IIn accordance to the Federal Affiliation of Individuals of Brief Stature and their Households, round 100,000 folks in Germany are affected by brief stature. Juliane Neuss based Junik-hpv GmbH so that she doesn’t have to do with no standard leisure and health exercise, during which solely she works. It is likely one of the few custom-made bicycles, stability bikes and tricycles for folks of brief stature to promote. Previously 4 years, she has constructed greater than 100 such bikes. These autos are sometimes not acknowledged as medical aids by medical health insurance corporations. Whether or not assist is offered relies upon on the state of affairs of the disabled particular person and never least on the accountable clerk, says Neuss.
In her hometown of Clausthal-Zellerfeld in Decrease Saxony, the just about sixty-year-old has been operating her barrier-free bicycle workshop 2.0 for greater than 4 years. After graduating from secondary faculty, Neuß accomplished an apprenticeship as a metallographer. In 1996 she took over the administration of a ZEG bicycle store in Hamburg. Her need for unrestricted mobility for everybody led in 2011 to her ebook, “Richtig Sitz – Lose Biking”, which is in its third version, during which she summarizes ergonomic theories.
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At first of the Nineteen Nineties, Neuss realized her first mission of her personal with the “Skippy” kids’s bike that grew with the kid. Then in 1998 got here their modified model of the Brompton, a foldable bike from England. “One at all times imagines it to be so tough to make, develop and convey one thing new to the market, however with these two issues it was really easy for me that I stated there may be nonetheless quite a bit to be carried out within the bicycle sector”, she says.
In opposition to the again ache
When she attended an occasion for folks of brief stature, she observed that these folks wanted particular bikes. “In any other case you at all times assume they’ll additionally take children’s bikes.” Nevertheless, these should not solely inappropriate most often due to their quite foolish design, however are additionally not ergonomically appropriate with the physiognomy of a small particular person.
“For some time I rode a normal Stevens children’s mountain bike, however then I bought loads of again ache,” says Birgit Waßmann from Erlangen, who’s 126 centimeters tall. The fifty-six-year-old owns 4 bicycles made by Neuss. Waßmann paid virtually 3,000 euros for her first tailored bicycle, a matt black 20-inch sports activities bike.
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Since, in accordance to the skilled affiliation of paediatricians, 450 totally different types of brief stature are distinguished, the size and construction of their bicycles can’t be named typically phrases, explains Neuss. “One in every of my distinctive promoting factors is that I actually alter the crank lengths for every particular person.” Serving prospects from additional away isn’t any drawback for her. “I have a reasonably easy measurement protocol that may be crammed out. I’ve additionally used it to serve prospects from Austria and Switzerland that I’ve by no means seen earlier than.”
It is all in regards to the angles
For Neuss, it isn’t the lengths of the physique elements that play a serious position, however quite the angles that end result from them. “If the angles are maintained, the three contact factors handlebars, saddle and pedals emerge virtually by themselves.” After the sketch has been created, she has the bicycle frames constructed and assembles them herself. The manufacturing course of takes 4 to six weeks. “With all of the trimmings, I am virtually at all times at slightly below 3000 euros, irrespective of how massive the bike is.”
With a month-to-month turnover of 15,000 euros in 2020, Neuß was ready to report progress of fifty p.c in contrast to the earlier 12 months – thanks to the lockdowns within the corona pandemic. Their forecast for 2021 is considerably worse. Neuss is planning a tandem for this 12 months, which she would really like to current on the “World Dwarf Video games”, the world’s largest sporting occasion for folks of brief stature.
The article comes from the scholar mission “Youth and Enterprise”, which the FAZ organizes along with the Affiliation of German Banks.
