If you’re interested, click here and contact me.

http://www.marvelpro.com/docs/letter-of-necessity.pdf

Feel free to use it as a template, but be sure to only make claims that are genuine – some of the elements of the letter may not apply to you. The letter is a PDF. If you would like an editable MS Word version, please drop me a note.

Jeff: You know, I was one of the naysayers, and have found that the suspension thing taking away from power is such a myth – I’ve always been so hard core about performance that I thought that anything that took away from putting power into the wheels would be a bad thing. One of the first things that I insisted on in the design phase was the ability to lock out the suspension, either with a solid link or a shock with a lockout. Christian incorporated that into the design, humouring me, but to be honest with you, I almost never lock my shock out now. It helps so much with my lower back pain and spasms that I’m a total convert. The only time I lock it out is when I go to the gym to lift weights or when I have to lift something heavy in real life. Even going up hills I leave it on, because with the adjustable damp and rebound, I’ve got it set so that it only fully engages when I go off curbs or other drops; otherwise, it only gives me a little bit of relief from everyday bumps and so on – just enough so that my back isn’t freaking out all day.

Christian: I told you so.

Jeff: I’m going to be polite because we’re being interviewed.

Honestly though – can you think of another vehicle that doesn’t have suspension? I mean, even skateboards have suspension, and there’s a reason for that – suspension makes everything more efficient.

Christian Bagg: Well, first of all, if it’s a “game”, then we should all play by the same rules, right?

The thing that bugs me the most about it is the lack of consistency – some of the weights are with wheels, some without, some with accessories, some not, so it’s really almost impossible to compare different products on the market. And at the end of the day, every industry where weight is an issue is the same – everyone exaggerates to try to make their product look lighter.

Look at the bike industry, where 10 grams makes a difference in people’s minds – they actually have web sites likes weightweenies and slowtwitch that debunk the advertised weights of bike frames and components.

Jeff Adams: When we went through the initial concept design phase, we identified three areas that we wanted to attack with a mind to be the best in the business – adjustability, modularity, and suspension. Weight wasn’t even on the radar in any real way. We knew that by using custom extrusions and an overarching minimalist concept that we would get to where we needed to be comparable to the other chairs on the market, simply because the tubing that they use isn’t butted or optimized for weight – this proved to be true, because a completely stock MARVEL M1 without wheels comes in at just under 13 pounds.

Christian: Going back to my point about comparing weights in a consistent way, remember that a Marvel MARVEL M1 comes stock with a solid seat and a solid back AND suspension. I double dog dare you to find another chair on the market with those three things that weighs in at anywhere close to that.

Jeff: We’re really trying to not play the “weight game”, but we did go through a bit of a gut-check exercise. We weighed the last chair I bought before we started manufacturing, around a year and a half ago – it was a TiLite ZR, which I ordered with a solid seat from their factory, and outfitted it with a solid Jay back. I modified the back to reduce weight by taking out the angle adjustability.

Christian: Sorry to interrupt, but this is a great example of what we accomplished with the MARVEL M1 – in the past, you would have to choose between adjustability or light weight – that’s why Jeff modified the back – the benefit of the adjustability just couldn’t be justified at the cost of two or three pounds of brackets and clamps. With the MARVEL M1, you can have your cake and eat it too – we’re hitting weights that are comparable to the lightest chairs on the market, but we’re fully adjustable over a dozen key measurements. You don’t have to choose between either a light chair or an adjustable one – the MARVEL M1 is both.

Jeff: That’s exactly right, and that ties in to our philosophy of letting the rider choose, and giving them the luxury of changing their mind about measurements at any point, and for any reason – going back to the weight comparison that we did, I also ordered carbon side-guards, again installed at the TiLite factory – the only other component that I installed was that I added a pair of Rogue fenders. So the TiLite ZR was totally factory spec, but for a Jay back and the Rogue fenders.

We put my TiLite on the scale, and it weighed in at 14.35 pounds.

I now ride a totally stock MARVEL M1, which comes with a solid seat, back, and side-guards. I added Rogue fenders, and my MARVEL M1 tips the scales at 14.95 pounds. So apples to apples, we’re a little over half a pound heavier than what is seen to be one of the lightest chairs on the market, and one that is sold heavily on the benefits of it being light-weight.

Christian: Except that the ZR is their least adjustable model, and your MARVEL M1 is fully adjustable, has suspension, and when you take your chair apart for loading into a car, the component parts weigh less than the total – so the wing weighs just under four pounds, leaving you with just over ten pounds for the frame and seat.

Jeff: Right, except for that. Why do we always have to end these things in an argument?

Christian: I mostly blame you. You’re very difficult to get along with.

Stock Marvel M1 without sideguards or wheels weighs in under 13 lbs

Jeff’s old Ti-Lite ZR with a TiLite solid seat, TiLite sideguards, Rogue Fenders, a Jay Backrest, and a custom weight reduction (Jeff removed the back angle adjustability to reduce weight)

Jeff’s TiLite ZR as described weighed in at 14.35lbs

Jeff’s Marvel wheelchair with solid seat, sideguards, Rogue Fenders, a Jay Backrest…… AND its fully adjustable, AND includes adjustable rear suspension… AND includes independent front suspension… AND quick-release dis-assembles into 4 ultra-light pieces… AND MORE TO COME!

All this and yet Jeff’s Marvel chair weighs only about a half of a pound more.