I came to this forum via finding out about the Trekinetic off road chair, and a thread here (newest post 2007) with a lot of people pointing out bad things about the design.

I'm looking for a chair for my 16 year daughter, who has little leg function but decent upper body strength.
In the past I've carried her to the top of mountains, until she was too heavy for me to manage it (about 8) and made my own mods to the NHS chairs to allow offroading (she could self propel across sand and beach rocks with one mod), and pushed her up some fairly rough tracks so she doesn't miss out.

Now she is 16 though, and I want a 'proper' chair for her. Recently myself and her boyfriend took it in turns to take her across a few fields up a slight incline to a spot, it was so much effort (wheelying the whole way) we could only manage about 100mteres each turn. Whole field each turn on way down.

Anyway, I decided she should have a better job, so my question would be which chair?
My googling has come up with nothing better looking than the Trekinetic in self propelled as yet.

Check out this site with an offroad handcycle - the One-Off...

http://offroadhandcycling.com/ORHC/pics_vids.html

Fun going up be even more fun coming back down!

Actually, that's not a bad idea. She does have a Chevron hand bike, which might be just as good in some areas I guess. Takes up more car though!

Hi Tenchy,

I've had both and much prefer my All Terrain Crossfire... as you've probably read from my other posts i'm not a Trekinetic fan.
That said if you want a Trekinetic i know someone who has one for sale, it's been used twice and is in as new condition, cost him £3500 and looking for around £2300 (i think).

Whatever you plump for it'll be far easier then your everyday chair.

All the best, Steve

Interesting you prefer the more conventional chair. Why was that?
At the moment my daughter is relying a lot on a pusher, but I want to get her more independent, especially as she strong upper body wise, so something she can do herself easier is what I'm after, but at least for now, still suitable for a pusher.

I can see the 8inch castors being better than smaller ones, but surely they would still dig in on rough ground?
I've actually been 'over the top' pushing her when running with her for fun, front wheel dug in on a hole and I went right over the top. Luckily she was fine. Phew! Scared me more I think.

Maybe what you're looking for is a downhill wheelchair..

http://www.roughriderz.co.uk/

Its not just the size of the castors, its the position relative to the seating position that affects the overall stability. On the crossfire the castor are positioned further forward then most conventional chairs and so forward stability is much improved. It's not impossible to go out the front, i've gone charging down a hill and the front castors stuck in mud about 6 inches deep which almost had me out, but thats more my own stupidity then the chairs fault.

I push everywhere without any assistance and have never had any problems in the crossfire. In the Trekinetic its a different story, i used to get the footplate hung up on stuff all the time... remember that you only have about 3-4 inch clearence on the front and anything bigger you'll either catch the footplate or your feet, worst case scenario dragging your feet off the footplate and under the chair! If you want to ride over bigger stuff then its turn round and go over backwards... is that really a step forward when in a conventional chair you pop a little wheelie and hop the front wheels over?
Also the changing the angle of the seat in the Trekinetic up hill or down, soon becomes more of a chore then an advantage... but thats enough i'm starting to moan again.

If you want a chair for your daughter to be independent in then i'd go with the All Terrain Crossfire anyday of the week... if you want to do more of the pushing then i might consider the Trekinetic, nope change my mind i'd still get a crossfire. Especially considering the price difference:
All Terrain Crossfire = £1900 (with spinergys)
Trekinetic = £3000+

Hope it helps... better yet why don't you try and get a demo of both and see which you and your daughter prefer, make sure it's a true demo e.g. you get to take it off road and over the type of ground your hoping to traverse.

Cheers, Steve

My experience has been that clamping on a FreeWheel in seconds transforms your everyday chair into a very capable off-road chair.

Pat

I can vouch for the FreeWheel having bought one last year. It's quick and easy to attach and is a very cost effective way of getting off road. If she wants something that is better suited to really rough ground I think the All Terrain Crossfire that monkeyman recommended would be worth considering or, if money's not too much of a problem, the Lasher ATB-Ultimate looks as though it would go just about anywhere. There's a 16" ex-demo for sale on their website for $7497. As was suggested, try and get a proper demo.

Link to Top End Crosfire All Terrain:
http://www.sportaid.com/xcart/top-end-cros...ll-terrain.html

Link to Lasher ATB-Ultimate:
http://www.lashersport.com/products-atb-ultimate.html

I agree. Just don't assume that your footrest is suitable. Better to contact Pat first. He's a very helpful guy and will do his best to accommodate you.

i too can vouch for pats free wheel, its been an asolute god send since i brought it, i'm even considering doing a sponsored hike along a ridge in derbysghire using it next summer.
wendy

Thanks for your replies guys and gals.
I'll be checking out all the links posted, apart from maybe the $8000 one!

I do appreciate the user reviews, much more important than sales blurb!

Go on...spoil her!!

For that I'd want her using it 365 days a year ! LOL.

This is a cool link, which is on topic really:
http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/news/article/...ae-forest-23200

+1 as well! Freewheel has transform my Quickie XTR so I can run over almost anything now! Good luck!

A good lesson is test ride one near you and ask lots questions about parts availability, customer service etc. Do not spend it on something just because the picture looks good.