I am going to be in a wheelchair soon. I've been looking and researching them. I can not for the life left in me understand why they are so expensive. Sure, a few like the Aria models (my fav) are carbon fiber and magnesium and made in Italy. They are $5000-$7000 and weigh around 18lbs/8.1kilos. I get that. How difficult would it be to design and build a simple "active life" style wheelchair in lighter weight steel tube, Chromoly, or even aluminum? Without getting into the sport models with heavily cambered wheels, they are pretty simple. I'll include a pic of my favorite model. The seat height, width, and footplate would need to be close. The footplate hoop could be made adjustable like a bicycle seat quick release. Standard lightweight casters could be used from 3 inches up to 8 or even 10. Most main wheels are 20-24 inches and cambered in up to 5 degrees to make it easier on the wrists when wheeling yourself around. The camber means you don't have to reach around the wheel to use the hand hoops. You simply push your hands down by your side to propel yourself. The wheel guards can be made out of 1/4 inch/6mm plywood door skin or even coroplast. It could be made to fold but in my case, a rigid chair would be fine. Most active life chairs are around 30 inches tall. That's easy to fit in the bed/tray of my small pick up/ute and it would be possible to put in my wife's Kia Soul should the need arise.
My fav. Wish it were in bright royal blue.
If I were a sporting man.
If I were and offroader.
My fav. Wish it were in bright royal blue.
If I were a sporting man.
If I were and offroader.