Sent: 16 June 2005 19:52
Subject: Explorer as therapy with Egg rings

Dear Chris and Neil

In the past I have been a keen club cyclist and an
even keener enthusiast of recumbents, having owned two
pre ICE Trice and a King Cycle. But for the last four
years I have been becoming increasingly infirm with
ostio arthritis. I had become almost completely
inactive even needing to use sticks to get around the
house. On a whim I decided to try to use my sons
exercise bike, and to my surprise I found that I was
able to pedal without hip pain. Having become
seriously over weight with high blood pressure it was
necessaary to do something about it so that the
operation to replace my hips can be performed with the
maximum safety at the end of the year.

So a bespoke Explorer frame kit was the answer for me.
I already had a pair of Hope hydraulic disk brakes of
the kind that are 'handed' so that when they are
fitted they are symetrical. To do this I had to cut of
the standard disk brake mounts, make some of my own
and make a jig to braze them on accurately. At the
time I had the resources to do this. I had also
intended to use Eliptical Egg rings from Chris Bell of
Highpath engineering. These are designed to even out
the extra effort necessary to move the pedals through
top dead centre. Go to the Highpath Engineering web
site for a full technical expalnation. Whatever you
do, do not be tempted to use old Shimano Biopace
rings. These were orintated to increase the effort
over top dead centre! They became discredited as a
result and were withdrawn. Anyway the orientation of
the eliptical rings is special for recimbents. They
work beautifully but there are a couple of draw backs,
they are very expensive, and the capacity of the front
gear mech is reduced to accommodate the ovality. I
have 52, 42 and 32 rings and the Deore XT front mech
only just copes.

The sheer pleasure of being able to enjoy physical
exercise again is beyond description. It was a real
struggle at first but now it is getting easier and I
am able to do 20 or so miles without distress or pain.
I am losing weight and my blood pressure is dropping.
I look forward to using my Explorer for the kind of
cycling that I used to do in the past. I am sure it
will remain my cycle of choice. Its quality of design
and construction, and performance is exemplory. The
only addition to my cycling fleet will be a Brompton
when I have my new hips so that I can take it with me
when following classic motor sport events in Europe
next year in my replica Jaguar C type. But that is
another story.

I attach pictures of both Egg rings and Hope calipers.


Chris Mash