16 replies to this topic

[heech]

Anyone here interested or currently involved in wheelchair racing? I am a quad who wants to get into the sport but need some advice from equipment to positioning.

[azx43]

Acdtually, all I have is questions, no real advice; sorry!!
Anyway, I would really l.ike tol get into wheelchair racing. As I'm not paralyzed, I can't tolerate sitting in the kneeling position for prolonged periods of time like you would in a racer. Does anyone know of any racing wheelchairs that are designed to accomodate some other positions? I'm pretty flexible, but I just can't really sit like that for very long.
Thank you!!

[gsp23]

I am just starting to get into wheelchair racing, but with response to your question, you can do handcycling if you want to. Or if you like the type of racing like wheelchair racing then you can get more of a sitting position. These are generally used for people with high level injuries but can be used by people that cant comfortably sit on their knees and has a foot plate that you put your feet on. If you follow this link you will see a some people racing with their feet down like I mentioned.
http://hamphoto.com/...urce/h38007.htm

Also note that you can have your feet under you but not sitting on your feet, like this pic http://hamphoto.com/...urce/h37678.htm. In a seat like that you have your feet go back under your butt, however, the person sits on a little part of seat above the opening where the legs go through, so you dont actually sit on your legs. Its just a difference in the kind of seat you want to get.

Keep in mind that if you intend to compete their are minimum disability requirements in many events. If you dont have a loss of certain number of muscle points you wouldnt be allowed to compete in a chair using your hands to propel yourself and instead would need to compete in the LC class which is using more stabilized methods like recumbants or trikes. If its just for fun then obviously its all good!

Edited by gsp23, 01 May 2007 - 02:45 AM.

[azx43]

gsp23, on Apr 30 2007, 06:43 PM, said:

I am just starting to get into wheelchair racing, but with response to your question, you can do handcycling if you want to. Or if you like the type of racing like wheelchair racing then you can get more of a sitting position. These are generally used for people with high level injuries but can be used by people that cant comfortably sit on their knees and has a foot plate that you put your feet on. If you follow this link you will see a some people racing with their feet down like I mentioned.
http://hamphoto.com/...urce/h38007.htm

Also note that you can have your feet under you but not sitting on your feet, like this pic http://hamphoto.com/...urce/h37678.htm. In a seat like that you have your feet go back under your butt, however, the person sits on a little part of seat above the opening where the legs go through, so you dont actually sit on your legs. Its just a difference in the kind of seat you want to get.

Keep in mind that if you intend to compete their are minimum disability requirements in many events. If you dont have a loss of certain number of muscle points you wouldnt be allowed to compete in a chair using your hands to propel yourself and instead would need to compete in the LC class which is using more stabilized methods like recumbants or trikes. If its just for fun then obviously its all good!

Thank you so much for replying to my post so quickly! It is really nice to know that are some racing wheelchairs out there that can accomodate my needs. I looked at the liniks that you sent and they look really cool, and definitely like something I could do! I use a Tilite chair outside my house but have enough tone in my legs to walk around in the house with the help of crutches or a walker. Thanks for being understanding.
As for handcycling, it's a blast! I have breifly ridden a friend's handcycle around, and am looking for one of my own. Have you ever worked with any of the online cycle companies, such as Handcycles.com?

[gsp23]

No I have never worked with one of the online companies. There is a large rehab facility here in the state and they have all kinds of events and sports. Some for kids, some for adults and some for both. They coordinate sports like floor hockey, basketball, softball, etc. They also have lessons and sessions for snow skiing, water skiiing and cycling. This is definatly the place to go when interested in trying out a sport. In a couple of weeks they are sponsoring a show for adaptive cycles of all kinds and you can get measured and setup for any type of cycle at that time (they recently had one close to my area a couple weeks back). But if you want to get started in that then I would highly recommend finding the large rehabe facility in your area that does this.

[chop-02]

Now this is a racing weelchair...........

Attached Thumbnails

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[gsp23]

chop-02, on Jul 22 2008, 09:39 AM, said:

Now this is a racing weelchair...........

Not with those skinny casters! You would be doing a face plant before long with those things they look like 8x.5" in something, first pebble and you would be kissing pavement! LOL

Although since I like motorsports as well, cool pic!

[Yong]

gsp23, on Jul 22 2008, 12:20 PM, said:

chop-02, on Jul 22 2008, 09:39 AM, said:

Now this is a racing weelchair...........

Not with those skinny casters! You would be doing a face plant before long with those things they look like 8x.5" in something, first pebble and you would be kissing pavement! LOL

Although since I like motorsports as well, cool pic!

Haha. Good point!

Get rid of those wide rear tires as well! Won't do ANYTHING but slow the chair down.

[robbo100bike]

azx43, on May 1 2007, 05:06 PM, said:

gsp23, on Apr 30 2007, 06:43 PM, said:

I am just starting to get into wheelchair racing, but with response to your question, you can do handcycling if you want to. Or if you like the type of racing like wheelchair racing then you can get more of a sitting position. These are generally used for people with high level injuries but can be used by people that cant comfortably sit on their knees and has a foot plate that you put your feet on. If you follow this link you will see a some people racing with their feet down like I mentioned.
http://hamphoto.com/...urce/h38007.htm

Also note that you can have your feet under you but not sitting on your feet, like this pic http://hamphoto.com/...urce/h37678.htm. In a seat like that you have your feet go back under your butt, however, the person sits on a little part of seat above the opening where the legs go through, so you dont actually sit on your legs. Its just a difference in the kind of seat you want to get.

Keep in mind that if you intend to compete their are minimum disability requirements in many events. If you dont have a loss of certain number of muscle points you wouldnt be allowed to compete in a chair using your hands to propel yourself and instead would need to compete in the LC class which is using more stabilized methods like recumbants or trikes. If its just for fun then obviously its all good!

Thank you so much for replying to my post so quickly! It is really nice to know that are some racing wheelchairs out there that can accomodate my needs. I looked at the liniks that you sent and they look really cool, and definitely like something I could do! I use a Tilite chair outside my house but have enough tone in my legs to walk around in the house with the help of crutches or a walker. Thanks for being understanding.
As for handcycling, it's a blast! I have breifly ridden a friend's handcycle around, and am looking for one of my own. Have you ever worked with any of the online cycle companies, such as Handcycles.com?

I can recommend www.bike-on.com they can assist you to find the right handbike.

Check out our website too http://handcycles.sy...e.com/index.php

[gsp23]

robbo100bike, on Jul 23 2008, 07:28 AM, said:

I can recommend www.bike-on.com they can assist you to find the right handbike.

Check out our website too http://handcycles.sy...e.com/index.php

Am I just missing something on that site you listed above (not the bike-on site) it looks like everything is handcycling. The original post was about wheelchair racing meaning more of the track bike style (aka, no hand crank). I didnt see anything except handcycling shown on the link you provided.

[chop-02]

That site bikeon.com is a good web site to get both racing chairs and hand-bikes..
They have used ones ...

[gsp23]

chop-02, on Jul 23 2008, 02:36 PM, said:

That site bikeon.com is a good web site to get both racing chairs and hand-bikes..
They have used ones ...

Right, understood. As mentioned in my last post... I was referring to the handcycle site that person had posted as to the relevance in this post. And yes as mentioned already, Bike-on is a source for any kind of bike.

[robbo100bike]

gsp23, on Jul 23 2008, 09:19 PM, said:

chop-02, on Jul 23 2008, 02:36 PM, said:

That site bikeon.com is a good web site to get both racing chairs and hand-bikes..
They have used ones ...

Right, understood. As mentioned in my last post... I was referring to the handcycle site that person had posted as to the relevance in this post. And yes as mentioned already, Bike-on is a source for any kind of bike.

You are dead right our webiste is preominately handcycle related altho we recently had listed a racing chair. Reason i posted it was the a poster mentioned in later posts an interest for handcycles too. Thought it might be helpful / useful. Apologies if it was off topic!!

Edited by robbo100bike, 24 July 2008 - 08:35 AM.

[gsp23]

robbo100bike, on Jul 24 2008, 03:33 AM, said:

gsp23, on Jul 23 2008, 09:19 PM, said:

chop-02, on Jul 23 2008, 02:36 PM, said:

That site bikeon.com is a good web site to get both racing chairs and hand-bikes..
They have used ones ...

Right, understood. As mentioned in my last post... I was referring to the handcycle site that person had posted as to the relevance in this post. And yes as mentioned already, Bike-on is a source for any kind of bike.

You are dead right our webiste is preominately handcycle related altho we recently had listed a racing chair. Reason i posted it was the a poster mentioned in later posts an interest for handcycles too. Thought it might be helpful / useful. Apologies if it was off topic!!

Ah ok, no worries. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. I have had issues talking to other people about this kind of racing and they tell me that they do it to. After we are deep into the conversation, turns out that they have a handcycle instead so different type of riding. Just wanted to make sure no confusions on this post is all.

[azx43]

Thanks for all the info, everybody. The same friend who's handcycle I rode, also has a One-off 4- wheel handcycle and- WOW!! That thing goes anywhere, and is bomber. . . but it hurts to ride it. So he said, "OK, no more One-off, try this other. . . "

Anyway, it worked. So I think that it would be great to be able to cruise around on a handcdycle. There are so many paths around where I live. One of these days. . . :-) :-)

[robbo100bike]

gsp23, on Jul 24 2008, 05:01 PM, said:

robbo100bike, on Jul 24 2008, 03:33 AM, said:

gsp23, on Jul 23 2008, 09:19 PM, said:

chop-02, on Jul 23 2008, 02:36 PM, said:

That site bikeon.com is a good web site to get both racing chairs and hand-bikes..
They have used ones ...

Right, understood. As mentioned in my last post... I was referring to the handcycle site that person had posted as to the relevance in this post. And yes as mentioned already, Bike-on is a source for any kind of bike.

You are dead right our webiste is preominately handcycle related altho we recently had listed a racing chair. Reason i posted it was the a poster mentioned in later posts an interest for handcycles too. Thought it might be helpful / useful. Apologies if it was off topic!!

Ah ok, no worries. Just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. I have had issues talking to other people about this kind of racing and they tell me that they do it to. After we are deep into the conversation, turns out that they have a handcycle instead so different type of riding. Just wanted to make sure no confusions on this post is all.

Ithink to the outside world and casual observer the two sports are the same. My 2 year old daughter calls my race chair, my handbike and my wheelchair "daddys bike"!!!

Edited by robbo100bike, 25 July 2008 - 07:13 AM.

[gsp23]

robbo100bike, on Jul 25 2008, 02:13 AM, said:

Ithink to the outside world and casual observer the two sports are the same. My 2 year old daughter calls my race chair, my handbike and my wheelchair "daddys bike"!!!

Yeah dont I know thats true!