Jan 9 2013
Ken’s Velociraptor
So 10 out of 10. It is largish to lift into the boot of my car, but not difficult for me, and that’s with the wheels on. To take wheels off is brilliant, literally a second … brilliantly engineered.
I credit it and the hour daily dog walks with assisting my legs to lift better, etc. (only cause there is nothing else to credit in this regard) … as evidenced during my weekly Tuesday personal training sessions.
I took it recently to Life Tec (assistive technology provider in sunny Queensland). I rang, suggested they view the Trionic website, and asked if they wanted to see it. I then met with fully seven(!) interested OTs who probed, prodded, gasped and gleefully pronounced it to be, categorically, “A Fab Thing”. By the way there’s quite a few photos on facebook.
But yes, an update, on the Velociraptor (er, Veloped);
Have had it for two days now, been going down along the creek (one of Brissie’s main dog parks, a long one). I found yesterday (day 2) that if I leave my scrawny fingers touching the sides of the brakes I can really hoover along, and when I snare my feet (as happens every 10 to 20 metres) instead of tripping I can just jab the brakes and I’m good as gold … and this allows me to walk rapidly by my previous standards. I’m also getting used to again being able to walk looking straight ahead and not having to stare at the ground to see where my stinky big feet are at.
So 10 out of 10. It is largish to lift into the boot of my car, but not difficult for me, and that’s with the wheels on. To take wheels off is brilliant, literally a second … brilliantly engineered.
I bought the Tour model; the lock I think the only accessory. Cost varies with current currency fluctuations, and I rationalise that at a squeak over AUD$1k many bicycles cost exponentially more these days.
If I’d been home on Wednesday it would have arrived then .. i.e. only 6 days from Sweden to Australia, AND payment after delivery. Stefan, the inventor/owner is a great guy, very trusting and top guy to deal with. After problems with agents (and no doubt, margins) he/Trionic prefers to sell directly these days. Trionic is a Swedish company, in Uppsala, a university town noted for its medical research. But latest models are manufactured in Germany. Stefan tells me he used to work for German companies.
I’m a very happy camper with it … the Veloped Tour just bumps along over the broken ground, and I zip along at a blinding pace :-)
Toodles,
Ken Bull, Australia