Handcycle

Varibike is 300% handcycle, rowing bike and bike 

The Varibike

The Varibike is a combination of handcycle, rowing bike (or row bike) and a normal bike. The Varibike enables different movement patterns and is therefore refreshingly varied. Various drive variants can be used with Varibiking. You can pedal synchronously with your arms, like on a handcycle, or you can paddle in opposite directions and optionally pedal with your legs.   

Advantages over handcycle 

In contrast to the handbike, the sitting position on the Varibike is upright. This gives the Varibiker a better overview of road traffic and also makes them much more visible to other road users. With the classic handbike, the arm crank movement is always synchronous, i.e. parallel. This means that the handcycle always has the same monotonous drive movement. With the Varibike, on the other hand, there are several different drive styles available. No handcycle in the world offers so much variety. 

You can switch between the following types of drive while riding: 

- only with the legs (like on a conventional bike) 

- only with the arms 

- only with the right or left arm 

- with the legs plus right arm or plus left arm 

- arms and legs together 

When using your arms, you can even switch between the alternate style (arms crank in opposite directions) and the synchronous style (arms crank in parallel). Another disadvantage of handbikes is that people with intact legs cannot use them for propulsion. With the Varibike, in addition to the strength of the upper body, leg strength is also used to drive the bike. With Varibiking you train everything, legs, arms, shoulders, chest, back and the whole trunk. 

The video below shows the muscle groups involved in Varibiking. The video shows the different muscle loads for the different crank positions. The leg and gluteal muscles are used as in normal cycling and are therefore not shown.   

Examples Varibike full body handcycles 

The Varibike is a full body handbike (or handcycle) as a two-wheeler or trike.   

Photo: The Varibike Trike is a full body recumbent handbike 

Photo: The Varibike Bike is a full body two-wheel handbike   

More information about the Varibike bike or trike, click here