Our special needs cycling product specialist Gary was in County Mayo last week delivering a fleet of Tomcat trikes. As you can see from the pile of boxes below, Gary had a busy day setting up and helping configure the 4 Tomcat Fizz Trikes, Tomcat Roadhog trike and Tomcat Handy Hand Propelled trike. 

 

Tomcat was built as a passion product by its founder Bob. Here's Bob's story

"In 1997, Tomcat’s founder, Bob Griffin, met his wife Anne and her son Thomas.  Bob and Thomas soon became fast friends.

Thomas was born with a profound disability – Angelman’s Syndrome – which causes severe learning and communication difficulties, sleep disturbance and poor coordination.

Bob felt that if he could help Thomas exercise more and sleep better, it would improve the wellbeing of the whole family.  Yet he quickly discovered that no one manufactured trikes to properly support learning disabilities or blindness.

“The Tomcat business wasn’t built to try and earn a buck… It started because there was such a need for this sort of trike for children like Tom, who needed Bob’s help because no one else cared enough to really change things.” Anne Griffin

As an experienced engineer, Bob decided to put his skills to good use, and began designing his very first trike for Thomas.  In the years since, many of Tomcat’s innovations have become industry standards, worldwide, and the Tomcat product range has expanded to include children’s disability trikes, adult mobility trikes and ever-more versatile trikes for group settings. "

One of the trikes Gary delivered and assessed was the Tomcat Handy, seen above. A special needs trike for users with little to no use of their legs or for amputee riders, the rider can use the rotary mechanism at the handlebar position to propel the trike. The Handy is available in children and adult sizes and is the first hand propelled trike to offer carer control for those users who need a little extra help and guidance.

Key features

  • Customer built to individual specifications
  • Low friction, smooth belt drive
  • can be fitted with a Carer Control system, for the parent to brake, steer and aid propulsion from behind
  • Easily adjustable - allows for individual growth and multi-users
  • Single/multi speed drives
  • Innovative Joystick - Safe one hand cycling
  • Easy gear change and secondary braking and steering
  • CE Marked in accordance with MDR 2017/745
  • MHRA and EUDAMED Registered Medical device 

We offer assessments and demonstrations on Tomcat special needs tricycles across Ireland and Scotland with our product specialists on hand to offer advice on operating, sizing, accessories and any other questions you might have. We can tailor your Tomcat to fit your needs and our experts can take you through the entire process.

Gary Allen

Product Specialist

028 9267 7077