A knee scooter is a great way to get about. It is especially helpful for any person who doesn’t want to put some load around their knee. This can be on an injured knee or simply after a surgical procedure.
However, finding a custom-designed knee scooter might be very tricky. That’s why it is important to buy a scooter and set it up to your desired needs. After that, you can easily use it to move around easily.
But making your knee scooter comfortable can sometimes be very tricky. As such, you need to get the best tips on how to do it. Luckily for you, I have learnt how to make a knee scooter more comfortable and will share it with you in this post.
Take a look.
Get the Right Scooter Model
The first thing that you should do if you want to make your knee scooter more comfortable is to choose the right model.
While every model out there might look good, they all aren’t good for you. As such, you’ll need to evaluate your needs vis-à-vis the scooter model that you have and finally determine the right model for your needs.
To choose a proper model, you will consider the ability of your chosen scooter to do the following:
- Carry your weight
- Work both indoors and outdoors
- Eliminate any bumpy riding
- Limit any vibrations that cause pain
In other words, you can tweak your knee scooter with other features that make it comfortable such as giving an all-terrain tire setup, smooth tires, and easy to repair or replace parts.
Learn the Right Posture
Another way to make your knee scooter more comfortable is to learn the right posture to use it with. Ideally, your knee scooter should adjust to you and not vice versa. As such, it is important that before you adjust its settings to suit you, find the right posture.
The right riding posture will leave you with so many benefits. Some of these benefits include the following:
- Elimination of back pain
- Easy riding across different areas
- Longer riding timeline
- Elimination of knee pain
- Relaxed riding posture
If you are bending over when riding your knee scooter, then you aren’t riding in the right posture. Usually, your knee should bend at a 90-degree angle while your back remains straight and not bent.
Set Your Scooter to Suit Your Needs
The one thing that you must keep in mind when looking for how to make a knee scooter more comfortable is the proper setup. This is the one thing that you cannot escape. Proper set up is everything, and when doing it, here is what you must do.
Set Proper Knee Orientation
Proper knee set up when using a scooter will eliminate pain around your knees. It will also prevent your knee from hitting the side frame of the scooter.
To get the proper knee set up, adjust your knee rest to easily accommodate the injured foot better. A standard and adjustable knee pad will maintain a great distance between your good and bad leg so that your knee doesn’t strain.
Set proper Knee Height
Another thing that you should do is to set your knee pad to the right height. Proper knee height will ensure that you stand up straight and that your injured leg doesn’t strain at all.
The correct knee rest height for the bad leg should be the same level as the knee on the good leg. This means to maintain the same distance between the bent knee and the good knee to the floor.
NOTE: If you end up with a high knee rest, you’ll end up with too much strain around your knee, and additionally, resting your good leg over the surface will be hard apart from having difficulty when taking strides.
This can eventually cause you to trip. Again, if your knee rest is very low, you will easily trip, put pressure on the injured leg, and possibly end up with a poor balance.
Adjust the Handlebar
The other thing that you can capitalize on is the adjustable handlebar. Make sure that you have adjusted your handlebar to the right height.
Without proper handlebar resizing, you will hunch over your scooter. This can cause back pains and trigger much additional pain around the hips.
More importantly, you won’t be able to support yourself effectively, and this will leave you feeling exhausted really fast.
The best height for your handlebar is around the same level as your waist. This means that when your hands are extended to hold the scooter’s handlebars, they will be at a comfortable and relaxed distance.
If your knee scooter allows you to adjust the angle of your steering handlebar rod, you can maximize it if you have longer arms.
Knee Pad Cover
A padded place contributes to a softer landing. In short, you will get a comfortable place to rest your leg and enjoy less pain on the rested leg. So if you have a substandard knee rest pad with minimal cushioning, you should think of purchasing a padded seat cover.
Covers that come with foam padding, extra cushioning, and proper air-wicking technology will maximize air circulation around your leg and again eliminate any form of knee sticking on the knee rest.
Handlebar Cover
Again, if your handlebars are rough around the edges, you can always buy them some softcover. Sometimes rubber will cause blisters around your palms, especially when they are worn out. The best thing to do in this case is to get a cover that has the best non-slip grip.
Replace Worn Out Parts
In case your brakes, handlebar holders, or knee rest is worn out, getting a new model will help you a lot. This is, however, recommended when your warranty is expired. If your warranty is still intact, I suggest using the warranty to fix any damages that your knee scooter might experience.
Other Tips that Make Your Scooter Ride Comfortable
Apart from what we have seen, there are so many other things that you can do to make your knee scooter ride extremely comfortable. They include the following:
- Wearing comfortable shoes that have a good grip.
- Taking a lot of care if you have flip flops since they get caught on wheels
- Going for bigger air-filled rubberized scooter tires to eliminate bumps
- Reading manufacturer’s instructions to understand the proper scooter use
- Don’t over-exert yourself; it will cause your painful leg to strain
Conclusion
It is, therefore, very important that you take your time to do everything that you can and have a comfortable knee scooter. In this case, comfort is very important in eliminating pain, strain, and any other negative effects of using a knee scooter.
In this post, I have shown you how to make a knee scooter more comfortable. You don’t have to go with everything. However, you can always choose the tweaks that’ll serve you right at any given time.
From getting your posture right to replacing any worn out parts, the choice is yours. So long as you get a smooth ride for your top-rated knee scooter.