Disability Q&Apermalink
3 Wheel or 4 Wheel Small Scooter
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Is there much difference in manouverability and stability between three and four wheel small scooters - the kind which fold up/come apart to go into the boot of a car?
I would be really grateful for any infomation please. -
Yvette
It depends upon your balance. I have 3 wheels because they are MUCH more manouverable - I can get in between the rails of clothes shops very easily.
Many people say 4 wheels are more stable but if your balance is good and you use common sense e.g. do not try to take kerbs at an angle but straight on and make sure they are not too high then you should have no problem.
Most mobility aids shops have scooters you can try out and they will advise you.This is a reply to this message.
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I use the little 3 wheel one at shopmobility now whenever I go. It is so much more maneuverable than the 4 wheel version. It is the only thing other than my wheelchair that I've been able to get close to racks of clothes and round crowded shops properly in. I get too tired going between shop with my manual chair so if I have to go shopping on my own in the city centre I borrow a scooter.
It is a little more tippy but I had no issues with it at all, but then I'm quite small.
They let me try several before I used it round the shops so I'm sure you could try a few before getting one?This is a reply to this message.
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Hi Yvette,
I would opt for the four wheel as it is slightly more stable and not any bigger than the three wheel.
We still have the first one we ever bought as it goes in our daughter's car boot when we go out also OH can use it in the garden.
Best wishes.This is a reply to this message.
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I second what the other posters said about the three wheel-it is much smaller than a four wheel and so can get around easily. Although it is VERY tippy at first, if you learn a few tricks you can pretty much not tip. My best piece of advice would be ALWAYS TAKE CURBS STRAIGHT ON!!!! I have angled it several times and always tip over, and then there's the problem of concerned onlookers and getting out from under the scooter...
This is a reply to this message.
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Yvette, I too had this issue- then discovered the thrill of 2 wheels! Went & tried the old school one's, unsatisfied by the Granny look and foolishly bought a scooter with a bike seat (very uncomfortable at first) but what a thrill, & I look cool (if thats possible)! At top speeds of 15 mph this thing is a joy even off road in the dead of night (thats another story but great for its first outing). Rough steering at first but that falls in line and too heavy to carry (major back set which I didn't see). But then I'm lucky I have my man to lift it into my boot (not supplied in the box). Try on line its the Razor300s. If your seaking a thrill forget the 3-4 wheels try 2.
This is a reply to this message.
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Thank you all so much for your replies.
I have to admit Ticklenose, that I am more interested in safety and comfort than the thrill of a two seater - but I think it is great that you can go for a 'burn' on yours.
I need a small scooter for the back of my car - am planning on getting a hoist - and what has worried me is that a friend's Mum has a similar three wheeler to the one I'm thinking of getting and she was going up or down a slope which was also on a camber and the scooter with her on it, fell onto its side.
Fortunately my friend and her family were with her and helped her back up and llifted up the scooter, but she has now lost all confidence in the scooter and is going to buy a wheelchair.
I am worried about having a similar fall but as I am on my own I wouldn't have anyone with me to help me back up and as I live in a quiet little village, there might not be anyone around for ages to help me. Even if I 'phoned a friend' most of my friends are at work and my neighbour has bad arthritis and couldn't help.
I like the idea of the nippiness of a three wheeler and being able to get around shops more easily, but am frightened of a fall after what has happened to my friend's Mum.
Another issue is whether four wheel scooters are better at going up kerbs? The kerbs around here are not the best - some are quiet steep and I wonder if a three wheeler would get up them - even if taken straight on.
I would be so grateful for some advice/reassurance please.This is a reply to this message.
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Best bet is to go and try some out at a shop mobility place.
It really depends where you want to use the scooter. if outside mostly and park outside shops and go in. four wheels might be better.
If inside shops, or narrow little streets, 3 wheeler is much more maneoverable.
I've been through a few scooters and wish I'd just jumped in with the power wheelchair in the first place. maneoverable and stable.
I can't manage leaving the scooter outside the shop and walking in the store.
I did get round brighton on one of their 3 wheelers, 4 wheels would have been too bulky I think to get round.This is a reply to this message.
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I can't manage leaving the scooter outside the shop and walking in the store.
Me neither.
The trouble is, I would like to use the scooter outside - when I am well enought to visit the zoo and other places of interest - but also use it in shops.
I want the best of two worlds!This is a reply to this message.
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Hi Yvette,
Our experience has been that the small scooters, be they three or four wheels, do not have the power to get up bigger kerbs.
They are mainly for going to shoppings centres like Bluewater or Lakeside that are tiled so smooth running.
We have used them to go along pavements but as already been said, you MUST go straight up the kerbs.
Steep hills can be another problem. I've sometimes had to put mine on 'free wheel' and push it a while.
There are bigger, more powerful scooters that can go in the boot but you would need some help with them.
do go to .This is a reply to this message.
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I can totally relate to wanting the best of both worlds. Sadly don't have the finances or the storage space to get the range of wheelchairs that would accomodate what I'd really like to do.
Could the average walking person manage with only one style of shoe day in and day out?
My massive scooter will totally get up curbs, but will not fit in the vast majority of shops. See what would be nice is, if it could be like a tank that morphed into a little chair the second it went indoors on a flat surface. I'm still thinking of a little scooter that would fold up and go in a car. But where would I put it?!
I hardly use the big scooter now. because I get so fed up not being able to get a cup of coffee or get into the toilet, I just can't walk far enough to use it without a rollator stuck on the back, which I can't get on and off by myself.
It would be nice if more of these outside places would loan out a rugged scooter for people to borrow.
I think your only answer is to try a range and find the one that goes outside well enough and goes round shops well enough.
You have to take the curb dead on with either option, else you really are prone to tipping.
the three wheeler feels less stable to begin with, but you do get used to what it can and cant do.
This is a reply to this message.
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I am so grateful to everyone for your help and advice and have bought a three wheel scooter.
I haven't tried it out yet as I haven't been well enough to go out but all the same, I am delighted I got a bargain - the price was reduced as it is an ex-demo model. But it doesn't have a single scratch on it and it came with a new battery too.
I realised through looking at pictures on the net and from previously using a Shopmob scooter, I need a three wheeler because my left knee doesn't bend properly and with a three wheeler, you get a bit more floor space.
This is it:
www.morethanmobility...This is a reply to this message.
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Yvette
I hope you have lots of fun with it. Getting a scooter gave me my life back. I used to have a Sunrise Sterling, made by the same people and it was 100% reliable which is more than I can say for my present Days mobility Strider.
You have a pretty good range too. 11 miles should cover most things. My small scooter is an Electra which is a great scooter but only has a range of 3 miles so I have to carry spare batteries.
Good luck with it.This is a reply to this message.
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