Small wheel folding bike as a walking aid

[adiemla]

I got this idea from the Van Ram walking aid


View: https://youtu.be/I_feBEzMVr4


Having knee osteoarthritis but not having the means to buy this excellent product, I have adapted my long forgotten 16" wheel Dahon for this purpose. The crankset is removed and the saddle height set so that the users leg rest on the ground. This allows for supported walking on flattish terrain.

 

[ianrauk]

A balance bike in all but name.

 

[a.twiddler]

An excellent idea. The low step over gives easy accessibility, you have the ability to freewheel down hills, and you could still get off and use it as a support if you needed to walk up a hill, with the brakes able to hold it securely if you needed to stop and lean on it while taking a breather. I've often thought that one of the drawbacks of walking is that it's as much effort going downhill as uphill, unlike cycling, where the bike just lets you roll. It has a rack for your bits and pieces too. All it really lacks is somewhere to park your feet if you happened to be going downhill for any distance, to take the strain off your knees.

It really goes back to the roots of cycling before someone invented a transmission system, like the "hobby horse" or "draisienne".

I've long thought of a bike as a useful mobility aid. Even for fit and healthy people a bike is like a modern set of Seven League Boots that lets you travel a distance more quickly and easily than by walking, and so it does for people whose mobility is restricted, too. Not everyone has to be a super cycle tourist, hauling all their gear up and down mountains for weeks on end. Overcoming the challenge of nipping to the shops under your own steam can be a triumph too.

 

[adiemla]

A balance bike in all but name.

Funnily enough that was what my wife said. Hard to get folding adult balance bikes as far as I know.

The slightly modified Dahon works a treat for me and my knackered knees though. No need for the crutches 🙂.

Maybe the idea will work for others with similar disabilities.

 

[adiemla]

It really goes back to the roots of cycling before someone invented a transmission system, like the "hobby horse" or "draisienne"

 

[adiemla]

a.twiddler: Yes, I now recall those old drawings of people using foot propelled two wheel devices.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Well done OP. Worth returning after a month of use in this role for a review of utility (in practice).

All it really lacks is somewhere to park your feet if you happened to be going downhill for any distance, to take the strain off your knees.

Moving this deficit on, a simple (ideally knackered) cartridge BB would easily screw (back) in and the ST pegs would give half an inch of foot support. And with some bodging, using the chainset bolt threads to secure extensions (think rear axle pegs only 2" long) this would be very stable for a sensible downhill roll (eg to the pub/shops). Trick would be to keep them short as poss, to avoid bashing the ankles/inner calves when perambulating.
PS Why would hanging legs be a strain on the knees @a.twiddler?

 

[a.twiddler]

I note that in pictures of the early walking machines or velocipedes there's no facility for resting your feet when going downhill. Probably on those your feet were your brakes. There's none with with the Van Raam walking aid either, so maybe it's less of an issue than having something sticking out which might catch your legs in passing. It was just a thought, that with having dodgy knees having somewhere to park your feet out of the way on even a gentle incline would reduce unnecessary movement and therefore possible pain. Of course the OP is the intrepid test pilot who will prove the practicality of the set up and might think of other improvements along the way.

What's surprising is that this idea is so old, it's new! I used to scoff at the idea of children needing to have a balance bike before learning to ride with pedals as a marketing gimmick, but of course this progression is rooted in history. Just because my generation started off with bikes with pedals (because that's all there was) we assumed that's the way it had always been. We learn something old every day!

 

[richardfm]

Don't you just lift your feet, legs straight and angled outwards slightly as you go downhill, shouting "wheeeeee"?

 

[adiemla]

I will report back on the pros and cons of my balance bike/wheeled walking aid after some time of use. Though one pro is incontestable: I go much faster using the device than if I were to walk with a pair of walking sticks or crutches. Also one incontestable con: it is hard work up even small inclines due to far more protest from the right knee than the left.​

 

[adiemla]

I will report back on the pros and cons of my balance bike/wheeled walking aid after some time of use. Though one pro is incontestable: I go much faster using the device than if I were to walk with a pair of walking sticks or crutches. Also one incontestable con: it is hard work up even small inclines due to far more protest from the right knee than the left.​

An aside: I noticed that when I started using pendulum cranks that one leg was stronger than the other. Something that users of Powercranks (each crank has a freewheel at the axle end) also noticed.