I know exactly what you are talking about. I try very hard to accelerate
gently. I have an Invacare and I feel like I'm doing a wheelie if I take off
with any force. Scares the bejeebers out of me. I also try hard not to stop
on a hill (uphill). I always roll back a bit and then surge forward. The
chair will inevitably tilt backward.
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED],
[EMAIL PROTECTED], quad-list@eskimo.com
Subject: Re: [QUAD-L] Go for "walks"?
Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 17:48:27 EDT
I'm not talking about tipping the wheelchair over or anything like that.
I'm talking about having excess movement that you would have to compensate
with
your arms while driving with electronic hand controls. The less movement
you have with the wheelchair the easier it is to drive.
Right now I have an Invacare Torque, we will drive chair with 2" suspension
travel. My chair is locked in place with an EZ Lock that is located
between
the back tires and my front end is locked into place with an anti-tip
device
to prevent me from doing wheelies when I accelerate. If I lived somewhere
where it was flat and I did not have to go up-and-down hills daily, I
could
probably get by without having the anti-tip device.
I pullback on the control to accelerate, which pushes you back into your
chair and when I push the control forward I slow down, which makes you lean
forward. If I accelerate too hard my rear suspension on my chair will
start to
squish and when that happens I have to compensate that extra movement with
my
arms so I do not pull the throttle wide-open. When I'm stopping, my front
suspension will not squish because I'm locked into the anti-tip device but
I
have to compensate for my upper body moving forward and the slop in the
seat.
Going up or down the hills multiplies the movements by at least a factor
of
two because of gravity. I also have my chest strap on nice and tight.
With the extra rocking motion of a mid-wheel drive chair it would be
extremely hard for me to drive up and down hills. The wheelchair company
that I'm
going through asked me if I wanted to try the Frontier, like you have, but
since I have already tried a mid-wheel drive chair I declined but maybe I
will
have them get it for me to try anyways.
I want a wheelchair that will let me do more "off roading" to open up my
life more but if I am unable to drive safely that type of wheelchair will
do me
no good. Having a good stable, solid secure and safe driving platform is
my
No. 1 priority.
Jim
