Manual assist wheelchairs

kimmyprettyface · 04-19-2004, 08:29 AM

Does anyone here have the iGlide, E-motion, or the Quickie manual assist wheelchair setup? I was looking at them at the Expo on Saturday and my interest was piqued. I would love to use my powerchair less around the house to become stronger and to even just get a little bit more exercise going but I have carpet everywhere and I'm not strong enough to push my manual over the carpet. Are these products as good as they claim to be? Can a C5/6 female quad expect to succeed with it? Is any one product better than the rest? I'd like to hear all opinions to decide if it's worth looking into. Thanks

whiterabbit11 · 04-19-2004, 10:06 AM

Kim,
I pushed a manual around for over 30 years and destroyed my shoulders.I'm a C-7 quad and about a year and a half ago I put the e-motion wheels on my old Quickie and wouldn't trade them for anything now.They have 2 power settings, low and high and on either speed carpet is no challenge.These speeds can be adjusted in between to compensate for different arm strength. I only use hi-power setting in malls or outdoors. On high power the slightest effort gets you moving faster than you'd ever want inside a house even with the thickest carpet. They come with a charger and an overnight plug-in will last 12-14 hrs. depending on how far and fast you go. Wheelie bars are a necessity. I forgot to put them down a couple times and landed on my head. They add about 45 lbs. to a lightweight chair but don't make it a bit wider. Mine still folds up and fits easily behind the drivers seat of my '99 Monte Carlo so you don't need a van. They snap on and off easily if you want to avoid lifting the whole thing. I have no complaints and just wish I had them before I wore out my shoulders. They cost my insurance company close to $6000.00 which would have been a problem if I had to pay for them.My Dr. wrote me a prescription for them after rotator cuff surgery. I don't know how the e-motions compare with the others. Hope this helps. WR

cathy j · 04-19-2004, 10:17 AM

Hi Prettyface,
We have had the iglide, and emotion to our home. They are both awesome. Danny is C5/6 also, but somewhat weak still. He could do it!
Here's what I've learned.
Iglide; claims to know the terrain, and give more assist when needed. You can't get a "custom" chair (high back, lateral support, etc. which Danny would need). You can't customize the chair yourself, either, as it voids the warranty.It is semi lightweight.
Emotion; You can just purchase the wheels themselves, and click on to almost any manual chair. Some probs. I've heard is the wheels themselves are heavy. The rep said there is more control with emotion, as if terrain more difficult, you push a little harder, still a lot of assist, but you have control over it.
Hope this helps, (and makes sense!)
Cathy

JDR · 04-19-2004, 10:32 AM

I demo'ed the emotion wheels for about a week and a half while in my initial rehab last november. I'm a C6/7 and wanted to avoid using a power chair if at all possible when I went back to campus the following year. I was very impressed with their product. It's definitely worth checking into.

"It's the living part of life that matters....and that's all that matters anyways"

QuadPro · 04-19-2004, 11:11 AM

Hey Kimmy,
I have the Quickie X-tenders, I find them helpfull except that they come with these brackets for the wheels that dont let you adjust the wheels back and forth so the wheels sit further back and you have to throw your arms further backwards to get a good push.
I think they do it so you wont do wheelies as easy...but it makes pushing uncomfortable. I had to make special modifications to put the wheels further up again.
The good thing about the X-tenders is that if one arm is weaker than the other both wheels still push evenly. The emotions dont.
hope this helps

kimmyprettyface · 04-19-2004, 12:02 PM

That's not what the rep at the expo told me on Sat. I specifically asked the question about having a weaker arm and he showed me how it could be adjusted on the emotions setup. Maybe it's a new feature.

Lizbv · 04-19-2004, 12:35 PM

hey kimmy, so does the iglide require "finness" like bethany said in the ny expo thread?

"I guess pain is a great motivator."- Yanni

spaceboy · 04-19-2004, 12:35 PM

Kim,
I've found e-motion wheels to be by far the most superior, hands down.

1. You can use ANY wheelchair with them, and they're are easily interchangable with regular wheels.

2. They are the most powerful M.A. wheels available, and the power output can be adjusted individually on each wheel.

I'm a fairly weak C6/7 and have no problem managing thick carpet and steep hills with my e-motion wheels.

I give the iglide two big thumbs down. The only reason i would consider it (other than it looks a little cooler), is because the iglide is safer going down hills. You have to actually "push" the iglide down inclines, while the e-motions can be tough to stop.

I would definately recommend getting an extra set of batteries for the emotion wheels, though. One set does not last an entire active day. And god forbid, there will be mornings where you wake to find that you did everything the night before EXCEPT plug in your wheels. It only only takes a couple hours for the batteries to charge, but being stuck somewhere with dead batteries will render you relatively helpless.

good luck!
LL

"The essense of Greatness is the Perception that courage is enough." R. Waldo Emerson

betheny · 04-19-2004, 12:56 PM

By finesse I mean-

These guys with their big arms would get in that iglide, give it a shove and go careening off. It doesn't require much push. In my brief trial run, I preferred the iglide to the emotion wheels.

C5/6 incomplete, injured Aug. 2000

kimmyprettyface · 04-19-2004, 01:18 PM

I haven't demo'd any of them yet, but I want to. Thanks so far for the information, keep it coming!

04-19-2004, 08:29 AM	#1
kimmyprettyface Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: NC Posts: 528	Manual assist wheelchairs Does anyone here have the iGlide, E-motion, or the Quickie manual assist wheelchair setup? I was looking at them at the Expo on Saturday and my interest was piqued. I would love to use my powerchair less around the house to become stronger and to even just get a little bit more exercise going but I have carpet everywhere and I'm not strong enough to push my manual over the carpet. Are these products as good as they claim to be? Can a C5/6 female quad expect to succeed with it? Is any one product better than the rest? I'd like to hear all opinions to decide if it's worth looking into. Thanks

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04-19-2004, 10:06 AM	#2
whiterabbit11 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: middle of nowhere Posts: 565	Kim, I pushed a manual around for over 30 years and destroyed my shoulders.I'm a C-7 quad and about a year and a half ago I put the e-motion wheels on my old Quickie and wouldn't trade them for anything now.They have 2 power settings, low and high and on either speed carpet is no challenge.These speeds can be adjusted in between to compensate for different arm strength. I only use hi-power setting in malls or outdoors. On high power the slightest effort gets you moving faster than you'd ever want inside a house even with the thickest carpet. They come with a charger and an overnight plug-in will last 12-14 hrs. depending on how far and fast you go. Wheelie bars are a necessity. I forgot to put them down a couple times and landed on my head. They add about 45 lbs. to a lightweight chair but don't make it a bit wider. Mine still folds up and fits easily behind the drivers seat of my '99 Monte Carlo so you don't need a van. They snap on and off easily if you want to avoid lifting the whole thing. I have no complaints and just wish I had them before I wore out my shoulders. They cost my insurance company close to $6000.00 which would have been a problem if I had to pay for them.My Dr. wrote me a prescription for them after rotator cuff surgery. I don't know how the e-motions compare with the others. Hope this helps. WR

04-19-2004, 10:17 AM	#3
cathy j Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: NJ USA Posts: 849	Hi Prettyface, We have had the iglide, and emotion to our home. They are both awesome. Danny is C5/6 also, but somewhat weak still. He could do it! Here's what I've learned. Iglide; claims to know the terrain, and give more assist when needed. You can't get a "custom" chair (high back, lateral support, etc. which Danny would need). You can't customize the chair yourself, either, as it voids the warranty.It is semi lightweight. Emotion; You can just purchase the wheels themselves, and click on to almost any manual chair. Some probs. I've heard is the wheels themselves are heavy. The rep said there is more control with emotion, as if terrain more difficult, you push a little harder, still a lot of assist, but you have control over it. Hope this helps, (and makes sense!) Cathy

04-19-2004, 10:32 AM	#4
JDR Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 1,118	I demo'ed the emotion wheels for about a week and a half while in my initial rehab last november. I'm a C6/7 and wanted to avoid using a power chair if at all possible when I went back to campus the following year. I was very impressed with their product. It's definitely worth checking into. "It's the living part of life that matters....and that's all that matters anyways"

04-19-2004, 11:11 AM	#5
QuadPro Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 469	Hey Kimmy, I have the Quickie X-tenders, I find them helpfull except that they come with these brackets for the wheels that dont let you adjust the wheels back and forth so the wheels sit further back and you have to throw your arms further backwards to get a good push. I think they do it so you wont do wheelies as easy...but it makes pushing uncomfortable. I had to make special modifications to put the wheels further up again. The good thing about the X-tenders is that if one arm is weaker than the other both wheels still push evenly. The emotions dont. hope this helps

04-19-2004, 12:02 PM	#6
kimmyprettyface Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: NC Posts: 528	That's not what the rep at the expo told me on Sat. I specifically asked the question about having a weaker arm and he showed me how it could be adjusted on the emotions setup. Maybe it's a new feature.

04-19-2004, 12:35 PM	#7
Lizbv Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 2,844	hey kimmy, so does the iglide require "finness" like bethany said in the ny expo thread? "I guess pain is a great motivator."- Yanni

04-19-2004, 12:35 PM	#8
spaceboy Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: greensboro, nc Posts: 229	Kim, I've found e-motion wheels to be by far the most superior, hands down. 1. You can use ANY wheelchair with them, and they're are easily interchangable with regular wheels. 2. They are the most powerful M.A. wheels available, and the power output can be adjusted individually on each wheel. I'm a fairly weak C6/7 and have no problem managing thick carpet and steep hills with my e-motion wheels. I give the iglide two big thumbs down. The only reason i would consider it (other than it looks a little cooler), is because the iglide is safer going down hills. You have to actually "push" the iglide down inclines, while the e-motions can be tough to stop. I would definately recommend getting an extra set of batteries for the emotion wheels, though. One set does not last an entire active day. And god forbid, there will be mornings where you wake to find that you did everything the night before EXCEPT plug in your wheels. It only only takes a couple hours for the batteries to charge, but being stuck somewhere with dead batteries will render you relatively helpless. good luck! LL "The essense of Greatness is the Perception that courage is enough." R. Waldo Emerson

04-19-2004, 12:56 PM	#9
betheny Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Oklahoma,USA Posts: 18,333	By finesse I mean- These guys with their big arms would get in that iglide, give it a shove and go careening off. It doesn't require much push. In my brief trial run, I preferred the iglide to the emotion wheels. C5/6 incomplete, injured Aug. 2000

04-19-2004, 01:18 PM	#10
kimmyprettyface Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: NC Posts: 528	I haven't demo'd any of them yet, but I want to. Thanks so far for the information, keep it coming!