This blog piece is inspired by the UK-based Wheels for Wellbeing campaign ‘My Cycle; my mobility aid’ campaign and its accompanying podcast.
Kia ora, I’m Fiáin d’Leafy, Chief Biking Officer for Bike Auckland. My pronouns are they / them. I have the wonderful joy of looking after our core paid team here at Bike Auckland, bringing our volunteer Board’s strategy into our day to day activities. And, surprise! I am often using my bike as a mobility aid.
I’m not alone – 5% of respondents to our 2024 Bike Auckland audience survey said that they use their bikes as mobility aids too! And, in the UK, Wheels for Wellbeing research revealed that ¾ disabled cyclists are using their cycles as mobility aids. No doubt we have similar figures here – we just need to do the research.
Those of you who have followed our Inclusive Cycling campaign may have seen my little feature at the end of the piece about the Inclusive Cycling Board Game. Here’s a quick summary for everyone else: I have a joint condition. Sometimes it’s very mild. Sometimes it flares up and I can be in a fair bit of pain. Sometimes walking even short distances can be painful. Luckily, I can usually still ride my bike to where I want to go, keeping me active, independent, and engaged in the community. Cycling is easy on the joints; it’s not a weight bearing activity, so it is easier than walking for many people. And that’s also why many physios recommend it to their patients as a form of rehabilitation.
Several years before my joint condition started, when I was 21, one of my ankles “stopped working” and never really recovered. It made it painful for me to walk medium – large distances without taking lots of rest breaks – but I realised that I could still ride a bike. From that point on I was aware that my bike was, in some way, a mobility aid for me. Because of this, and because I love to be outside and active, it felt very natural to me that a bike would support me when more of my joints started to have problems.
If I wasn’t already cycling when my joint condition started, I don’t think I would have realised that I could still ride a bike. And without a bike, I would have more frequently felt unable to leave my house, which would have had a huge negative impact on my mental and physical wellbeing. Which is why it’s so important to me to talk about this and get the word out – so that other people consider whether a bike would work for them too, whether a bike would give them more independence and mobility, just like it does for me. And to change the perception that people who ride bikes are all able-bodied: we need our transport engineers to keep disability in mind when they build our cycle network, so that riding a bike is an option for a whole range of people regardless of their abilities and bike types.
Features of my bike which support my mobility
When choosing my bike, I considered what I might need to support my wrists (which are prone to injury), if it would be hardy enough to continue doing little jumps on speed bumps (the streets are my playground), and I wanted a nice balanced feeling when riding with no hands (I like to challenge myself). I wanted to get into mountain biking, but I knew I wouldn’t do it if I had to ride an acoustic bike up hills, so I wanted an E-bike that could be used for both city riding as well as some light mountain biking. I tried a whole range of E-bikes, and came very close to getting a Merida, but when I met this Avanti Montari-E Performance it was love at first bike: I instantly knew that it was the perfect E-bike for me.
I named my bike Harold, because I name everything Harold. See the whale on the handlebars? The whale is also named Harold.
Harold looks like a standard two wheeled e-bike, doesn’t it? No I’m not talking about the whale, I’m talking about the bike. So what is it about my bike that supports my mobility, and how does it help?
E-assist
Let’s start with the obvious. The E-assist is important to support me to cycle when my joints are especially sore, when my fatigue sets in (it comes with the joint flares), and when I’m feeling breathless (I get exercise induced asthma – hoorah). In particular, cycling up hills on an acoustic (analog? non-electric?) bike requires a lot of wrist and arm movement, which can be too much for me. The E-assist lets me cruise up hills, so I don’t need to put so much strain on my wrists, elbows, or use my hands anywhere near the same amount. And, of course, it makes it less likely that I will get ridiculously breathless.
Harold also has this great option of ‘walk assist’. So that if I do need to push my bike, the E-assist can help and make the bike lighter and easier to push along (perfect if my arms are sore!). I admit I don’t really know how to use it properly, but it certainly has been helpful.
Overall, what the E-assist gives me is confidence. Confidence to cycle further and more often, confidence that I will be okay to make it home. Combined with a bike trailer, this has allowed me to give up my car, and to have my bike as my primary mode of transport.
Dropper seat post
Getting an E-bike with a dropper seat post was somewhat of a lucky accident for me. Various people had told me that if I wanted to get into mountain biking I should get a dropper seat post, but I didn’t think I was really serious enough to get one. It just so happened that the e-bike I fell in love with had one already installed. So it was meant to be.
A dropper seat post functions like an office chair; push a little lever on the handlebars and the seat will go up or down depending on whether you put pressure on it. Put your weight on the seat and it will go down. Hop off the seat and it will spring back up. Stop pushing the lever on the handlebars and the seat won’t move at all.
I use the dropper seat post all the time. When I’m riding, I put my seat up almost as high as it can go, because it feels much better on my knees to be able to almost fully extend them while pedaling. When I stop – at a traffic light or to check google maps or look at the view – I use the dropper seat post to put my seat as low as it will go. This way I can have my foot flat on the ground to support myself while at a stop.
If I leave my seat up at the height I ride with it at, only my big toe can really touch the ground. I have weak ankles, so balancing myself on my big toe is a pretty injury-prone position for me. I also get pain in my big toes, and sometimes I get painful spasms if I am balancing on my big toes when at a stop. Luckily, the dropper seat post allows me to ride with my seat at the right height for me, while also allowing me put my feet flat on the ground when I come to a stop – an absolute dream!
The dropper post also makes getting on and off the bike much easier. Sometimes I have pain flare ups in my hips, so anything which makes it easier to get off and on the bike is absolutely welcomed. If you’re someone who finds it painful to get on and off your bike I encourage you to think about whether a dropper seat post would help to reduce this pain for you. A step-through frame would also probably be helpful for ease of getting on and off – though I stubbornly love having a ‘step over’ or ‘cross bar’. I think it simply gives me an extra feeling of security when I’m riding with no hands.
Another thing I like to do (which is enabled via the dropper seat post) is to use my bike as a seat. My knees can get really sore if I stay standing for too long, so, if there aren’t other seating options available, it’s really handy for me to sit on my bike with the seat as low as it can go. Being able to rest my legs and pace myself is important for me to help reduce the likelihood of a flare up with a long recovery time – pacing myself with rests (like sitting on my bike) enables me to have a more consistent amount of activity over a longer period of time.
Suspension
In general, suspension helps to reduce vibrations and this can be hugely helpful for joints. My bike has front suspension. I wanted front suspension so that (when my body is up to it) I could do my little jumps on speedbumps without hurting my wrists – but of course it also makes the my usual bike ride much smoother which is better for my wrists and arms overall. When choosing my e-bike, I thought about whether I should invest in a full suspension bike (a bike with both front and rear suspension), and was sorely tempted by a beautiful red full suspension e-bike I tried out at Electric Bike Team (red for spider man, yusss). But, it would be harder to fit a rack to a bike with full suspension, it seemed silly to ride a full suspension bike around the city (people kept telling me it would be inefficient; a lot of the pedal power would be absorbed by the rear suspension instead), and it was out of my price range anyway.
Instead, I got a ‘hard tail’, one with front suspension only, and I’m considering adding in seat suspension. Seat suspension is a little springy thing which can be attached to the seat post, just under the seat. It helps absorb some of the vibrations and bumps and generally makes for a much comfier ride. I’ve heard that seat suspension can be really helpful for people who have back problems, and I think it could be helpful for my knees and hips. I am aware though that it would make my seat higher, so I need to check if my seat would still go low enough for me to pop my foot down flat-ish when I stop, and if I’d still be okay for getting on and off when my hips are sore.
Other features
There are a few other aspects of my bike and the way I cycle which help with my mobility. I changed the grips on my handlebars to ones which provide more wrist support, which has been a huge help. This bike came with trigger shifters which are easier on my wrists (than grip shifters) for changing gears. I got cycling gloves which help to reduce vibrations (when I remember to wear them), and if my arms are sore I ride with no hands to give them a break (I have lots of fun challenging myself to ride no hands over the speed bumps – usually with great success). My bike is reasonably lightweight for an E-bike, which is more accessible for me if I have to lift or push it for any reason (and of course there’s the walk assist option if needed). I have a pannier rack to pop my bag onto for when my shoulders are sore – though when my body lets me, I prefer to wear a backpack cos it won’t throw off the bikes balance so much (yay more no-hands time). I store my bike inside my house to keep it safe from theft – but as an added bonus this means that I can charge it without removing the battery (which can be difficult for me if my hands or arms are sore).
Other transport modes
It may surprise you to know that driving is also hard on my joints; steering, keeping my arms up to hold the steering wheel, holding my foot on the accelerator or brake can all create pain for me, especially if I’m in a flare up. And, sitting with my knees bent for periods of time can be painful for me too, so being a passenger in a car can still be rough. I also have trouble with buses because I’d have to walk to or from the bus stop, and sometimes even a small walk to the stop is too painful. I love having the shared e-scooters and e-bikes around so that if I have taken public transport but have gotten too sore to walk, I can use a shared e-scooter instead. That has been really powerful for my mobility.
I can ride my bike to pretty much right outside my destination, so I don’t have to do anywhere near as much walking. Although there are times when my joint flare-ups make riding a bike too painful for me (particularly when my shoulders flare up), traveling by E-bike is the best option for me pain-wise, and gives me much more mobility overall.
I feel privileged that I was already cycling when my joints started to get bad. Otherwise I may not have realised that it was even an option for me – and I wouldn’t have built up the same brazenness to cycle regardless of the lack of cycle infrastructure, regularly riding along the terrifying roads of Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland to get to my destination.
My dream for our region is that it grows into the Super-City it was touted to be; surely a truly super city is inclusive, joyous, connected, and supportive? A key part of realising that vision is giving people options to get from A to B in whatever way works best for them. That means providing a network of safe, accessible, protected cycleways on our busy streets, and safe speeds for residential areas – as well as decent public transport, well-maintained footpaths, and providing for mobility parking.
Keen to see if a bike would improve your mobility? Check out these top tips for choosing an accessible cycle or these top tips for choosing e-assist cycles by Wheels for Wellbeing.
