Once spring arrives, many leg amputees begin gearing up for the cycling season. This activity provides a good cardiovascular workout while placing minimal stress on the residual limb(s). To make it a safe and pleasurable experience, special adaptations are designed. Sometimes a little ingenuity is all that is required, while other times, you need changes to the hardware of the bike itself.

The method of suspension used can play a large part in comfortably riding a bike. The popular locking liners for leg amputees really lock the socket liner in place thus holding the artificial limb securely during the repetitive action of cycling. Above-knee amputees who wear a suction socket may need auxiliary suspension to ensure their artificial leg stays firmly in place and the Otto Bock and Power Short Suspension belts are good options.

A hinged crank arm was specially developed to aid amputees with a rotationplasty “amputation” who found it impossible to use a normal pedal because of limited rotation abilities. A single crank arm was cut in half and reconnected to form a free-moving axle. This allows the amputee to complete a rotation – the pedal reaches half a rotation and the hinge pushes the pedal across to complete the action of a rotation, which generates power on the amputated side. This device can also be interchanged between bicycles and is easy to mount. For more information on the hinged crank arm, please visit  www.hingedcrankarm.com.

Velcro fasteners are a simple solution that can help keep the artificial foot on the pedal. As featured here, the Velcro “loop” is attached to the shoe on the artificial leg and the Velcro “hook” is attached to the pedal. The artificial foot should never be secured to the pedal in a way that it cannot easily and quickly be pulled from the pedal in the event of a fall.