Sunday, January 18, 2015

How do you fix a flat on a hand-cycle?

Amber and I rode to Beachwood BBQ and back last night. We met up early at Adrenaline Bikes in Anaheim so Amber could order her new titanium Lynskey Cooper light touring bike. She's replacing a well used Trek TCT which has served her well, but simply isn't suitable for touring or light off-roading. Coincidentally we met with a young lady by the name of Teri on last week's 200k who was riding the same frameset that Amber just bought.

The Lynskey comes with disk brakes which means her dynamo hub won't be compatible. She decided to buy a new dynamo hub that can take disk brakes which means she will have to sell her old wheel. This was built by Peter White less than a year ago on a Mavic Open Pro rim. She payed $500 for it so someone is going to get a cheap entry into the joys of dynamo hubs. The total cost of the new bike is $5000. I really hope she loves it.

As we rode back from Beachwood BBQ with full bellies and burps tasting of bread pudding, we passed someone in a hand cycle by the side of the trail. It was late at night and it occurred to me a few seconds later that he might be having mechanical difficulties. As he was in a hand cycle I assumed he could not walk so we stopped and I asked if I could help. It turned out his brake lever had seized up and he couldn't brake. He had an emergency brake which was still working so he was able to complete his ride.

What do you do if you get a flat on a hand cycle? Something that is a minor annoyance to us must be a major problem to a hand cyclist. Think about that next time you see one.

Tailwinds, Ryan.

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