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Prosthetic design aids better cycling for amputee athletes

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The awesome design superimposed on Tony Martin’s leg above is a prosthetic designed to make cycling easier for below the knees amputees. Apart from its fantastic look, the prosthetic has an elastomeric band that collects energy while riding, giving the cyclist added muscle strength.

Elastomeric band

As the rider cycles the prosthetic leg forward the elastomeric band accumulates potential energy. As the foot rotates to the bottom phase of the cycle, kinetic energy snaps the foot and leg back up and around to the top of the phase.

The rider has visual feedback, due to the split toe design, of where they need to clip their foot into the pedal. The special pedal allows the rider to unclip with ease with a back pedal motion. Without the muscles in the lower leg, a traditional pivot release pedal system is very difficult for amputees.

Cadence prosthetic

James Dyson Award

The prosthetic, which is called Cadence, was designed by Seth Astle, and won the US round of the James Dyson Foundation Design Awards and is one of the finalists of the international award that will be announced in November.

“I wanted to bring more excitement and solutions into the disabled athlete field. A lot of good design is created for athletes yearly but those with disabilities are often overlooked,” said Seth.

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