Trial of wheelchair powerdrives

I had a great day visiting Wheel Freedom meeting with Jess, one of the specialist assessors there.

We were investigating options to add a powerdrives onto a manual wheelchair.

We highlighted that the current wheelchair in use had a carbon frame so wasn’t suited to a powerdrive such as the Triride as this requires a more sturdy solid frame to fix onto.  Although an alternative chair could be purchased for use just with the Triride – and considering that the Triride would be used ‘off road’ on more uneven, potentially muddy terrain – this was an option which was positively received.

The Triride fits onto the front of a wheelchair making into something that looks like a trike.

My client found it easy to use and enjoyed the sense of freedom that it could provide them with.

The other option we explored was the Smart Drive. This is a smaller device which can fit onto the cross frame of the wheelchair underneath, and provide propulsion for the wheels via either a dial or button.  This isn’t suitable for off roading, but would cope well around large shopping centres and or around universities and school sites.