Arm bikes traditionally have 3 wheels and were often intended for people with leg disabilities. This is great for amputees or people who are not able to stradle a 2 wheel bicycle, but is not practical for most people due to it’s high costs, large footprint and general design intention.
However, Twicycle is an arm and leg bike, features only 2 wheels and looks and feels much like a regular bike. It is mainly intended as an exercise machine and functions equally well as a bike for arms and an upper and lower body cycle allowing even more muscles to be included.
Cycling for arms has numerous other benefits by allowing upper body workout, building muscle and improving fitness overall.
Twicycle is a very versatile arm and leg bike machine. If you ever wondered is cycling a full body workout, well the answer is definitely yes if using a Twicycle. By using varying riding techniques and spreading the load over multiple muscle groups, you can make your ride much more efficient and fun.
Tests conducted by New Mexico University in the 80’s discovered that full body cycling can be up to 30% more efficient. Imagine what that could do on a long bike ride? If you like to exercise your upper body outdoors, then Twicycle would be a perfect exercise bike that works arms and legs together. You no longer have to search for total body cycling workout plans as this bike does it all.
You could use Twicycle to exercise only your upper body and completely rest your legs. This can be particularly useful when slip streaming behind another cyclist. By using only upper body cycling and being shielded by a cyclist in front, you could fully keep up pace. This will leave your legs fresh and with Twicycle not being just just an upper body cycle, when you encounter that steep hill or a sprint, you would have plenty of power left stored in your legs.
If you wanted to emulate gym exercises and use twicycle as a triceps bike only on certain days, you could do just that. By using only the pushing motion you would engage mainly your triceps and chest effectively making Twicycle also a chest bike. Instead of completing a full arm cycle, you could just rewind the cranks and repeat the action again engaging the triceps. Alternatively you could also continue to bike with arm pedals and just not put any force into second half of the arm cycle instead helping that half by using legs briefly.
By using a high gear ratio, you could make the resistance very high and do only a few reps to emulate muscle building in a gym. To rest and prepare for the next set, you can just use your legs for that time.
As mentioned before, Twicycle allows you to isolate muscle groups and target only those muscles you wish to work on. Using a similar technique as above you can use biceps cycling to isolate your biceps and only work out those muscles. By using the pulling motion only, the majority of the drive is being done by the bicep muscle group. As above you can also rewind your hand cycle handlebars to repeat the motion. All of these also work other muscles on your back and make Twicycle double as lats bike, shoulders bike and bike for forearms too. The ability to do all these different exercises makes Twicycle the ultimate exercise bike with arm workout ability.
Using an arm bike such as Twicycle can be great on a daily commute too. You can spend the time commuting to complete a significant workout and save time having to go to the gym only to use an arm cycle machine there. As Twicycle is not purely designed as a bicycle for arms, but as an arm and leg cycle you can further benefit by using it as a legs only bike on the days you do not wish to use arm cycling. Being a 2wd bicycle makes it nimble and easy to store away at work as it does not take as much room as a traditional bicycle with arm pedals, but only as a regular road bike.
As previously touched on, with Twicycle you are able to simulate several activities and exercise muscle groups used in activities such as rowing, kayaking, swimming, climbing and more. If you find it difficult to get to your other outside sports every day or in the off season, arm and leg bike such as Twicycle can be a great tool to keep your muscles active whilst still being able to enjoy the outdoors. By increasing resistance, aka using a very high gear, you can do only a few reps with upper body cycling and then rest them by taking over with legs for a while. Then repeat the set a few times in similar way that you would in a gym.
With Twicycle you can spread the load by cycling with arms ensuring your legs don’t need to work as hard. By using multiple muscle groups to propel the bike uphill, each muscle group has to work a little less, making your full body cycle work much more efficiently overall. Think about moving a heavy object such as a fridge or heavy furniture. You’d naturally use all your body muscles to push such an object so why not use a similar principle when cycling? Pro cyclists already employ a similar technique with clip-In or clipless pedals, allowing their legs to use a pulling motion, therefore spreading the load onto different muscle groups. Twicycle takes this another step further by adding your whole upper body to bike propulsion. Plus you can also get stronger and more toned arms.
If you are a road cyclist, you are probably well aware of this side effect. Legs as strong as a bull, but arms that look like T-rex. Twicycle solves this and allows you to evenly exercise and develop all your muscle groups including your arms, shoulders, back, chest, abs and complete upper body as well as legs. You no longer have to do other activities to build up your upper body, using a stationary arm cycle machine or other gym equipment and can spend more time doing what you like the most. Cycling.
Perhaps you have a knee injury or knee pain like myself that is preventing you from fully enjoying your bike ride? With Twicycle, you are able to relieve the pressure from your troubled knee by adding arm cycle power, and significantly lower the amount of force that would need to go through that knee. This will reduce the strain and ongoing risk of further injury, whilst simultaneously allowing you to get back on the pace, and to fully enjoy your bike ride, whether riding solo, or with your mates.
Did you know that exercising with multiple muscle groups simultaneously by doing full body cycling is up to 30% more efficient overall? Imagine what that could do for your ride? If you are a cyclist you are probably aware of clip in pedals which allow you to use a pulling motion with your legs to spread the load over several muscle groups. All professional cyclists accept that this is a much more efficient way to propel the bike. With Twicycle, arm and leg bike, you can take that even a step further and add a whole new selection of muscle groups from your upper body to cycle, significantly increasing efficiency and ability to therefore ride longer with less energy and fatigue. By adding cycling for arms you can also rest your legs more, leaving them fresher for when they are needed. Get everything you normally would on a regular road bike + a lot more!
Do you cycle with your mates, but find that you often fall behind? With Twicycle, you can significantly increase your efficiency, power and endurance by adding upper body cycling and spreading the load onto multiple muscle groups! Power from arm bike mechanism can be about 150 to 300 watts from an average male. Twicycle can be used as a regular bike, a hand cycle or combination of both. In our tests we were able to keep up in a cycling group by using arm cycling power alone when slip streaming. This could leave your legs very fresh and rested allowing for a longer ride overall. Adding even the smallest amount of cycling with arms can make a huge difference to not hitting red with your legs.
With arm and leg bike being more efficient than a regular bike, Twicycle can be a great as a lead bike in a cycling group, breaking the wind and allowing the rest of the group to coast and slip stream behind. This could be very beneficial in a race scenario (given that they allow Twicycle to enter… if they don’t then it further proves efficiency).
The rider or riders using the full body bike would have less lactic acid build-up overall and could take longer turns at the front further benefiting the group. Twicycle is also very aerodynamic with the rider position being much the same as a regular road bike and a wide fork design that reduces turbulence from the front bike wheel.
Do you often find that your mates just have more strength from their legs and always pull away on sprints? With Twicycle you can add 150 to 300 watts on average with upper body cycling using arms and other upper body muscles, significantly increasing power and speed of your bike. Twicycle really takes off, like an electric bike. By spreading the load over multiple muscle groups and employing full body cycling to provide propulsion, acceleration is greatly improved as well as top speed. Adding some arm cycle power will also help your legs not go into red too quickly, keeping them fresher for when they are needed.
Are you a serious cyclist and you want to enjoy your passion with your partner, but they just can’t keep up? If E-bike feels like cheating or is too expensive, then an arm and leg bike like Twicycle is for you! You could set a challenge for yourself to use just cycling for arms and still ride at a decent speed and your partner would be able to keep pace with a regular bike using legs. Or you could swap and they can use full body cycling giving them more power and ability to keep up with your pace on a regular bike. The best is that Twicycle can also be used as a regular road bike as well.
With Twicycle being a 2wd bicycle employing 2 independent drive systems, traction is greatly improved allowing more force to be transferred into the road quicker and with less chance of wheel slip. Imagine you are on a very steep incline in the Swiss alps (this actually happened to me) and the regular road bike just keeps losing traction from the rear wheel… Well with an arm and leg bike such as Twicycle, you can just stay in your seat, spread the weight and power evenly to 2 wheels and power through the problematic section. There is a reason why they implemented a similar system in off road cars so why not apply the same principal to a full body bike
On top of all the above mentioned use cases and benefits, the best thing about an arm and leg bike like Twicycle is that you can do all of those fun bike activities outdoors whilst enjoying changing scenery and breathing in fresh air. Exercising cycling outdoors is often way more fun and motivation comes just from wanting to move forward and travel. Before you know it, your body is pumped up, you’re enjoying the wind in your face and you’re getting super fit benefiting your health and mental well being.
We believe that the best workout happens when it is combined with an adventure!
Interested in Twicycle? Buy yours today.