ON WHEELCHAIRS 2/3

The DIY Trailwind - Max Fan and Erik Kondo

The purpose of the Trailwind is to provide power-assist for manual wheelchairs on rough terrain. It is NOT intended as full motorized...

Apr 6, 20245 min read

Cheap Wheelchairs Part III: Survival of the Cheapest – Erik Kondo

When we typically think of evolution, we think of “ survival of the fittest” , where evolution is the process of something getting...

Mar 26, 20245 min read

Cheap Wheelchairs Part II: The Throwaway Wheelchair Cycle – Erik Kondo

In Cheap Wheelchairs Part I , I discussed how the cheapest wheelchairs manufactured in China and sold wholesale on Alibaba.com are also...

Mar 21, 20243 min read

Cheap Wheelchairs, Part I: You Get What You Pay For - Erik Kondo

There are millions of manual wheelchair users in the United States. The majority are using standard manual wheelchairs. These wheelchairs...

Mar 16, 20243 min read

Wheelchair System Archetypes - Erik Kondo

Once you recognize that the mobility outcomes produced by a person using a wheelchair is the result of the interactions of a Complex...

Feb 13, 20245 min read

The Wheelchair System - Erik Kondo

The mobility performance of a person using a wheelchair is the result of the output of a complex adaptive system made up of the...

Jan 29, 20243 min read

The Tradeoff Between Wheelchair Comfort and Mobility – Erik Kondo

The primary purpose of a manual wheelchair is to provide mobility for replacing walking in the environment. The more active a wheelchair...

Jan 25, 20244 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part VII: Here is How I Would Do it (If I had No Ethics) – Erik Kondo

Let’s imagine I own a large and influential wheelchair manufacturing company. And my goal is to make the most amount of money possible...

Nov 14, 20235 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part VI: Exploring Solutions – Erik Kondo

Pointing out problems is fairly easy. Coming up with realistic solutions is much harder. So, lets take a look at a meaningful solution. ...

Nov 10, 20234 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part V: Unneeded Upselling – Erik Kondo

Profiteering by Upselling Unneeded Assistive Technology This type of profiteering happens when the upselling is for items that the...

Nov 9, 20231 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part IV: The Joy of Double Dipping – Erik Kondo

I am continuing on the theme from Part III which discusses how Ultra-Customization is used by the For-Profit Wheelchair Industry to...

Nov 9, 20232 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part III: The Strategy of Ultra-Customization – Erik Kondo

In Part II , I expanded on the money making strategy of Ultra-Commoditization . While this strategy is effective, it pales in comparison...

Nov 7, 20236 min read

Wheelchairs Profiteering, Part II: The Wheelchair as a Widget – Erik Kondo

Let’s imagine that we own an industrial manufacturing company in China or some other industrialized country. We have excess manufacturing...

Nov 6, 20234 min read

Wheelchair Profiteering, Part I: How the For-Profit Industry Makes Money – Erik Kondo

There are two primary methods used by the For-Profit Wheelchair Industry to generate profits. They can be summarized as follows: 1. ...

Nov 2, 20234 min read

The Manual Wheelchair as a Personal Mobility Device – Erik Kondo

A few days ago marked my 39th year as a wheelchair user. That means for about 2/3rds of my life I have been using a wheelchair as my...

Oct 24, 20234 min read

The Trikester Wheelchair - Erik Kondo

The Trikester wheelchair is simply a trike wheelchair that has been either made from scratch with DIY techniques and materials, or is the...

Oct 10, 20232 min read

Beware the Wheelchair Users Performance Gap - Erik Kondo

In the active wheelchair world, there are a lot of people looking to obtain or create an assistive technology device that makes using a...

Sep 18, 20235 min read

Making Sense of Wheelchair Wheels, Part I - Erik Kondo

Wheelchair Wheels, Part III: Off-Road Wheels Wheelchair Wheels: Part II When it comes to wheelchair wheels, there is a tremendous amount...

May 18, 20234 min read

Systemically Flawed "Research Studies" on Wheelchair Propulsion - Erik Kondo

Muscular able-bodied man in a hospital wheelchair.

Apr 20, 20235 min read

Habitual Manual Wheelchair Slumping - Erik Kondo

Many manual wheelchair users and industry professionals claim that a rigid orthopedic backrest automatically prevents a wheelchair user...

Feb 12, 20233 min read