Cambry is a paralyzed woman who, for most of her adult life, has been restricted to the smooth pavement with her wheelchair. Her husband, Zack Nelson, who loves her very much and wanted to take her camping and on other excursions, merged two electric bikes with a seat in the middle to create an off-road wheelchair. Now, Cambry experiences a whole new level of freedom and can overcome off-road obstacles that seemed impossible before.
The duo started mass-producing the vehicle, dubbed ”The Rig” or ”Not-a-Wheelchair,” after they took it out on test runs in Hawaii and throughout the mountains and hiking trails near their home. They claim that when choosing an off-road wheelchair, people have some options, but they are either too expensive or extremely slow. Not-a-wheelchair is fast, compactable, and light with a very long range.
Zack explained:
“The toughest challenge when developing ”Not-A-Wheelchair” is the price. We wanted to create something that is affordable for everyone. Finding quality components, and a simple enough design at the cheapest price possible took quite a bit of time. But I think we have something now that everyone will be able to enjoy, at a fraction of the cost of other ”off-road wheelchairs” currently on the market.”
”Not-a-Wheelchair” is not designed to be used indoors, so Cambry still uses her standard wheelchair inside their home. However, whenever she and Zack go to the beach, on a hike, camping, or to the park, she hops in The Rig. “It’s silent, which means that we can all still talk and chat while she rides next to the group,” Zack clarified.
Zack said:
“We have taken The Rig to Hawaii twice for testing. The bike has to be shipped with a freight company before we go, but we ship The Rig about a week before we fly out ourselves, and it’s’s waiting there for us when we arrive. All this travel was before COVID was a thing. Luckily, we also live near mountains and snow with long wide flat trails to try the bike out on.”
Currently, there are around 2.7 million wheelchair users in the US, and as longevity increases, the demand for special needs vehicles should only rise as well. Not-a-Wheelchair costs $4,750 while existing off-road wheelchairs cost somewhere between $10,000-$20,000. However, Zack emphasizes that The Rig is just a bike with all the standard maintenance that comes with a bike. Regardless, the couple loves The Rig and hopes others will enjoy it as much as they have.
