I had the opportunity to totally disassemble my chair as I needed to replace its frame due to some cracking. What really amazed me is that the frame on your typical titanium chair is not the heavy part, actually it is ridiculusly light. The added weight comes from such parts as the casters, the brakes, the axle tube, and upholstery (mostly in that order). This got me thinking, while all the wheelchair makers are going on about how their titanium chair is the lightest, we are still dealing with heavy clunky hardware weighing down the total weights. As an example, the caster assemblies are pretty heavy, even when you have hollow caster stems, because those caster stems are made of steel. I see that they make titanium quick-release axles, why not titanium axle stems? That in itself would shave 1-2 lbs at least off a chair. Then there are the brakes (made of steel also). How about some titanium brakes (or even hard-anodized aluminum)? These two assemblies stuck me as something that really could use some improvement when you are looking to make your chair ridiculously light. While I might be splitting hairs on this subject, I still think it would be really cool to be able to have these options in the quest of not having to lift up too much weight when breaking down a chair for putting it in your car (and reducing the weight that you push around).
While I am babbling about this stuff, I thought I would throw out some tips on how to make your chair light as possible. So here we go...
1. Look at the back of your chair. Are you running something like a J2 back with a steel panel? That in itself is somewhere around 5 lbs of dead weight. Maybe switching to a hard back made of plastic like one of those Jay 'extreme' backs would be good for you. Or, you could simply get a sling back for the ultimate in lightness (and the thing will fold down completely and not have all sorts of clunky hardware attachments).
2. What sort of tires are you running? Do you have those 'everyday' tires? Those are pretty heavy, switching to something like a Primo V-Trac tire will shave a lb. or two off your wheels, and the higher pressure these tires use dramatically reduces rolling resistance.
3. Are you running standard wheelchair wheels? While this is a relatively costly option, those Spinergy wheels with spokes that are not made of steel are noticably lighter than your typical wheelchair wheel.
Well, that is all the random thoughts I have for now on the subject of super-light wheelchairs. Hope it helped with how you are setting up your chair and gave you some ideas on how to improve yours. If anyone has any other ideas on this subject, throw them out there, I would love to hear about them!
While I am babbling about this stuff, I thought I would throw out some tips on how to make your chair light as possible. So here we go...
1. Look at the back of your chair. Are you running something like a J2 back with a steel panel? That in itself is somewhere around 5 lbs of dead weight. Maybe switching to a hard back made of plastic like one of those Jay 'extreme' backs would be good for you. Or, you could simply get a sling back for the ultimate in lightness (and the thing will fold down completely and not have all sorts of clunky hardware attachments).
2. What sort of tires are you running? Do you have those 'everyday' tires? Those are pretty heavy, switching to something like a Primo V-Trac tire will shave a lb. or two off your wheels, and the higher pressure these tires use dramatically reduces rolling resistance.
3. Are you running standard wheelchair wheels? While this is a relatively costly option, those Spinergy wheels with spokes that are not made of steel are noticably lighter than your typical wheelchair wheel.
Well, that is all the random thoughts I have for now on the subject of super-light wheelchairs. Hope it helped with how you are setting up your chair and gave you some ideas on how to improve yours. If anyone has any other ideas on this subject, throw them out there, I would love to hear about them!
Comment