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A wheelchair, as the name suggests, is a chair with wheels. They are used by people with physical disabilities, as well as by thoughtless people who might wish to bypass queues and go straight to the front of lines at the movies or airports.

There are primarily three types of wheelchairs:

• Manual Wheelchairs which are tiring on the arm muscles, have things that break off easily, and are lots of fun to go down travelators in.

• Electric Wheelchairs, which are noisy, heavy and bulky, yet more effective than manual chairs when running over unsuspecting bipeds.

• Hospital Wheelchairs which are tiring, noisy, heavy, bulky, easily broken as well as being very uncomfortable to ride around in.

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Manual Wheelchairs

Manual wheelchairs are usually split into two groups, collapsing and rigid.

Collapsing Manual Chairs

Collapsing wheelchairs have a folding mechanism which allows the two sides to be brought together leaving the seat and backrest slack. Obviously this makes the chair easy to transport as once folded it's about the same size and shape as a golf trolley.

Unfortunately the ability to fold also means the chair ends up with quite a lot of lateral movement, leading to wasted energy and more work for the pusher. Folding chairs often have hand rests and are commonly found in the entrances to supermarkets and garden centres. They are cheap and cheerful and a good short term mobility aid, especially for people unable to self-propel who cannot yet afford an electric chair. However for self-propulsion they are less than ideal they are heavy and hard work to push and they're often designed ergonomically to hold the wheelchair user in a bucket type seat making that act of pushing awkward.

A bog-standard collapsable wheelchair will cost between £100-£1000 and will weigh anything from 12kg (26lb) to 25kg (55lb), the price is always directly proportional to the weight.

Rigid Manual Chairs

Rigid chairs are made of a rigid, often lightweight, frame (Titanium chairs can weigh down to 7kg (15lb)). To make the chair more portable the back rest usually folds down onto the seat and the wheels are often easy to remove. Rigid chairs are more popular among self propelling users due to their lightness and their better ride. Because of the fixed nature of the chair, most chairs are ordered individually from the manufacturer to an individuals specification. The amount of adjustability of a chair is proportional to it's weight - ie the more adaptable a chair is the heavier it is likely to be, this is because rigid chairs are so lightweight that even the presence of a few extra bolts can make a significant difference. Rigid chairs are also more expensive and again the cost is also proportional to the weight of the chair. A budget chair will cost at least £1000 and there isn't a top price.

Electric Wheelchairs

Electric chairs are usually subdivided by their power source - wet or dry cell batteries. Electric chairs vary in design much more than manual chairs, as the motor is doing the pushing not a person ergonomics for pushing aren't a design feature ie the chairs are designed for sitting in not for sitting in whilst pumping the wheels. Chair design varies from standard collapsible manual chairs with a motor fitted (for outdoor use) to what look like expensive office chairs with a motor fitted (for indoor use) and can be anywhere in between (indoor/outdoor chairs suitable for both environments are available). Controls are either placed on the armrest for the user to use or on a handle for an assistant to use. Because of the lack of the need for self propulsion the back wheels of electric wheelchairs are usually small rubber wheels instead of large cycle wheels with handrims, the front wheels are usually larger than on manual chairs. Weight is not usually a factor in the design. Price wise electric chairs are much more expensive than collapsable manual chairs and start at about the same price as lightweight rigid manual chairs. Again there is no upper price limit.

Other Wheelchairs

Standing Chairs

These are generally electric chairs designed for indoor use. Can be either a manual but electric chairs allow movement once in a standing position. They include straps for attaching the use securely to the chair which then lifts the user into a standing position.

Beach Wheelchairs

Anyone who has every puched or ridden in a wheelchair will know the problems with certain surfaces: sand, gravel, cobbles, even carpet can make even the best wheelchair grind to a halt. Beach wheelchairs have been developed with large, fat plastic wheels to prevent the usual problems with sinking into the sand. They also seem to come in some alarmingly vibrant colours. A picture of the beach wheelchairs available through the shopmobility scheme at Sandbanks beach, Poole, Dorset, England is available here.

Power Trikes

The power trike burst onto the scene in February 2001. It consists of a powered front wheel with handlebars that can be attached to any rigid wheelchair. Once the intitial fitting is done converting the chair from a manual chair to a powered trike takes seconds. The initial price for pdq's powertrike was £1000 but problems with finding qualified fitters has pushed the price up to almost £2000. Despite this many designers in the industry saw the potential and have been working on their own designs which improve on the original. These are likely to hit the market by Autumn 2003.