Kate's Blog

Bicycle hacking

So, I mentioned in yesterday's blog entry that I bought a new bicycle to replace my old rusted out hybrid bike. The old bike had always been a bit large, in spite of the fact that it had a custom frame which should have fitted, and I was never really comfortable with the handlebars. Over time the gears and brakes had become unreliable, and needed replacing. It's now been donated (via Freecycle) to someone who will weld it together with other bits and pieces to make a rickshaw. Why a person would want a rickshaw in Sydney is another question, but good luck!

My new bike is a Trek 4500 WSD (women-specific design). It's a mountain bike - which takes a bit of getting used to, since it's definitely slower than the touring bike with dropped handlebars I had at Stanford. The low gears are great though, and easy on the knees when going uphill. My local bike shop (Renegade in Lane Cove) was very helpful in setting it up. I use a below-knee prosthesis on my right leg, so I can't bend that knee as much as my left. Most mountain bikes have long cranks, and I couldn't get my knee to bend enough to let the pedal get over the top. Hacking the prosthesis is always an option, but I didn't want to make changes that could affect its reliability when walking. So, we "hacked" the bike:

I now have a nice sporty bicycle that is comfortable going up hills, and quite stable on sand and gravel. It's not much use for speeding on the flat, though - definitely not for racing. Now all I have to do is to get my younger son off training wheels and we'll be set...

Posted at 01:20PM 28 Mar, 2007 by Kate Morris in Personal  |