Suspension
“Gone are the days when suspension was heavy and energy sapping. For almost a decade, mountain bikers have been enjoying the benefits of air shocks in proper geometries.”
Mountain bikers are almost always navigating bumpy terrain, with huge variations in the kinds of bumps that they’re riding on. Mountain bikers ride on everything from gravel roads (which theoretically would produce the worst kind of frame vibration), to drops dozens of feet high (which require an enormous amount of shock absorption). They also ride up hills, where they need every ounce of energy transferred into the wheels, and when suspension is not ideal.
To accommodate for these diverse conditions, mountain bikers employ aluminum frames with ultra-light air shocks that have adjustable dampening and rebound and can be customized for rider weight. These shocks also have a lockout to turn off suspension as desired.
One look at the technology, and we realized that there was a perfect application for it in our wheelchair design. The Marvel Wheelchair incorporates an air shock absorber, with adjustable dampening and rebound, and a lockout for those times when you don’t want suspension.
