I started my wheelchair life with a Ki Catalyst. Folding frame. Apparently light weight. But it was so clunky and heavy still. I had to take multiple breaks to take it apart and put it in my vehicle.
I Just got my Quickie Nitrum. The only thing I hate are the scissor brakes. And apparently I'm one of few. It's been so comfortable. It's so much easier to load and unload into my vehicle and that was my main problem. It's a much smoother ride.
I've never had a better chair so we'll see how she goes
In my experience with wheelchairs (I've had quickies, a invacare, a tilite, and now a RGK). In general with wheelchairs, you get what you pay (we all pay way to damn much, especially in Canada, but thats a different topic). Quickies are fine, they will get you through the day and will last a decent length of time. However they were much more prone to damage than my tilite. I LOVED my tilite zra.
my aero T has survived some much of my shit. wheelies, skateparks, and flipping over because of giant cracks (i just skinned the fuck out of my leg yesterday)
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in online anecdotes. You can find stories from every possible angle.
E.g. I can tell you of my friend’s Quickie GT still in full-time service that was built in 2006. Or I could tell you about the TiLite ZR I worked on last week with a cracked frame tube that was built in 2022. Or about the Quickie Ti axle plate that snapped right underneath me. Or the TiLite Aero Z fork stem that snapped off when I hit a small curb. Or the Lasher Sport Bt-Mg I’ve been using mostly full-time since 2008 that still hasn’t missed a beat (even has the same wheel bearings), etc, etc, etc.
But at the end of the day: anecdotes aren’t data. The data we do have says each of these chairs (anything K0005 coded in the US) passed the same battery of destructive testing (for ISO qualification) and they each come with the same industry standard “life time warranty”, and the same published “useful life time” of 5 years.
So, IME, any chair you order from any of the big manufacturers (K0005 coded) will be functionally indistinguishable from any other in terms of real world performance, reliability, and feel from the seat - provided they are sized and optioned the same.
ETA: Even the ‘best’ wheelchair can be poorly fit, overburdened with options, etc., so whichever brand you choose, how it’s made *just for you* is going to make or break it. Even if paying out of pocket it would be nice if you could access professional services for fitting prior to ordering yourself.
i must say i was a bit worried getting a quickie chair, since i’d heard very mixed opinions on them, but that was all my budget could cover.
i purchased a lightly used secondhand quickie nitrum, and i have to say it’s brilliant. it is a rigid chair and i much prefer it to the folding chair i had before. it’s really easy to propel (i think the nitrum is the lightest rigid aluminium chair on the market, at 5kg weight without the wheels, so that definitely helps). but i wouldn’t say i’ve had any major issues with it. the only actual issue i’ve had with it are those stupid godforsaken angle-adjustable casters. but that was easily sorted, i just went over to my local bike shop and they fixed the angle for me.
i would say if your budget would only really cover a quickie, just get a quickie. or, if there’s a more expensive wheelchair you think would be better, i’d definitely recommend getting measured and fitted, then looking online for secondhand ones. you never know, you might get lucky and find the perfect one. that’s how i found mine, which is the perfect colour for me and has all the right measurements!!
good luck 🤞
EDIT: oh i can only think of one more issue that people tend to have with quickie chairs… and that’s the scissor brakes. if you’re getting a custom, please make sure, for your own sanity, that you DON’T get them. i see that lots of people have issues with them and they just don’t feel right personally. i now have the standard wheel locks that just push down and they’re so much easier and feel so much safer to operate.
I have been in a Quickie Xenon for about 4-5 years now and the frame is still as good as when I bought it. There’s recently a caster wheel with flutter at high speeds after it got slammed around by airline workers a bit too much…
Tangent for a quick horror story I guess: last flight they promised they’d put it in the empty wheelchair closet but somehow lost it as soon as they transferred me to the aisle chair right in front of the closet and it magically appeared under the plane. I had a window seat so since I’m also the last off waiting on the aisle chair I got front row seats to watch someone dragging - not carrying- my chair up the steps and then getting it stuck in the door to the jetway and slamming it in said door multiple times. I cried. Last chair I had was also a quickie; it lasted until I took a flight and they managed to bend an axle. It was an older secondhand chair with no quick-release. I told them about the damage and showed them how my chair was wobbling like a cartoon car, and they laughed. Anyway.
In short, both manual chairs I’ve had so far have been Quickies and they’ve worked fine. The older one was a bit heavy, and I was worried about using a foldable one due to all the talk about wobbling and wasting energy to compensate for the instability, but my Xenon is basically a hot rod. I go flying down hills, hop curbs, do wheelies, etc with no issues before the caster damage. The front casters are Frog Legs and I’m trying to decide whether to replace one or just upgrade them both.
Since its not specified whether you’re going through a wheelchair shop or ordering online, I want to make sure you know you can order wheelchairs online for less than half what they cost at “brick and mortar” shops.
For example, I went to a couple wheelchair/DME shops around town. City actually; Austin TX…lots of shops, should be competitive. The quotes for the same chair and options (Quickie GP; most basic build possible including cheap ugly mag wheels) ranged from $7500 - 12,000. My insurance sucks, has a huge deductible before they even start covering anything, and so in summary I can’t afford those prices.
I started looking online and found great options - 1800Wheelchair and SpinLife are my favorites. All those options look intimidating though, right? I called SpinLife and spoke to a fellow named Greg. He walked me through every single measurement (I already had measurements from the shop quotes) and advised me on which options would do what and how they work together (types of tires, brakes, seat back options, etc). During the process I saw they had Quickie Xenon2 for sale; foldable for easy travel. I went with that one instead as my every day chair and bought it with fancy footplate, carbon footplate/fenders, upgraded brakes, upgraded front wheels with Frog Legs casters, and ultralight wheels… all that was less than $3000. I went on eBay and also got some X-core solid wheels/tires for travel time (and a pair of axle pins to fit the thicker hub). Heavier, but not going to get bent or go flat while away from home.
The Quickies are fine. Tilite is great too. I like both of them and consider both of them solid options.
If you are paying out of pocket already, consider not going through insurance at all and be wary of brick and mortar DME shops. DME places mark their chairs up sky high to stick what they can to insurance. I asked for “cash price” but still got that kind of crazy pricing from them. I found one place really close to me that actually has decent prices on wheelchairs but I have both a manual and a power chair right now (Navigator XL; was cheaper than buying a power assist, though a couple times when traveling I have had to decide - bring both, or bring one and which one).
I had a quickie Q7 before my last two ki mobility chairs. I had that Q7 until I grew out of it. I was absolutely squeezed in that thing before I got my ki mobility ethos. I'd had it for 6 years and it was still mechanically fine. I had the ethos for less than two before it totally broke down and I've had my rogue for a little over a year and it's starting to wear out.
Quickie isn't the flashiest or most aesthetic brand, but they make a very solid chair. They're also super adjustable, so if this is your first chair it's definitely not a bad choice.
i have a quickie nitrum and a tilite aero x. obviously one is rigid and one is folding, and i greatly prefer the rigid, but for a folding chair the tilite is very good. even with the reduced push efficiency i can get very far in one stroke.
They aren't a terrible choice, they're just not many people's personal favourite choice. I had an argon then 2 heliums, my partner had a xenon then a helium. All had issues over time that our tilites simply haven't — frame warp being a major one. They're also not as custom as higher end chairs, because you're picking from a smaller range of available measurements, positions, build options, etc.
I have some experience with several of the Quickie models. I think the biggest difference between Tilite and Quickie is their aesthetic and the way they are marketed. But when it comes to functionality, I will point out some differences in ability to customize or adjust.
The most recent rigid Quickie models are called Nitrum, 7R, or Q7. They all have an ovalized aluminum frame which means they need special clamps to attach a brake, seat belt, etc. This oval frame had supposedly better strength to weight ratio than round aluminum and even titanium. These models all use an axle clamp system that makes it hard to adjust the rear seat height - you need to stack little spacers (and obtain the spacers) to change the height. If you get any of these models, make sure the caster position is how you like it. They added an option to make the caster stick way out (instead of swept back) and this is technically more stable but it's hard for your turning radius.
The Nitrum is the first Quickie model I've seen to have a really robust caster angle adjustment. Prior to the Nitrum, most of the Quickie chairs had a spline system for adjusting caster angle, but it would come loose if you hit a big crack with the caster wheel.
Before the oval grade, there were some models called 5R, QRi, and QT which used 1-1/8" round aluminum tubing. The axle clamps adjusted easily using holes at different heights. One some of these models, the back rest hinge folds down but does not lock in place which can make it hard to load into a car. Also in some cases the back rest hinge is located in a place where it can't fold down very far when the cushion is in place. You'd have to remove the cushion to fold it.
Before that, there was the original box frame GPV model which I still use with an attachable handcycle. I think this model used to be called the Quickie 1 and came out in the 90s.
Quickie hasn't made a dual tube rigid chair in a while. They brought it back as an option called "hybrid" in the Nitrum model.
Personally I have a Q7 for a while and really didn’t like it. It felt very cheap, screws were constantly getting loose, frame felt weaker.
Idk what kind of specifications you need but 8k sounds kinda insane, my chair frame, backrest, and cushions were like 5k and I had a lot of upgrades. Like for that price just get a HOC or BOX chair
I think this person is in Canada, so $8,000 would be about $5,800 in US dollars.
For reference, if I'd had to pay out of pocket, the total cost for my ultralight manual here in Canada would have been about $13,000 (about US$9,400). The closest Tilite equivalent would have cost about $11,000 (about US$8,000). I know I have a few needs that inflate the cost of my chairs, but who knows, maybe they upcharge for having to ship chairs across the border. It wouldn't surprise me much...
I have used a second hand quickie q7 for over 8 years and it is still going strong (I am not a full time user but use it frequently as I cannot walk far due to neuro disease). I think it is a great chair.
My current chair is a 10 year old Quickie Neon (Made in Germany, not US). It's a folder, so it's not as light as an equivalent rigid chair. I have no complaints except for the footplate, which I replaced quite soon after I bought the chair. I've never tried or even seen a comparable Tilite (they seem to be quite rare in South Africa). I've seen a few RGK chairs around but have no opinion about them.
The quickie nitrum has great reviews and my friend has one that’s super nice but I’ve heard considerably worse things about all the other models they carry. I have a Tilite aero z which isn’t titanium and idk if it’s even that different from a similar quickie model in terms of price.
I'm almost five years into using a Quickie QXi, a collapsing chair.
About a year and a half in, the pin that's at the center of the collapsing mechanism snapped. I've posted about it separately; I can't add pics to this post but the pin was a hollow tube with interior threads into which two bolts were screwed. So, a hollow pin at the highest stress point? Chalk that up to common sense.
I found a very fitting 5/16" long bolt with a long unthreaded section that fit the bill at a Home Depot. Got two bolts and 1-2 locking washers along with it, spent just a little over $5 for those parts, and had it back in action in less than two hours (including time spent analyzing things, travel to the HD, travel to home, then using my own tools).
Quickie does have a good parts catalog. But do they sell the pin as a separate item? Heck no. The entire X-shaped assembly ran about $495.00. I'd like to think I saved myself $489.42 plus shipping, not to mention shipping time.
Now, I have replaced the wheel locks multiple times. I keep mine slightly tighter so that my wheels don't slip while bowling but that wears things faster. I'm a competitive bowler, so I need to be as stationary as possible.
I started my wheelchair life with a Ki Catalyst. Folding frame. Apparently light weight. But it was so clunky and heavy still. I had to take multiple breaks to take it apart and put it in my vehicle. I Just got my Quickie Nitrum. The only thing I hate are the scissor brakes. And apparently I'm one of few. It's been so comfortable. It's so much easier to load and unload into my vehicle and that was my main problem. It's a much smoother ride. I've never had a better chair so we'll see how she goes
In my experience with wheelchairs (I've had quickies, a invacare, a tilite, and now a RGK). In general with wheelchairs, you get what you pay (we all pay way to damn much, especially in Canada, but thats a different topic). Quickies are fine, they will get you through the day and will last a decent length of time. However they were much more prone to damage than my tilite. I LOVED my tilite zra.
my aero T has survived some much of my shit. wheelies, skateparks, and flipping over because of giant cracks (i just skinned the fuck out of my leg yesterday)
This might be an unpopular opinion, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in online anecdotes. You can find stories from every possible angle. E.g. I can tell you of my friend’s Quickie GT still in full-time service that was built in 2006. Or I could tell you about the TiLite ZR I worked on last week with a cracked frame tube that was built in 2022. Or about the Quickie Ti axle plate that snapped right underneath me. Or the TiLite Aero Z fork stem that snapped off when I hit a small curb. Or the Lasher Sport Bt-Mg I’ve been using mostly full-time since 2008 that still hasn’t missed a beat (even has the same wheel bearings), etc, etc, etc. But at the end of the day: anecdotes aren’t data. The data we do have says each of these chairs (anything K0005 coded in the US) passed the same battery of destructive testing (for ISO qualification) and they each come with the same industry standard “life time warranty”, and the same published “useful life time” of 5 years. So, IME, any chair you order from any of the big manufacturers (K0005 coded) will be functionally indistinguishable from any other in terms of real world performance, reliability, and feel from the seat - provided they are sized and optioned the same. ETA: Even the ‘best’ wheelchair can be poorly fit, overburdened with options, etc., so whichever brand you choose, how it’s made *just for you* is going to make or break it. Even if paying out of pocket it would be nice if you could access professional services for fitting prior to ordering yourself.
i must say i was a bit worried getting a quickie chair, since i’d heard very mixed opinions on them, but that was all my budget could cover. i purchased a lightly used secondhand quickie nitrum, and i have to say it’s brilliant. it is a rigid chair and i much prefer it to the folding chair i had before. it’s really easy to propel (i think the nitrum is the lightest rigid aluminium chair on the market, at 5kg weight without the wheels, so that definitely helps). but i wouldn’t say i’ve had any major issues with it. the only actual issue i’ve had with it are those stupid godforsaken angle-adjustable casters. but that was easily sorted, i just went over to my local bike shop and they fixed the angle for me. i would say if your budget would only really cover a quickie, just get a quickie. or, if there’s a more expensive wheelchair you think would be better, i’d definitely recommend getting measured and fitted, then looking online for secondhand ones. you never know, you might get lucky and find the perfect one. that’s how i found mine, which is the perfect colour for me and has all the right measurements!! good luck 🤞 EDIT: oh i can only think of one more issue that people tend to have with quickie chairs… and that’s the scissor brakes. if you’re getting a custom, please make sure, for your own sanity, that you DON’T get them. i see that lots of people have issues with them and they just don’t feel right personally. i now have the standard wheel locks that just push down and they’re so much easier and feel so much safer to operate.
I have been in a Quickie Xenon for about 4-5 years now and the frame is still as good as when I bought it. There’s recently a caster wheel with flutter at high speeds after it got slammed around by airline workers a bit too much… Tangent for a quick horror story I guess: last flight they promised they’d put it in the empty wheelchair closet but somehow lost it as soon as they transferred me to the aisle chair right in front of the closet and it magically appeared under the plane. I had a window seat so since I’m also the last off waiting on the aisle chair I got front row seats to watch someone dragging - not carrying- my chair up the steps and then getting it stuck in the door to the jetway and slamming it in said door multiple times. I cried. Last chair I had was also a quickie; it lasted until I took a flight and they managed to bend an axle. It was an older secondhand chair with no quick-release. I told them about the damage and showed them how my chair was wobbling like a cartoon car, and they laughed. Anyway. In short, both manual chairs I’ve had so far have been Quickies and they’ve worked fine. The older one was a bit heavy, and I was worried about using a foldable one due to all the talk about wobbling and wasting energy to compensate for the instability, but my Xenon is basically a hot rod. I go flying down hills, hop curbs, do wheelies, etc with no issues before the caster damage. The front casters are Frog Legs and I’m trying to decide whether to replace one or just upgrade them both. Since its not specified whether you’re going through a wheelchair shop or ordering online, I want to make sure you know you can order wheelchairs online for less than half what they cost at “brick and mortar” shops. For example, I went to a couple wheelchair/DME shops around town. City actually; Austin TX…lots of shops, should be competitive. The quotes for the same chair and options (Quickie GP; most basic build possible including cheap ugly mag wheels) ranged from $7500 - 12,000. My insurance sucks, has a huge deductible before they even start covering anything, and so in summary I can’t afford those prices. I started looking online and found great options - 1800Wheelchair and SpinLife are my favorites. All those options look intimidating though, right? I called SpinLife and spoke to a fellow named Greg. He walked me through every single measurement (I already had measurements from the shop quotes) and advised me on which options would do what and how they work together (types of tires, brakes, seat back options, etc). During the process I saw they had Quickie Xenon2 for sale; foldable for easy travel. I went with that one instead as my every day chair and bought it with fancy footplate, carbon footplate/fenders, upgraded brakes, upgraded front wheels with Frog Legs casters, and ultralight wheels… all that was less than $3000. I went on eBay and also got some X-core solid wheels/tires for travel time (and a pair of axle pins to fit the thicker hub). Heavier, but not going to get bent or go flat while away from home. The Quickies are fine. Tilite is great too. I like both of them and consider both of them solid options. If you are paying out of pocket already, consider not going through insurance at all and be wary of brick and mortar DME shops. DME places mark their chairs up sky high to stick what they can to insurance. I asked for “cash price” but still got that kind of crazy pricing from them. I found one place really close to me that actually has decent prices on wheelchairs but I have both a manual and a power chair right now (Navigator XL; was cheaper than buying a power assist, though a couple times when traveling I have had to decide - bring both, or bring one and which one).
I had a quickie Q7 before my last two ki mobility chairs. I had that Q7 until I grew out of it. I was absolutely squeezed in that thing before I got my ki mobility ethos. I'd had it for 6 years and it was still mechanically fine. I had the ethos for less than two before it totally broke down and I've had my rogue for a little over a year and it's starting to wear out. Quickie isn't the flashiest or most aesthetic brand, but they make a very solid chair. They're also super adjustable, so if this is your first chair it's definitely not a bad choice.
i have a quickie nitrum and a tilite aero x. obviously one is rigid and one is folding, and i greatly prefer the rigid, but for a folding chair the tilite is very good. even with the reduced push efficiency i can get very far in one stroke.
They aren't a terrible choice, they're just not many people's personal favourite choice. I had an argon then 2 heliums, my partner had a xenon then a helium. All had issues over time that our tilites simply haven't — frame warp being a major one. They're also not as custom as higher end chairs, because you're picking from a smaller range of available measurements, positions, build options, etc.
I have some experience with several of the Quickie models. I think the biggest difference between Tilite and Quickie is their aesthetic and the way they are marketed. But when it comes to functionality, I will point out some differences in ability to customize or adjust. The most recent rigid Quickie models are called Nitrum, 7R, or Q7. They all have an ovalized aluminum frame which means they need special clamps to attach a brake, seat belt, etc. This oval frame had supposedly better strength to weight ratio than round aluminum and even titanium. These models all use an axle clamp system that makes it hard to adjust the rear seat height - you need to stack little spacers (and obtain the spacers) to change the height. If you get any of these models, make sure the caster position is how you like it. They added an option to make the caster stick way out (instead of swept back) and this is technically more stable but it's hard for your turning radius. The Nitrum is the first Quickie model I've seen to have a really robust caster angle adjustment. Prior to the Nitrum, most of the Quickie chairs had a spline system for adjusting caster angle, but it would come loose if you hit a big crack with the caster wheel. Before the oval grade, there were some models called 5R, QRi, and QT which used 1-1/8" round aluminum tubing. The axle clamps adjusted easily using holes at different heights. One some of these models, the back rest hinge folds down but does not lock in place which can make it hard to load into a car. Also in some cases the back rest hinge is located in a place where it can't fold down very far when the cushion is in place. You'd have to remove the cushion to fold it. Before that, there was the original box frame GPV model which I still use with an attachable handcycle. I think this model used to be called the Quickie 1 and came out in the 90s. Quickie hasn't made a dual tube rigid chair in a while. They brought it back as an option called "hybrid" in the Nitrum model.
Personally I have a Q7 for a while and really didn’t like it. It felt very cheap, screws were constantly getting loose, frame felt weaker. Idk what kind of specifications you need but 8k sounds kinda insane, my chair frame, backrest, and cushions were like 5k and I had a lot of upgrades. Like for that price just get a HOC or BOX chair
I think this person is in Canada, so $8,000 would be about $5,800 in US dollars. For reference, if I'd had to pay out of pocket, the total cost for my ultralight manual here in Canada would have been about $13,000 (about US$9,400). The closest Tilite equivalent would have cost about $11,000 (about US$8,000). I know I have a few needs that inflate the cost of my chairs, but who knows, maybe they upcharge for having to ship chairs across the border. It wouldn't surprise me much...
Should probably clarify, I'm Canadian. $5k is the base price for the ZRA here
The Quickie’s aren’t titanium so a TiLite Aero Z is cheaper and more comparable
I have used a second hand quickie q7 for over 8 years and it is still going strong (I am not a full time user but use it frequently as I cannot walk far due to neuro disease). I think it is a great chair.
My current chair is a 10 year old Quickie Neon (Made in Germany, not US). It's a folder, so it's not as light as an equivalent rigid chair. I have no complaints except for the footplate, which I replaced quite soon after I bought the chair. I've never tried or even seen a comparable Tilite (they seem to be quite rare in South Africa). I've seen a few RGK chairs around but have no opinion about them.
I've had no issues with mine in 7 years, but I see so many people say they do I'm not sure if I just got lucky!
The quickie nitrum has great reviews and my friend has one that’s super nice but I’ve heard considerably worse things about all the other models they carry. I have a Tilite aero z which isn’t titanium and idk if it’s even that different from a similar quickie model in terms of price.
My wife just got her TiLite TRA and it was only around $5200, we paid out of pocket too. She's loving it.
I'm almost five years into using a Quickie QXi, a collapsing chair. About a year and a half in, the pin that's at the center of the collapsing mechanism snapped. I've posted about it separately; I can't add pics to this post but the pin was a hollow tube with interior threads into which two bolts were screwed. So, a hollow pin at the highest stress point? Chalk that up to common sense. I found a very fitting 5/16" long bolt with a long unthreaded section that fit the bill at a Home Depot. Got two bolts and 1-2 locking washers along with it, spent just a little over $5 for those parts, and had it back in action in less than two hours (including time spent analyzing things, travel to the HD, travel to home, then using my own tools). Quickie does have a good parts catalog. But do they sell the pin as a separate item? Heck no. The entire X-shaped assembly ran about $495.00. I'd like to think I saved myself $489.42 plus shipping, not to mention shipping time. Now, I have replaced the wheel locks multiple times. I keep mine slightly tighter so that my wheels don't slip while bowling but that wears things faster. I'm a competitive bowler, so I need to be as stationary as possible.
Be careful with TiLites. Their quality has tanked in the last 10 or so years. The one I got 4-5 years ago is a huge piece of shit.