Ordinary Wheelchairs Are Out, The RoTrike Is In

What do you get when you mix a wheelchair with a tricycle? One cool looking wheelchair called the RoTrike.

Ordinary wheelchairs aren’t really that great but they do their job. People who have to use wheelchairs have to move themselves around by pushing the wheels with their hands and they have to carry their own body weight up and over the wheels just to get in and out of it. It puts a lot of pressure on the upper body. This new invention will solve all those problems.

The RoTrike is a three-wheeled chair that looks like it is from the Victorian era and also resembles a tricycle. There are two wheels under the rider and one in the front, which is the “Trike” part of the name. The “Ro” part of the name is for the driving force method. The user simply rows the chair by pushing and pulling the steering handlebar. The “stem” of the handlebar can be adjusted up and down which will allow you to gain more pulling power by just making it longer.

Getting in and out of the chair is also easier due to the wheels being below the seat instead of being at the side. With the RoTrike you can choose between gearing options depending on your strength and there is an 8-speed internal-geared hub and disk breaks.

The cost of the RoTrike is a little much seeing as it is just a wheelchair. It runs for $3,800 compared to $150 for a standard wheelchair.

Source: Gadget Lab, Rota Mobility