The Benefits of Lightweight Wheelchairs

Lightweight wheelchairs deliver smooth performance, brilliant balance, and superb comfort, all while weighing around 10kg less than your traditional wheelchair. This means they help make daily life hassle-free as you’re able to more easily lift it up and down steps, get on and off public transport with it, or put it into your car.

They can be especially useful for those who don’t need to use a wheelchair all the time and are still able to lead a relatively active lifestyle or for those who spend a lot of time travelling. What’s more, lightweight foldable wheelchairs also make for quick and easy storage every time.

What makes wheelchairs lightweight?

It’s pretty simple really - lightweight wheelchairs don’t weigh as much as standard wheelchairs because their components are made from lighter-weight materials. These include aluminium, carbon fibre and titanium. Lightweight wheelchairs are also designed to have minimal rolling resistance, which makes them much simpler for users and attendants to propel.

Types of lightweight wheelchairs

As with other types of wheelchairs, there’s not a one size fits all approach. When you start looking for a lightweight wheelchair, you’ll see there are various different options to choose from. There are two main frame builds to choose from:

• Foldable lightweight wheelchair enables you to fold and store your wheelchair with no hassle

• Rigid frame lightweight wheelchairs tend to be even lighter, as they have fewer mechanics and parts.

Why choose a lightweight wheelchair?

Lightweight wheelchairs provide huge benefits for users and attendants alike. If you’re considering buying a lightweight wheelchair, here’s a quick rundown of the benefits of lightweight wheelchairs.

• Easy to push and propel – lightweight wheelchairs are designed to weigh around 10kg less than a traditional wheelchair. This makes them much easier for users and attendants to push or propel the wheelchair.

• Portable – if you’re looking for a more portable wheelchair, then lightweight wheelchairs are a great option. This reduced weight lightens the load when it comes to transporting, handling and carrying a wheelchair. Lightweight folding wheelchairs are particularly good for travelling as they collapse down and can be easily carried or taken on planes. Or even better, we offer wheelchairs in a bag. They can be folded to a third of the size of a typical folding wheelchair, and come with a carry bag with handles.

• Saves space and is easy to store – If you’re lacking storage space, it can be difficult to find somewhere to store a traditional wheelchair. Lightweight wheelchairs, specifically more compact foldable wheelchairs, are much easier to store as they collapse down to fit into smaller spaces.

• Tough and durable – Just because a wheelchair is lightweight, it doesn’t mean it’s lacking in quality. The aluminium structure of lightweight wheelchairs is equally as strong as other types of industrial materials, which ensures exceptional durability during day-to-day usage.

• No compromise on comfort - Every wheelchair needs to be comfortable, so you can also expect maximum comfort from lightweight wheelchairs. You’re even able to add additional padding to the seats and leg rests for extra comfortability.

If you need something for longer-distance journeys, then you may want to check out powered wheelchairs.