In a Nutshell:
The Mountain Trike Wheelchair is a rugged manual design good enough to compete head to head with powered hiking chairs. It’s amazing. Recommended for anyone looking for a great manual hiking chair. One of the most versatile, robust manual chairs in its class.
Customization options
Ease of Use
Comfort
Performance
Overall Rating
4.5/5
Benefits
Drawbacks
Recommended For: Anyone looking for a great manual hiking chair. One of the most versatile, robust manual chairs in its class.
Is your mobility issue keeping you from enjoying the great outdoors as you once did? For whatever reason, have the various powered all-terrain wheelchairs you’ve looked at left you unimpressed? Are you seeking a high-quality, rugged, go-anywhere manual design to address your mobility needs?
You’ll love our in-depth review of the mighty Mountain Trike if you answered yes to any of the questions above.
In our recent roundup review, the Mountain Trike placed a respectable third, beating out two powered hiking chairs, which speaks volumes about its quality. It’s a fantastic, immensely capable design that can take you anywhere you have the strength to go.
Note that the base model has two “variants”: The Evo and the MT Push. We won’t be covering these in detail in the rest of this review, as they are functionally similar to the base model in most respects, but we will summarize the differences here:
Note that if you ordered the base model and later found that your circumstances changed and you needed more help, you could buy a conversion kit to turn your base model into an MT Push.
Ready to take a closer look? Let’s go!
Key Features of the Mountain Trike All-Terrain Wheelchair
As the chair’s name indicates, the Mountain Trike Wheelchair is three-wheeled. It has two 24” drive wheels in the front and a single smaller wheel in the back, similar to the GRIT Freedom Chair and the ORC, but with the wheels in the opposite configuration.
There are also two anti-tipping casters in the front, which increases the Mountain Trike’s ability to traverse downhill slopes.
The wheelchair comes from England and can be considered the British “version” of the GRIT Freedom Chair. They’re not 100% identical, but they’re close enough to make the comparison apt. The Freedom Chair is perhaps more useful in urban settings, while the Mountain Trike is optimized for off-road use.
Specifications
Here are the basic stats of the Mountain Trike Off-Road Wheelchair:
As Adjustable (And Comfortable) As You Want It to Be
Even in its default configuration, the Mountain Trike All Terrain Wheelchair is relatively adjustable. You can tweak the height of the footrest, and the backrest can be adjusted forward and backward. In addition, the footrest flips up and is removable, allowing for easier transfers into and out of the chair.
Regarding comfort, the seat cushions are tension-adjustable and molded. The foam padding is removable, and the polyester fabric covering them can be wiped clean with a damp cloth. The seat can be customized, which we’ll discuss in the next section.
Storage, Customization Options, and Extras
There’s almost no limit to the number of custom features you can order on your wheelchair. If you have a particular need, want, or requirement, don’t hesitate to ask your rep about it. The company has a long, demonstrated history of being willing to work with their customers.
Where extras are concerned, again, the sky’s the limit. The company is more than willing to work with you to incorporate any “extra” you have in mind into the design of your chair. While there are limits to what they can do, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Among other things, the company offers:
The company also communicates regularly with its user base and posts regular updates to its blog with recommended “hacks” and third-party add-ons that its customers are experimenting with. It’s an excellent source of inspiration and ideas that will add even more versatility to an already fantastic design.
Two final things to note in our Mountain Trike review: Pay close attention to the structure of the seats on the Trikes in the photos and videos on the company’s website.
If possible, test drive one before you buy (more on that in a moment). If you’re unhappy with the seat, you can get a custom-designed special one. Here’s the company’s brochure on that:
Second, as good as the chair is, there’s one area that leaves us underwhelmed: the lack of onboard storage.
Sure, there are aftermarket products you can buy to address this, and you can almost certainly work with the company to get a storage solution engineered into your machine. Still, in our opinion, given that this chair was designed to go anywhere, we regard storage as an essential standard feature. It’s not a deal breaker, but its absence weakens the model and lowers its score in our eyes.
Finding a Vendor
In Europe and Asia, you’ll find no shortage of vendors selling the all-terrain wheelchair. In the US, there are just two: A-Z Mobility in Plainfield, IL, and Spokes’n Motion in Lakewood, CO. If you want to take one of these Mountain Trike wheelchairs for a test drive, and you live in the US, those are about the only options you’ve got.
For a full list of vendor locations worldwide, see Mountain Trike Vendors
Extremely Portable
The Mountain Trike USA gets high marks here, collapsing into a nice, compact cube 28” on a side. It fits nicely into any hatchback or SUV and will even fit into the available trunk space of most full-sized sedans.
As mentioned earlier, suppose that doesn’t work for you. In that case, the company sells and recommends a variety of racks and ramps so you can store the Trike on the back of your vehicle, preserving your trunk and storage space for luggage and other assorted gear.
Very Easy to Use
In our Mountain Trike Wheelchair review, we guarantee that even if you’ve never used a lever-action chair, you’ll pick it up in a matter of minutes. Expect to spend five or ten minutes getting used to the handling, but after that, you’re ready to take on just about anything Mother Nature can throw at you.
Note that the Mountain Trike requires a fair amount of upper body strength to use well. Your ability to traverse challenging terrains in the chair will be tied directly to how strong you are and how much stamina you have. Again, though, if you buy the chair in its default configuration and sometime later realize that you’d be better off having an all-terrain chair that an assistant can push, you can buy a conversion kit.
Pros & Cons of the Mountain Trike Wheelchair
We like everything about the Mountain Trike but the price. You’ll pay a premium for a chair imported from England and an additional premium for the extreme level of customization the company offers. There’s just no way around it. World-class products are pricey.
On the other hand, this is probably the last hiking chair you’ll never need to purchase. With proper care and maintenance, it’ll last for years.
Mountain Trike Wheelchair Review Conclusion
We highly recommend the Mountain Trike Wheelchair, but note that it is a niche product. If you don’t plan on testing your limits on extreme outdoor terrain, this is certainly much more wheelchair than you’ll likely need. There’s no point in spending tons of money on functionality you’ll never use.
That said, if you’re in the market for a go-anywhere chair, don’t exceed the chair’s recommended height and weight limits, and plan on testing both your limits and the limits of the Mountain Trike, we recommend it. You won’t be disappointed.
Recommended Reading
Boma 7 Off-Road Wheelchair Review
We reviewed the Boma 7, an off-road wheelchair engineered for rugged adventures beyond the beaten path.
Viking 4×4 Wheelchair Reviews
Discover the Viking 4×4, an incredible machine ideal for budget-conscious adventurers seeking versatility.
REFERENCES & RESOURCES
- Mountain Trike, Official Brand Website.