PRODUCT REVIEW DRAFT LONGSEAT HANDCYCLE

straps in a hurry though, and Velcro in too many places is bad for my hypertension. And beware the rear horizontal bar on the seat – it gets your coccyx too easily and you might well fi nd you bottom out on the central tube under the seat. How about covering the seat in Pertex? It dries faster and is lighter. One particularly clever idea to overcome the problem of riders having shoulders of differing width is to abandon a cycle bottom bracket for the cranks, and to use a headset instead. In this way the width of the cranks can easily be altered. It’s the combination of crank width, crank length and distance between handles which determines whether or not you can continue cranking round corners. I could not on this machine, and when going backwards, as I often do to turn round, there was a danger of trapping my leg between the handle and the seat – “Ouch!”, or words to that effect. But a change of cranks and some tweaking to fi t should sort that out. A very nice Hope front hub was fi tted to my machine with an Avid hydraulic disk. The 27-speed mountain bike gears were controlled with thumb shifters. Although the triple chainrings give a wide range I did not even try to use the big one, and getting to the lever took a bit of getting used to. A lower gearing range could be specifi ed when ordering. The front end has been designed to accommodate a Shimano Nexus or Rohloff hub as options, and it will accept a mudguard too. Any niggles? I had some worries that too much energy was being soaked up by the seat, and after a couple of rides one of the back strap bolts fl ung itself loose and disappeared in the bushes. One rear wheel also worked loose during a ride. There is also a continuous hollow tinkle amplifi ed through the frame which I couldn’t track down. Finally, where does the front light go?

THE RIDE What about riding the machine? The length may have made turning awkward but the long wheelbase and the large wheels combine well to give a comfortable ride that soaks up the bumps of most road surfaces. The problem of not being able

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to crank while turning corners did cause diffi culties: I nearly missed my ice cream after fl ogging up Garrowby Hill to the Yorkshire Wolds – about a mile and 1 in 6. Fighting road camber was also frustrating at fi rst as the bike headed towards the ditch at every opportunity. This problem was later much reduced by fi tting a stiffer steering damper. But later, riding on the open, twisty

and sometimes narrow roads of the Lake District I found some new ways to crank, and from then on I didn’t really have a problem. Later rides with 200 mm cranks instead of 180 mm were even more comfortable, and felt faster too. I got up Honister Pass without a pause and going up the long side of Whinlatter Pass was also mostly an enjoyable puff. Even in the higher ratios forced by the wheel size I could keep on turning. Going down was a dream when I learned how to lean over hard to pull round the bends. Not at a great top speed, but a very secure feeling. My friend Alan got it up to 43.8 mph and said he also found it extremely stable at speed. On the descent of Honister there was a moment of distress when the disk brake lever pulled all the way in with absolutely no effect. Those of you who know the terrain will appreciate that the black seat came close to changing colour. I guess the brake fl uid had boiled. I readily located the rim brake under the seat and it worked fi ne. Many people perceive disks to be more reliable – but don’t rely on one brake and never rely on a hydraulic disk! Draft say they’ll now fi t much larger 185 mm disks for this kind of riding. On my fi rst trip out the tail wind must have been deceptive because I found myself spinning nicely and chatting at 19 mph behind an

upright rider. The Draft allows good acceleration which I guess is partly due to the light weight. So I was surprised to fi nd that the Draft did not seem to roll any faster than my Varna. Unscientifi c testing – freewheeling downhill side by side – the higher Varna kept pace, even with a heavier total load on the Draft. And on my normal evening run of 15 miles or so I could only

they tilted like that from habit and wheelchair history? Certainly the manufacturers of pedal recumbent trikes seem to disagree with the handcycle world about this.

CONCLUSIONS It is great to see that a British company has fi nally stepped up to meet the needs of hand cyclists. There are many well thought-out aspects to the design, the weight is excellent and there are plenty of adjustments to help individuals get a good fi t. An impressive fi rst handcycle from Draft. Will it replace my Varna? Not this prototype I tested, but I’ll be keeping a close eye on the production machines which follow.

just match my normal times of 70-75 minutes, although of course I’m more accustomed to the Varna. So I cannot really say for sure whether it is faster or not. It did make me wonder – do handcyclists really get any advantage from cambered wheels, or are

Andrew Chamings

Many thanks also to photographer Simon Jobson and to Alan Grace for his help in compiling this review.

AVAILABILITY Draft Wheelchairs: Tel 01480 451247 or see www.draftwheelchairs.com

Dan Chambers of Draft Wheelchairs adds:

I’m glad both Andy and Alan enjoyed trying the handcycle. At the moment each cycle is made individually, so pretty much anything is possible. We’re building in batches of fi ve or so, not getting hundreds made in Taiwan, so there shouldn’t be much ‘design inertia’, but we are aiming to have two standard levels, priced at £1995 and £2300. The difference will be nicer equipment (e.g. hydraulic rather than cable disks) and a little more choice of e.g. double or triple chainrings. Both will have a choice of three seat types, two seat widths, 180/200/220 mm cranks, parking brake, six standard colours. Then there will be the mix and match option for the more choosy, with SRAM XO, two carbon seats, Corima carbon wheels, tubs, aluminium cassettes etc. These would all have any combination of two front ends and three lengths of rear end depending on seating position and

disability. The whole project is very modular and adaptable. And there’s always the full bespoke approach. Our customers tend to be too varied not to offer this option! I’m a great fan of camber for alignment, stability, ergonomics, aerodynamics and good looks, but the trend does seem to be for far less than the 11 degrees on our prototype so we’ll probably have options of 2 and 6 degrees. Clearly we’ll have to look into the seat structure and material. Then we’ll make more leisure/touring options available: bags, mudguards, fl ags, lights, pannier racks, bells, fatter tyres and 559 rims etc. It is becoming clear that the leisure/touring user is also calling out for a good, light, and customisable handcycle, but so far our development has been aimed at the racing user. Chris Madden, who has done much of the development, is one of the top 20 racing handcyclists in Europe, but I’m a far more casual Audax/CTC ex-framebuilder kind of a bloke myself, so I should know better!
A BIKE WITH BOUNCE

Sue Holden, Flo and Bobby test the Like-a-bike Jumper, which with its suspension and extra features promises a ‘high end’ alternative to the Islabikes Rothan scooter reviewed last issue.

BACKGROUND The Likeabike range of no-pedal learner bikes has, until now, been wholly a wooden affair; instantly recognisable scooters with a very wholesome feel to them and credited with launching the whole idea of pedal-free ‘learner bikes’. Now the German manufacturers, Kokua Holzspielzeug, have recently introduced the aluminium ‘Jumper’. When the Likeabike importers saw the Islabikes Rothan review last issue they insisted that we should try theirs too – they say it’s better, so we had to fi nd out!

THE TEST BIKE The Jumper is designed by Kokua but made in Taiwan by Dahon. It has an aluminium frame, forks and rims, Schwalbe Big Apple tyres, a leather saddle, and weighs an impressively featherlike 3.5 kg. The main body is silver, and there’s a choice of six colours for the forks, ours being metallic blue. The Jumper also has two unusual features. First, a steering limiter to prevent jack-knifi ng, and second, adjustable rear suspension via one of two orange plastic inserts to suit children of different weights. It also comes with two seat posts, for children of different heights, and with the tools to assemble the bike, though not to swap the seat posts (a matter of just another Allen key). The bike costs £110 and is available from a network of dealers.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS The Jumper arrived in a rather lovely bespoke box, ready for some simple assembly, which was clearly explained in the accompanying instructions. It’s a very good looking bike – sturdy and yet sleek. More pleasing in terms of being noticed is the refl ective trim on the tyres. The only naff aspect is the protection pad which Velcroes over

the headset; too fl imsy to give much protection, and often slipping out of place. Once it was put together the fi ght to ride it began!

THE RIDE Three year old Flo immediately rode the Jumper with ease, as she has become a profi cient scooterer on her Rothan. Of course, she was most put out when I switched the seat post and suspension to suit her older brother Bobby and his peers. In this set-up, the bike was quickly appropriated by fi ve year olds who cannot ride bikes, but who wanted to join in. Despite being rather too big for it, three children who borrowed it are now all riding bikes with pedals. One of them calls it the ‘magic bike’ as, through just one hour’s play, it transformed her from someone desperate to ride but unable to do so, to being a fullyfl edged cyclist. What of the special features? With regards to the suspension, it’s hard (as an adult) to gauge how much effect it has on the ride. You can certainly see the give as the bike is ridden down curbs, so it must

patented technology is simply a strong elastic band which prevents the handlebars from being turned through more than about 130 degrees, and which ensures that they always return to their central position. Despite the resistance it produces, it does not interfere with the steering, but does stop the handlebar from twisting round too far. This is an advantage for children when picking up the bike and setting off (the handlebar is automatically in the right position), and when leaning the bike against something (it can’t twist and twizzle over). However, the professed function of the steering limiter is not to improve ease of use,

smooth out the bumps, but after Bobby had ridden the Rothan and then the Jumper up and down the cobbled alley, he would only vaguely state that the Jumper was ‘perhaps a bit more bouncy’. A minor problem is that the suspension inserts are not labelled, so it is possible to get confused about which one is which. As for the steering limiter, this

but to prevent accidents caused by jack-knifi ng; I can see that it would work, but as neither of my children have ever had such an accident, I can’t say whether such a safety mechanism is required.

CONCLUSIONS This is a very light good quality bike for children aged from three

up to fi ve (but not beyond, I would suggest). It looks fantastic and rides well, and has the great advantage of being able to accommodate older children, with the two seat posts giving seat heights of 35-38 cm and 42-45 cm. However, when compared to the Rothan with a seat height of 30-35 cm and a narrower handlebar, it is less suitable for tiddlers. The only objection I can think of is the price, £110, which places it at the top end of the no-pedal bike price range (topped only by the wooden Likeabikes). The Rothan was just £65 plus £12 delivery, so quite a difference. As for the wonderful method of learning to balance on two wheels, witness the explanation of one lad who had been struggling to ride his normal bike, but was within a couple of days able to fl y round a hairpin bend without mishap on the Jumper: “I didn’t have to do anything, it just happened. I think my brain must have talked to the bike without me knowing.”

Sue Holden

AVAILABILITY Manufacturer: KOKUA Bikes: Tel +49 2471 134160 or see www.likeabike.de Contact the UK importer for a list of dealers: LIKEaBIKE UK. Tel 01937 530303 or seewww.likeabike.co.uk

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