"Able Bodied" experiences for ALL

Don't let your disability stop you

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:

1. In person electric assist handcycling lessons
2. Online lessons, guides, and resources (Find out more about our Get 1 Help 2 program)
3. Open source travel guides. Learn where to stay, where to eat, and where you can rent a handcycle when you trave

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.

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 customize your handcycle to your disability and adjust the amount of assist you get from the motors

3. You can jump into a handcycle and be on the rode with zero assistance in under a minute

4. With the rising popularity of electric assist bikes, the cost of buying a conversion kit can be as low as $1,000 and should only continue to drop

FREE 1-on-1 electric assist handcycle lesson

We offer free in person and virtual lessons on electric assist handcycling. Our goal is to show you how natural and easy it is to go on an “able bodied” bike ride and then arm you with the right information to purchase an electric assist handcycle for your own use. All we ask for in return is that if we help you buy and build your own electric assis handcycle, that you pay it forward and help two other make the journey themselves. We plan to have a Google map of Able Bodied Ambassadors and hopefully build a global network of “able bodied” adventurers.

In person lesson
(~2 hours)

Short ride on neighborhood streets. Good opportunity to get a feel for the bike and experience the electric assist. Lessons are based in San Jose California, USA.

Online consultation
(~30 minutes)

Book a video call to ask any questions about e-assist handcycling and to find out more. Happy to accommodate different time zones so feel free to e-mail us.

Get 1 handcycle
Help 2 get theirs

We will help you apply for grants, decide what handcycle to purchase, etc. All we ask in return is that you help two others with the knowledge you gain from us.

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.

Able Bodied Travel Guides

A key challenge we have found is while e-assist handcycling is awesome, it is challenging to bring your handcycle when you travel, especially if flying to other countries where renting an appropriate car can be a challenge. 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 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.

Lake Tahoe

Amazing natural beauty with limitless trail systems

Tahoe offers some of the most beautiful scenery in California and has some great adaptive sports organizations. Achieve Tahoe offers various adaptive sports lessons and the city of Reno has the best handcycle rental program we have seen.