John,
I had a test drive of the chair today and was quite
impressed. Here are my thoughts -
Today I had a 'test-drive' of the Alber Adventure
wheelchair. The chair was provided through Gerald
Simonds Healthcare of Aylesbury
http://www.gerald-simonds.com/flash/index.html
http://www.adventure-news.de/en/technology/technical_data.php
The person that showed me the chair was their North and
Scottish Sales Manager Mr Sandy Burrell.
Firstly, a little history about me:
Philip Matson
Male
Age - 38
Height - 5' 11"
Weight - 17 stone or 110kg
Disability - Loss of use of right leg and awaiting a
below knee amputation
I have been disabled for about 2 and a half years now
and so far have only had a manual wheelchair supplied by
the NHS. The only experience I have had of powered
chairs is when using one of my local supermarket's
customers' chairs (absolute rubbish!)
I have been considering buying a powered chair for a
while as I travel to the Lake District quite a lot and
it is far too hard for me and my fiancιe to propel my
manual chair up and down the banks. I also would like to
go 'off-road' so whatever chair I buy will have to be
able to do that too.
I recently saw an article in a disability magazine
comparing a number of powered chairs and the Alber
Adventure caught my eye. I phoned the company and the
test-drive was arranged for two weeks later (today as I
write this).
First impressions:
The chair arrived fully assembled (we did disassemble it
but I will talk about that later). It was the 7.5mph
version (they have three versions 4, 6 and 7.5mph). It
had an upgraded seat which allowed more adjustments than
the standard. It also comes with lights and indicators.
The controls were set to the factory settings. It looked
to be brand new to me.
The tyres were the usual medical grey but had an
interesting tread pattern which is supposed to give a
smooth drive on flat surfaces and good grip when
off-road. The rep (Sandy) told me that the tyres were
lined with kevlon and were very tough (I suppose only
time will tell).
One thing I will say about the chair is that it looks
great. The parts are well machined and the construction
appears excellent according to Sandy Porsche have had
a hand in the design.
The motors are built into the rear wheels and are
claimed to be 45% more efficient than standard electric
wheelchairs so they say. The batteries are supposed to
last for 30 miles on one charge but I will take that
with a pinch of salt unless proved otherwise. Sandy told
me that new batteries cost about £300 each the 7.5mph
chair needs two to achieve full speed so it is not a
cheap option to replace them.
The Test-Drive:
The chair has two power settings house, which limits
it to 4mph and full where it can reach 7.5mph. There is
a small thumb wheel on the control unit which allows
step-less adjustment of the power output this turned
out to be very handy!
I started my test in 'house' mode on the footpath
outside my house it's fairly smooth, has a slight
camber and was easy to drive on. However, I wanted power
so I changed to 'full' and had a blast on the road the
acceleration was very smooth and got to full speed quite
quickly it's surprising how fast 7.5mph feels in a
chair! The response using the joystick seemed quite
precise and the suspension gave a good ride. I have a
fairly steep bank nearby and the chair 'shot' up it;
when going down hill the control was good and I never
felt out of control.
However, the main reason I am buying a chair is to be
able to go on tracks and on grass so we wheeled off to
some nearby rough ground. This comprised of a fairly
steep, uneven track with quite a few small potholes and
bumps. It had been raining so the surface was quite
loose and muddy. Well, the chair had no problems at all.
The suspension coped very well with the bumps and the
grip was good again, even when going downhill, I felt
in full control of the chair.
Post Test Drive:
Well, that went well, but it was time to see if the
manufacturer's claims of portability were true or not.
In the brochure Alber claim that the chair can be easily
disassembled and transported in a medium-sized car.
The first thing to say is that the chair does easily
break down into it's component parts the seat comes
off, all four wheels unclip, the batteries are easily
removed leaving the base unit. However, and it is a
fairly big however, the separate parts are not that
light. They may well fit into a smallish car but there
is no way my fiancιe or I could lift it into the back of
our car (we have a Renault Scenic). Sandy brought some
ramps with him so we re-assembled the chair and 'drove'
it into our car. It fitted snugly and when (I have
decided to buy, call me mr impulsive) I buy it this is
the way we will be transporting it. The weight issue
should though be a consideration for people who can't
'drive' it straight into their car.
Negotiations:
Let's talk about cash, shall we.
The list price of the chair is £6200 why oh why do we
have to be charged so much for the 'privilege' of being
disabled?? However, as we all know you always want the
'extras'. In my case I wanted the upgraded seat (£340),
a luggage rack (£160) and a crutch holder (£40) making
a grand total of £6740. All this, of course, for those
that aren't classed as disabled is plus VAT (don't you
just love the Treasury!!). At this point I must say that
Sandy was not pushy at all. He asked me if I would like
a written quotation and offered a 10% discount on the
price nice! I expect this to arrive next week giving a
final price of £6070. I do intend to try and negotiate
further and will try to get it for £6000 wish me luck!
The delivery time was quoted at 4 to 6 weeks.
The chair has a two-year guarantee and the batteries six
months.
Conclusions:
I like the look of it. I like the quality of
construction. I like the ride and handling. It seems to
do everything I want. The price is what it is and there
is little I can do about it.
So, I am going to place the order next week and can't
wait to get my hands on it.
I will write a further review once I have had the chair
for a while.
Regards,
Philip Matson
-------------------------------------------------------
Previous communication:
John,
I have just discovered you web site and have had great
pleasure in reading about the modifications you have
effected on your wheelchair. Very interesting and
informative!
Anyway, I am looking at purchasing my first powered
wheelchair and am having a 'test drive' of the Alber
Adventure this coming Friday. Would you be interested if
I were to do a mini review of it? I can't promise how
in depth it will be as I haven't anything to compare it
against but I will try my best.
Keep up the good work and I will follow your exploits
with interest.
Regards,
Philip Matson
And
more!!!
John,
No problems, I enjoyed doing the review.
I missed a few bits though -
The chair provided came with light and indicators. They
were compact and didn't protrude from the chair itself
by much. The indicators were on a flexible stalk which
is supposed to prevent them getting snapped off. They
were operated by buttons on the main control unit. It
also has a horn but I will be damned if I ever go
tooting people while driving a powered chair.
The control unit was well set out with buttons for the
horn, indicators, on/off, power mode and a thumb-wheel
for adjusting the power output. The joystick was fairly
precise and had a good feel to it. The unit came factory
set programmed but I was told it can be easily
re-programmed and lot's of the parameters such as
accelerating, breaking can be changed. The chair can be
disabled by holding an electronic key over the unit
beware, you only get one key and I have no idea how much
a replacement would cost (no doubt it wouldn't be
cheap!).
Basic specifications:
Weight - 96.7 kg
Total permitted weight - 235 kg
Length - 111 cm
Width - 68 cm
Maximum obstacle height - 8 cm (12 cm with optional
kerb climber)
Turning circle - 88 cm
Cheers,
Philip
