When you must rely on a wheelchair for mobility, you learn that there are numerous factors that must be taken into consideration in order to make sure that your mode of mobility continues to provide you with excellent performance for a long time. One of the factors that you must pay strong attention to when relying on a wheelchair is the subject of wheelchair wheels. If you haven't been in a wheelchair for very long you might not know that wheelchair wheel are from standard.

In addition to the regular wheelchair wheels that you will see on traditional manual wheelchairs, you will also find performance wheelchair wheels that are commonly used on wheelchairs that are intended for sports, such as wheelchair basketball. Other types of wheelchair wheels can play an important role in the amount of effort needed to push the wheelchair.

One of the factors that can play a role in the performance level of wheelchair wheels is the number of spokes used in the wheel as well as the thickness level of the wheel. The type of material used in the wheelchair roles can also be important. Some of the factors that the number and size of spokes can affect include shock absorption, performance, weight and durability. As you can imagine, regardless of whether you are competing in a sport or not, these can be important factors for anyone who relies on a wheelchair for mobility. Generally speaking, the more spokes a wheelchair wheel possesses, the greater stability you will find the wheel to have. Consequently, wheelchair wheels with less numbers of spokes will have less stability. As a result, you will need to exert more pressure or power in order to move the chair.

When shopping for wheelchair wheels, you will find that you often have a choice between traditional spoked wheelchair wheels and moulded wheelchair wheels. Which type is best? It depends on your needs and usage.

First, it's important to understand that usually spoked wheels are going to be much lighter than moulded wheelchair wheels. In addition, spoked wheelchair wheels usually tend to provide better shock absorption than moulded or 'mag' wheelchair wheels.

With that said; however, there are some advantages to moulded wheelchair wheels that should be taken into consideration as well. One of the most important advantages of moulded wheelchair wheels over spoked wheelchair wheels is the fact that moulded wheels may require less maintenance than spoked wheels. This is because spoked wheels have a tendency to bend or become damaged. If your wheelchair wheels are subject to a lot of impact, this could be a frequent problem. On the other hand, while performance or mag wheelchair wheels definitely have better levels of maintenance ease, they are also usually more expensive.

Be sure that you take all of these considerations into mind when trying to decide between traditional spoked wheelchair wheels and performance or mag wheelchair wheels. If you do plan to compete in athletic performances, try not to let budget be your ruling factor. While you may pay more for performance wheels in the end, the advantages you'll gain from performance and ease of use will probably be well worth the additional cost.