Questions regarding Kettwiesel

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    • Questions regarding Kettwiesel

      Hello - I am new to all this, and have put the other threads through Google Translate - but it's not always clear so I thought it would help me and maybe others to open this forum up with some English threads - probably asking the same questions as elsewhere, sorry!


      There is so little about these recreational trikes for handbiking on the web (it seems) that I want to ask about specs for buying a new Hase Kettwiesel - as it really seems to be one of the best options from all my research, unless you go for the Greenspeed GTT Tandem Touring Trike with handcrank - except that cannot work as individual trikes.

      If anyone has and uses one of these recumbent trikes with handcrank, please can you add something about the following:

      1. Nexus hub gears plus mountain drive VS Rohloff Hub gears (which cannot have Mountain Drive)
      - reliability
      - ease of use on uphills etc

      2. Difference of capability (hills, etc, as tandem and individual handbike)

      3. SON hub dynamo lighting

      4. Stowage on touring
      - front panniers -> can you have these with a handcrank?
      - Ortlieb bags -> can you have these with trailer? Are they really good or just really expensive? Can one use other non-brand bags?

      5. Is the recumbent position on seat enough to avoid pressure issues on bum?

      6. What do you do with your wheelchair if you want to bike out somewhere and then (for example) have in a pub for lunch?

      Why is there SO little on this subject. There must be members out there with these trikes?!
      Please advise....

      Thank you!

      Guido

    • Kettweisel Handbike information

      Hi Guido - I just signed up and saw your post seeking information. We are also trying to find more out about the handbike and the regular kettweissel as myself and a wheelchair bound friend of mine are looking to link a regular kettweissel bike with a handbike version and over the next year or so embark on longer and longer tours eventually doing a multiple thousand km cross continent tour. Like you I feel there must be people who have done this kind of thing with a bucket load of useful knowledge, but so far it has been hard to find them on the internet. I would love to know what happened after your posting - did you get a Kettweissel handbike? Feel free to PM me if you like and perhaps mutally we will have some knowledge/ideas to exchange.

    • Handbike Guide and Information on Choosing a Handcycle

      Hi WebbCMH

      Sorry have only just seen your message to me - I thought reply notifications would be switched on, but apparently not!

      In the end, I (we - my wife and I) made the decision to get 2 Hase Kettwiesels from London Recumbents, as we can use them individually or as a Tandem. Mine is the handcrank and hers the standard version.

      We're having a LOT of fun on them, and I think they are very well built with some clever engineering. I can't compare them to others as I haven't ridden around on other machines, but I can say that they are heavy bikes, and are definitely LEISURE toys rather than serious racing snake handcycles. I can envisage touring but one would have to be very fit and take time building up to it. Plus not expect to go fast, but enjoy the ride!

      The next thing I did was set up an information page on my website for Starting Advice on Choosing and Buying a Handcycle in the UK (though the info is relevant wherever you are, some of the links are UK-centric). You can read this here:

      disabledgear.com/Information/H…ndHandcyclingInTheUk.aspx

      Feel free to email me via my Contact page which you can navigate to easily via that link above. I'd be very happy to give you my thoughts if you haven't yet spent the money (which is a pretty hefty sum) and want to talk it through.

      Best wishes

      Guido