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#1
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Design Challenge
For the last two years some friends of mine have been helping a local
woodcutter who was paralyzed below the waist in an accident that severed his spinal cord. His bedsores and various other problems caused mostly by gross incompetence combined with total non caring on the part of his local well I suppose you must call it a hospital have very nearly healed and although the kindness of their missionary hearts has gone this far, they would like very much to get him living in his own village on his own without their daily assistance. Preferably able to perform at least some of the minor chores necessary to do around the farm such as feeding the pigs. In the city he can do a pretty good job of getting around in his wheelchair but even an offroad wheelchair might find the conditions of his village a bit challenging. The roads are used by cattle, tractors, and motorcycles and are wide singletrack. Paths through the village may have drainage ditches randomly cutting across them. Nothing is paved and there is a rainy season. Although some modifications will be made to his house (such as either removing the eight inch high doorjambs or putting ramps over them) it is fairly obvious that his current wheelchair simply is not going to cut it. The pastor and I are both into bikes with him being slightly more mechanically inclined than I am and me being vastly more inclined to spend my money on myself rather than other people. The plan that he and I have come up with basically involves a handcycle (probably recumbent) of some kind using either a 3 speed or 5 speed hub. Derailleur systems have been completely ruled out on the grounds that the local way to fix things you don't quite understand mostly involves hitting them with something heavy until it either works again or completely doesn't. With the exception of the hub (the cost of which will come out of charitable pockets) we are planning to build this entirely out of locally available materials. We plan to cannibalize, chop, and re- weld ancient bike frames for the frame itself. So far, beyond the initial brainstorming session (which mostly served to figure out what we absolutely couldn't do) we haven't really gotten much into how and where the drive system and steering system will work. If anyone has recumbent or handcycle building experience or just thinks this is cool and is willing to help out with the planning, we could really use it. This will be a first time for either of us and we really have no idea what we're doing. Thanks, -M |
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#2
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Design Challenge
how about a gruesome accident description? without a gruesome acident
description, where are we? |
#3
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Design Challenge
In article
, Marian wrote: For the last two years some friends of mine have been helping a local woodcutter who was paralyzed below the waist in an accident that severed his spinal cord. His bedsores and various other problems caused mostly by gross incompetence combined with total non caring on the part of his local well I suppose you must call it a hospital have very nearly healed and although the kindness of their missionary hearts has gone this far, they would like very much to get him living in his own village on his own without their daily assistance. Preferably able to perform at least some of the minor chores necessary to do around the farm such as feeding the pigs. In the city he can do a pretty good job of getting around in his wheelchair but even an offroad wheelchair might find the conditions of his village a bit challenging. The roads are used by cattle, tractors, and motorcycles and are wide singletrack. Paths through the village may have drainage ditches randomly cutting across them. Nothing is paved and there is a rainy season. Although some modifications will be made to his house (such as either removing the eight inch high doorjambs or putting ramps over them) it is fairly obvious that his current wheelchair simply is not going to cut it. The pastor and I are both into bikes with him being slightly more mechanically inclined than I am and me being vastly more inclined to spend my money on myself rather than other people. The plan that he and I have come up with basically involves a handcycle (probably recumbent) of some kind using either a 3 speed or 5 speed hub. Derailleur systems have been completely ruled out on the grounds that the local way to fix things you don't quite understand mostly involves hitting them with something heavy until it either works again or completely doesn't. With the exception of the hub (the cost of which will come out of charitable pockets) we are planning to build this entirely out of locally available materials. We plan to cannibalize, chop, and re- weld ancient bike frames for the frame itself. So far, beyond the initial brainstorming session (which mostly served to figure out what we absolutely couldn't do) we haven't really gotten much into how and where the drive system and steering system will work. If anyone has recumbent or handcycle building experience or just thinks this is cool and is willing to help out with the planning, we could really use it. This will be a first time for either of us and we really have no idea what we're doing. Oh dear. http://www.varnahandcycles.com/handcycles.htm Georgiev also built the fastest HPV on the planet. If you look at his Big Wheels designs, I think you will find something worth stealing. The idea of using a handcycle on a muddy farm is intimidating, for a few reasons. One is no reverse gear. The other is sinking into the mud. I don't know where Varna is sourcing 20" x 3" tires, but that sounds like the right plan to me. In the 26" size, you would have access to MTB DH tires, plus freaks like the Surly Pugsley tires and rims. I realize that the economics of the thing in China are not what they would be here, but when you consider the prices Varna charges and the magnitude of what you're proposing, it may be cheaper to get him to build the bike. I don't know of other handcycle makers, but they are out there. Varna's reputation comes to me because they are local and because of the Varna Diablo series. -- Ryan Cousineau http://www.wiredcola.com/ "In other newsgroups, they killfile trolls." "In rec.bicycles.racing, we coach them." |
#4
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Design Challenge
AN OLD PUBLISHED INTERNET plan for cutting a bike in two then placing
the drive wheel in front was on around 2000? |
#5
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Design Challenge
On Mar 17, 8:21 pm, datakoll wrote:
how about a gruesome accident description? without a gruesome acident description, where are we? I understand that a tree fell on him. The teenage son and some of his friends were out in the countryside doing something like delivering children's books to a school on their way to go surfing or something like that and for some reason or another they ended up meeting this guy and being horrified by his condition. When he was sent home from the hospital his wife and family were told that they could feed him if they wanted to but really shouldn't bother because he was going to die and even if he didn't die he ought to die because he would be useless for the rest of his life. I met the guy in the wheelchair about two months after he moved in with them and six or eight months before he converted. As I am to understand it his becoming Christian was sort of a side effect of them literally saving his life. They don't really preach (even to me, even after years of my being their friend). They just quietly do good works and occasionally answer direct questions from really persistent people. He's been living with them almost two years now and although there have been complications a couple of time and at least three sets of new operations he's getting ready to go home. It would be a shame to have done so much and gotten him to the strength level he's at and then send him home to the village to spend the rest of his existence doing nothing but sitting indoors unable to go anywhere or do anything. My being their friend for years and years has in no way shape or form made me the slightest bit Christian. I have, however, converted the pastor to the joy of long distance riding on a road bike. (He understood nice bikes. He just didn't understand the point in having one of his own until the bike shop and me found him a good secondhand one.) He even has a couple of jerseys these days and we've scheduled his first century for this upcoming weekend. Since both of us are mechanically inclined we figured if we had plans (or even rough descriptions) we might be able to put something together. -M |
#6
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Design Challenge
On Mar 17, 10:16 pm, Ryan Cousineau wrote:
In article , Marian wrote: For the last two years some friends of mine have been helping a local woodcutter who was paralyzed below the waist in an accident that severed his spinal cord. His bedsores and various other problems caused mostly by gross incompetence combined with total non caring on the part of his local well I suppose you must call it a hospital have very nearly healed and although the kindness of their missionary hearts has gone this far, they would like very much to get him living in his own village on his own without their daily assistance. Preferably able to perform at least some of the minor chores necessary to do around the farm such as feeding the pigs. In the city he can do a pretty good job of getting around in his wheelchair but even an offroad wheelchair might find the conditions of his village a bit challenging. The roads are used by cattle, tractors, and motorcycles and are wide singletrack. Paths through the village may have drainage ditches randomly cutting across them. Nothing is paved and there is a rainy season. Although some modifications will be made to his house (such as either removing the eight inch high doorjambs or putting ramps over them) it is fairly obvious that his current wheelchair simply is not going to cut it. The pastor and I are both into bikes with him being slightly more mechanically inclined than I am and me being vastly more inclined to spend my money on myself rather than other people. The plan that he and I have come up with basically involves a handcycle (probably recumbent) of some kind using either a 3 speed or 5 speed hub. Derailleur systems have been completely ruled out on the grounds that the local way to fix things you don't quite understand mostly involves hitting them with something heavy until it either works again or completely doesn't. With the exception of the hub (the cost of which will come out of charitable pockets) we are planning to build this entirely out of locally available materials. We plan to cannibalize, chop, and re- weld ancient bike frames for the frame itself. So far, beyond the initial brainstorming session (which mostly served to figure out what we absolutely couldn't do) we haven't really gotten much into how and where the drive system and steering system will work. If anyone has recumbent or handcycle building experience or just thinks this is cool and is willing to help out with the planning, we could really use it. This will be a first time for either of us and we really have no idea what we're doing. Oh dear. http://www.varnahandcycles.com/handcycles.htm Georgiev also built the fastest HPV on the planet. If you look at his Big Wheels designs, I think you will find something worth stealing. The idea of using a handcycle on a muddy farm is intimidating, for a few reasons. One is no reverse gear. You can reverse by putting your hands on the wheels same as with a wheelchair. Not pleasant but it can get you out of a sticky situation. And he's going to need to be able to get places that are close enough that putting him on a tractor could be difficult but far enough away that pushing the wheelchair or carrying him will also be difficult. The other is sinking into the mud. I don't know where Varna is sourcing 20" x 3" tires, but that sounds like the right plan to me. In the 26" size, you would have access to MTB DH tires, plus freaks like the Surly Pugsley tires and rims. I realize that the economics of the thing in China are not what they would be here, but when you consider the prices Varna charges and the magnitude of what you're proposing, it may be cheaper to get him to build the bike. A thought of mine was to look around until we found something that most closely fit the requirements and then ask the manufacturer if they might be willing to 'sponsor' our guy. For all the charitable works and giving away that he does, it never occurred to Tim that he could just ask someone other than one of the charities he already works with for equipment. I've been doing the back-end of organizing pro sports stuff. I've really gotten quite used to asking people to just give me things for no better reason than because I asked. Even better, I've gotten quite used to people just giving me things for no better reason than because I was there. I'd still like to try a hand at building something. I don't get many excuses to play with welding torches. -M |
#7
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Design Challenge
On Mar 17, 10:52 pm, Marian wrote:
On Mar 17, 10:16 pm, Ryan Cousineau wrote: In article , Marian wrote: For the last two years some friends of mine have been helping a local woodcutter who was paralyzed below the waist in an accident that severed his spinal cord. His bedsores and various other problems caused mostly by gross incompetence combined with total non caring on the part of his local well I suppose you must call it a hospital have very nearly healed and although the kindness of their missionary hearts has gone this far, they would like very much to get him living in his own village on his own without their daily assistance. Preferably able to perform at least some of the minor chores necessary to do around the farm such as feeding the pigs. In the city he can do a pretty good job of getting around in his wheelchair but even an offroad wheelchair might find the conditions of his village a bit challenging. The roads are used by cattle, tractors, and motorcycles and are wide singletrack. Paths through the village may have drainage ditches randomly cutting across them. Nothing is paved and there is a rainy season. Although some modifications will be made to his house (such as either removing the eight inch high doorjambs or putting ramps over them) it is fairly obvious that his current wheelchair simply is not going to cut it. The pastor and I are both into bikes with him being slightly more mechanically inclined than I am and me being vastly more inclined to spend my money on myself rather than other people. The plan that he and I have come up with basically involves a handcycle (probably recumbent) of some kind using either a 3 speed or 5 speed hub. Derailleur systems have been completely ruled out on the grounds that the local way to fix things you don't quite understand mostly involves hitting them with something heavy until it either works again or completely doesn't. With the exception of the hub (the cost of which will come out of charitable pockets) we are planning to build this entirely out of locally available materials. We plan to cannibalize, chop, and re- weld ancient bike frames for the frame itself. So far, beyond the initial brainstorming session (which mostly served to figure out what we absolutely couldn't do) we haven't really gotten much into how and where the drive system and steering system will work. If anyone has recumbent or handcycle building experience or just thinks this is cool and is willing to help out with the planning, we could really use it. This will be a first time for either of us and we really have no idea what we're doing. Oh dear. http://www.varnahandcycles.com/handcycles.htm Georgiev also built the fastest HPV on the planet. If you look at his Big Wheels designs, I think you will find something worth stealing. The idea of using a handcycle on a muddy farm is intimidating, for a few reasons. One is no reverse gear. You can reverse by putting your hands on the wheels same as with a wheelchair. Not pleasant but it can get you out of a sticky situation. And he's going to need to be able to get places that are close enough that putting him on a tractor could be difficult but far enough away that pushing the wheelchair or carrying him will also be difficult. The other is sinking into the mud. I don't know where Varna is sourcing 20" x 3" tires, but that sounds like the right plan to me. In the 26" size, you would have access to MTB DH tires, plus freaks like the Surly Pugsley tires and rims. I realize that the economics of the thing in China are not what they would be here, but when you consider the prices Varna charges and the magnitude of what you're proposing, it may be cheaper to get him to build the bike. A thought of mine was to look around until we found something that most closely fit the requirements and then ask the manufacturer if they might be willing to 'sponsor' our guy. For all the charitable works and giving away that he does, it never occurred to Tim that he could just ask someone other than one of the charities he already works with for equipment. I've been doing the back-end of organizing pro sports stuff. I've really gotten quite used to asking people to just give me things for no better reason than because I asked. Even better, I've gotten quite used to people just giving me things for no better reason than because I was there. I'd still like to try a hand at building something. I don't get many excuses to play with welding torches. You're good people. Set up a web site with PayPal donations and I'll kick in some - I'm sure others will, too. R |
#8
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Design Challenge
On Mar 18, 11:54 am, RicodJour wrote:
On Mar 17, 10:52 pm, Marian wrote: I'd still like to try a hand at building something. I don't get many excuses to play with welding torches. You're good people. Set up a web site with PayPal donations and I'll kick in some - I'm sure others will, too. Tim is good people. I'm just helping out. C'mon, it's an excuse to play with welding torches. That I'll be helping out the person in question is merely a bonus. I mean really how many of you would pass up a legitimate excuse to play with welding torches? -M |
#9
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Design Challenge
On Mar 18, 11:54 am, RicodJour wrote:
On Mar 17, 10:52 pm, Marian wrote: I'd still like to try a hand at building something. I don't get many excuses to play with welding torches. You're good people. Set up a web site with PayPal donations and I'll kick in some - I'm sure others will, too. Tim is good people. I'm just helping out. C'mon, it's an excuse to play with welding torches. That I'll be helping out the person in question is merely a bonus. I mean really how many of you would pass up a legitimate excuse to play with welding torches? -M |
#10
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Design Challenge
bang
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