So, a while back I sold my Canyon Nerve AM to a friend who wanted to start riding. I myself, as you sure know, had upgraded to a downhill bike and the nerve was just sitting in the garage.. Well, turns out it didn’t take and last week he reached out asking if I wanted to buy it back.
Since my kid is growing at record pace I guess his Giant Glory is going to be too small come spring so what the heck. Next ebike project will be rebuilding the Nerve with a BBSHD and a large custom battery made-to-fit..

Well, from one nerve to another. Last week after doing some heavy lifting it seems I damaged my radial nerve in the right arm leaving my hand semi-paralysed. Bummer!

Went to see a physician the day after and have never laughed so much at a health care facility. Almost felt like being in an episode of dr House when she called hand surgeons, a german expert, had other staff come laugh at my hand – all to get the diagnosis right..

Well, since my hand is all sloppy I really can’t use a regular computer mouse anymore. Had to argue a bit to be allowed to keep doing my dayjob but after that was sorted I really needed to find a solution to the mouse problem..

I know there are those ergonomic vertical mouses so I ordered one of those. The angle was sorta right so it kind of worked but since I cannot open my fingers I kept pressing all the buttons all the time – not ideal.. So I had an idea..

Started out with an ad-hoc prototype just to test the idea.. It worked well enough to let me CAD the first draft of a solution..

This worked much better but since I need a brace for my wrist not to over-stretch it I needed more.. To be able to import my hand into CAD i needed some reference measurements..

Some time CAD:ing later (wow, everything takes SOO much longer when only semi-able to use the right hand) I have a version 2 prorotype..

Using the regular mouse is a no go but I’ve been able to tweak the brace so that I can effortlessly use the most important functions of the mouse: Movement, left- and right buttons and the scroll wheel.

The only problem now is that it’s a bit on the bulky side and a bit uncomfortable to wear.. but the hand is mostly numb anyways.. 🙂

Since I work mostly underground and my normal brace is made from fabric that gets dirty fast I need something else at work. So yesterday while insulating the house I made a makeshift brace from leftover parts..

It worked flawlessly which lead me to design the v2 workbrace:

It’s a bit sturdier and 100% plastic, should fit inside (or outside of) my glove and if it breaks I’ll bring a spare. 🙂 Got it on the printer right now. Going to print this in PLA and PETG to test which is better and more comfortable.

And yeah – I’ve always wanted one of those cool mesh-braces when I’ve broken bones but never got one, so this is a perfect opportunity – right?

Had my daughter help me make a 3D scan of my arm. I’ve just got to figure out how to get the scale right and then we’ll start having some fun. I just hope I get to finish this before my paralysis gets so much better I won’t need it..

Yeah, the last physician I saw told me the nerve probably isn’t severed which means I probably will get full function back. Regarding the severity of my paralysis it’s probably going to take several months tho.. good times! 😉