Bicycling can really be a pain in the legs. Your lower limbs pump endlessly to power the bike wheels over miles upon miles of terrain. Meanwhile, your arms just hang there doing little to nothing. The Raxibo Hand-Tret-Velo system evens things out, putting both your arms and legs to work toward cycling forward.
Raxibo is essentially a bicycle with a separate, arm-powered drivetrain that works in conjunction with the traditional pedal system. Cyclists use both their arms and legs to pedal forward. The idea of the system is that you can work your entire body during a bicycle ride, instead of just your legs. The system gets your arm, shoulder, chest and back muscles involved.
The specific mechanical details are a bit fuzzy, but it's clear that the hand crank uses a series of chains and pulleys. A derailleur system channels both pedal and hand torque to the rear wheel. The system is adjustable and can be set to different arm lengths and preferences. The hand crank has a tilting action that steers the front wheel.
At first blush, we'd expect the extra oomph from the hand crank to add speed and climbing power. However, the system also adds some weight and repositions the rider in a more upright, less aerodynamic riding stance, so any benefit in terms of speed and pedaling power might be minimized or negated. The company doesn't appear to make any claims about increased speed or power, so we'll assume the main benefit is in the increased scope of exercise.
The Raxibo comes in five different frame colors and retails for 2,500 Swiss francs (US$2,617 as of publishing). The base version sits on 26-inch wheels, while an upgraded model with a 26-inch front wheel and 29-inch rear wheel costs 2,800 francs ($2,930).
You can see Raxibo in action, more action and even more action in the video below.
Source: Raxibo
Fact is that anyone can hit his or her anaerobic threshold on a regular bicycle. You're not going to get a better workout by involving more muscles. Just get some dumbbells if you want to build up your arms.
For performance you are probably better off using clip peddles so you can pull the pedals up with the leg you aren't pushing down with.
The other thing I didn't see in the video is what happens if you take your hands off the hand pedals and hold the regular bars? It looks like the hand pedals stay linked and would hit you in the face if you pedal.
It doesn't look like it supports gear shifting on the front derailleur either which is expected but another hindrance in performance vs a standard bike.
It isn't a bad concept though as long as you view it in the context of more of a mobile exercise machine and not really as a potential bicycle improvement.
But I can see this having some potential for those with weaker legs who want to ride along flat ground.
There are days after a ride when I'm trying to remember when the h#ll I did all those pushups...
So. Yeah. Depends on the set up.
> your arms just hang there doing little to nothing
I think that can only be supposed by someone who never rides a bike on a road.
> That thing is going to kill some one. I completely agree with this comment. And in case if the bike is used on a road with some cars on it, it can create an accident and thus kill not only the biker, I think.
Hands are for holding handlebars, for always being ready to press the brakes. And hands also do their hard work when you are pushing pedals with big effort (going up a hill, or gaining speed), when you need to jump up a curb, when you go through a uneven relief. And even if you go straight forward on a smooth road, on most bikes some part of your weight rests on your hands (because you lean forward a little to put hands on the handlebars). My bike gives good exercise to my hands.
This bike with special pedals for hands looks completely inconvenient and dangerous. Such crazy machine is suitable only for a fitness hall where you just sit on one place and rotate pedals.