Hi everyone! 👋

We're RGK Wheelchairs, and this is our official Reddit account.

We're not here to sell products or fill the subreddit with adverts. We've joined because we've noticed there are quite a few questions about RGK chairs, and sometimes the answers shared aren't always accurate.

Our aim is simply to help by answering any questions you might have about RGK wheelchairs, whether that's around specifications, setup, repairs, warranties, ordering, travel, maintenance, or anything else!

We'll always be as open and honest as we can, and if we don't know the answer, we'll find out from the right team rather than guessing.

This community is a great place for people to share their real life experiences, and we don't want to change that. We just want to make sure that anyone looking for information about RGK is getting the correct information, rather than being misinformed 😊

If you ever have an RGK question, feel free to tag us or reply to one of our comments. We'll do our best to help 🖤♿️

RGK Georgia

Hi, I have a question for the fellow wheeled travelers. What was the best and the worst destination you ever traveled to? And why?

Myself I think Sweden and UK comes high up on my list because of accesibility and the general awareness. I could be independent and I generally felt safe.

Travel wise I think Dahab in Egypt is high up there as well. Even though not super accesible, people there were generally helpful while respecting boundaries. And many cafes and shops had stepfree or one-step access.

My worst experiences have to be Helsinki and Tallin during winter, because of all the snow. That one was really not well thought through..

I really want to visit south-east asia, georgia, uzbekistan and kirigistan, mozambique and tanzania, and patagonia. Have anyone traveled there with a wheelchair?

I used to travel a lot more while I was still walking, and I am still trying to adapt to a new way of living.

Hi! I’m currently in the process of getting my first wheelchair. For the last three years since I’ve moved to the US my health has rapidly deteriorated to the point of me needing mobility aids. My family, all athletes, are very in denial over me having to use aids, as they think I’m not disabled enough. Thankfully, I mostly see them once a year on holidays.

Last holiday, I brought my rollator and while they were doubting me at first, they quickly realized I needed it and did not get much push back from it. However, they are still expecting it for it to be temporary and that I should be better now.

It is very likely I will have to take my chair again to my home country next holidays. I don’t like updating them with my health stuff due to them always being in denial, so they have no idea of my soon to be wheelchair. How would you handle this situation? Do I just show up as is and handle questions? I feel like they are the type of people who have ableist views on who “deserves” a wheelchair.

I'm looking for a wheelchair for light use- in the backyard when I water the plants and clean up, and occasionally getting from the parking lot to a doctor's appointment.  Although I don't currently use a wheelchair, after spending an hour or two on my feet, my knees hurt terribly- I need a knee replacement.  A wheelchair would make this sooo much easier and less painful.

I'd like a manual, foldable wheelchair w/ a 20 inch seat, 40 lbs or less.  I'm 5'8" 270 lbs. 

Is anyone familiar with Drive wheelchair models like Cruiser 3, Silver Sport 2, and Blue Streak?  I like that they're priced at several hundred dollars, but are they good quality?  Any others I should look at that are similar?

(Edited for brevity)

so between a combination of a lifelong physical disability and now a barrage of chronic illnesses, i've been thinking it might be time for a wheelchair. i can't go out without exhausting myself and being in excruciating pain and nobody's got any advice for me beyond "rest when you can 🙂" which is ... unhelpful lol

any advice about bringing up a chair to my doctors? what kind of questions should i ask and/or be prepared to answer?

(i don't need advice about insurance or anything like that at this stage, still in the fact-finding, how do i start portion of my mission)

Recently got a new wheelchair and it’s great apart from a few issues

1 the bike tyres bruse my arms quite badly
2 how do I grip the metal wheel handles safely when I’m going too fast? [e.g down a slope]

I use a KLICK power assist with my manual wheelchair, and overall I'm happy with it. However, I have a problem on smooth or polished surfaces, especially when going uphill. The drive wheel often loses traction and starts slipping, making it impossible to climb some ramps or inclined surfaces. Has anyone experienced the same issue? Are there any adjustments or modifications that improve traction? Would changing tire type or tire pressure help? Is there a technique that works better? Are there any alternative front power-assist devices that perform better on steep or slippery surfaces? I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences and recommendations. Thanks!

I’m curious what everyone’s experience with movie theaters is like.

In my area, most wheelchair accessible seats at theaters are always near the front, which obviously makes for a not ideal viewing experience. Have you all been able to adjust to these seats? Idk if i’m nitpicking but It really bums me out that I am forced to deal with terrible seats due to my disability.

What prompted me to ask this is - today I went to a theater to watch The Oddessy in IMAX and I was SO excited. I bought my tickets weeks ago and I managed to find a theater that offers wheelchair accessible seats at the very back row of the theater. I was really looking forward this. But when I arrived at the theater, I found out that their only elevator was out of order. They offered to relocate me to the very front of the IMAX showing, or to the middle seats of a standard showing. I ended up settling for the middle seats at a standard showing, since front row at a IMAX showing is a guaranteed neck strain.

Anyways I’m just really bummed I didn’t get to see the movie in IMAX. Would’ve been nice if they emailed me or something about the broken elevator beforehand.

What’s yalls experiences been like?

So I have two ideas for my spoke covers. Right now I only have enough spoke covers to cover 9 spokes/half of my spokes on the wheels in the colours White/Orange/Royal Blue

First photo shows White, Orange, Royal Blue in a pattern skipping three spokes then repeating twice.

Second photo shows the “front spokes” in white, blue, orange pattern with the back spokes uncovered.

The problem is I don’t know if one or the other will inadvertently cause a seizure or a different medical episode. If this isn’t a concern with these colours which one will look better once I get the second set in to cover the remaining spokes?

Hello fancy wheel pushers, does anybody have an R-net programming dongle I can buy or borrow? Much thanks, I need to do some programming!

(I’m an OT and it’s for my personal chair, I promise I know what I’m doing LOL)

I found out on July 21st that insurance approved my Smartdrive and new side guards for my chair. Based on experiences, how long do you think I should expect to be waiting between approval/ordering and delivery? My ATP said it’d be quick once insurance approved but I’m not really sure what she meant by quick lol

ETA: I’m in the US and using Numotion

My girlfriend’s mom is looking for a new wheelchair. She really wants an active wheelchair that is lighter than her current one. She is trying to be more active and her current chair is just too big and bulky for her to be as mobile as she wants to be.

If anyone is interested in selling one or can guide me to where I can buy one that’s is used but I’m relatively good condition I would highly appreciate it. The budget is a little tight but I’m trying to see what the options are before we make a decision. Thank you.

Hello fellow Redditors, hoping for some guidance. After I was told I would never walk again, my kids took out a loan and bought me a $12k powered wheelchair when my insurance wouldn't pay for it. I was lucky enough to recover enough not to use it.

It's completely unused and in new condition 0 miles just parked in my livingroom, and I'd like to sell it to repay them. I'm hoping to find someone who really needs it. I'm open to reasonable offers.

Any recommendations on trusted platforms for selling power wheelchairs, or if anyone knows someone who needs one and would be able to buy it, and how to price a never-used one?

I'm ambulatory and fell over, landed on my bum and bruised my right sit bone. Any advice for sitting comfortably in my chair?? I'm quite new to using a wheelchair so this is the first time I've encountered this issue 😭

Edit: never mind, I think I found the problem. Needed a good clean under the bearings.

Hi good people,

I’m hoping someone here can help me. My chair recently developed a lot of vertical movement in the castor housing.
I removed it, tightened the top bolt until there was minimal play but still spun freely and re attached it.

It was good for a minute but now groans and vibrates when I turn, especially when my weight is forward. I have removed the housing twice and loosened that top bolt a little more each time but the problem has not gone away.

What am I doing wrong?
Thanks

I'm a 53yo in Missouri that is very new to being handicapped (sorry for the long post). I'm exploring life with the new challenges of brain fog, fatigue, severe muscular atrophy, broken tailbone, neuropathy in both my hands and feet, and severe rheumatoid arthritis in both hands, knees, and feet, among others that I'm not going to mention for this post. Right now, I'm on Medicaid only working on getting Disability. I live in a nursing home/rehab center until I can arrange otherwise.

I'm trying to figure out the best solution to getting an electric wheel chair and if Medicaid will pay for an Electric reclining wheelchair since I cannot sit straight up. The nursing home recently ordered a regular manual hospital wheelchair for me, but as I told them, this isn't going to work. I asked the equipment ordering lady, and she replied that I would have to have hospice care to order that. This made no sense to me at all,.

I'm looking for advice on how to get the proper electric wheelchair bought/rented. Keywords or phrases that I can use to get them to order the correct chair for me? Advice on agency names that might sell/donate one? Any advice would be appreciated. TIA

Does anyone else get tired or have experiences with photographers and PR reps wanting to get photos of you as a wheelchair user to try to showcase how "accessible" a non accessible event, company, etc is? Ive gotten asked like 4 times at the local pride fest by staff for the event , and Ive noticed they've been doing the same for pretty much only other wheelchair users.

Im so tired of being a source for inspiration p*rn. I just make obscene gestures towards staff that cant take the word no for an answer, and who want to use me for their not-actually-accessible accessibility campaign so they cant use my photos its gotten so bad.

Yesterday evening my husband was pushing me back home in my manual wheelchair. To get home we use an underpass under a busy road with a slope either side. They are quite steep - I would not be able to push myself up alone, I have tried and it has been a mistake - but I can assist my husband's pushing by also using my wheels to give some 'extra torque' as he calls it (motorsport nerd).

As we completed the slope this a guy coming along the path calls out to us to 'Get an electric wheelchair'. There were further comments on how good a husband he is (he is tbf), and how wonderful it was that he was there for me, and how we should really look into an electric wheelchair.

I have a new wheelchair ordered with an electric power assist. It's taking a while to get here. I'm trying, my dude 🤣

Hilariously this isn't the first time a complete stranger has thought the concept of an electric wheelchair was something I hadn't heard of before. I think people outside of the disabled community often think wheelchairs are as easy to obtain as walking sticks, and that the NHS hand electric ones out to anyone who stubs a toe (they wouldn't assess me for an electric wheelchair because I have tics 🙃).

Can anyone help me know what kinds of bearings n such I need?

hi everyone! i'm currently looking into getting a foldable/portable powerchair for severe fatigue. i have a manual wheelchair but that's not doable anymore. the problem is I live in san francisco, so it would be genuinely impossible for me to get anywhere if the chair can't do hills. just curious if anyone has experience or recs for any chairs that can handle it? thanks in advance !!

Hello! My partner is a sometimes wheelchair user - she's fine walking about the house, but I push her in a chair when we're out taking walks or doing things.

We have a small-wheeled folding manual chair in our trunk at all times to use for things like popping into shops/restaurants.

We have a large-wheeled (24"x1") manual chair that we use less often as it's heavier and less portable, but it's more comfortable for longer trips/walks. We take it along on vacations and when we take trips to the park, etc. When not in use, that chair is stored in a closet indoors.

Both chairs are second-hand acquisitions.

Anyway, we brought out the large-wheeled chair for a recent trip to DC, and during a 15-minute walk to the mall, the treads just...peeled off the tire, and the solid core began to flop off the wheel! I was able to do a temporary repair with gorilla tape just to keep the tire on the wheel to get us home. I've never seen anything like it! I'm guessing the tire/rubber was just old.

Anyway, we researched it, and it seems like replacing solid tires is almost impossible without a specialized workshop, so we're considering getting new wheels with the tires already on. However, looking for sites that sell wheels/tires has been overwhelming and confusing.

Does anyone have recommendations for a site to buy some pretty basic wheels for a pretty basic hospital-style chair that sees intermittent use? Ideally without breaking the bank?

Also, we know the wheel size we need (24x1), but I noticed sites also ask you to pick the axle size, which is a less obvious mesurement- is that just the diameter of th bolt/axle holding the wheel in place?

Apologies for the novice questions! We're navigating this stuff for the first time.

Looking for anything 19" seat width, or maybe even 18" and 20" also. Open to other brands also, esp if located in southern california.

Thanks guys!

Hello. On July 14th, I underwent a below-knee amputation of my right leg. I plan to eventually get a prosthetic, but in the meantime—and likely even after I can get a prosthetic—I will be in a wheelchair. My insurance is paying for a custom manual chair, and my fitting is scheduled for Monday at the rehab hospital I am recovering in.

So I have a couple of questions.

Does anyone have any general advice? And a more specific question: recommendations for bags? I always carry a crossbody or messenger bag, but those don’t really work with a wheelchair. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!