Cycling is a great form of exercise for the legs and core, but the arms? Not so much. The VeloGym recumbent trike is out to change that, as it gets your upper body in on the act.
Following in the tire tracks of the Raxibo, 4StrikeBike, FitRider, TwiCycle and Varibike, the VeloGym can be propelled by either leg power, arm power, or a combination of both. It's being developed by a team of entrepreneurs from Germany's Technical University of Munich.
One big thing that sets the VeloGym apart from those other bikes is its unique arm-rowing system, in which two steel levers to either side of the rider are pushed and pulled in unison to deliver arm/upper body muscle power to the 28-inch rear wheel. By contrast, the others have hand-operated cranksets or similar arrangements.
The VeloGym does also have a traditional pedal drivetrain, which delivers leg power to the rear wheel either along with or instead of the arm-rowing system.
"This means you can stop using your arms at any time and continue with your legs only (and vice versa), or change the ratio of arm and leg power used, as the forces are simply added together," VeloGym company co-founder Gustav Holz tells us. "However, the mean technical innovation is the steering. In every push and pull position, a turn can be initiated easily with an intuitive steering wheel movement without having to interrupt the push-pull movement."
Although the full production-model specs have yet to be finalized, the trike does feature an aircraft aluminum frame, some Shimano Ultegra components, Tektro Auriga Twin hydraulic disc brakes, and a complete weight of around 24 kg (53 lb).
Holtz says that the company is currently producing an initial small run of trikes for "pioneering customers" located mainly in southern Germany, Austria and Switzerland. That said, he's definitely interested in receiving direct preorders from customers in other countries, who could then serve as brand ambassadors.
Pricing for the basic version of the VeloGym – before adding extras such as mudguards, lights and luggage racks – will be in the range of €6,300 to €7,000 (about US$7,197 to $7,996).
Source: VeloGym
