The Best Thing I've Bought | Freewheel | Invictus Active

The Freewheel really is a must have for any active manual wheelchair user - it clips on the front with ease and lifts you front caster off the ground a little so you can easily push over grass, gravel, mud, sand or any surface.
In this video Scott from Invictus Active demonstrates the Freewheel with Craig, a happy customer who has used it for a good number of years including 5 marathons!
www.invictusactive.com/solutio...

[@timothypulliam2177]

What kind of wheelchair do you use?

[@liamh5127]

Want!

[@liamh5127]

An Oracing MB

[@dominic.h.3363]

I could take that "terrain" blindfolded with a 80mm diameter front wheel. No scenario was shown in which the freewheel would've been of any benefit.

[@dominic.h.3363]

@@invictusactive I'm 150 kilograms, have arthritis, and the gravel in my backyard leading to the pavilion is about 3 times deeper than this. I have no problem getting to it in a Meyra XR 1.911 with a 12 cm diameter front wheel. I think core strength is not only a necessary part but an essential prerequisite to owning an active wheelchair.
Anyone who lacks the strength to use an active wheelchair would find normal foldable wheelchairs easier to use, but everyone totally erroneously defaults to active wheelchairs which all have way too thin and small front wheels for their own good. It's not a good habit picking an active wheelchair without a strong upper body, because the very same thing that allows you to move without the use of your legs is what's limiting your mobility.
Instead of buying an expensive addon to an already expensive wheelchair, try a cheap wheelchair with bigger front wheels. I'd bet money on it that most would find that they have substantially more freedom and comfort using it, if they are ill-prepared to use an active wheelchair.
I've been using traditional foldable wheelchairs for 14-15 years before I got my first active wheelchair 6 years ago, so I'm particularly well-suited to do these comparisons and draw the necessary conclusion.

[@dominic.h.3363]

​@@invictusactive Choosing design *over* freedom, comfort and self-sufficiency is very ill-conceived. You still sit in a wheelchair, so the attitude of walking people will not change one bit towards you, only other wheelchair users could appreciate the design, or find it relevant the first place. For people who are suited to use them, the easier the front wheel digs into the ground, so does the back wheel, which makes popping a wheelie and maintaining your balance while you push yourself out of that terrain a lot more convenient. For the same people Freewheel could be still useful for terrain that has a lot of debris, not something that your wheels are digging in, but bumps, like stones, branches, etc., meaning sudden and abrupt changes in elevation... and I have yet to see a single Freewheel video where someone would use it that way, so I hope you understand my frustration. All I see is people who are ill-suited to use an active wheelchair the first place using this to navigate terrain that would cause absolutely no problem for people active wheelchairs are meant for.
Because the wrong people are using active wheelchairs, yes, your statement holds absolutely true that there are probably thousands of people out there who would find this addon useful for the exact terrain shown in your video. I would probably too, but on a much different terrain - hence my original phrasing referring to freewheel's "benefit" in these particular scenarios -, and there is no way of telling unless I try myself it seems, because I can't find a video of that particular way of usage.
I have no idea about the category of my spinal injury, my country hasn't adopted that classification when I was diagnosed, it's around L1-T11spina bifida, so the strength and mobility of my upper body is only limited by my sporadic but ever frequent arthritis, a messed up left shoulder, and my enormous belly, the latter contributes to the majority of my mobility issues, not the nearly dead weight I'm carrying under it.

[@irishmaninflorida1608]

@@dominic.h.3363 Very true, in that you need to have good upper body strength for a rigid chair. Especially one's with thin 1" wheels.