Travelux Venture

Front wheel drive powered wheelchair with two smaller wheels at the back. Black and white frame, featuring a black faux leather seat with a folding backrest that includes an elasticated pocket. Equipped with a large, foldable, height-adjustable footplate, flip-up height and width-adjustable armrests, and a Cow Horn joystick from MERU.

The main benefit of this chair is its elevating seat, but the elevating switch requires some strength to operate, which means the chair costs a few hundred pounds more than frames of a similar size. It is relatively small, but you might have to accept some damage to your indoor paintwork, as the rear wheels stick out, making it difficult to judge their position. I also think that it tends to oversteer at higher speeds, despite being front-wheel drive.

Additionally, it doesn’t come apart for transport and is very heavy to lift – to the point where I’d say a hoist would be needed to load it into a car, unless you have a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. However, I wouldn’t recommend using it outdoors as it isn’t designed for uneven surfaces, so I don’t have to worry about transporting it.

It also comes in grey, with a larger captain seat featuring a headrest and a swing-away controller. The seat can be lifted off the base and also swivels using a push lever.

I personally removed one of the armrests and don’t use the footplate, which makes it easier to transfer and manoeuvre around my tiny house. Otherwise, you need significantly more space because the footplate increases the turning circle. Occasionally, there are problems with the wheelchair tipping, particularly when leaning forward while using the footplate; this is another reason why I removed it.

I also don’t think it is suitable for sitting in all day, because there are no pressure-relieving qualities to the seat. If it weren’t for the elevating seat, it wouldn’t be my first choice, since I prefer mid-wheel drive chairs. My chair also arrived smashed to bits, but Betterlife replaced it without any issues.