Suspension chairs

[-scott-]

You have to take linkage geometry into account as well. 2" of shock travel can net more seat/whatever travel depending on setup.

[Oddity]

You have to take linkage geometry into account as well. 2" of shock travel can net more seat/whatever travel depending on setup.

Very true! Depending on where the shock is mounted to the seat pan, the rear edge of the pan will move down more than the amount of compression at the piston. A shock mounted furthest from the rear would allow the most travel at the rear, and vice versa. I think this levering action is a drawback of suspension, personally. I think I would prefer a shock mounted in the center only that would compress the seat pan evenly front to rear. How to go about engineering something like that is way beyond me, though. May not even be feasible, but I sure think it would be an improvement.

[totoL1]

You have to take linkage geometry into account as well. 2" of shock travel can net more seat/whatever travel depending on setup.

Yes, i know that, so second number is the travel of the shock?

[Oddity]

sorry second one isn't the diameter. Found this on the web "The stroke is written after the eye to eye, for example as 9.0" x 2.0" for a nine inch shock with a two inch stroke."

Yes, jug verified it, totol1.

[totoL1]

Yes, jug verified it, totol1.

ok i didn`t know what was stroke, i found it in the dictionary but ...

[totoL1]

Very true! Depending on where the shock is mounted to the seat pan, the rear edge of the pan will move down more than the amount of compression at the piston. A shock mounted furthest from the rear would allow the most travel at the rear, and vice versa. I think this levering action is a drawback of suspension, personally. I think I would prefer a shock mounted in the center only that would compress the seat pan evenly front to rear. How to go about engineering something like that is way beyond me, though. May not even be feasible, but I sure think it would be an improvement.

Icon have the suspension like you want i think

[Oddity]

Icon have the suspension like you want i think

It sure does look like it, but there is linkage to the front of the seat pan up under there.

[totoL1]

It sure does look like it, but there is linkage to the front of the seat pan up under there.

So you would like something like a floating independent suspension seat, but remember that almost all of us have dump, so we have more weight in rear seat than in front seat, so it will be a difficult and expensive work for just a wheelchair user, don`t you think?

A wheelchair user just need a good enough light chair to pick in-out the car easy, and if it have suspension we don`t need much travel, just a bit to absorb little curbs, because 99% of us only go down little curbs of sidewalks, strengely curbs more than 7", only down stairs and jumps for videos, but that is not our really use.
So for the other 1% , probably much less, that like to go to skate parks, the market are not going to do much.

[a la carte]

A wheelchair user just need a good enough light chair to pick in-out the car easy, and if it have suspension we don`t need much travel, just a bit to absorb little curbs, because 99% of us only go down little curbs of sidewalks, strengely curbs more than 7", only down stairs and jumps for videos, but that is not our really use.
So for the other 1% , probably much less, that like to go to skate parks, the market are not going to do much.

Toto, you would be amazed at the additional control you have going down rough hills (like during hunting, etc.) with suspension. I'm afraid you're missing a bit of the market, amigo...

[jschism]

as an experiment, roll around in a chair with a shock with little/no charge. the amount of times the shock is activated/working is surprising. It's unbelieveable how much they actually work when you wouldn't think it would make any difference at all. It blew my mind, I bought the Icon more for the adjustability, but I imagine the shock will ensure many more active years.

[totoL1]

ok, i will try one and see....

[Oddity]

So you would like something like a floating independent suspension seat, but remember that almost all of us have dump, so we have more weight in rear seat than in front seat, so it will be a difficult and expensive work for just a wheelchair user, don`t you think?

A wheelchair user just need a good enough light chair to pick in-out the car easy, and if it have suspension we don`t need much travel, just a bit to absorb little curbs, because 99% of us only go down little curbs of sidewalks, strengely curbs more than 7", only down stairs and jumps for videos, but that is not our really use.
So for the other 1% , probably much less, that like to go to skate parks, the market are not going to do much.

Yes, something like the Icon, but with a only one central column holding the seat pan up. You're probably right, too much trouble than it would be worth.

The only thing I don't like about current suspension chairs is the sudden instability caused when the rear goes down, opening up the back rest angle and risking a back flip. To compensate, I need to set the chair up with a more conservative axle position/CoG than I'd like for just rolling around.

I setup suspension really softer than most. I use it for the everyday bumps and bings. Door thresholds, ramp transitions, even reaching up for something and relaxing back down causes a little compression. I have little to no need to navigate curbs or stairs. When I do, the suspension is off.

(I don't know how everyone else bumps down a curbs/steps but I'm able to lower myself quite gently just by holding the tires tight and maintaining the wheelie balance throughout. I don't just 'jump' it, letting gravity do the work.)

[totoL1]

(I don't know how everyone else bumps down a curbs/steps but I'm able to lower myself quite gently just by holding the tires tight and maintaining the wheelie balance throughout. I don't just 'jump' it, letting gravity do the work.)

If is not higher than this one i just jump it, if is high i do it like you.
Here is me a few years ago video showing my two methods to go down a curb

[TexasWheelz]

only down stairs and jumps for videos, but that is not our really use.

I've never been a video but go down stairs daily at my apartment. Not a lot of em, only about 5, but that's how I go to get to my parking long without going the long way around that I do when I come home. In a house in college I moved into a house with roommates that had a port about 6 foot tall, several steps that I went down daily, was there for over a year before building a ramp. So yea some of us do do that stuff for real use. At the time that was when I purchased the Baraccuda chair that had some crappy suspension, but it was a suspension and helped some.