new inner and outer cables seem to have less friction and maybe less spring in them. Fortunately for me I have a good grip and my hands are not arthritic but how do less strong and arthritic hands manage?

The cable operated drums on the manual ice trike were really good -- very impressed -- likewise the hydraulic discs on the electric version were also good. There is ample power -- my hands have never been all that strong but I could have stopped on a sixpence with those brakes. The ice trikes especially the non electric are a thing of beauty -- such nice design. If money wasn't an issue I'd have one tomorrow.

[tmac100]

WRT the comment: " If money wasn't an issue I'd have one tomorrow."

Let me add another:

"If wishes were horses, all beggars would ride."

Oh the joy of dreaming - it costs us nothing.

[Carlton green]

WRT the comment: " If money wasn't an issue I'd have one tomorrow."

Let me add another:

"If wishes were horses, all beggars would ride."

Oh the joy of dreaming - it costs us nothing.

Perhaps I’m not the only one who thinks it wise to live within one’s means and when one’s means aren’t large then to accept and work with what one can and cannot have. Personally I’m loving my three speed mixte and bikes don’t come a noticeably cheaper than it.

The joy of dreaming, well there are so many things that could apply to and it’s best to leave the thought at that ... Investigating, postulating and planning is an entirely different matter though and I hope that people have found this (my) thread useful for that.

An old friend (both aged and known to me for many decades) recently bought an Electric Assisted Bicycle and loves it. He’s a bit frail now but the bike gets him out of the house and able to re-visit local cycle routes that he completed and enjoyed in the past. I’m pleased for him and enjoyed a spin on his new machine but would rather have what I currently enjoy than his (very nice ) Electric Bike. However, I wonder how I’ll feel about that not inexpensive alternative choice in ten or so years.

Ageing is a complex picture though; as well as muscle power it can take your sight, your balance and your reactions. Someone I met casually bought an Electric Bike and then discovered that his balance was impaired. He parted with the Bike and got an Electric Trike instead, but after ending in the verge a few rimes he found that Trikes can be challenging to ride too - sometimes there are no easy answers.

[[XAP]Bob]

It rather depends on the use case... as a car replacement even a decent trike is very quickly paid for (even if you do occasionally need to hire a car.

[UpWrong]

I'm considering the highly adjustable Hase Trigo for my advanced years, or even now as a car replacement. Options: overseat or underseat steering, adjustable for seat height and wheelbase, electric motor, attachable trolley bags and baskets, a full foldable fabric fairing plus cape:
https://hasebikes.com/194-1-Recumbent-Bike-TRIGO.html
https://www.getcycling.org.uk/products/hase-trigo/

[Cowsham]

I'm going to start saving for a trike for when I'm not able for the bike -- then if I can't ride that I'll spend the money on taxis.

[bikersalive]

I'm just getting started on day tours again and, after a few years of riding a hybrid bike, I'm looking for a new steel touring bike. I rode LEJOG in 2009 on my LHT but sold it a few years ago so a new tourer is needed. Has anyone got experience of Fuji, Genesis or Kona bikes?
I'm 77 so I want to get on with touring again for obvious reasons, so any advice (apart from don't do it!) would be very helpful. No trikes or electric bikes please!