15 replies to this topic

[Smudge]

Hi All,

I’m thinking (that hurts!) of fitting ‘Frog Legs’ forks and casters to my Quickie Argon Ti (Quickie GTi for those members in the USA), and I am seeking opinions and experience from anyone who has these already or has had them in the past.

In Europe, they are not on option on the build sheet for the Argon Ti, but they are an option on the build sheet of the Quickie GTi in the states!!!

I currently have the standard long / wide forks and 5” casters, (even though they measure out at 4”3/4’).

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Smudge

Edited by Smudge, 01 April 2009 - 04:37 PM.

[ems]

to be honest they are like marmite ;) You either love them or you hate them! I had a pair of them yrs ago, I lasted a two weeks, and I took them off. I have always had cantilever chairs, and I'm not especially tall so my max seat length is 15".. my castors are never very far away from my back wheels giving me quite "tippy forward" chairs.. having even more flex on the front of the frame, just tipped me out constantly!!! Every little bounce on even small bits of gravel jsut shot me out.. I had frog leg wide castors 4 x 1.5.. always had them , so it wasnt thin front castors to blame.
Years later I now realise I like to "feel" whats under my chair, like you do when you were walking.

I've just come out of a quickie Ti, which was pretty flexible at the front, not too disimilar to the argon

[Jax]

I use the GTi with froglegs with 4" wheels. One thing you might want to do if you do decide to go with the froglegs is get the rear suspension put on the chair too. Takes about 15 minutes to swap the attachments out. Also, the bigger wheels on the froglegs can make a good bit of difference. The bigger wheels take bumps and crevasses more easily.

I like the froglegs, but ems is right, you either love them or hate them. I have an 85 degree frame angle and a 16"X15" seat. I do notice that the front is a bit tippy when reaching for things, but that is inherent on most chairs with high frame angle and shallow seat. The froglegs are a good idea, but without the rear suspension to go with them, the GTi (or any other chair without rear suspension really) is still quite a rough ride. I have rods from T10 into my pelvis, so I am a bit biased.

Best wishes,
JAX

[russ1]

Hi

I've had frogs legs on one of my chairs for a while now and to be honest the disadvantages outweigh the advantages in my opinion, they tend to make the front end dive when you hit things, this feels very disconcerting and added to the front end flexibility of the Argon would be very wierd. The suspension effect isn't that great and trying to get them set up to eliminate castor flutter is the devils own job.

A much better bet is to get the 1.5" wide soft roll castors, save a bundle of cash and get most of the advantages without the problems. I think the wide soft rolls are the best compromise for most applications.

[wheelywendy]

hi ems right you love or hate them, i had them on my lever wheelchai and that did really need them , i got on well with them especially on grass and tracks, i dont feel my davinci needs them i just use the froglegs castors on that (with the normal castor housing) but i am considering them for my 2nd chair a bromakin, but cant afford them til i've sold my lever operated chair.
on my lever chair i did find them great especially as they dont ocelate as much as standard castors so make it easier to keep in straight llines at speed and gave comfortable ride across fields
i think your best bet is to try and find a dealer that will let you test drive a couple of chairs with them on, that way you'll get a feel for them.

[Hawkeye]

I have the Frog Legs forks and their 6" soft roll casters on both my HP2 and GTX. I really like them and wouldn't be without them. The older set is almost 7 years old and hasn't given me any problems.

I have a lot of trouble with spasms. They can even be set off by rolling over a fairly smooth door jam. The Frog Legs smooth out my ride considerably.

Good Luck...

Joe

[Yasko]

I have froglegs with 4" wheels on both of my wheelchairs (Quickie XTR and Ti ZR) and I must say, I love it. If you have an option to try it out, go for it!

[airart1]

they will throw ya, but there nice..............

[Smudge]

Thanks very much for all your replies.

I have decided to order a set from sportaid and give them a try.

Smudge

[a la carte]

I modified my Quickie XTR to fit 26" rear wheels and Frog Legs with the 6" soft tires. The Frog Legs improved the ease of going over gravel, door thresholds, grass, etc. by ten to a hundred times... That's largely due to the compliance of the "rubber baby buggy bumper." Really, they're amazing!

BUT, I'm still having an issue with caster flutter, especially when loaded down with a weight on my lap compressing the rear suspension, like going through an airport with my travel bag on my lap...

I still believe that mounting the caster spindles with some "negative caster(?)" (the axis tilted with the top forward of the bottom) would eliminate the problem. I posted about this some time ago and have not had a chance to try it with the necessary modifications yet.

The spindles on an XTR may be farther forward than some other chairs, but the Frog Legs seem to have the same amount of "trail" as the previous forks I had, so there is no difference it the propensity to tip forward.

I am very impressed with the performance difference, overall.

[Smudge]

Thanks very much everybody, I have taken the plunge and ordered a set of Frog Legs and Casters from Sportaid, (even with the current $US to £GBP it's still a lot chaeper than buying here in the UK), and they should hopefully be here in about ten days, will let you know how I get on with them.

Thanks

Smudge

[Chilepepper]

To me the are the best caster/forks that I have yet to have. I did not know how good they were until I wore them out. I ended up just putting standard caster/forks and man was it ever a hard ride. I can feel every crack dip bump I go over. I should have just invested in new frog legs. Try them out then try standard and you will see the difference.

Smudge, on Apr 1 2009, 01:02 PM, said:

Hi All,

I’m thinking (that hurts!) of fitting ‘Frog Legs’ forks and casters to my Quickie Argon Ti (Quickie GTi for those members in the USA), and I am seeking opinions and experience from anyone who has these already or has had them in the past.

In Europe, they are not on option on the build sheet for the Argon Ti, but they are an option on the build sheet of the Quickie GTi in the states!!!

I currently have the standard long / wide forks and 5” casters, (even though they measure out at 4”3/4’).

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Smudge

[a la carte]

Chilepepper, on Apr 10 2009, 03:32 PM, said:

To me the are the best caster/forks that I have yet to have. I did not know how good they were until I wore them out. I

What wore out first? Mine are still in good shape - just wondering what to look out for?

[Chilepepper]

Ooops yes I was talking about the frog legs. To me they are the best that I've used thus far. There is only one thing that I don't like about them is that after awhile they tend to flutter, and correcting that can be a pain in the ass. But even with the flutter the frog legs are best for me.
The next chair I get will have frog legs.

Chilepepper, on Apr 10 2009, 08:02 PM, said:

To me the are the best caster/forks that I have yet to have. I did not know how good they were until I wore them out. I ended up just putting standard caster/forks and man was it ever a hard ride. I can feel every crack dip bump I go over. I should have just invested in new frog legs. Try them out then try standard and you will see the difference.

Smudge, on Apr 1 2009, 01:02 PM, said:

Hi All,

I’m thinking (that hurts!) of fitting ‘Frog Legs’ forks and casters to my Quickie Argon Ti (Quickie GTi for those members in the USA), and I am seeking opinions and experience from anyone who has these already or has had them in the past.

In Europe, they are not on option on the build sheet for the Argon Ti, but they are an option on the build sheet of the Quickie GTi in the states!!!

I currently have the standard long / wide forks and 5” casters, (even though they measure out at 4”3/4’).

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks

Smudge

Edited by Chilepepper, 11 April 2009 - 11:04 AM.

[wheelywendy]

Smudge, on Apr 10 2009, 12:43 PM, said:

Thanks very much everybody, I have taken the plunge and ordered a set of Frog Legs and Casters from Sportaid, (even with the current $US to £GBP it's still a lot chaeper than buying here in the UK), and they should hopefully be here in about ten days, will let you know how I get on with them.

Thanks

Smudge

smidge can i be cheaky and ask how much they are from sport aid inc postage? as i want some more for my bromakin chair.
thanks wendy

[Smudge]

wheelywendy, on Apr 11 2009, 04:11 PM, said:

smidge can i be cheaky and ask how much they are from sport aid inc postage? as i want some more for my bromakin chair.
thanks wendy

Hi Wendy,

The Frog Legs forks (pair) was $233.50, the 5" Soft Roll Casters (with aluminium hubs) were $76 (pair) and shipping was $55.00, so $364.50US, so in the region of £250.00GBP. They don't hold the forks for the Quickie Argon Ti in stock, as they are a non-standard fitting, (the Argon Ti has a knuckle joint bolt fixing), but they have given me an estimate of 7 to 10 business days to get them in stock, and then another 3 to 5 days for shipping.

To make sure I ordered the right parts, I contacted Susanne Smith (susanne@froglegsinc.com) at Frog Legs Inc. direct and she was very helpful, I would suggest you do the same, as neither Sportaid or Frog Legs show Bromakin in their list of fixings, (they do not show the Argon Ti either).

Hope this helps in your decision!

Smudge