Attached is Tom Griffin's full report on the K-2. It's worth mentioning that he cannot bend his legs, so for the whole four hours the seat edge was cutting into the backs of his thighs. These are Tom's own views and not those of the BBC.
Ramble through Gisburn Forest
It took me five minutes to become accustomed the chair. The rear wheel steer wasn’t a problem. Anybody who has used a wheelchair would have no problem with this whatsoever.
I tested it on a few potholes and other rough ground. I fully expected to require assistance getting out, but with the BMX tyres, it glides over potholes, stones and similar objects. I found the Trekintic chair easy to handle
The route was a four mile circular ramble though Gisburn Forest in Lancashire. So rough, I was told it was unlikely I would complete the course in a manual chair! The other participants used electric Tramper Buggies.
The terrain was a mixture of cycle ways, farm tracks and woodland path.
I have used wheelchairs for the greater part of my life. One problem is fatigue in the arms and shoulders when *pushing for any distance. I soon discovered not only was the chair easy to get moving, once it was rolling the effort needed to keep it moving was minimal even on the roughest terrain. In fact, the problem was slowing it down!
Although the terrain was rough I didn’t feel uncomfortable even when I was being “thrown about”. I am used to a wheelchair being unstable, with one wheel leaving the ground, or the chair become “grounded”, this didn’t happen
The farm track more is suited to four-wheel drive vehicles. I decided to go in between the two tyre tracks. This wasn’t easy due to large stones every few yards. They did stop me moving forward, only slowed me down. In fact I can’t recall getting stuck.
The reclining seat is a nice touch. As well as providing a good *pushing position it helped take the pressure off the back of my legs. Unfortunately, due to my stiff knee joints I was unable to make use of the footrest. This meant keeping my legs straight for the four miles. Two hours in I felt pain at the back of my legs where the edge of the seat was digging in.
I think either the seat and backrest needs to be lengthened or extra padding provided in these areas. I am sporting a large bruise across my back under my shoulder blades where the seat caught me.
Due to my build and disability I required assistance both to get in and out of the chair. I am used to having armrests that I can use to help me in and out of the chair. Again, maybe some armrests could be developed; clearly not everyone would require it.
I regard it as an achievement that I pushed the majority of the route myself, something I couldn’t have done in an indoor/outdoor wheelchair. That is as much down to the design and build of the chair as it is to my physical ability. The user does need physical strength to get the most out of this chair.
The K2 would suit the majority of people and open up a whole new world to wheelchair users. Because it eliminates fatigue in the arms and shoulders I think it has more applications than the ability to take the user off road.
Given my particular circumstances the chair would be unsuitable for me at the moment. After three and a half hours I felt uncomfortable. I suffered pain in my back and legs. If there was more development in terms of the footrest, seat padding and armrests I would be happy to purchase one.
Images and a radio article can be found on the BBC at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk...e_feature.shtml
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Tinbasher, on Aug 1 2007, 10:31 PM, said:
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