The GRIT Freedom Chair is an all-terrain wheelchair used by thousands of riders and organizations around the world, in part because it is a tough chair designed, tested, and proven to withstand some of the toughest rides possible. Today, GRIT Freedom Chairs are the go-to all-terrain wheelchair for parks and cities improving their accessibility. adaptive sports organizations going on steep mountain ascents, and for everyday wheelchair users looking to stay fit and active. But what makes the GRIT Freedom Chair so tough? But what makes the GRIT Freedom Chair so tough?
Why Make a Stronger Wheelchair?
Unfortunately, most wheelchairs are not designed to navigate difficult terrains like grass, gravel, dirt, mud, snow, sand, or anything too dissimilar to pavement or concrete. Getting through these terrains can be brutal on both the rider and the wheelchair—so much so that many wheelchair users have a collection of broken parts and pieces from the equipment that didn’t quite make it.
When the mechanical engineers at MIT learned this, they banded together to make a better wheelchair. To learn what better really meant, the team traveled around the world to interview wheelchair users in some of the most remote regions of the world. Wheelchair users in these areas were often unable to leave their homes—their equipment simply couldn’t handle the environment. After years of field research, early engineering and prototyping at the MIT laboratory, and countless hours learning with wheelchair users, they created the GRIT Freedom Chair used around the globe today.
Read on to learn more about what makes the GRIT Freedom Chair the go-to all-terrain wheelchair for the big, the strong, and the outright gritty.
“This thing is STURDY! It is built to take more abuse than I’ve managed to throw at it. Yes, it is heavier than a daily-use chair, but can you take your daily chair over rocks? through mud? On a beach?”
—Cristin P.
Strength at the Core
At the heart of the GRIT Freedom Chair is its zinc-chromated steel frame, which provides greater resistance to impact and wear than the aluminum typically used in everyday wheelchairs. Tested in the toughest conditions for wheelchairs, from rocky trails to sandy beaches, the Freedom Chair’s robust frame allows it to withstand the extreme forces of off-road environments. The GRIT Freedom Chair has demonstrated its durability across a many terrains, including obstacle courses, mountain peaks, and sandy dunes.
Full-sized GRIT Freedom Chairs come in multiple seat widths to accommodate various kinds of riders. GRIT offers these models with a steep weight capacity of 300 pounds and a two-year warranty against damages. GRIT is also developing a bariatric model that will accept wider and heavier riders than ever before.
Propulsion for All-Terrain Performance
One of the key features of the GRIT Freedom Chair is its lever-propulsion system, which delivers superior control and efficiency for the rider. This system, which makes the Freedom Chair twice as physically efficient as standard wheelchairs, works via the principle of mechanical leverage. The rider pushes the levers to propel the chair forward, providing significantly more power than traditional wheelchair push rims. This design helps conserve energy, making it ideal for long outdoor treks.
A vital part of the GRIT Freedom Chair’s off-road capability is its specialized tires, which are equipped with thick, knobby treads for maximum traction. These mountain bike tires enable the chair to travel over loose surfaces like sand, snow, and gravel without sinking or getting stuck. Additionally, its third wheel helps with directional stability, keeping the chair from tipping on uneven ground or steep inclines.
Obstacle Course Races: Making Tough Tougher
GRIT worked with Spartan Race to create the very first Para-Spartan Race Series, in which adaptive athletes compete through 5-mile obstacle course races (OCRs). These races are designed to test all kinds of athletes, and often feature steep inclines/declines, muddy traverses, challenging obstacles; it is also not uncommon for OCRs to continue through blizzards, hot desert days, and everything in between. Needless to say, any wheelchair used in an OCR needs to be ready for this brutal series of tests.
To better prepare the GRIT Freedom Chairs for this kind of brutal event, GRIT reinforced the seatpan and frame of the chair, redesigned the fork to endure high-speed impact and be easier to maneuver, added rope mounts for pull assistance, included a hyper-responsive drivetrain, and updated the design of the levers.
While these reinforcements were originally intended for just the OCR model of the GRIT Freedom Chair, GRIT has since incorporated them into every model. Today, all GRIT Freedom Chairs are better suited than ever for difficult rides, tough workouts, and the athletes who pursue them. We even carried these same modifications over to the GRIT Junior, so young riders and their families can take advantage of these benefits, too.
“This chair is amazing! So much fun to be able to ride different trail types. The chair is sturdy and I feel comfortable and safe.”
—Robert B.
Strength and Versatility: A Crucial Pair
When designing and engineering the Freedom Chair, GRIT asked: What good is strength without versatility? An outright “tank” of a wheelchair might do fine on a trail, but if there’s no reasonable way to get to the trail with the chair, there’s a serious problem. Wheelchair users need to be able to transport their chairs to the trailhead, so GRIT Freedom Chairs are built with this in mind. Click here to see a video of a rider disassembling her GRIT Freedom Chair in fewer than 40 seconds.
Transporting a GRIT Freedom Chair doesn’t require a trailer or a multi-person team—most riders put their chairs right in the trunk of their cars, giving them plenty of room for other supplies, friends/family, and the freedom of being able to get to the trail, often independently.
The GRIT chair, like its riders, is also versatile in that it can do all kinds of adventures. For example, many GRIT Freedom Chair riders are only interested in riding on the street or sidewalk (whether in organized races or regular workouts starting at their front door). Riding on the street or pavement is quite a bit different than riding on a trail—there’s less risk of tricky terrain like rocks and roots, but an increased importance of speed, drivetrain responsiveness, and the mitigation of rolling resistance.
Because the GRIT Freedom Chair uses off-the-shelf mountain bike parts, it is easy to swap out chainrings, drivetrain assemblies, and even rear tires and wheels so you can make sure every push is efficient (and fun), even on the pavement.
Maintenance & Repair
Whether you’re riding a mountain bike, a GRIT Freedom Chair, or another piece of all-terrain equipment, damage can happen. However, maintenance and repairs of this equipment shouldn’t severely impact your riding. A flat tire or chain or clamp should never prevent someone from getting outside.
This is why we designed the GRIT Freedom Chair to be serviced by any local bike shop. All of the moving parts on the Freedom Chair are off-the-shelf mountain bike parts, so riders can get the parts and assistance they need through the bike shop down the road. Riders can of course order replacement parts through GRIT, too, but a bike shop will often have everything a rider needs.
In Conclusion
The GRIT Freedom Chair is more than just an all-terrain wheelchair; it’s a symbol of resilience and strength. Whether it’s navigating everyday obstacles or embarking on grand adventures, the GRIT Freedom Chair proves that accessibility should not limit exploration. It offers a robust, well-engineered solution for those who seek to reclaim their independence and explore the world around them. Interested in talking to real GRIT riders about their experience? Come on down to Beyond the Pavement and ask the group!
