Archive for the ‘Pimp My Rolli’ Category

Technical Aids Tips und Tricks XXI

星期二, 十一月 2nd, 2010

Almost all wheelchair users are using bicycle gloves which they buy every now and then at the discounter.
My needs for these quality products were plentiful, the more expensive ones weren’t any better for wheelchair driving either.
I got the tip to switch to sailing gloves because they are more robust and additionally reinforced at the forefinger to let the ropes run through for sailing without burning the fingers.
Furthermore the glove fixes very well around the wrist which is very important for me as quadriplegic for braking to not loose the gloves. The velcro tapes are fixing well, and the leather is out of one piece. The gloves are available in Antara leather or Neoprene.

Sailing Gloves

The price starts at 10,00 €.
Source of supply can be enquired.

Contact: rollinator@eigude.de

Now I am just missing a sailing boat.

Translator BL

Wheelchair Tuning Part XVII (Competitor)

星期六, 十月 30th, 2010

A real rarity:

Bought by a German in the USA and photo taken by me in Spain, an

Israeli Foldable Scooter.

This scooter is completely foldable. With its two batteries it has coverage of around 15 kilometers. Basic but functional.

The grey colour reminds somehow of the military!

Translator BL

Wheelchair Tuning Part XVI

星期二, 十月 26th, 2010

When I was at the last rehab fair I have tested an assumed new wheelchair drive. It is called

NuDrive

and is basically not a bad idea.

For para- or quadriplegics like me without abdominal muscles and a disposition to fall forward out of the wheelchair it might not be suitable.

By pulling on two handles the driving wheels are turned independently from each other, and by pushing the brakes are applied. Unfortunately these things only have one gear so that you only get faster if you are “paddling” faster.
Even if I wouldn’t purchase this drive, it makes driving considerably easier if you don’t have much power. I like it that it has been thought about us quadriplegics as well with wristbands.

Somehow I think to have seen something similar on age-old wheelchairs…

Translator BL

Rollituning Part XV

星期日, 九月 26th, 2010

So hin und wieder bin sogar ich mal sprachlos.
Das ich Eintracht- Frankfurt Fußballfan bin ist ja kein Geheimnis.
Mein Cousin hat mir einen offiziellen

Eintracht – Frankfurt – Fanrucksack

geschenkt. Ich habe natürlich sofort positiv festgestellt, dass der Rucksack reichlich Reflektoren hat.
Dieser Rucksack hat zusätzlich oben an den Seiten 2 Schlaufen.
Der einzige logische Sinn dieser Schlaufen wäre, damit den Rucksack über die Griffe eines Rollis hängen zu können.

Einfach spitze, es “geht” doch!

Rollischlaufen

War es ein Produktionsfehler, oder der Designer ein Rollifahrer?
Für andere Fußballvereine ist der Rucksack natürlich “nicht” verfügbar.

Sometimes you have to be lucky!

星期二, 九月 14th, 2010

Some days ago I made a ride on my hand cycle.
(see older blogpost, trade hand cycle off for therapy pony).

My wife accompanied me on her bicycle.
I was more than positively surprised that the city of Frankfurt eventually managed to tar the old gravel path on the river Main after centuries.

It was going downstream, the cycle was rolling and rolling…

Unfortunately there is an express highway between the bicycle path on the river and two districts of the city. Because I can’t take the pedestrian bridge with my wheelchair and wanted to go to the street fair in one of the districts I had to ride further until after perceived 20 km, probably really 3 km, there was eventually a traffic light.

I had fairly shot my bolt.

After a bratwurst and a hop blossom ice tea * my motivation for the return ride was shattered.

When I was slowly riding home, I already fancied using the tram, I coincidentally met a former colleague, let’s call him Harald, with his

Didi Thurau – Memory Bicycle.

(translator’s note: famous German road bicycle racer from the 70’s and 80’s)

We had rather the same destination.

He pushed me sitting on his bike!

Without breaks, we reached a top speed of up to
26 Km/h on the 8 km way home.

My electric wheelchair tractive Speedy-Elektro only makes
max. 6 Km/h, otherwise it would need a license plate.

If Harald should have had a license plate???

Thanks again from this side.

Comment of my wife:
I am not used to such a speed any more as I usually roll with perceived 5 km/h behind the hand cycle and my biggest sporty challenge is not to fall from the bike at this “speed”, so that today my muscles are kind of sore for the first time.

*(In a narrower sense, beer is an alcoholic and carbonated beverage which is gained by fermentation mostly from the basic ingredients water, malt and hop). (Source: Wikipedia)

Translator BL

Technical Aids Tips and Tricks XVI

星期日, 八月 29th, 2010

As wheelchair using quadriplegic rainy weather simply sucks!

With wet rubber hand rims it is hardly possible for me to turn the driving wheels so that I can’t move any more.
It would be just a bit inconvenient to take a shower undesirably for the second time in a day, but if I am standing on a hillside the braking gets a bit critical respectively almost impossible.
Such a big

rain cape for cyclists

is in my opinion a good and low price solution.
It doesn’t always have to have a medical device number.
My hand rims stay dry to a large extent.
The cape should be shortened appropriately.

Be careful that it doesn’t get in the wheels.
Spoke protector discs are beneficial.

Ducks like water, but I haven’t seen something like this before.
It is raining day and night there.
This duck probably has

neoprene feathers

Translator BL

Wheelchair Tuning Part XIII

星期日, 八月 22nd, 2010

As already mentioned a couple of times (see older blog posts wheelchair tyres) I had

Mountainbike wheelchair tyres

built.
With my wife I wanted to make a tour around a lake in Austria:

Vilsalpsee

In combination with my shock absorbers and with assistance it is definitely possible to ride or push my wheelchair on hiking paths.
Gravel paths and pot-holes can be handled without great difficulties.
But suddenly I stood in front of a giant

Mud Hole

2 meters wide, 10 cm deep, 5 meters long, it was the path!!!
There even my

Outdoor Wheelchair

reached its limits.

After a couple of walkers who did not declare me completely insane what I am doing on their hiking paths with my wheelchair ensured me that the path would be accessible without any problems after passing the mud hole, and that they would help me, we took a chance.

New gloves, never mind!

No silly pictures were taken when I got stuck in the mud.
With pushing and pulling I got out of the mud and back on track.

At least my hand rims had to be cleaned. Then it is quite helpful when you receive from another walker a big amount of baby wipes which – as she mentioned funny enough – had an apple-peach scent.
Well, the wheelchair wasn’t clean, but smelled nicely.

The supposed accessible path presented the next challenge quickly.
Although the bridge is only 1,5 meters high the ramp is just 4 meters long. Only marginally I would like to mention that I had to go down again on the other side.

(The perspective is misleading.)

I slowly started feeling like Hobbit Frodo from the Shire.

After half of the round course the path around the sea turned into a country lane first and then into a paved highway.

It took the mouse hours with her white tissue until my wheelchair was clean again.

Translator BL

50 cc Motor Wheelchair: Simson DUO 4/1

星期五, 七月 16th, 2010

Before my accident 2001 my hobby was the restoration of old mopeds of the former GDR (German Democratic Republic).

Amongst other things I still own a hand throttle operated

Handicap vehicle type:

Simson/Brandis Duo 4/1, year of construction 1982.

I have rebuilt the DUO a “bit” to West German standard. The vehicle has a 50 cc engine and makes officially 50 km/h.

As you can see there are no pedals. Gears are changed with the left arm without clutch, with the right arm the handle bar is pushed for gas, and when brake is needed the whole handle bar is pushed forward.

With the Duo I drove after almost 4 years of restoration (1024 working hours) with my wife to the town hall in Frankfurt to get married.

I am still hoping that my strength and upper body stability will increase some time in that way that I can take a ride again.

If somebody needs technical support with Simson mopeds or spare parts, I still have around 600 kg.

Officially the DUO is a vehicle for handicapped .

Translator BL

 

Rollituning Part XII

星期五, 七月 9th, 2010

When you like me don’t belong to the desirable society of occupational accidents* it should be well-considered which special equipment is chosen in addition to the health insurance wheelchair and has to be paid by oneself of course.
The hospital wheelchair which I was using then was a new special edition and was very good to drive.
I applied for this model in a slightly slimmed-down version and got it approved.

The aluminum steering wheels were a must, aren’t they cool?


The steering wheels have hard rubber tyres and are slim.
The tyres were great in the hospital. Really smooth, such a corridor.

For someone like me who wasn’t able to move anyway and can’t ride on the rear tyres these wheels were

like hell out in the wild.

At the smallest joint, hole or best cobble stone the wheelchair abruptly stopped. I didn’t like that at all that I was sometimes faster than my wheelchair. Additionally the bearings have conked out after 6 months even though I rarely left my flat.

I changed from hard and slim 4 inch (10,16 cm) wheels to soft and broader

5 inch (12,70 cm) steering wheels.

Now even I can go to the old town to drink a coke.

Unfortunately I have to see something like this consistently!

Get a prescription for repair from your physician, and the medical supply store “should” take care about the exchange.
You don’t drive your car with bald tyres either.

* Expenses covered by employer’s accident insurance
The employer’s accident insurance pays almost everything, e.g. a carport so that you can reach the house dry-shoed from the partially sponsored car over the new ramp to levitate like a little angel through your staircase with a wheelchair suspension track.

Great society, I’ll join in!

Translator BL

Wheelchair Tuning Part XI

星期三, 六月 30th, 2010

Aus gegebenen Anlaß, draußen sind es derzeit um 10:08 Uhr bereits 25,4° mal was aktuelles.

Da ich mit meinen Fingern kaum zugreifen kann, ist es mir nur möglich, meinen Rolli zu bewegen, indem ich mit den Händen gegen die Greifringe/Greifreifen der Laufräder drücke und diese dann nach vorne schiebe.
Dies ist für mich ausschließlich mit gummierten Greifreifen möglich, es sei denn man schiebt mit den Speichen, was doch etwas lästig ist und nicht “geht”, wenn man einen Eingreifschutz für die Speichen hat.
Die Greifringe gibt es schon fertig mit Gummi überzogen, oder als

„Aufgeschnittener Gartenschlauch“ (Greifringüberzug),

den man dann auf einen Standartgreifring aufzieht.

Was da besser oder schlechter ist, muss jeder selbst für sich entscheiden.
Es heißt immer die Greifringüberzüge würden im Sommer wenn es warm ist und das Gummi weich wird, immer von den Greifreifen rutschen.
Diese negative Erfahrung hatte ich auch gemacht.
Man kann da ganz einfach gegensteuern indem regelmäßig so ca. alle 2 Wochen die Greifringüberzüge innen und außen bzw. die Greifringe mit einem alkoholhaltigen Reiniger wie Fensterputzmittel, Spiritus… reinigt.
Die Teile halten dann am Greifring wieder wie festgeklebt.
Jetzt noch ein bisschen Haarspray außen auf den Geifringüberzug und der Ausfahrt zum Baggersee “steht” nichts mehr im Wege.

Ob die am Baggersee eine Hebeanlage zum Wassern haben?

Wheelchair Tuning Part X

星期五, 六月 25th, 2010

The selection of wheelchair tyres should not be under-estimated.
For the driving wheels it has to be decided first:

Full cushion or pneumatic tyres?

Many active wheelers are using

Pneumatic tyres Schwalbe Marathon Plus (until 10 bar*).

There is a persistent rumour that it completely doesn’t matter how the tyre is mounted as no wheelchair tyre ever has a running direction.
Very convincing!
Due to the stud axles on the wheelchair the tyres can be switched from right to left.
Because the profile of the tyre is not equal there hast o be a difference.
I don’t have much power and noticed the difference immediately when the tyres were exchanged, but this wasn’t supposed to be possible.

Now I wanted to know and wrote to the company Schwalbe.
I have already received a reply on the next day:

The tyre is mounted in the designated running direction so that it has a low rolling resistance.
If the tyre would have been fitted in the opposite direction it would have a better traction as e.g. for

ice and snow,

but then with a higher rolling resistance.

So this secret was disclosed as well.

At the next

tyre change

you should mind that you get tyres with additional reflector stripes.

Thus you will even be seen when you are rolling home from the club at night.

* Tyres should have 8 bar pressure.  
The other one has to feel it when you ride across his foot!

Translator BL

 

Selfmade- Wheelchair

星期三, 六月 23rd, 2010

It is nothing new that the health insurances are currently in financial difficulties.

The saving-mania reaches unforeseen dimensions.

To save mounting costs technical aids will be delivered to all in need as construction kits only.
It is stopped not even at kids.

Look yourself, the new

Constructy 2101 for do-it-yourself mounting

The advantage of the Constructy 2101 is that the size can be easily adjusted with a couple of bricks.

For adults the wheelchair components are pre-fabricated in Sweden.

But seriously: Pictures from Kids medical supply (Kindersanitätshaus).

Simply great, keep it up!!!

Translator BL

(Deutsch) WM- Sitzkissen

星期一, 六月 14th, 2010

对不起,此内容只适用于Deutsch

Wheelchair Tuning Part IX

星期五, 六月 4th, 2010

During the winter I had

Mountainbike Wheelchair tyres

 (see older blog post)

built according to my ideas to brave the quantities of snow.
Just in time with the thawing in Frankfurt the tyres were ready.
To conduct an endurance test with the tyres anyhow they were subject to a two week testing in the

Alps

Extreme up and down Snow-Riding!

Extreme Off-road Hand cycling

Extreme Haldensee- Rounding

Extreme Wheelchair Jumping

All tests were completed more or less successfully.

Broken axles, flat tyres and broken spokes were incurred only sporadically. As three to five defects per week are usual in the technical aids area there are no hurdles for serial production.

Translator BL

 

Rollinator Online again!

星期一, 五月 24th, 2010

After 14 days at the seminar of the

Support Group of

medical device marred wheelchair drivers and prosthesis wearers

in Oberstdorf im Allgäu I am online again. These conspirative meetings of world-famous

Wheelchair and technical aids tuners

are “run” under the pseudonym cure (only for patients of the employer’s accident insurance), or holiday.

I will inform you about the most recent findings during the next weeks.

Regards from the Rollinator

Translator BL