If you're thinking about adapting your bike to use with the Koalaa ALX prosthetic sleeve and the Sarah Pro cycling tool, you're in the right place! Our limb buddy Sarah has created a short guide to bike adaptations...
The Sarah Pro is a fantastic tool that helps you grip the handlebars, but since it doesn’t control the brakes or gears, you’ll need to make a few tweaks to your bike. Don’t worry—it’s not as complicated as it might sound.
Below, I'll walk you through how to do it based on the type of bike you have.
Types of Handlebars: Drop Bars vs. Flat Bars
First up, you’ll need to figure out what kind of handlebars you’re working with. This will influence how you modify your bike and which version of the Sarah Tool is best for you:
Drop Bars: These are typically found on road bikes, gravel bikes, touring bikes, and cyclocross bikes.
If your bike has drop bars, the Sarah Pro is the tool you’ll want to go with. It’s designed specifically for gripping the hoods of drop bars, giving you a comfortable ride while still allowing flexibility so you can easily unclip and move to different positions—down to the drops for a more aerodynamic stance or up to the tops for cruising.
Being able to detach makes signalling a breeze, and then gripping on tightly for those uphill climbs when you need that extra power.
Flat Bars: Common on mountain bikes, commuter bikes, hybrid bikes, children’s bikes, folding bikes, and BMX bikes.
For flat bars, you’ll want to opt for the Sarah tool, which works better with the straight, horizontal grip that flat bars provide.
Brake Systems: Cable vs. Hydraulic
To ride safely with one hand, you’ll need to be able to control both brakes from a single side. Here’s how you can do that depending on your brake type and handlebar style:
Cable Brakes
If your bike has cable brakes, you have a couple of options:
Problem Solvers Cable Doubler: This device allows you to control both front and rear brakes with one lever. It combines two brake cables into one, so you need to tune it carefully to ensure that braking force is evenly distributed between the front and rear wheels or slightly leaning more towards a back brake pull first. This helps prevent skidding or flipping over the handlebars.
What to consider: Pulling both brakes with one hand can be tiring, especially on long rides. But if you’re looking for a simple and reliable solution, this does the job nicely.
Hope Tech 3 Duo: Specifically for flat bars, especially on mountain bikes, the Hope Tech 3 Duo is a great option. It features a two-lever system that lets you pull each brake individually with different fingers, providing precise control.
Hydraulic Brakes
For hydraulic brakes on drop bars or flat bars:
Outbraker Booster Brake Splitter: This device works by connecting both brake lines into one lever and balancing the braking pressure. It simplifies braking with one hand and is ideal for long rides and challenging terrains.
Benefits: Hydraulic systems are easier on the hand and give you more consistent braking. They are slightly on the more expensive side but the comfort and control they offer are well worth it.
Adapting Your Gears
Your gear setup depends on how many front chainrings you have:
One Chainring: If you only have one front chainring, you’re in luck! There’s no need to change anything because you’ll only need one gear shifter.
Two or Three Chainrings: For bikes with multiple front chainrings, you have different options depending on whether you’re using drop bars or flat bars:
Automatic Electric Shifters: One option is to install automatic shifters that handle gear changes for you. It’s smooth and hassle-free with very minimal effort.
Drop Bars: Adjusting the hoods and shifters on drop bars can be a bit tricky. A practical solution is to disconnect the shifter that you’re not using and rewire it to the end of your drop bar using a bar-end shifter. This setup allows you to control your front gears from one convenient spot, eliminating the need for an additional lever on your handlebars and keeping everything in one accessible spot.
Flat Bars: With a bit more flexibility on flat bars, you can install a grip shifter on the side you’re using to control your front gears, this setup keeps all your gear controls within easy reach.
Getting Advice and Support
These setups aren’t just all talk—they’ve been tested by professional cyclists and Koalaa wearers like Morgan Newberry, Clare Cunningham, and me!
I’ve gone with the cable brake option, while Morgan and Clare use the more advanced electric and hydraulic systems. We’re all happy to chat and share tips if you’re unsure what’s best for your bike.
And if you need more hands-on help, our in-house bike guru Bryan runs a bike workshop, FulCycle and knows all about prosthetics and bike mods. He’s always up for helping people get their bikes set up, so don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re based near London.
Making these adjustments might seem a bit intimidating at first, but it’s totally doable and can be done by many bike mechanics near you. Get in touch with a limb buddy who can point you in the right direction and get you started - happy cycling!
Sarah 🐨
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