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Permalink Reply by Linda Jane McLean on March 14, 2014 at 9:05

Like the design.

BUT  ---------  does it have suspension? This is one of the overlooked areas of wheelchair design.

It is the most basic elements missing from many wheelchairs - and you MUST experience these difficult surfaces , to understand the difference it makes. 

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Permalink Reply by George Perfect on May 21, 2016 at 5:42

Agree about the essential nature of good suspension - the world outside is not made of flat floors - there are even more cobbles and cracked paving in France (where I now live) than in the 'quaintest' English town! Most disappointingly, this otherwise interesting design doesn't seem to have a folding back - which makes it impossible to carry in anything but a very large vehicle with a lowered floor ... and most of the passenger seats removed.

I wrote to this company some time ago about these issues and received a polite non-answer.

Maybe the type-B?

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Permalink Reply by George Perfect on May 21, 2016 at 6:34

On the issue of new wheelchair designs in general, will someone please get a few basic requirements into their designers heads before they set pen to paper on the "ground-breaking" designs?

I got rather excited by a new French wheelchair design recently that has a number of interesting innovations - including the ability to climb steps and stairs ... very interesting in a country that has just awarded itself a further 9 years to think about adapting publicly accessible buildings for mobility and where shops still think it's chic to fit huge steps on their thresholds (even during a new refit) - presumably so the customer feels a 'lift' as they enter?

The wheelchair company is not too far away from me (about three hours drive) and I happened to be visiting a nearby city within a fortnight. Contact was made and a visit set up to test the new wonder-machine when I chanced to query its carrying capacity. 100Kg total was the reply.

What? I may be a large western male but my weight alone with ordinary day clothing is 114Kg and I've been known (or my wife has :>)) to hang about 20Kg of shopping off the backrest. The day-pack of essentials I carry weighs about 6Kg and a bag of tools, spares and charger another 7Kg. So my "load" is about 127Kg - before my wife asks me to carry the shopping.

Result? Their market is constrained to people of below-average height and weight who don't wear many clothes and have no need to carry anything.

Another example: I recently bought a folding electric wheelchair from http://wheelchair88.com - their model PW-1000XL has lithium batteries, a 25 mile real-life range (with three batteries on board) and folds up like a baby's push-chair. Before buying it (it has to be ordered via the Internet from a company in Malaysia) I emailed the company back and forth about their claims that this model was suitable for someone of my height and weight. They stated it was fine with the simple addition of $320 air-suspension cushion.

I may write a full review later but here's my experience to date:

*  The basic design is brilliant - one catch and the thing folds down to a size that fits into the boot of a sports car (yeah - I can drive something interesting again!)

* Carrying capacity is fantastic - it can carry a total load of 300Kg - more than adequate for me, my daily essentials and (in theory - though see below) my wife's biggest shopping expedition.

* Its size - even with mega-expensive cushion is barely adequate for a small person - if you are more than 5 feet tall then think very hard before buying one of these. In my case, I need a full 6 inches of additional cushion depth before I get under-thigh support ... which means I have perch atop the thing with the cushion level with the (fixed) armrests ... which are now unreachable and offer absolutely no support or prevention of me sliding out of the chair should I be daft enough to attempt to traverse a slope - like shown on the company's videos.. The seat base is barely 18" above floor height (all dimensions are fixed - the design allows for no adjustments) - hence the need for extra cushions to get my lower legs on the (fixed height) footrest while providing leg support.

* I'm currently searching for a better cushion (the only one I had that was deep enough is flat) as I need adduction to stop one of my legs flopping sideways (hence the mega-expensive air-cushion they sold me ... not only too shallow but also too narrow, short and entirely useless at providing any kind of support - it's just plain uncomfortable).

* It's stability is (and I can think of no better word) appalling. It can't track straight across even a shallow dropped kerb (you know - when you just want to follow the pavement - not launch into a stream of traffic). If you turn the speed up it moves along at a very pleasing clip ... until the front casters start to shimmy so violently that most directional control is lost and you have to slow down to regain control.

* Though the company makes much of the device's forward centre or gravity - and consequent lack of need for anti-tip wheels - the chair tipped backward completely while I climbed a 1.5 inch step (well within its design specs) and only the prompt action of my wife (whose back is still recovering) who caught me and prevented my head from hitting the concrete with more than enough force to add to my already sad list of brain injuries prevented a potentially fatal accident. Especially as ...

* The headrest purchased from the company can't be fitted to the backrest as the brackets supplied are too big.

* The company, quick enough to answer emails pre-sale have, since taking my money, gone completely silent when I asked (quite reasonably, I think) for a refund on the air-cushion and a pair of proper-size brackets so I can fit the headrest I bought.

What's really depressing though is that NONE of the companies I have approached since becoming disabled are prepared to listen to a real-life wheelchair user with real-life needs and the willingness to contribute to their design process.

Hence we get potentially interesting designs that fail in the market for want of a ha'porth of tar while having to put up with Victorian era designs with no suspension, zero kerb or step-climbing ability, poor comfort and usually delivered from the factory with the controllers programmed in a way designed to see the user destroy every door-frame and piece of furniture in the house.

[SIGH] 

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Permalink Reply by bespoken Team on May 26, 2016 at 16:06

Thanks for the comment George. A really great review and interesting insight into how design impacts the end user.

Paul

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