Second Chance on Three Wheels

If we want to learn something about a particular bicycle, we usually take a closer look at it. Sometimes, however, we only understand a bicycle by looking at a person’s fate instead. The Orange Phase AD3 belongs to this category. Although, not quite. Basically, this bike reveals itself in the stories of two people. It has inextricably linked them. Athlete and engineer. Fallen and dismissed. Lorraine Truong and Alex Desmond. Two who, thankfully, can’t be brought down.

Early passion for cycling

Lorraine Truong is just 13 years old when she competes in a cross-country race for the first time with serious ambitions. Only a short time later, she is on the starting line of a World Cup with her mountain bike. In addition to her appearances on the racing circuit, she later studies materials science and engineering and achieves a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Her first employer is the Swiss bicycle manufacturer BMC.

At the age of 23, Lorraine changes disciplines and races in the all-new Enduro World Series in 2013. Obviously, the switch to Enduro Downhill suits her. She makes it into the top ten several times. However, hardly any teams seem to take any serious notice. For the 2014 season, she suddenly finds herself without any support.

However, at least one person has noticed Lorraine’s riding skills. Scottish World Cup biker Tracy Moseley invites her to join her training and soon acts as her mentor. Thanks to this support, Lorraine returns to the World Cup circuit in 2015. At first, the big breakthrough does not come. However, she regularly finds herself among the ten best female downhill riders in the world.

Lorraine Truong at an Enduro World Series race

One fall too many

Probably that’s at least what she has in mind on 19 July 2015. A fall during the race in Samoens, France, puts an abrupt end to these hopes. For the moment, Lorraine hopes. Forever, that is the sobering medical prognosis six years later. Falls, even on the head, were nothing new for the young woman. However, her brain does not recover from this impact. Since that day, the now 31-year-old has suffered from severe headaches, debilitating fatigue and nausea. Muscles, brain and nerves no longer communicate with each other as they do in healthy people. The thought ‘Stretch your leg’ is no longer followed by the desired movement just a few milliseconds later. Doctors speak of a mild form of paralysis called paresis.

Lorraine Truong in her home town in Switzerland.

Tinkering for a good cause

Less than a year before Lorraine’s fall, a company called DezMotoRacing was founded in the small town of Eardiston in Worcestershire. The owner, mastermind and sole employee is Alex Desmond. After a year-long trip around the world, the young engineer decided to use his university and automotive experience exclusively for worthwhile projects. Worthwhile less in the financial sense. It’s more about cases like that of a friend who suffered a stroke and since then can no longer ride a bicycle. At least not with a conventional bicycle. Desmond wants to develop a special mountain bike for him. The adaptive bike is supposed to fit his changed physical conditions.

Desmond accepts high entrepreneurial risks for this. In addition to running his own company, he works for a large British car company on an electric drive in their development department. The money he earns there, together with his savings, he invests in CAD software and a CNC milling machine. This way he can produce components that are not available on the market, but which he needs to realise his ideas.

Alex Desmond graduated from Swansea University with a degree in mechanical engineering.

Someone knows someone who knows someone

He works with several bikers who have had accidents and has already produced some prototypes at his own expense when a friend from Switzerland contacts him in 2020. The friend himself has friends at the Swiss branch of Orange Bikes. And they, in turn, are friends with a female mountain biker. So far, so unspectacular. If it hadn’t been for the fact that the biker was Lorraine Truong.

Desmond is so fascinated by her story that he grabs a prototype and sets off for Switzerland. There, things come together in a strange way. Lorraine realises immediately after the first rides that her needs, along with her skills, fit incredibly well with what is to become the Orange Phase AD3 a year later. At the same time, she is a stroke of luck for Alex. On the one hand, Lorraine puts the prototype’s driving ability to the test on a whole new level. At the same time, due to her own education and sporting career, she has the skills to provide him with valuable feedback for the further development of the bike.

A dream comes true

Alex already makes a few adjustments on site in Switzerland. For the bigger tasks, however, he has to go back to the UK. There, the news of his project has meanwhile made the rounds at the headquarters of Orange Bikes. The manufacturer is keen to get involved. Lorraine returns to the trails and Alex’s dream becomes a series model, so is his vision. The only condition: Alex should work as a developer at Orange Bikes from now on. His former employer had recently fired him in the light of the Corona pandemic. So, he doesn’t really have to think long. Especially since, by his own admission, he had already idolised the brand as a 13-year-old.

In the meantime, the vision of Orange Bikes has become reality. The Phase AD3 is a unique mountain bike for people with physical disabilities. It is based on an Enduro ebike from Orange Bikes, originally equipped with an EP8 motor from Shimano. The most obvious differences to the original model are certainly the two front wheels, each with a suspension fork, and the bucket seat.

Safe leaning position

Turning a two-wheeler into a three-wheeler is an obvious choice. Given their handicap, most people for whom such an adaptive bike is intended require more stability. This is especially true for getting on and off the bike and riding at low speeds. Alex Desmond and Orange Bikes go for two front wheels here. They are connected to each other at the head tubes via a linkage designed by Alex. In the middle, the construction is virtually coupled to a third head tube, from which the handlebar tube and handlebars protrude. Cantilever joints give the construction an amazing range of movement. If both wheels are at different heights in relation to the ground, the linkage compensates for this difference, for example in curves or when riding over roots, stones and similar obstacles. Meanwhile, the handlebars remain horizontal. Depending on the situation, one front wheel can be horizontally offset from the other by up to 40 degrees.

How smoothly this works becomes obvious in videos. During an off-road ride, the construction is shaken up. Almost permanently, it compensates for sloping positions and height differences. Thanks to the semi-trailing arm, Lorraine seems to be able to control this without much effort. Another advantage for her is the gain in traction. Two front wheels prove to be up to 50 percent more effective here than a single front wheel. However, with the Phase AD3, a larger part of the load is also at the front. Therefore, the extra grip is absolutely necessary.

Made for real trails

In the pictures, the front looks quite massive. As far as the width is concerned, this impression is probably a little deceptive. According to Orange Bikes, the track width is nevertheless only 35 centimetres. Other adaptive bikes are significantly wider and require correspondingly wide tracks in practice. Another plus point of Alex’s development is the fact that it is a design that is basically not linked to any specific bike. It could be easily adapted if necessary. The only prerequisite seems to be a frame material that has the necessary stress resistance. Although Orange Bikes have become famous for their steel frames, aluminium is sufficient here. In any case, the frame of the Phase AD3 is made of it.

This is what 35 centimetres looks like in reality.

Another special feature regarding the steering of the bike is only noticeable at second glance. This refers to two additional grips that extend to the left and right of the linkage. With their help, riders can influence the balance of the bike and, for example, actively follow the front wheel when riding through a dip in order to accelerate additionally. On Lorraine’s model, there is only such a handle on the left side, as she can only apply the necessary force to use it on that side. Riders without physical limitations influence the balance to a large extent with their legs. This is not possible for Lorraine.

Full speed ahead

The seat is also specially tailored to her needs. Its shell shape gives her the necessary support and at the same time shifts her body’s centre of gravity as far as possible to the centre of the bike. This allows her to tackle technically demanding, rough passages and still feel safe enough. Even the one or another smaller jump is possible.

Seat height and distance to the handlebars are individually adjusted to each case.

Unfortunately, her physical condition no longer allows Lorraine to generate the necessary kick from the pedals on level ground. Therefore, the cranks on her Phase AD3 are fixed and serve as a firm step for her feet. She provides the desired propulsion by turning a “throttle” on the handlebars. This then unleashes the power of a motor that has a continuous rated output of 1.5 kilowatts. At its peak, it can produce up to two kilowatts. Orange Bikes specifies a torque of 150 Newton metres. The motor draws its energy from a battery with a capacity of 504 watt hours. In the case of Lorraine, this is enough for about 700 technically demanding metres uphill and about 25 kilometres on the trail. For riders who are less physically limited, versions can also be implemented that allow pedalling.

New circumstances, old ambition. In addition to biking, Lorraine has now discovered wheelchair freestyle. She came second at the WCMX World Championships in 2020 and one of her new dreams is to compete in this discipline at the Olympic Games.

Without words

As outsiders, we cannot possibly estimate how much these 25 kilometres mean for her. In a video she tells how difficult it is for her to put it into words herself. “Having disabilities like I do, means you often really depend on other people and that something that was so hard for me to accept and it’s still really difficult. So, having a tool that allows me to go on adventures and to go places just by myself is something absolutely incredible. It gives me so much freedom it’s something you can’t really describe and understand, if you’re not in a situation of dependency.”

Anyone who watches Lorraine racing down the slopes near Verbiers with her dog and friends can at least see the laughter in her eyes. A deep laughter. One that shines through glasses. Even through a paresis.

Pictures: Orange Bikes; www.lorrainetruong.ch/mybrainmyrules