View Full Version : Home made FES bike?
jimnms
03-29-2003, 08:59 AM
What is so special about a FES bike that makes it cost $15,000? I was thinking about taking my old mountain bike I rode pre-SCI and replacing the rear wheel with a variable speed motor, cutting the frame and rigging it in a way so I can wheel up to it, strap my feet in and go.
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Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
Lewis
03-29-2003, 09:29 AM
One does wonder...
If you do make an attempt that it, let us know how you make out.
However, replacing the real wheel with a motorized one, would not constitute a FES bike. The idea behind a FES bike, is that it stimulates your own muscles to create the movement.
Good luck!
-Mark
Brad_D
03-29-2003, 01:58 PM
What is so special about a FES bike that makes it cost $15,000?
Nothing. Like any other medical device, the materials aren't expensive to build such a bike. It comes down to economics 101..supply and demand. Since there is a very limited number of consumers for this product, the only way that the manufacturer can make a profit, stay in business and recoup the R&D, is to charge a very high price per unit. Add to that many will be covered by insurance, and they have little incentive to lower the cost and risk going out of business.
It ticks me off that I have to pay a fortune out of my own pocket for these type of things. I do realize that it isn't a cakewalk for anyone who has a disability. If you can build a bike, go for it! http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
Brad_D
03-29-2003, 01:59 PM
Lewis,
I agree with you that replacing the real wheel with a motorized one, would not constitute a FES bike.
Chris Chappell
03-29-2003, 06:04 PM
Lewis & Brad are both right.
Your design idea Jimnms is lacking in the critical area of Functional ELECTRICAL Stimulation. A motorized wheel that pedals for you is exactly the opposite.
The bikes found at www.electrologic.com (http://www.electrologic.com) utilize technology that stimulates (through electricity) your legs to pedal the bicycle not the bicycle to pedal your legs.
What you're talking about exists and costs about $180 @ www.rolli-moden.com (http://www.rolli-moden.com) and is called the Oxycycle.
Agreed, $15k is exorbitant.
jimnms
03-30-2003, 01:47 AM
Phebus, that was the info I was looking for. The only pics I had seen of a FES, it just looked like a guy with his legs straped to some pedals that turned. I didn't know it used electric stem to make your legs do the work.
_____
Learn from the mistakes of others, you won't live long enough to make all of them yourself.
W. Justin Martin
03-30-2003, 08:30 AM
Well Jim, you could always experiment with a variable resistor and a battery charger electric circuit in tandem with the other attachment!
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked..."
- Allen Ginsburg