When your a seating therapist at an SCI center and you spec out your own chair which you will be purchasing with your own money, a lot is at stake (not to mention my "web cred"). Therefore, I have been second guessing myself on my chair selection and specs ever since I placed my order for my 17x16 ZRc on 7/16. After getting a chance to really use it today, I am extremely pleased with how it came out. I mean this chair rocks! Here she is...
20.5" front/16" rear STF heights, 85 degree front frame, 25x1 Spinergy's with Primo Passage tires, handrims mounted close, 4" "non-light up" light-up casters, and small aluminum side guards with quad hole.
I initially ordered the 8.5-12.5" titanium back set at 12" After thinking about it, I called Jimbo at SportAid to change it to a 12.5-16.5" back. This allowed me to remove the extension tubes and plug the tops of the tubing...
"C" Package. No seat taper, V front end with 10.5" footrest width. 2 degree titanium camber tube with 1" wheel spacing...
The Quickie GT Ergo scissor lock fits the ZR's 1.25" tubing using the clamp from the no-charge push-to-lock wheel lock. If I move the rear axle further forward, however, I would need to trim the handles...
An added benefit of a 85 degree frame is the ability to stand the wheelchair on its front frame to remove the wheels. Hence, my economy impact guards...
This story might have had a less happy ending because of my initial "COG" selection--which I almost screwed up royally. I was basing most of my dimensions on a 17x16 Quickie GT which I recently ordered as a loaner chair for our inpatient unit. It's specs are nearly identical to my ZR. It had been spec'd with a COG of 2" and was on the tippy side (The casters lift with each push stroke when sitting on a 2" cushion). Based on this, I initially spec'd out a COG of 2.5" for the ZR. After I placed my order, I recalled that the two ZR's I've posted pics of here in recent months felt pretty stable, so I pulled their specs from my files. Turns out they had COG's of 3.25" and 3.5". Holy sh*t! Time to get a hold of Jimbo (again)! It must of seemed totally illogical to him that I wanted my rear axle to be another 1/2" forward while simultaneously explaining that I had mistakenly arrived at 2.5" using a chair with a similar frame design and a 2" COG that felt too tippy.
I selected 3.0" for the COG just in case I was wrong in my recollection about the stability of those other ZR's. Turns out that even 3.0" on my ZR was a tad too stable. Fortunately, there is 1.25" of fore/aft adjustability. I moved the axle forward by reversing the clamps so that the open part faces forward for cleaner look (as opposed to simply using different holes). An unexpected benefit of this method was that the more rounded corner of the clamp now face toward the rear of the chair where it is less-likely to cause damage when the wheels are removed. My guess is that the current COG in TiLite terms is 3.5". It is still more stable than the GT, and I could move it further forward, but I think I have a good balance where it is at. Had it been built with my original spec of 2.5", the clamps would have had to be moved out to the limit. IMO, Hype62's chair has a better initial COG spec (3.5" I believe). I am interested to see where the oval tubing will be located on his frame. JGNI recently mentioned that COG varied between manufacturers and was over-emphasized. Here's proof...
As for the using the ZRc, it is absolutely AWESOME! I can't believe how smooth and effortless this chair is to push. The segment of oval tubing connecting the caster barrel to the front frame has little noticeable flex (no endos from pushing off the front frame to stand up or reaching down to pick something up) but it absorbs impacts extremely well. Frog Legs are unnecessary and only add weight to this chair.
As requested, pics of me in it will follow...
20.5" front/16" rear STF heights, 85 degree front frame, 25x1 Spinergy's with Primo Passage tires, handrims mounted close, 4" "non-light up" light-up casters, and small aluminum side guards with quad hole.
I initially ordered the 8.5-12.5" titanium back set at 12" After thinking about it, I called Jimbo at SportAid to change it to a 12.5-16.5" back. This allowed me to remove the extension tubes and plug the tops of the tubing...
"C" Package. No seat taper, V front end with 10.5" footrest width. 2 degree titanium camber tube with 1" wheel spacing...
The Quickie GT Ergo scissor lock fits the ZR's 1.25" tubing using the clamp from the no-charge push-to-lock wheel lock. If I move the rear axle further forward, however, I would need to trim the handles...
An added benefit of a 85 degree frame is the ability to stand the wheelchair on its front frame to remove the wheels. Hence, my economy impact guards...
This story might have had a less happy ending because of my initial "COG" selection--which I almost screwed up royally. I was basing most of my dimensions on a 17x16 Quickie GT which I recently ordered as a loaner chair for our inpatient unit. It's specs are nearly identical to my ZR. It had been spec'd with a COG of 2" and was on the tippy side (The casters lift with each push stroke when sitting on a 2" cushion). Based on this, I initially spec'd out a COG of 2.5" for the ZR. After I placed my order, I recalled that the two ZR's I've posted pics of here in recent months felt pretty stable, so I pulled their specs from my files. Turns out they had COG's of 3.25" and 3.5". Holy sh*t! Time to get a hold of Jimbo (again)! It must of seemed totally illogical to him that I wanted my rear axle to be another 1/2" forward while simultaneously explaining that I had mistakenly arrived at 2.5" using a chair with a similar frame design and a 2" COG that felt too tippy.
I selected 3.0" for the COG just in case I was wrong in my recollection about the stability of those other ZR's. Turns out that even 3.0" on my ZR was a tad too stable. Fortunately, there is 1.25" of fore/aft adjustability. I moved the axle forward by reversing the clamps so that the open part faces forward for cleaner look (as opposed to simply using different holes). An unexpected benefit of this method was that the more rounded corner of the clamp now face toward the rear of the chair where it is less-likely to cause damage when the wheels are removed. My guess is that the current COG in TiLite terms is 3.5". It is still more stable than the GT, and I could move it further forward, but I think I have a good balance where it is at. Had it been built with my original spec of 2.5", the clamps would have had to be moved out to the limit. IMO, Hype62's chair has a better initial COG spec (3.5" I believe). I am interested to see where the oval tubing will be located on his frame. JGNI recently mentioned that COG varied between manufacturers and was over-emphasized. Here's proof...
As for the using the ZRc, it is absolutely AWESOME! I can't believe how smooth and effortless this chair is to push. The segment of oval tubing connecting the caster barrel to the front frame has little noticeable flex (no endos from pushing off the front frame to stand up or reaching down to pick something up) but it absorbs impacts extremely well. Frog Legs are unnecessary and only add weight to this chair.
As requested, pics of me in it will follow...
with 16" of seat depth and 85 deg front end. With 3.5 COG that you have now, is it light on the front? Can you possibly go another 1/4 or 1/2 forward and feel stable?
. So I want to know how much bigger is the standard ones compared to the small.
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