"Able Bodied" experiences for ALL
Don't let your disability stop you
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About
Able Bodied Inc. is a California non-profit corporation founded in May 2024
Our Mission:
Help people with disabilities around the world connect and experience “able bodied” adventures.
Our primary offering is electric assist handcycling currently
Our Values:
1. Positive vibes and happiness. Our goal is to feel good and share our happiness with others.
2. Share and open source our knowledge base with people and organizations around the world
3. Keep costs low. Frugality → affordability → accessibility for all. Get the cost of an electric assist handcycle below $2,000
Our Services:
2. Our Get 1 Help 2 program
3. Our open source map / travel guide / wiki to find handcycling places around the world
Our Team:
We are a diverse set of life/adventure loving world travelers and DIY tinkerers. Click here to learn more about our board of directors.
News and Events:
Why electric assist handcycling
1. Electric assist handcycling allows disabled riders to keep up with anybody and enjoy an “able bodied” experience with their friends and family
2. You can jump into a handcycle and be on the rode with zero assistance in under a minute
3. It can allow you to go places your wheelchair will not go
1-on-1 lessons (in person or virtual)
We offer free in person and virtual lessons on electric assist handcycling as well a 1:1 mentorship through our Get1Help2 program. Our goal is to introduce you to electric assist handcycling and then show you how you can find grants and other funding sources to help you purchase a handcycle of your own.
In person lesson
in San Jose CA
Free 1:1 lesson on an electric assist handcycle. There is a special ramp to make transferring easier. We have two delta style handcycles and one wheelchair attachable Stricker Tetra Lipo Smart handcycle that is optimized for quadriplegics.
In person lesson in Sebastopol CA
Free 1:1 lesson on an electric assist handcycle. There is a special ramp to make transferring easier. There is a front wheel drive Top End Force 3 and a dual motor full suspension Lasher. Unfortunately none of the handcycles are designed for quadriplegics in this location.
Online consultation
(~30 minutes)
Book a video call to ask any questions about e-assist handcycling. Happy to accommodate different time zones so feel free to e-mail us.
Get 1 Help 2 Program (fund your own handcycle)
Out Get 1 Help 2 program is our “Pyramid Scheme for Good” strategy to help people around the world get into electric assist handcycling. We will
1. Help you figure out what kind of handcycle is best for your needs
2. Help you apply for grants and also host tax deductible fund raisers to help finance a handcycle for you
3. Help you add electric assist if this is something you need help with
All we ask for in return is that you become an #AbleBodiedAmbassador and help at least two people with the information you have gained.
Able Bodied Travel Guides
A key challenge we have found is being able to travel the great outdoors while traveling. Taking your own handcycle is possible, but requires extensive planning of transportation and storage. With this in mind we are hoping to seed a community of fellow adventurers and put together “open source” travel guides that other can add to and improve.. Our guides are written with the wheelchair bound traveler in mind with tips on hotels, where to rent a handcycle, and where to eat (good food makes every trip better).
Italy
Amazing food and massive mountains.
Italy is not only the birthplace of the Roman empire, the Renaissance, and pizza, it has some of the most beautiful mountains in Europe.
Our guide covers the best places to eat, how accessible the hotels we stayed at, and where you can rent a handcycle.
Poland
Amazing food at amazing prices plus scenic country roads.
In Poland you can eat delicious like a king and pay between 1/3 to 1/2 of what you would pay in the US. Warsaw is one of the most accessible cities in Europe with elevators at every metro station, excellent public transit on wheelchair accessible buses and trollies,.and wide sidewalks with curb cuts. Wroclaw is another awesome city with rentable handcycles.
California
Amazing natural beauty with limitless trail systems
California offers many different playgrounds with adaptive programs all over the state. If it is Lake Tahoe, Mammoth, or just the Bay Area, there are plenty of options to rent a handcycle and get off the beaten path..
France
Amazing food and massive mountains.
We highly recommend a flight to Lyon, the epicurean capital of France, where you can rent a minivan on Turo and go check out Chamonix and the French riviera. Our guide has an extensive list of places you can rent either handcycles or off-road quadtrixes that you can use to explore some of the most rugged and beautiful terrain in the world.
Germany
Great beer, innovative handcycles, and ancient castles
Germany has a long history of engineering, manufacturing, and great beer. It is home to several handcycle manufacturers including Stricker the oldest wheelchair attachable handcycle. It is also home to some interesting towns, castles, and fun trails to go handcycling on
Request a guide
Or help us write one
All our guides are written in a simple Google doc that is available for anybody to read and/or edit. Feel free to copy one and follow the format to create your own guide and share it with the community. Or request one. Either way, take our quick survey to let us know..
Gallery
How to convert a manual handcycle to electric
We have completed three different types of handcyckle ebike conversions so far and have blog posts detailing each build with pictures and parts lists. Keep in mind that this is at the moment a fairly rough (raw) collection of videos and links, but the hope is that we can work on making this content more digestible with the help of our community.
Bafang Front Wheel Drive
~$1,000
Excellent beginner bike.
Easiest to build and operate.
The goal of this e-bike conversion was to minimize cost and deliver a bike that could be reproduced in Ukraine (project details). This build is not only less expensive, but a lot easier to put together and operate. It is not hard to find a used handcycle for $2,000, making the total cost of this e-assist handcycle ~$3,000. We recommend you get a handcycle with at least a disc brake in the front to have enough stopping power.
Direct Drive Front Wheel
~$2,500
Perfect road bike
Regen braking & great climber
This is a great option for someone interested in going on long road bike rides that may have long climbs and descents. It is simpler than building the all-wheel drive bike and will provide regenerative braking to maintain your speed on descents. The biggest drawback is if you only have a brake in the front you will have a single point of failure.
All Wheel Drive "Beast"
~$5,000
Off-road dream machine
Get off the paved roads!
This bike will ride up steep sandy fire roads and even snow covered ski slopes. It has two 1500W motors in the back and hand powered propulsion in the front, so is basically all wheel drive.