Case Study: Designing the WTM and WTM+ Trike Racks
Case Study - Experience Community
The Background
Experience Community is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company that provides films and information about walks and other leisure activities for disabled people and the wider community.
Experience Community provides inclusive walking and activity group sessions so people can make new friends and learn from each other’s experiences and these include Mountain Trike sessions.
The Challenge
A generic online search for Pendle Bike Racks, took owner Chris Smith to the Mountain Trike website, where he saw an image of one of his distinctive orange racks in a recommendation about transporting mountain trikes from Experience Community.
Chris said: “While the recommendation of our product was great, what stood out to me was the number of rachet straps used to secure the trike in place.
“We knew that there must be a better solution to this adaptation of our trike rack, so gave Experience Community a call to see what we might be able to do.”
Craig Grimes, managing director at Experience Community, explained that the Mountain Trike is an adapted all terrain wheelchair which features a small wheel at the back.
The design of the regular Pendle Trike Rack did not support the smaller wheel of the Mountain Trike but Chris was confident that it could easily be adapted to meet the user’s needs.
The Solution
Experience Community already owned several Pendle Trike Racks and as Craig was in the Lancashire area, he took the opportunity to meet with Chris and figure out a solution.
He said: “As soon as Chris saw the trike on the rack, he knew he could solve the issue. His team created an extension to the existing rack which fitted the wheel perfectly without the need for all the rachet straps.”
Chris added: “It was a really simple fix and now we understand the modifications required we can offer this solution to any future Mountain Trike customers.
That’s the beauty of a small, customer focussed business.”
The Result
Experience Community already owned several Pendle Trike Racks and as Craig was in the Lancashire area, he took the opportunity to meet with Chris and figure out a solution.
He said: “As soon as Chris saw the trike on the rack, he knew he could solve the issue. His team created an extension to the existing rack which fitted the wheel perfectly without the need for all the rachet straps.”
Chris added: “It was a really simple fix and now we understand the modifications required we can offer this solution to any future Mountain Trike customers. That’s the beauty of a small, customer focussed business.”
Experience Community have since used the rack to transport its mountain trikes to recent organised events.
Craig said: “It feels so much more secure on the back on the vehicle and we’re really happy with the adaptation and service from Pendle Bike Racks. We have ordered further modifications for our other racks and can’t wait to put them to use.
“Excellent service from Pendle Bike Racks and we highly recommend their services.”
If you’d like to speak with us about our customised WTM and WTM+ trike racks, get in touch.