Medline Transport Chair Review (2023): Compact + Rugged

By Maurice

The Medline Transport Chair is a lightweight and compact transport wheelchair designed to keep you moving from place to place without hassle. It is a chair designed to get you seated, get you moving, and get you up with a little help to ensure that you never miss a beat.

In this Medline Transport Chair review, we go over all of the best features that make this a top choice in the transport chair market including the lightweight durable frame, rugged wheels, and ergonomic handles plus a lot more.

Review of: Medline Transport Chair

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What We Like:

• Lightweight
• Portable
• Easy to push

What We Don’t Like:

• Fragile frame
• Foot flaps

Our Conclusion: If you are in the market for a budget friendly transport chair for your personal life or work, this Medline Transport Chair should be at the top of your list of candidates for serious consideration.

What is a transport wheelchair versus a regular wheelchair?

Transport wheelchairs are designed to have a second person push the chair rather than it being self propelled. Transport wheelchairs are often seen in medical facilities where nurses or family members push patients around rather than having the people push themselves from the sitting position. Transport chairs feature hand brakes that can be engaged while the patient gets seated or stands up.

Just remember, transport chairs are designed with two people in mind. One person sits in the chair and a second person pushes and steers the chair.

Features of Medline Transport Chair 

Nylon upholstery

This might seem like something simple but this feature adds a lot to the Medline Transport Chair. Nylon is breathable and comfortable, a combination that you will appreciate when riding in this chair. Other upholstery, including cotton and polyester, are stuffy and do not breathe well. This can cause undue heat and sweating while riding around. Sweating and overheating can cause fatigue, chaffing, and other unpleasant side effects.

The nylon was chosen in order to counteract those exact negative health effects. It also helps to keep the overall weight of the chair down as nylon is super light. Different types of fabric can add weight to things without you even thinking about it.

Easy deconstruction

This chair is super easy to breakdown into various parts in order to transport it or store it. Some chairs just fold down, which is fine in most cases, but sometimes you need that little bit of extra space to really get it to fit. That is why the Medline Transport Chair is such a joy to use. The footrests come off easily and can be stored separately. The handles fold down and the whole chair can stand on its own while folded or can be laid flat for easy storage.

All of these things together make for a transport chair that is easy to store and easy to transport which are critical parts of any good transport chair.

Powerful brakes

The Medline Transport Chair features powerful handbrakes with hand loops that are specifically designed to keep the user safe. Unlike self propelled wheelchairs, transport chairs do not have large locking brakes on the rear wheels so they must include handbrakes. If the handbrakes are low quality, the chair can slip while the user is getting up or sitting down which can be frustrating or even dangerous.

Powerful handbrakes work to keep your loved ones or patients safe by allowing the operator to securely keep the chair locked in place. Even if something goes wrong, the wrist loops keep your hands from leaving the chair until you are absolutely ready. It is a safety feature that needs to be appreciated.

Specifications of Medline Transport Chair

Video Overview of Medline Transport Chair

Pros and Cons of Medline Transport Chair

PROS

• Lightweight: 

This chair is not only comfortable and affordable, but it is also super lightweight. Many other chairs, including all of the comparison chairs we researched, weigh more than this chair. Wheelchairs that are lighter are often less sturdy and have lower weight capacities, smaller wheels, and other tradeoffs. The Medline Transport Chair does not make any of these negative tradeoffs.  

The Medline Transport Chair only weighs 22lbs. Combined with its portable features and easy breakdown ability, that makes this chair super easy to manage.

• Portable

The lightweight frame and ability to fold down and detach parts from this transport wheelchair make it an excellent portable choice. If you need to take someone from a vehicle to an appointment or need to store this chair for long periods of time you are going to love how light it is and how easily you can fold it up and put it away.

Medline knows that most transport chairs do not need to be out 24/7 and having a light chair that can be stored easily is a super huge plus in the market.

• Easy to push

One of the most important facets of any transport wheelchair is how easy it is to push. If a chair is a pain to push for anyone who has to use it, it can ruin a day very quickly. The Medline Transport Chair does not have this problem. Thanks to the large rear wheels, great ergonomic handles, and light frame it is easy to push even when it is carrying at capacity.

CONS

• Fragile frame

In order to make this chair as light and pushable as possible, Medline made the frame out of aluminum. Most of the time, this is not an issue, but every once in a while someone will push the chair off course and it can catch a curb, corner, or wall and cause a dent. There is a steel version of this chair that does not have this problem but it is heavier and bulkier than the aluminum model.

It is disappointing when you bang this chair during its everyday use and it comes up with a scratch or ding. Those do not go away over time and it is something to keep an eye on.

• Foot flaps

This wheelchair would have benefited greatly from upgraded footrests. The foot flaps that are featured here just don’t live up to the quality of the rest of the wheelchair. They are stiff, uncomfortable, and are not as large as they could be to accommodate people better. If you are only taking short rides in this chair, the problem is not that noticeable but if you are going to have to ride around for longer periods of time the cramped foot rests become hard to ignore.

Wheelchairs with elevated leg rest and upgraded footrests are going to have a leg up on this wheelchair.

Who is the Medline Transport Chair best for?

The Medline Transport Chair would be the perfect wheelchair for anyone who needs to use a transport chair regularly but not constantly. This chair performs best in short bursts. If you need to use this chair for multiple people or for one person who only needs it on occasion, it will do its job perfectly. When not in use it is easy to put it away and forget about it until its next use. It would not be a great transport chair for someone who needs to spend a lot of time in it on a regular basis but for short rides, it is fantastic.

Medline Transport Chair Product Resources

Medline Industries has a fantastic network of customer support resources for you to utilize no matter what issue you may have. Unlike other modern companies, Medline has multiple ways to get in touch with them, including full remote access support. They have a large database of transparent documentation that makes troubleshooting and solving your issues a snap.

We have done the legwork to compile a list of the most useful resources for anyone considering getting a Medline Transport Chair. Here you can find the official product page, the technical support page, assembly instructions, replacement part catalog and more.

• Medline Transport Wheelchair Official Product Page
• Medline Technical Support and Remote Help
• Medline Official FAQ
• Official Assembly Instruction Video
• Replacement Parts and Technical Breakdown

Top Competitor Wheelchair: Vive Mobility Folding Transport Wheelchair

For purpose of comparison and fleshing out the research you’ve already done, the Vive Mobility Folding Transport Wheelchair is a transport chair is a fantastic foil to the Medline Transport Chair. Both chairs have great safety brakes, both can fold down into a small portable configuration and both of them are made out of lightweight aluminum frames.

The Vive model comes out a little more expensive than the Medline Transport Chair but still has 12” rear tires, a 300lbs weight capacity, and other similar features. When it comes to a one to one comparison, this chair is one of the best and most similar chairs to the Medline Transport Chair.

Wrapping Up

There are many versions of this chair by Medline but the Medline Transport Chair with the aluminum frame and the upgraded 12” rear wheels is the best of the lot. This chair is affordable, easy to use, easy to push, comfortable, and versatile.

It embodies everything you need out of a modern transport chair with only a few drawbacks from making it a legendary item. 

Medline Transport Chair (Click image for more info)