Rehasense Icon 60 – Manual Wheelchair

Wheelchair Description:
The Icon 60 is an aluminium, rigid, adjustable, monotube wheelchair made by Rehasense. It is a little different from other active wheelchairs, in that it is available in two options. The pre-configured box option means you can simply place an order, select your seat width, and the chair will be delivered to you within a few days. This is ground-breaking within the active wheelchair world, as most chairs typically have a lead time of several months. The pre-configured version even comes with a variety of popular features as standard (e.g. tension adjustable backrest and seat, carbon fibre side guards and scissor breaks), whereas such features on other active chairs usually involve additional costs.

Source of Wheelchair:
Loaned From Rehasense UK

* The opportunity to trial this product was kindly gifted by Rehasense UK in exchange for a review, but all opinions are my own. *

Diagnosis:
Not Disclosed

Personal Opinion:
I tried out the Icon 60 pre-configured box version, which I’ve enjoyed using over the past few weeks. I love the aesthetics of the chair; I feel it looks sporty, particularly in the sleek matte black. The frame has a slight insert, which makes it look much more tailored to you, and everything about it is minimalist from the small scissor brakes to the simple D-ring footplate. I feel like it almost disappears beneath me, making me the main focus rather than the chair; something my day to day chair doesn’t do so well, so it’s lovely to feel like Isobel and her wheelchair, rather than the wheelchair with Isobel in it.

The chair is comfortable to use and runs smoothly, I had no problems completing all my daily tasks using it. It’s also responsive, doesn’t feel like it takes a massive push to get it going, and has a tight turning circle. The Icon 60 weighs about the same as my Quickie Argon 2 – which are not the lightest active chairs out there by any means, but lighter than some and easy enough for me to lift into the car by myself.

A big upside is the quick delivery times – if you need a chair tomorrow then the Icon 60 is the one for you.

The Icon 60 is highly adjustable, including having a depth adjustment which is typically only found on paediatric chairs. For me, this is one of the chair’s highlights, as my personal chair is too shallow, but I only realised this after using it for a few weeks and am now stuck with it. I can barely get my feet on the footplates, and it aggravates my knee pain. However, with the Icon 60, this would not have been an issue as I could simply have made the seat deeper. You can adjust almost every aspect of the chair, enabling you to find your perfect set-up.

The chair comes with carbon fibre sideguards as standard, which would usually be a large upcharge. They come up high above the wheel and provide lots of protection against the countryside mud, but can be easily flipped up when transferring. I did have one that wobbled about rather though!

The back upholstery is a padded mesh that is comfortable and allows your skin to breathe. It’s much nicer than the standard upholstery of my Quickie Argon 2 and again, comes as standard rather than being a large upcharge.

The chair has soft roll casters that again, are typically an upcharge but something everyone wants, and these offer a smooth ride over most surfaces. However, they are 4 inches rather than 5 like on my personal chair, which took some getting used to.

For me, the biggest downside is the push rims. It comes with the standard small round aluminium push rims that have been the standard on wheelchairs for many years. However, ergonomic push rims such as the ones made by Surge or Ellipse, are becoming increasingly popular. I don’t think I know a wheelchair user that once they made the switch to the ergonomic push rims, ever considered going back. I personally found that in the month I used this chair, my wrist pain came back which had gone away when using my ellipse push rims. They are available as an upgrade, but I wish they were included as standard.

The cushion that comes with the chair is very basic and doesn’t offer much support. The cushion is not as deep as the chair, meaning you get this awkward gap between the end of the cushion and the start of the backrest that you fall down. After using it for a few days, I changed to using my Jay cushion. If you are interested in this chair, I would budget for a better cushion that actually fits the seat size you need.

The tension adjustable backrest as standard is great in theory but a little lacking in practice. The top supports are a different style from the bottom ones, and I never really managed to get them tight enough to offer me the support I was looking for. If the supports were the same as the bottom ones the whole way up, you would be able to get it a lot tighter.

Overall, the ICON 60 is a brilliant entry-level active user chair. You get a lot of chairs for your money, and they can be delivered to you in a matter of days. If you are looking for your first chair, need a chair now, are a part time user or need a second chair to go with your power add-on, then the ICON 60 is the perfect chair for you. However, if you are an experienced user looking for an everyday chair, or have more complex postural support needs, then the Icon 60 may be too heavy or not customisable enough for you.

For more information about this wheelchair along with other Rehasense reviews, simply click the links below!

– Rehasense ICON 60 Video Guide

– Rehasense PAWS Review

– Rehasense Trackwheel Review

– Rehasense Introductory Blog