This tricycle allows those even with physical disabilities to enjoy cycling.

 

Get off the couch and get healthy with the MonoMano tricycle (or trike for short). Cycling is a healthy, fun and low-impact form of exercise for all ages, and it helps keep seniors active and maintain a healthy lifestyle. The tricycle functions like a regular bicycle with handbars and brakes, and have three wheels instead of two.

With the MonoMano, it has upped the ante and included a triangular-shaped grip mechanism in the middle between the handbars, a seat where you can lean back and a tube that allows you to cycle with your legs extended straight out.

The adaptive trike from the US can enable riders who have a range of physical disabilities to celebrate the joys of cycling such as stroke survivors and amputees. Those who have a single arm or leg will also be able to operate the trike safely and comfortably. The controls are centralised so with the rider’s single hand on the grip mechanism at all times, directional steering, braking and gear shifting can be an effortless task. In 2013, the trike won the 2013 da Vinci Award for Accessibility and Universal Design.

 

Trike used at non-profit

Currently, the trike is undergoing pilot trials at several branches of Sunlove Abode for Intellectually-Infirmed including at the Ang Mo Kio Rehab Centre, Chai Chee and Marsiling Senior Activity Centre, Sunlove COPE (Community Outreach Programme for Elderly) (Eunos) and Hougang Senior Activity and Wellness Centre. There, the trike is being used by stroke patients under the recommendation of Sunlove’s physiotherapist as part of their recovery routine. During times when the stroke patients are not using the trike, other seniors at the centres try it out. Many have benefitted from it including patients with weak lower limbs due to old age, who have shown increased leg strength and mobility after frequent use of the trike.

After this pilot ends in end of December 2016, Sunlove is looking to purchase the trike to allow more of its seniors to benefit from it.
 

The MonoMano trike is being distributed by Control Freak (6837 0950) and retails at S$5,000.

 

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