Like many wheelchair users, I am a huge fan of anything that makes my wheelchair look cooler and ride better. So you can imagine my excitement upon seeing the SoftWheel Acrobat, a literal reinvention of the wheel that could help smooth out some of the inevitable bumps we all face.

The Acrobat wheel replaces spokes with an adjustable suspension system consisting of three spoke-like shock absorbers attached to a central hub. As the video below shows, the hub moves when the chair hits a bump, providing “a cushioning effect that dramatically absorbs and lessens the impact transferred to the rider,” according to SoftWheel’s web site. As a report in Wired magazine said, the goal is to make “the wheel’s hub essentially float in mid-air while suspending the chair’s mass.”

The user can adjust the wheels to set what level impact causes the suspension to kick into effect. According to that same Wired article in “traditional wheelchair designs up to 30 percent of expended energy is lost because they lack suspension, leaving only 70-80 percent of the energy put into the chair for propulsion. This creates uncomfortable rides and fatigued drivers.” Ideally, in addition to making your ride smoother, this technology would lighten your pushing workload by making your pushing more efficient.

The web site is still devoid of ordering info or specifics, but as of May, the company was planning to sell the wheels for $2,000 per pair, with an expected launch sometime before the end of this year. SoftWheel is also working on a bike with wheels that use the same suspension system.