Manual wheelchairs - frame

- Materials

Steel provides great strength and is cheap, however it is also very heavy which impairs manoeuvrability.

Aluminium is a bit more expensive but also a lot lighter and is therefore easier to manoeuvre.

- Design

Folding frame is very useful for storage and transportation as it has a cross brace mechanism underneath the seat material, which allows it to fold flat. The downside to this design for very active users is that it is harder to manoeuvre due to the folding mechanism.

Compact folding frame has the sameadvantages and disadvantages as a Folding frame, and it can be folded even smaller.

Rigid frame is not as easy to transport as the folding kinds but is lighter and so is better suited to an active user because there isn't the same amount of energy loss through the frame design.

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