Which TiLite chair do you prefer?

[slow_runner]

After my recent incident I am considering treating myself to a titanium chair.
Reason is that I am now less physically able than pre-injury and my independence has taken a shot to the extent that I now more reliant.
I don't like it and getting my head around it is a curve.
As I am not wholly confident in being accurately fitted for a customised chair, the TRA or ZRA appeal to me.
I'm not lightweight and have put on a few extra kgs while on previous extended bedrest. With that in mind, the TRA looks to be the stiffer, stronger(?) chair. The weight difference between these chairs is only +0.2kg for the TRA.

What is your experience with either of these chairs? Thanks.

[Patrick Madsen]

I've had the ZRA, ZR,Tra andTr. I much preferred the Tr series for the fact of the tubing being a smaller diameter and less hassle adjusting the front caster housing. Mine was an early series ZRA so they may have changed the design by now. The larger diameter tubing made it more awkward grabbing the frame to transfer. I also ordered the frame bend to be one inch longer to give more room for the hand grabbing the frame.

I also liked the full frame for less flex and feeling it was more sturdy. Hated the large tubing of the ZR series.

[NW-Will]

Yeah if you're heavier, more than 180lbs, and generally larger 6', the TR is pretty much the only way to go.
Funny I too appreciate the smaller tubing, just fits my hand better when I'm throwing it in and out of the car etc..
Full frame for less flex.

Also like the fact that the axle is super easy to adjust sliding up and down the lower frame bar to adjust the Center of Gravity, can really dial it in when you swap back rests etc..

I've had the ZRA, ZR,Tra andTr. I much preferred the Tr series for the fact of the tubing being a smaller diameter and less hassle adjusting the front caster housing. Mine was an early series ZRA so they may have changed the design by now. The larger diameter tubing made it more awkward grabbing the frame to transfer. I also ordered the frame bend to be one inch longer to give more room for the hand grabbing the frame.

I also liked the full frame for less flex and feeling it was more sturdy. Hated the large tubing of the ZR series.

[August West]

I like the TR for all the reasons Patrick mentions. Plus the fact that the tubing is standard size to mount bicycle bottle holders and third party luggage racks, which won't fit on the larger tubing of a ZR.

The adjustable caster angle of TRA requires constant adjusting that you don't have to bother with a TR. The only adjustment I want is for the back angle. Even that I may not want on my next chair so it will be quieter. Once you know exactly what you need, less adjustment is better.

[slow_runner]

Thanks, your opinion and reasons for the TR/TRA are appreciated and reinforce my initial thoughts.
My 2GX has the removable flip-up swing way footplates and I am used to this function of the chair. It has been suggested by the O.T that the new chair have flip up footplates.
With this in mind, I think that it is obvious that the TR series and its dual tube design will suit. Along with the mentioned benefits of standard tube diameter and better ability to handle my weight.
The flip up footplates may or may not be an option I would want. They will be of less or no use to me subsequent to my recent injury, now my previously better functioning left leg is as useless as my right leg.
As stated, that the seat angle, dump and CoG are adjustable on the TRA appeals. If the dump or CoG is altered on the TRA it is expected that the caster angle be adjusted to compensate. I am OK with that; a bit bit more dicking about is all.
August, you speak of this adjustable caster angle of TRA requires constant adjusting. Is this a known, regular characteristic/weakness that occurs with chair use and without dump or CoG adjustment?

If only I was closer to that magic 180lbs Will, that would be near ideal.
Prior to my injury last November, I knocked all sugar on the head from my drinks and cereals and stopped grazing.
Along with that, the crazy pain levels I experienced while in hospital for those following weeks, my appetite dropped markedly. At this point I have sustained my reduced intake and have dropped 3kg with the hope that more will follow.

[ToastGuard]

NW-Will, I'd like to hear your reasoning behind the 180lb, 6ft requirement pushing toward the TR. What makes you say that? I am 6'2" and weigh 230lbs, but found I really like my ZRA. I paid for the "reinforced frame" (not the full heavyweight model, though) because I often carry my kids or a 50lb suitcase on my lap when traveling. I've noticed no flex in the frame. Perhaps I just transfer differently than everyone else here, but I never put my hand on the frame, so a requirement for narrower tubing wouldn't be necessary. I make a fist and push off the seat cushion every time.

Additionally, I'm not sure how often OP has to drive somewhere that requires breaking down the chair and stowing in the passenger seat, but not having the secondary tubing in my ZRA makes it much easier to get between me and the steering wheel when I have to travel for work and get a rental car.

I'm interested in your experience since I don't have any friends in chairs. I know my experience and that is it. It would be really funny to learn I've been doing things all wrong for the 10 years I've been in a chair.

Yeah if you're heavier, more than 180lbs, and generally larger 6', the TR is pretty much the only way to go.
Funny I too appreciate the smaller tubing, just fits my hand better when I'm throwing it in and out of the car etc..
Full frame for less flex.

Also like the fact that the axle is super easy to adjust sliding up and down the lower frame bar to adjust the Center of Gravity, can really dial it in when you swap back rests etc..

[slow_runner]

I really like my ZRA. I paid for the "reinforced frame" (not the full heavyweight model, though) because I often carry my kids or a 50lb suitcase on my lap when traveling. I've noticed no flex in the frame. Perhaps I just transfer differently than everyone else here, but I never put my hand on the frame, so a requirement for narrower tubing wouldn't be necessary. I make a fist and push off the seat cushion every time.
Additionally, I'm not sure how often OP has to drive somewhere that requires breaking down the chair and stowing in the passenger seat, but not having the secondary tubing in my ZRA makes it much easier to get between me and the steering wheel when I have to travel for work and get a rental car.

Hi ToastGuard, I have checked the net without success and would be interested to see what your reinforced frame design looks like. Could you post an image or three?
Previous to this recent injury I drove our 1996 Toyota Corona auto. I would collapse my 2GX, latch it closed and lift across to the front passenger seat - no problem.
Now, I will no longer be able to drive without the use of hand controls.
Fitting hand controls here is a long winded affair with every dog clipping the ticket along the way.
My intention is to continue driving as long as I can so I will need to cough and suck it up.

I am not ruling out the ZRA and it would be prudent to test run both chairs for fit and feel, also for stowing in the vehicle.

[ToastGuard]

This frame looks no different than a standard ZRA. They just reinforce the various attachment points with thicker welds. The tubing is identical. Titanium is plenty strong. The moving parts are what need reinforced.

Hi ToastGuard, I have checked the net without success and would be interested to see what your reinforced frame design looks like. Could you post an image or three?
Previous to this recent injury I drove our 1996 Toyota Corona auto. I would collapse my 2GX, latch it closed and lift across to the front passenger seat - no problem.
Now, I will no longer be able to drive without the use of hand controls.
Fitting hand controls here is a long winded affair with every dog clipping the ticket along the way.
My intention is to continue driving as long as I can so I will need to cough and suck it up.

I am not ruling out the ZRA and it would be prudent to test run both chairs for fit and feel, also for stowing in the vehicle.

[Tetracyclone]

I've had both ZRAs and 2 ZRs. I liked them all, though the ZRA was a bit heavier. I am only 5'4", 100 lbs, with small hands and I never had a problem with the tubing size. In fact, I put bicycle handlebar tape on the upper bend and put my hands there for transfers and other things- mainly stretching. Lots of people like armrest but I'm glad I got used to putting my hands lower for transfers. It is one less bit of weight and makes it easier to load in the passenger seat across my lap.

[funklab]

I had a ZRA and now have a TRA. Perhaps it’s just what I’m used to, but I transfer holding the frame and I actually find the thicker ZRA frame more comfortable to do so with, but that’s a really minor point.

My ZRA frame did flex more than my TRA. I almost never noticed it though. Only when my front casters would hit something they couldn’t quite get over, the ZRA would have a tendency to flex which I feel contributed to a couple of times I was pitched forward out of my chair, but this was a very rare occurrence. Perhaps once every two years or so.

I’m happy with the TRA, but the ZRA wasn’t bad either. One feature than I didn’t expect was the frame of the TRA keeps my feet from falling off of the footrest in the back, basically replacing the function of a calf strap, so that’s ones less piece of junk on the chair.

[NW-Will]

I'll be honest I never took into account the reinforced frame, and have no experience with that.

Just generally looking at chairs over the years and being somewhat pragmatic about the manufacturers specifications vs real world use, of course your mileage will vary depending how you use your chair and how active you are etc. As someone who rolls city sidewalks, and I would never consider myself 'very' active, compared to some of the compatriots I know. Even though my PT's keep telling me I really punish my chairs !!! At 6' and around 220lbs I know I flexed the hell out of the mono, cantilever tube style frames, and catching a caster in a concrete crack combined with my size just bends the frame to either create a huge spring which flings me out, or just bends the frame.. or the combination of flex and spring would just snap the caster off; an experience I haven't had with the box frame of the TR, I have managed to bend the caster stems a couple of times.. and really wish Tilite would improve the caster design on the TR, but that aint ever going to happen now.

Even when my legs spasm like crazy they would flex the cantilever frames creating a feedback loop that would just continue the spams when combined with the spring in the frame.

Obviously the chair are designed for an average user, and then whether you're small and light or big and heavy you're kind of in the outside of the design criteria of any chair. I would not like to be within 20lbs of the design spec of any of the chairs.. . the TR's weight limit is 265lbs, I really wouldn't like to be 245lbs and rolling a TR to be honest.

I drive regularly in a honda CRV, with an 18" seat wide, extra long TR frame, running 27" wheels, and lift that bad boy over my lap everytime I drive.
Carrying a 50lb 5 year old on my lap and locking her in the child seat in the rear etc..

I've definitely been doing it all wrong for the past 12 years

NW-Will, I'd like to hear your reasoning behind the 180lb, 6ft requirement pushing toward the TR. What makes you say that? I am 6'2" and weigh 230lbs, but found I really like my ZRA. I paid for the "reinforced frame" (not the full heavyweight model, though) because I often carry my kids or a 50lb suitcase on my lap when traveling. I've noticed no flex in the frame. Perhaps I just transfer differently than everyone else here, but I never put my hand on the frame, so a requirement for narrower tubing wouldn't be necessary. I make a fist and push off the seat cushion every time.

Additionally, I'm not sure how often OP has to drive somewhere that requires breaking down the chair and stowing in the passenger seat, but not having the secondary tubing in my ZRA makes it much easier to get between me and the steering wheel when I have to travel for work and get a rental car.

I'm interested in your experience since I don't have any friends in chairs. I know my experience and that is it. It would be really funny to learn I've been doing things all wrong for the 10 years I've been in a chair.

[pfcs49]

NW-Will, I'd like to hear your reasoning behind the 180lb, 6ft requirement pushing toward the TR. What makes you say that? I am 6'2" and weigh 230lbs, but found I really like my ZRA. I paid for the "reinforced frame" (not the full heavyweight model, though) because I often carry my kids or a 50lb suitcase on my lap when traveling. I've noticed no flex in the frame. Perhaps I just transfer differently than everyone else here, but I never put my hand on the frame, so a requirement for narrower tubing wouldn't be necessary. I make a fist and push off the seat cushion every time.

Additionally, I'm not sure how often OP has to drive somewhere that requires breaking down the chair and stowing in the passenger seat, but not having the secondary tubing in my ZRA makes it much easier to get between me and the steering wheel when I have to travel for work and get a rental car.

I'm interested in your experience since I don't have any friends in chairs. I know my experience and that is it. It would be really funny to learn I've been doing things all wrong for the 10 years I've been in a chair.

I'm 5'11". ~200lbs and agree strongly with all your points.
I had a TRC and the frame cracked near the seat-back stress point.
The ZR or whatever the model is called (circa 2000) is lovable! I'd like to find another one.
I've never thought I felt or saw any frame flexing.
The TR's box frame really complicates getting it across to the passenger seat! In fact, I had a hand controlled 88 Golf road race car which had a longish steering wheel hub to accommodate a ring throttle behind the steering wheel rim. My daughter and I drove it to Pocono Raceway on my dealer's plate to do a time trial. Coming home she had me drop her at her mom's; she took the chair out of the trunk and put it on the passenger's seat, and I drove home. When I got there I couldn't get the damn thing across my chest! Took about ten minutes of severe frustration until finally managing to fight it out!
And if I transferred holding the frame, I don't think I could get enough elevation to make it!

Medicare got me a new chair a couple years ago to replace the TRc (in 25 years I'm on my 4th chair). I think it's a ZRA? (1 3/16" mono-tube aluminum with the new style adjustable castor fork mountings). I tried to replicate my old Ti Sport as much as possible, but it is not the same chair at all and I am pretty disgusted with it! The new castor arrangement has a tubular housing, about 41mm OD tagged onto a swoopy looking convex bent oval tube......both of which take up space, limiting accessibility!! Fucking idiots!! And the tube gouges the aero-molding on the rocker panel of my 2015 GTI as well as any finished wood it finds around the house! The old Ti Sport does neither and can get all of two inches closer to the cockpit of my car without damaging it!
The only problem I have with it is that I had my right leg amputated at the knee a year ago and now the chair is very light on it's casters, even with the axle mount at it's rearward limit (it has welded axle struts that only have 3 choices where the camber tube attaches, around +/- 1/2" adjustment.
If I could find another Ti Sport of similar dimensions, I would cut the axle-struts off carefully and grind the weld down carefully until it looked like tubing again, then use the "late model" adjustable brackets to get the CG perfect........and if that worked over some time, I'd do the same to my original chair.

PS: I'm pretty hard on the equipment, although I've stopped jumping bigger curbs. Now that the axle mounts are displaced and the load isn't centered on the axle struts, I'm afraid of the stress caused when dropping off a ten or twelve inch curb. (also, the spinergy spox spokes are getting loose)

[titanium4motion]

TiLite was once called TiSport. Because of the “sport” name many insurance companies refused to cover a sport ‘chairs for everyday use. So, TiSport changed its name to TiLite which then insurance companies did approve. TiSport first made titanium golf club components and they branched off to TiSport then TiLite. I have TiSport TRA serial number 286 just after they were FDA approved. My Action Pro-T just kept breaking bolts until one day the caster bolt broke while I was at my parents’ home. My dad went to the local hardware store and purchase me a new bolt and replaced it. Action Pro-T or Action Technologies went out of business.

TiSport/TiLite had a problem with their TRAs where the frame cracked were the backrest bracket mounted to the frame. I was told they had a batch of titanium with impurities in it that caused this problem. Once I got my frame back and saw how they fixed it it was a poor design problem. They welded a titanium washer on both sizes of the bolt hole to give it more strength. Many TRAs cracked at that point. That point is very weak but today that issue has been taken care of. When I got my ‘chair back it looked like a Macco paint job. New frame with used components on it. If the frame cracked under normal use the whole ‘chair should be made for you, with new components.

If you are new to titanium ‘chairs from TiLite go with the TRA. If you are an experienced user and you know how to configure your own ‘chair go with the ZR series. The ZR frame will snap at the bend if you hit a curb hard enough. The ZR series is more minimalistic in designed and has a weaker frame compared to the TRA.

The TRA is a stronger frame compared to the ZR because of the extra tubing up front.

The choice is yours. Are you new to ‘chairs then go with a TRA. If you are experienced user go with a ZR/ZRA. They are both quality products.

My second TiLite TRA lasted me 13 years before I replaced it. I gave it away to a good home. When I get a new ‘chair I donate them here on CareCure. I had two Action Pro-Ts and a titanium Quickie that I posted and they went in of a matter of minutes to a good home. My first ZR when to a young lady up in Maine.

Be very careful of Out-Front Surge hand rims. The rubber insert will peal away from the rim and Out-Front does not sell replacement inserts. They want you to but another set of hand rims at $350 plus mounting. You have to used super glue to adhere the rubber insert back on. At this point start looking for another set of hand rims.

Best,
Ti

[fuentejps]

tr series for many years, i didnt care for the zr as much, it flexed to much. I currently switched over to a hands-on concept titanium chair if you're paying out of pocket I definitely recommend this

[jscrog]

tr series for many years, i didnt care for the zr as much, it flexed to much. I currently switched over to a hands-on concept titanium chair if you're paying out of pocket I definitely recommend this

Do you have any of your old chairs you would be interested in selling?