A real-life review of the byAcre Carbon Ultralight Rollator Walker for ME/CFS and Long Covid

The byAcre Carbon Ultralight rollator walker. Sooo pretty. Sooo light. And soooo painful for my size 6 rump.

With ME/CFS, I thought my biggest priority for a rollator should be the weight—cuz I gotta heft this sucker into my car. Next, looks, because I’m still a hot ticket in my thirties, ME/CFS or not. #babewithamobilityaid

Nothing got my priorities straightened out faster than ordering the lightest, sleekest of the walker bunch (off eBay, because I’m cheap): the ByAcre Carbon Ultralight (in white!).

She was a thing of beauty. Unfortunately, she was also a thing of stench, because (best I can tell) she was a flood-rescued item with a SEVERE fungus infestation in the natural rubber handles. And the smell got un-removably all over me. I spent 5 days scrubbing, treating, and agonizing over those handles to no avail…and then had to deep clean my entire house to get the smell out of my house, despite the fact I can barely clean on my own at all.

It was stressy. AND expensive, because shipping fees.

However, that was an eBay/thrifting bobble, not byAcre’s fault. ByAcre was swiftly responsive, assuring me that the handles were NOT supposed to smell like three day old unwashed polyester dress sock.

The Pros

The byAcre rollator was attractive, sleek and beautiful—not stodgy at all. The walker folded up fairly effortlessly, although even 11lbs is still a heft for a person with ME/CFS. It glided fairly smoothly across my hardwood floor (although not as smoothly as I would have liked.) I could stroll upright without stooping or hunching, and easily engage the brakes without much muscle. The parking brake easily clunked on and off.

The Oops

Okay—are Danish people tiny? I—an American—rate a size small to medium in tops, and a size 6-8 in pants (because SIBO bloat, mostly). My hips measure 39” at the saddlebaggiest part. I thought, I can’t possibly be anything other than a “standard.”

My dudes, I had to stuff myself into the byAcre, with an awkward, clothing-snagging shimmy.

Here’s what I didn’t consider: when your rump doesn’t work out, it turns to pancake batter when you sit. (Or at least mine does. No offense to any Meeps rocking Buns of Steel.) As a middle-aged standard-issue woman, I was WEDGED in the ByAcre rollator, with the bars jamming into my hips. It hurt.

I could have alleviated this if I’d bought the wide, which clocks in at a 18.5” seat width. Turns out, this would have been just about perfect for me…an 135lb woman. And that’s as wide as it goes.

But, even the wide byAcre wouldn’t have fixed my biggest issue, which was…

The Cons

The byAcre Ultralight rollator’s seat is HIGH, a whopping 24”. This is perfect for someone who might just need a quick rest, and then an easy pop up to walking again. It’s also sweet when you’re in conversation with someone standing, because you’re not loads shorter. However…

With ME/CFS and a side of orthostatic intolerance, the high seat doesn’t help. Turns out, I need to be fully seated, even a little short-seated, to stop the heart-pounding, head-spinning rush. For me as a leggy 5’3” lady, this means a seat around 18”-20”, max. Knees bent about 90 degrees, with the ability to extend my legs out in front of me.

On the byAcre, I was merely perched, like you might lean on a counter. The sling seat only covered my rump. It didn’t lessen POTS or provide much of a rest. Worst of all, the thin, unstretchy sling style seat and lack of boo-tay muscles meant the circulation to my legs cut off in minutes.

There IS a lower-seated version (22”) which is still too high for me, and the width is only 16.1”. I could see very small seniors (like my 95lb mother) making that work, but it seems like it’s really for children and very petite people.

The Conclusions

The byAcre Carbon Ultralight is ideal if you struggle to walk stably and safely on your own, and don’t require more than a quick, light rest here and there.

That’s generally not us ME/CFS peeps. We need serious seating. For us, a rollator is more about sitting than walking.

All that said, I think a taller person (maybe 6’ or above?) with ME/CFS could potentially find the byAcre’s geometry restful enough, and the wide option offers 18.5” of seating room. Still, I’m wary of the unforgiving sling seat—it might be okay for a squat to look at an art fair booth or a few-minute pause on the rec path, but you’re not making it through a standing-room-only event on it.

Biggest takeaway? I reaaaalllllly needed to try rollators in person.

It was a painful learning experience, but off to the mobility store I (finally) went.

ps. I really wanted to call this a Kira-view (get it!?) but that would tank my already half-butted SEO.

ps2. I had pictures of me in the byAcre and lost them…my apologies!

ps3. If this post just saved you a fistful of cash, please consider leaving a tip! Like most disabled people, I have a limited earning capacity, and write this blog out of utter frustration at the lack of resources for ME/CFS and long covid. (And the return shipping on this failed experiment was a whopping $80—ouch.) No pressure, but tips are always gratefully appreciated, and go straight into either blog costs or medical bills.