7 replies to this topic

[twisted_ophelia]

Hey guys,

I've been experimenting with the height of my footrest on my Q7 and just curious as to what height (from the floor) you guys like your footplates to be at. I know we should never have our knees be higher than our hip bones (it's bad for pressure on the bum) but do you like it lower or higher? I've seen some people who seem to like having theirs be less than an inch from the floor and I'm wondering why. And I've seen other people keep theirs WAY up, like a good 4-5 up from the floor. Mine is currently about 3-inches from the floor. I know when it's higher, it's easier to clear terrain but I'm just wanting some input and opinions.

Also.... front castor size! I'm thinking of dropping down from the 5-inch casters I've used for years and years (I find them much easier to get through rougher terrain) but they're kinda big and I'm thinking about aesthetics, lol. I'm not really interested in switching to Frog's Legs because from what I understand they don't seem to make THAT much difference. I am already able to get through grass/sand/mud/snow without them. Anyway, just want some opinions on this as well. I know a couple people who have those teeny roller-blade-wheel size front casters and I'm wondering why... agility? I imagine it would be way harder to get through hard terrain with those teeny casters.

Thanks guys!
mimi

[Edinburgh Colin]

4" soft roll casters will be comfy, take care of reasonable rough terain, look quite cool in Aluminiumnand don't drop you too low if you are set for 5's now, should be compatible with the Helium no probs as well. Footplate height should give you a reasonable spread of weight through your thighs and bum, will also depend onn the bucket/dump set into your chair. I don't think you need more than about 2 to 3 inches clearance for the footplate, just enough to allow for uneven ground or loose rocks or stones on your path.

Few variables to consider, but billet Alloy 4" soft rolls or even 3" would get my bet as cool and would compliment a beautifull blonde ina cool chair!!!

[twisted_ophelia]

Edinburgh Colin, on Jun 7 2010, 05:52 PM, said:

4" soft roll casters will be comfy, take care of reasonable rough terain, look quite cool in Aluminiumnand don't drop you too low if you are set for 5's now, should be compatible with the Helium no probs as well. Footplate height should give you a reasonable spread of weight through your thighs and bum, will also depend onn the bucket/dump set into your chair. I don't think you need more than about 2 to 3 inches clearance for the footplate, just enough to allow for uneven ground or loose rocks or stones on your path.

Few variables to consider, but billet Alloy 4" soft rolls or even 3" would get my bet as cool and would compliment a beautifull blonde ina cool chair!!!

I'm worried about dropping down in caster size because I spend so much time outside and don't want to have to wheelie my way through everything, lol. If 4" casters would handle it, I'd def want to try them out. On my Q7 (Helium), I have three adjustable fork settings so I can actually change to whatever caster size without affecting anything negatively on my chair. My dump is 1.5" I believe. I can't recall. It's either 1" or 1.5". I'm wondering why some choose to drop their footplates down so low. I did the People in Motion trade show with Quickie over this past weekend and saw some chair users who's footplates were practically scraping the ground. And then I saw others with their footplates so high up that it just looked bizarre (talking strictly about manual chair here, of course, not power chairs). With a footplate that low (like an inch off the ground), I would imagine things like gravel, rocks, etc., would be an issue?

And blush blush for the compliments

Edited by twisted_ophelia, 07 June 2010 - 10:19 PM.

[Ches]

Id say a handful of those people you saw with the super low/high footplates were probably people who ordered the wrong chair measurements..haha..no telling though.

[twisted_ophelia]

Ches, on Jun 7 2010, 08:03 PM, said:

Id say a handful of those people you saw with the super low/high footplates were probably people who ordered the wrong chair measurements..haha..no telling though.

Very possible! But footplates are adjustable so unless they're completely unaware of that, they must have some kind of reason for the super low (or super high) footplates.

[jimwa]

If you have long legs & don't want to raise the seat of your chair up, you have to lower the footplate to keep your knees down. Or to fit under tables if you have long legs you need your footplates near the ground. Make any sense?

[twisted_ophelia]

jimwa, on Jun 9 2010, 12:12 PM, said:

If you have long legs & don't want to raise the seat of your chair up, you have to lower the footplate to keep your knees down. Or to fit under tables if you have long legs you need your footplates near the ground. Make any sense?

Yeah, def. I have long legs, yeah. My chair is 14" x 15" (actually it's more like 13.5" x 15") and I've had this chair (my Q7) since Christmas time or so but it's my fifth chair since I got hurt and I'm one of those people that tinkers constantly with my chairs to get it 'just right'. I actually lowered my footplate by about 1/4 inch yesterday and it's like 2 1/4 inches off the floor and I'm hoping this will be good for sand/mud. It's super easy to adjust on the Q7 so I can always raise it back up. I'm more just wondering why some people put theirs soooo low, like an inch away from the ground. Then you'd have to wheelie over everything and that'd be a pain in the butt. LOL

I'm definitely thinking of switching my caster size to 4" though. I think that way I'll still get through rough terrain easily enough yet gain some agility maybe. My chair is pretty agile already but like I said I'm always tinkering around with it and trying to make it 'perform' as well as possible.

[COOL Mobility]

I'm lucky to have short legs (my plates are 2.5" off ground at back of plates) and I rarely ground out on kerb crossings etc, but others who are long legged or 6' tall etc still want as low a seat as possible for stability, car/chair transfers, etc but want to be able to get their legs under tables at work/school/restaurants so plates have to go low....

Depends on seating setup, castor to footplate distance (greater the distance more likely to ground out in gutters and small steps) cushion used, chair style foot and leg length etc.

I use 5" x 1.5" soft roll with Frog Legs forks and that really suits me. With 4" and no suspension forks, I almost came out front of chair on footpath cracks that, the day before in my chair with Frog Legs I hadn't noticed. Amazing what a ride difference the unsprung wheels made. I would never have a chair without suspension forks as they really are soooo much more comfortable. Frog Legs are expensive but with 4" wheels they look good and give quite good ride.

If you want to go down to 4" get the wide casters like Frog Legs soft roll wheels as the difference between 1" wide and 1.5" is really noticeable in stuff like loose gravel or hard snow.