Design Development of Arm-Powered Bicycles for the Disabled

This paper describes the design development of two new bicycles for individuals with lower limb disability: an arm-powered bicycle and a tandem bicycle for disabled and able-bodied individuals to ride together. The tandem is a spinoff from the design of the single rider aria-powered bicycle. Both have been developed at the Palo Alto VA Rehabilitation Research and Development Center as part of a program to provide alternative recreational vehicles and equipment for people with disability. The functional features of each vehicle, and a descriptive discussion of the bicycle dynamics are presented.