I went to the final fitting for my running foot today. It's a work of art--lighter and more agile than my old one by far. I SO want to get running again. It fit great, and we got it all adjusted to the point where I was doing one-leg hops around the office just on it alone, causing my prosthetist more than a bit of angst. But it held up great, so we took it outside for a trial in the parking lot.
Again, it was light, it had good energy return and a lot less drag than my old one, and it turned on a dime. I was loving me this foot...until it came apart rather spectacularly on a pivot, the entire tread pad breaking away. I managed to avoid falling down hard, but the foot needs a bit more tweaking (obviously) so I didn't get to take it home today. Close, but still so far away.
Frankly, I was a bit surprised, as this leg came from a shop in Germany after a wait of several months. I would have expected a bit more out of that vaunted "German engineering".
Maybe they're still mad about the war. Best not mention it.
Maybe it was missing that screw that holds the screw in.
ReplyDeletePivoting puts an enormous amount of force on tread, the coarse pavement in the parking lot probably provided a considerable amount of friction. I have a pair of Tae Kwon Do shoes that are missing a chunk of tread on the sole where it just couldn't handle another spin kick.
ReplyDeleteDid the glue let loose?
You know you're trying really hard when you manage to break it on the first test drive.
Sorry to hear about this. I always look back on German engineering vs. Italian engineering. Germans were making a cigarette machine making 8,000 a minute. The Italians were making something to pack them (450 packs per minute).
ReplyDeleteThe Germans had the prints out, micrometers, laser alignment tools and other uh, stuff.
The Italians? They beat on the machine with a hammer while it was running at full speed with all safety devices bypassed.
I hope you find a happy medium!
Oh, shipment is imminent on the M-1. The next two months are toast for me. Let me know what works for you to give this thing the once over.
Pssst ... don't mention the war!
ReplyDeleteGood thing he didn't mention the war.
ReplyDeleteI see that Borepatch posted the same video clip on his site earlier this morning. I guess great minds think alike sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThere's a guy in OKC that just opened a clinic in Dallas. He's supposed to be super special in the business, so you might look into it if you continue to have issues. I had an article from the Dallas morning news about it from a couple weeks back, probably a Sunday paper.
ReplyDeleteIf you had to visit, I'd be happy to put you up for a day or two, introduce you to my Black Shepherds, send a few rounds downrange..