• A young Lille company has invented a pair of wheels incorporating a braking system for manual wheelchairs.

  • For now, people with disabilities have no choice but to use their hands as brake pads.

  • For his innovation, Colin Gallois was inspired by Dutch bicycles that work with a back-pedal braking system.

For those who have never tried it, getting around in a wheelchair is often an obstacle course.

Between sidewalks that are too high or cluttered, steps at the entrance to shops or unsuitable bus stops, there are many obstacles in the way of people with disabilities who use wheelchairs.

And what about the descents which represent a real danger if the slope is too steep.

Because as surprising as it may seem, there is no braking system on manual wheelchairs except the handbrake which allows it to be blocked.

To slow down their run, stop their chair and even turn, users have no choice but to block the wheels with their hands.

"It's a technique to learn but it's true that it damages your hands and you sometimes get burned", says Claude, a resident of Derval (Loire-Atlantique) crossed Wednesday in the spans of the Autonomic Grand Ouest show in reindeer.

"And then it's physical too, especially at the level of the shoulders," he adds.

A coaster braking system

Valid, Colin Gallois was not really aware of these difficulties until he crossed paths with a person in a wheelchair one evening in 2016, very close to the University of Technology of Compiègne (Oise) where he is educated.

"It was quite disturbing to see this person struggling to brake on this steep street," he said.

This scene will mark the beginning of a reflection for the young man, who then studies mechanics and design.

The click comes during a stay in Sweden.

"I discovered the Dutch bike and its back-pedal braking system where you just have to pedal backwards to slow the bike down", explains the 30-year-old, originally from Rennes.

OUR DOSSIER ON DISABILITY

Having become an engineer for Decathlon in the meantime, Colin Gallois will finally take advantage of a period of partial unemployment during confinement to perfect his invention and launch the company Eppur with Lancelot Durand, his partner.

“We started from an existing technology to develop our own, which we have patented,” he explains.

First wheelsets delivered next month

Marketed under the Dreeft brand, their wheels clip easily onto any wheelchair and the braking system is integrated into the hub connected to the wheel.

To activate it, the user only has to slightly pull the handrail of the wheelchair backwards.

"It's very easy to use because you can brake using just your fingertips, without any effort," says Oksana, a young quadriplegic woman who tested the device for several months.

Validated, the innovation will now land on the market with the first 100 pairs of wheels, sold around 1,500 euros, which will be delivered next month.

With 370,000 people using wheelchairs in France and 65 million worldwide, the outlook is promising for the young company based in Lille.

"And this is only the beginning because we are thinking about many other products to facilitate the mobility of people with disabilities", assures Colin Gallois.

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