[jaquie_farmer]

i just recieved my first manual wheelchair; a quickie gt. im a quad with a fully functional right hand and a not so great left. my questions are: 1 - what type of tires would make it easier for me to push? 2 - is there a way to make it to where the tires could come up higher so i can get a little more of a push? any advice is greatly appreciated.

[AndrewB]

i would think a larger wheel/tire set would be better for you jaquie as it is easier to roll, maybe 26" 27" and as for tires, schwalbe marathon plus evolution are the best out there right now. they also have electric assist hubs (so ive heard) and also these may be a good option as ugly as they are (haha) www . magicwheels . com/redirect/ (i had to space that apart there, sorry) ...goodluck!

[fredspike]

I actually just got spinnergy 12 spox wheels and the schwalbe marathon plus evolution tires. They roll extremely well, pricey though. There are also the power assist options one is emotion which i think is the better one, and the other is quickie xtender. I tried a set of the extender wheels and i was unable to bucket my chair with them. The magic wheels really only help for getting up hills as they act like a bike gearing, one push equals two. I went with the magic wheel option because i have to deal with a lot of hills.

I would say with your chair look into bucketing it, it would put the seat much lower into relation to the tires. If you are uncomfortable with to much of a bucket try smaller front tires to go along with the bucket. Although smaller fronts may make it harder to maneuver over objects.

I have also seen someone wrap surgical tubing around the side that they are having trouble with. This gives the hand rim some raised edges that are somewhat sticky. Also you could try a rubberized hand rim.

[Bob C]

To a large extent, what tires are better depends where you wheel. On hard surfaces, narrow (1") and high pressure (100psi) are easiest to push. On soft or rough surfaces like lawns, fat/wide tires tires are better. They are less likely to sink down into the ground. I went from 24 to 26 inch tires on a Quickie Triumph a few year ago, and it wheeled much easier. The downside is, the bigger the wheel diameter, the less seat you have sticking out in front of the wheel, and transfers are much more difficult. A little bit of camber, 2 or 3 degrees, makes it easier to reach the rims. However, if you are a marginal manual wheeler, as I am, power assist is the way to go. I am currently using an iGlide, which is no longer being made, and it is nothing short of terrific. The technology has been obtained by a new company, which has improved it.
http://www.nextmobil...om/tailwind.php
The "Tailwind," as they call it will likely be my next chair. These do not widen the chair or add nearly as much weight as the add-on power assists. Thus, there are less accessibility problems and you can park closer to a bed for transferring. Hauling extra weight around catches up with you at the end of the day, so with any chair you wheel, lighter is usually better.

In the end, cost is the determining factor to many wheelers. A good manual chair costs about $2000, power assist add-ons, such a e-motions run about $6000 plus whatever your chair costs, and a chair like a Tailwind that incorporates the two will run around $9500.

Hope this helps.

[Jax]

I don't use my grip much to wheel when out, as I have started having really bad hand cramps. I use my palms on the naturalfit handrims. Unfortunately, the handrims did not come with the higher grip coating, but a friend and I fixed the problem by sanding them down around the outside edges and coating them with Line-X, which is even better than the extra grip coating. When I got this chair (Quickie GTi) I got it with SPOX wheels and Kik Mako solid, narrow tires. The problem I run into with the air-filled tires is that I get flats quickly. Especially when I go to visit my parents in the small town where they live. The SPOX with the narrow Makos are a lot lighter than the metal spoked wheels with bigger tires. Remember, with your car, you have to pick these wheels up every time you get in or out, so lighter is better for that. However, if you have difficulty on ramps, the power assist might be the way to go. It's something you are going to have to experiment with to see which you like better. Bigger med suppliers, and some rehab centers have stuff to try out, so look around in your area for some of them.

For your problem with the tire height, the bigger wheels would probably do you some good. I ordered my chair pretty low in the front (and with only a half inch of dump to counter the difficulties reaching stuff on the floor, and to be able to get under tables and desks easier). That set the rims right where I wanted them.

[tonimichelle]

jaquie,
i was ordered a chair with the power assist wheels...they are alot easier to move than normal tires....but my chair is too heavy to put in a car by myself..toni

[LuckyinKentucky]

Someone else has touched on this but thought I'd add that regardless of the tire-- if you keep it fully inflated then it will roll better and less air will give ya more shock absorption.