Talkin' 'Bout a Revolution.
An engineering company in the United Kingdom is changing the way the world thinks of wheelchair design.One day, the designer, Mike Spindle, saw a young man in a wheelchair at an airport. “He looked good and was wearing cool clothes, but the only highlight of his wheelchair was its purple paint,” He recalls. “I looked at it again and thought, Is that the best that wheelchair manufacturers can do? Using our Motor Racing component manufacturing experience, we set about a long, difficult road–-much of it uphill—to redesign the common wheelchair. The development process utilized a ’clean sheet’ approach—the mission was revolution, not evolution.”
“The idea was to start from scratch, as if a wheelchair had not previously existed. I hope the result is a cutting-edge device, manufactured from cutting-edge materials. In all, between 2000 and 2006, fourteen differing prototypes were built.”
“Three wheels mean that each wheel is always in contact with the ground, no matter how bumpy the terrain,” Mike explains. “With four wheels, you can get one wheel in midair, like a wobbly table on an uneven floor. With the (drive) wheels at the front, they easily go over obstacles which the conventional chair front castors cannot and are much easier to push. People who have hitherto needed electric chairs are amazed that they can self-propel the Trekinetic. Active users can find it is up to twice as fast and many order with the optional wireless speedometer*. We originally put the castor at the back to resist tipping backwards going up steep hills and under acceleration, like a conventional chair - but the by product was a front wheel drive layout, which proved successful off road”.
"The triaxial design is perfect for going off-road,” explains Mike. “The mountain bike tires and front wheel drive design is the key here. In this configuration, they are much easier to push than wheels, which are behind you. In combination with the Nitrogen Shock absorber, you can transfer your weight in chair, for more or less weight over the driving wheels. The rear castor is unusually large, twelve-and-a-half inches in diameter, and can easily go over most obstacles. For once, you don’t have to tip the chair to go off road. The Nitrogen Shock absorber gives a smooth ride also and all three tires are pneumatic and available with puncture-resistant inner tubes”.
The Trekinetic is steered in a unique way. “There is a brake drum inside each wheel hub, which is operated by the brake levers. If you are at speed or down hill and you pull, say, the left lever only, the chair will pull to the left, and vice-versa. However, caution and skill is required if you don’t want to spin round 360 degrees! In normal use, you steer just like a traditional chair, by differential pushing of the front push rims.”
The carbon fiber seat of the chair was designed with comfort in mind. “The Trekinetic is believed to be the world’s first production Monocoque wheelchair. That means it doesn’t have a tubular metal chassis, but a strong seat shell that we attach all the components to.
As it is a curved anatomical shape, users find it very comfortable, even without much padding. As the skin is more 
uniformly supported, we hope this will improve pressure sore concerns for some users.
The wheelchair can be easily folded, as well. The wheels come off, the footrest slides up, and the rear assembly unclips and folds against the seat back. An able-bodied person can do it in about eight or nine seconds and users a little longer, depending on their ability,”
The wheelchair comes with a wide variety of accessories. “An umbrella is stored under the seat and when extended, fits into the socket between the user’s legs. It is good for both sun and rain. We made the umbrella, shock absorber, brake steering system and variable wheel camber standard, so everyone gets the benefits. The Dyna Brake (where the levers are mounted further forward), offers more powerful, yet more sensitive brake control.), Velcro-attached suede upholstery (in lieu of the standard Lycra-covered), speedometer, Rear push bars, seat belt and wheel loops are options.”
“Trekinetic users typically have spinal cord injuries, but many others can use it. It comes with push bars, if required, so users don’t only have to be able to self-propel. As long as they do not require a prescription chair and they find it comfortable, then that’s a good start. We would suggest that potential users get advice from their occupational therapists and be assessed before purchase. By request, we have shown it to many spinal injury clinics in the United Kingdom, to widespread acclaim”.
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