Click to view attachmentI have just aquired the following one off Varna 2 wheeled mountain handbike. To date i have assembled bike ready for use but havent test crashed it yet!!! Thought it may be of interest

More to follow......

OMG!!! wow!!!! well done varna!!!!!



Emma.

I take it you have enough leg function to put them out on the floor to balance when you stop?

Hi russ,

I have leg function but the handbike is set up as a kneeler therefore i wont be able to get feet out. The idea is you are sat so low you can put your hands on the deck for balance. Thats the theory!!! Other possibilities are using lamp posts, trees, rocks to lean on. OR i may add some kind of retractable stabiliser or prop stand.


i will post again when i have tested it properly. Watch this space....

That looks awesome!

Where did you order it from, I looked on the varna website but they didnt seem to have it listed as one of their bikes.

The stock bike you can buy from Varna is the Marathoner which is a 2 wheeler but bares no resemblance to this bike. The varna marathoner looks like a penny farthing with 26" front wheel and 20"back. You can but the marathoner with mountain bike running gear.

This bike was bespoke and it was built in Holland thro Varna / Double Performance for a guy called Terry Mader. He has rode it about twice but "due to family commitments" decided to sell it. His concept was to create a bike which would go down country lanes and his dream was to get a disabled athlete into a mountain bike event. I am sure Double Performance will build another.

I took it for a test last night. After 3 falls I got it going and did 3 laps of a local football field. It felt very unstable mainly becaue the steering is so light and it wanders off course, I think it needs a damper on the steering. However once you are doing about 5mph it goes ok and you can lean with confidence to steer. Cranks are a bit narrow for me too. But has loads of potential.

I plan to go to a track 2mo and with a few friends give it a thoro test on tarmac. I plan to damp the steering using bungee cord and if that helps will get a proper steering damepr for it.

I should be able to get photos and video of the bike in action.

Cheers

RU Based in UK? I am in Leeds and meeting some guys at preston 2mo Thurs 14. "to play" with the bike. Welcome to come along.

Hi Robbo

I know a perfect place you can test your new toy! I've just got back from a couple of weeks in the Pyrenees and one place we stayed at was a small village that's usually a winter ski resort with cable cars etc. In the summer months they use the cable cars to take mountain bikers and their gear up the hill and they cycle it down.

There's all sorts of different mountain bikes, mountain scooters etc and had there been a 4 wheel offroad wheelchair, I'd've gone for it myself.

Looks a bit tricky for a 2 wheel handbike though! But the fantastic scenery and mountain roads would be perfect to get yourself some new tarmac scrapes!

There were loads of parapenting going on too, and I've just heard from my mate that owns a flying school locally that he's getting a new power assisted (big fan!) paraglider with 3 wheel frame. I'm going to check it out in the next few days. Will post some news on this later.

Is there anywhere to rent 4 wheel offroad chairs?

Looks like I missed out on that offer. I wouldn't of been able to make it anyway, thanks though. Let us know how it plays on the tarmac and post some pics!




Dave, I've been trying to come up with a decent design for a disabled PPG (powered paragliding) buggy for a while, one that lets me get around solo on the ground and launch/land independently. Would be really interested in what your mate has rigged up and what you think of it.

Back Up Trust at Keswick used to have a sky chair for paragliding??? Think it was basically a sports wheelchair n clip on front wheel.

Otherwise could u adapt a mountain skate board or kite buggy?

Looks like I missed out on that offer. I wouldn't of been able to make it anyway, thanks though. Let us know how it plays on the tarmac and post some pics!


The weather isnt looking too favourable so might be next week. But anytime you want a try let me know and will get it on.

Cheers

Hi Dave, That sounds like a fantastic play ground... I reckon i need abit of practice 1st and might take 6months to be "competent" enough for serious off roading. But its early days.....

Chevron used to make them 4wheelers for Backup but rumour was people were going mad in them and ended up with further injuries!!!!! There is an off road downhill club in UK but have no contact with them. I always thought that the new breed downhill chairs were very expensive for what they are. You could buy a quad bike for less. Have to say they look fun nonetheless. Business oportunity for someone?? Cheap alternative might be a KMX Kart but you would have no way of proplsion other than gravity. Could investigate developing a UK built version.

Keep us informed on your trip and i hope to get some video of the handbike in action. Should be worth £250 to "Youve Been Framed".

Incidentally another mate of mine has also developed a 2 wheeler bike and we are goin to get together to compare notes. his is more road orientated. Talked of taking it to a Velodrome and possibly some track fast speed work too. exciting stuff.

Robbo

Petra Kreutz is a German paraplegic thar bust her back paragliding and designed a chair with that had a big front wheel like a shopping trolley wheel. I invited Petra over here a few years ago to explore the idea of setting up courses and had loads of photos but my PC crashed and I think I've lost them all - hoping my computer geak can rescue them though!

Here's the only link online I found on Petra but I think I can find her email address etc, in case you want to contact here.

http://office.rehacare.de/cipp/md_rehacare..._The_Skies.html

I hope to check out this new "buggy" in the next few days so will let you know and will post pics.

There surely must be ski resorts who's existing set up (ie ski lifts, slopes, etc) are ideal for different levels of 4x4 wheelchair offroading, so courses can be set up for different levels of mobility/madness! The problem is getting enough clients to make it work, so business owners are prepared to invest in the gear, which is stupidly expensive. How many rentals would you need to pay one off???

I invited an American downhill racer over here as we were talking about setting up an annual downhill competition - 1 day offroad, 1 day on road and 1 day trick - but there are enough people in the sport and too costly to buy the chairs... We toed John behind a quad bike and dragged him all over the fields - what a laugh we had (he wasn't laughing as much as we were though!)

I still think there could be a way to make this work. If funds could be secured to acquire a fleet of these chairs and all the spare parts and employ someone to maintain them, then they could be shipped to any location so several events could be set up every year... UK championship... European Championships... USA.... etc Do they have hills in Aus??? Could be something for Andy to do!

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Hi Andy

I found a photo...

Phil Hall is trying to set up something similar to the whistler experience (where thay have bikes to rent, trails and tows) in the UK - here's his website Rough Riderz. I know a few people who've been out to Whistler for the Downhill biking and they all raved about it.

Reckon those fourcross bikes look a lot more like the tool for the job than that pic Dave :-)

Hi Russ - That chair is for paragliding, not downhill - sorry, should've made it clear.

I hope Phil gets things off the ground as there's a market ready for this, but not necessarily a market able (or willing) to cough up so much money to buy chairs. Also, focusing only on a small sector of a small marekt makes surviving in business hard - by this I mean, the sector of the wheelchair market that want to do this extreme sport is very small and then aiming only for this tiny sector of the UK market will be hard work. This sport needs guys like Phil to rattle people's cages and get people interested, get people trying the sport and support them when they take the sport up. Then the sport needs to grow so there are training camps, competitions etc - lots of work if there isn't any income generated...

If I can help in any way, I'm always very happy and willing to help out, but my opinion is this sort of project needs to be done on a much larger scale.

Don't know if this adds anything but this is a photo of a mate of mine paragliding at Keswick this summer - there's clearly a set of wheels on him that look a little more stable (wide wheelbase) and less bulky than that chair but I'm not sure it complies with the independent tag.

Three os us with varying abilities rode the bike yesterday and its very rideable and well balanced. Its quite easy to turn, manouverable and you can stay balanced at very low speeds. Also has a good turn of speed but havent measured that yet. Its definitely got loads of potential as a track bike and we are toying with building a lightweight track bike based on this ones geometry. As our skills develop then riding it off road should be achievable.

I think eventually will take it on the road too but need to address the problem of starting and stopping at junctions, traffic lights etc (not sure mtorists will be impressed if i lean on their car!!)

Video to follow of the bike being rode, spills and all!!

Video footage of the handbike being ridden on tarmac plus some footage of a mates proto 2 wheeler.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Drtph-LDbU

Hi Guys

Its Phil here! Ive had a look at the 2 wheeled Varna in action... looks good, but hard to ride if you are rely on your balance to steer it, and your hands to stop you falling over when you stop! Ive also found it on Varna's website at the bottom of the handcycles page. They are just calling it a "custom design" bike.

Ive got a Varna II (pictured) that I use for fitness training... its much easier to handle than that, but it aint very good if your off-road (eg. forest raods, brideways, etc) at climbing hills. My body weight is in the wrong position to provide enough grip on the front tyre, but its good for distance, speed and stability. It will also cover most types of terrain on the flat easily if you select low enough gears.

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Theres also the One-Off Titanium handbikes if you really wanna get "off-road" and up mountains! My mate (who is a para) climbed Kilimanjaro with one of these babies... theres more info available on the One-Off website and also on Jimmy's site too.

Hello... me again!

Just to let you all know about the situation with my club... we are still looking for funding to really get the project of the ground, but we are making good progress with the Forestry Commission on access to trails and facilities in the UK for downhill enthusiasts (on 4 wheels)!

As far as we are concerned, the only suitable 4 wheeled DH MTB available is the "Fourcross" made by R-One based in Canada. Its not trying to be anything other than a really good DH bike, to hammer down different types of trails, with jumps, drop offs and berms, at speed. This is exactly what it does... and it does it very well. As I found from injury last year... the bike is far better than the rider lol.

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Heres my mate Dave in action, so you can see they are "mean machines" for adrenaline junkies! This photo was taken for an MBR magazine article which we featured in earlier this year... and if you like the look of the sport, then please help support our club by joining as a member. This in turn could help us to attract the funding/sponsors we need to make the whole thing work. We just wanna give as many of you guys (and girls) as poss. the opportunity to try it for yourselves!