Everyone who commutes in a wheelchair undertstands how important it is to be comfortable in a practical and easy to use chair.
At Xtracare, we understand these neccessities and go that Xtra Step with every individual, ensuring that each unique circumstance is attended to with the Care that it deserves.
Printed Brochure
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3 Wheel On and Off Road Manual Wheelchair
Designed by a man who also creates parts for Formula One Cars, the Trekinetic wheelchair offers a revolutionary departure from conventional manual wheelchairs. The 3 wheel design with dynamic brakes and front wheel propulsion is not only more efficient on flat surfaces but also copes well on uneven surfaces such as snow, sand and gravel. Key features include a molded carbon fiber seat, dynamic braking system, rear shock absorber, adjustable wheel camber, tilting seat and folding frame. It has to be seen to be believed - come in for a try!
Model: TREKK2
| Dimensions | |
|---|---|
| Camber | 40cm seat width - 71cm-81cm camber, 48cm seat width - 79cm-89cm camber |
| Seat Width | 40cm or 48cm (excluding foam liner) |
| Materials | |
| Construction | Reclinable carbon fibre chassis and aerospace grade aluminium |
| Wheels | |
| Front | 61cm (24") with offroad tyres and pushrims |
| Rear | 32cm rear castor with offroad tyre |
A bit about racing cars. In the old days, racing cars had a tubular steel frame. The body, engine and wheels were bolted on to this frame that was called the chassis. Somebody then thought, if we can make the body strong enough, we can bolt everything to that and discard the chassis. This strong body, or stressed member, is known as a Monocoque or Monocoque chassis. By having this super strong lightweight carbon fibre seat, three things could happen:
You may have noticed that sports wheelchairs have wheels that tilt in at the top.
Why?...
... well the more we can tilt the wheels on a wheelchair inwards, the wider they are at the point where they contact the ground and the more stable the chair in extreme conditions.
So why not make all wheelchairs like this?
As you might guess - they won't get through doorways as they are too wide.
The angle that the wheels tilt is called the camber angle and tilted wheels like those on wheelchairs are said to exhibit negative camber.
So wouldn't it be great to have a wheelchair that offered the best of both worlds, zero camber in the street and maximum negative camber when off road or doing sports. The idea isn't that new, but previous offerings required you to dismantle your chair with tools and bolt on wedges or perform other hefty adjustments.
At TREKINETIC we only like elegant solutions and our VARICAM system is just that. With this revolutionary system, you can go from zero to hero, by just rotating the cross shaft under the seat. Before you get in, simply decide whether you're going to town in and out of shop doorways, or need the full sports stance with a monster 24 degrees negative camber!
At zero degrees the chair is 710 (28") wide and at 24 degrees it is a full 870mm (34")!
During the extensive five year development process, the rear strut, just above the castor, was originally a solid non adjustable component.
We found that as we reduced the length of it, the lower the user's centre of gravity became and the better the dynamic stability downhill Trouble was, the chair performed better uphill with a longer strut. Also as one of our testers remarked - he didn't want to sit at a restaurant table, in a laid back position.
We really needed a strut that could be adjusted for length, perhaps telescopic and capable of being locked in the required position. But, what a pain to have to do that every time you wanted to go up or down steep hills. As our designer slumped back in his chair, he noticed that the chair had a shock absorbing feature and was height adjustable by depressing a small valve lever.
That was the magic moment.....
The chair was instantly dismantled, the specialist manufacturer contacted and 3 weeks later the solid rear strut was replaced by a position lockable shock absorber, custom made to TREKINETIC's specification.
The upshot is you can adjust the weight transfer or backrest angle without getting out of the chair! To recline backwards depress the valve and let your weight tilt the chair backwards*. To recline forwards, depress the valve and the compressed Nitrogen gas will lift it automatically.
It's a brilliant system, even if we say it ourselves, and the beneficiaries are TREKINETIC customers.
As we said, one of the ideas was, that it might be possible to provide a way of slowing down the wheelchair, without expecting users to try to keep a grip on the handrims.
The two levers, that you can see at the sides of the TREKINETIC K-2 are brake levers, that independently brake the front wheels. Thus dynamic braking can be achieved by simply pulling the levers upwards.
You will soon also learn that by applying one brake lever more than the other, you will be able to steer the chair in the desired direction. You will need some time to perfect this skill, as it's quite easy to perform unintentional 360 degree spins!
When parking your chair you simply apply the brakes and flip down the locking ratchets.
It's well known that if a wheelchair has small front castors, then they will be pretty ineffective on anything other than smooth hard surfaces. By putting the driving wheels at the front, TREKINETIC have created a front wheel drive wheelchair that can easily negotiate off road areas like gardens, parks and woodland tracks.*
We up sized the front wheels to 610mm (24") to allow full choice of Off-Road Mountain bike tyres. A spare set of quick release front wheels with indoor tyres, is an available option. Despite Public place wheelchair access legislation (2004) we increased the rear castor wheel to 320 mm (12.5") to ease it over small obstacles.
Off-Roading can be dangerous. TREKINETIC recommends, companions, mobile phones, a safety belt and cycle helmet when going Off-Road.
Okay, so now things were shaping up. Monocoque, three wheels and dynamic brakes.
What else needs a rethink?
How about rain protection? What are TREKINETIC customers supposed to do, sit around and get soaked to the skin? Despite or best efforts we could not improve on the simplicity of the common umbrella.
The K-2's umbrella is a full 76cm golf size, that fits into a socket between the users legs. It's automatic, telescopic and stores on the back of the chair for easy user access.
Use when stationary, watching the match or when you're on the move.
Australian Standards have been developed to ensure equipment meets recognised safety and reliability criteria. To achieve this status, equipment must pass a series of tests in which it is put under difficult conditions that are designed to be similar to those that the child or adult may face when the equipment is used. For example, wheelchairs are tested for safhas gained Australian Standard acceptance, it provides a sense of satisfaction and reassurance that it is safe to be used and will do the job.
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