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Comment by ravedave5 | Hacker News Reader

It's because it's not a wheelchair, so it doesn't need to meet the regulatory standards, nor does the insurance middleman pricing kick in.

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And one might argue, it isn't a usable product without assistance. Per the video, she couldn't even lower the handle without him to exit, and it certainly isn't getting in/out of even wheelchair converted vehicles by itself.

Not to mention electrical power (Vs. gas in the competition) definitely could result in the user being stranded, even if it has a power-usage monitor (given how environmental factors can impact non-air conditioned batteries).

I mean, speaking for myself mainly here, but I wouldn’t really feel comfortable in _any_ off-road situation without a buddy with me. And most of my friends who handcycle regularly generally always have someone with them.

But then again I don’t want to exclude the population who are capable of doing this independently.

Able or not, it is usually a good idea to have a buddy when you do this sort of thing.

That thing gets a flat tire or rolls over and a buddy is going to come in real handy.

This is V1 and it is pretty good. Maybe they can address those concerns in V2?

> Per the video, she couldn't even lower the handle without him to exit

This really looks like something that can be improved relatively easily. Instead of disconnecting, the pole could slide along the bar when released and click back when raised again. In other words, it's either an early implementation issue, or a cost saving trick, not a spec problem.

Sure but neither do the Bowhead or Outrider vehicles I mentioned. The cheapest Outrider starts at $10k and Bowhead doesn’t even mention base pricing on their site, so a 50% reduction in cost is still really good. Although I will say that I’ve tried an Outrider and those vehicles are way more complex.

Edit: Actually I checked again and Outrider has a semi-off-road vehicle for $5k now which is pretty cool.

The fact that it's made from off-the-shelf parts designed for more mainstream use-cases (e-bikes) probably also helps a lot. Economies of scale and all that.

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