Excel Wheelchairs Brand Review

This chair is a regular mountain goat where outdoor terrains are concerned.  Sturdy and capable, it will take you just about anywhere you want to go. 

With its 24” all-terrain tires, there’s not much in the way of outdoor terrain it can’t handle.  Since it’s a manual chair, you are likely to be the limiting factor, but if you’ve got the upper body strength, this chair can power you over just about anything.  Here are the Excel G Explorer Wheelchair’s basic stats:

The frame is available in either black or grey, and the upholstery can be ordered in one of four colors to allow for some personalization.  You can get it in:

The upholstery is also nylon mesh for breathability and is machine washable, so there’s no need to worry if you get muddy while out on the trail (and the chair comes with built-in side guards to minimize the amount of water splashing on you in any case).

The chair also features quick release pins for the wheels, enabling you to take them off for easier transport or to swap out the wheels to optimize the chair for the beach or urban environments, depending on how you plan to use it.  Other notable features include:

Note:  The Explorer does come with a modestly sized storage pouch on the back of the chair.  It’s adequate, but if you plan on taking it hiking or camping, you’ll almost certainly want to invest in something bigger and more robust. 

Fortunately, the company sells a zippered bag designed to fit over the back of the chair.  That’s not an optimal placement for onboard storage, because it requires the person sitting in the chair to get up to pull items from the bag or ask for help.

We much prefer models that offer storage under the seat, especially where outdoor or mixed-use wheelchairs are concerned, but the reality is that the vast majority of manufacturers offer behind the seat storage, so we can’t really count this against the model here in our Excel Wheelchairs review.

Like the G-Explorer, the breathable, nylon upholstery is machine washable and can be ordered in four different color configurations (the same ones we mentioned above).

Also, like the G-Explorer, the Excel G Logic Wheelchair features 24” wheels, although they sport indoor treads, rather than all-terrain.  The chair uses the same quick release pin system, which makes swapping the wheels out or taking them off for transport a simple proposition.

It also sports the same full length, height adjustable armrests, adjustable and removable footrests, and attendant hand brakes, which improves the chair’s handling on slopes.  It’s even got the same 4-degree seat slant to help minimize spills and behind the seat storage pouch.

In our view, this was the model the company should have gone with to create their transport chair.  Its lighter weight would have made it a better fit, but again, we’re thinking in terms of what would go over well in the American market.

This is almost certainly a function of the differences between the American and European market, but in our view, as a mobility scooter, this one is underpowered and not capable of handling a diverse range of terrains to make it a good value for the money.

Here’s a quick overview of the model:

Despite our misgivings, we readily admit that it’s a robust mobility aid for people living in an urban environment.  As long as you keep to the pavement, or flat, dry ground, its limited ground clearance, and small wheels won’t give you any trouble.

Combine that with its relative comfort, the swiveling Captain’s chair, the full-length padded arms and the handy storage basket on the front, and in the right setting, it’s perfect.

It’s a hefty piece of equipment but collapses down into a small enough footprint that it still retains its portability.  You should have no trouble fitting this into the trunk of any full-sized sedan, and of course, if you’ve got a hatchback, SUV, truck or van, things get even easier.

The X0 Steel Self Propelled Wheelchair was designed primarily for people with severe mobility issues who will be spending several hours of each day sitting in their chairs.  If this describes your situation, you’ll almost certainly want to invest in the optional seat cushion and the memory foam seat back to maximize your comfort.  This chair is intended primarily for indoor use.

It’s not as comfortable as the X0, but again, with the addition of the optional padding and memory foam seat back, that can easily be remedied.  It also serves in a bit of a swing role.  Its lighter weight makes it more portable than the X0, so if you want to take this one with you to do some shopping, doing so is a simple matter.

Here are the basic stats:

As with the other chairs Excel sells, it features machine washable, breathable, nylon upholstery, a modestly sized storage pocket behind the seat, full-length padded armrests that are height adjustable and swivel out of the way to allow for easier transfers into and out of the chair, and height adjustable, removable leg rests.

The only real downside is that Europeans tend to be smaller than Americans, and Excel’s chairs were all designed with the European market in mind.  If you’re bigger or taller, then no matter how much you admire the craftsmanship, you may not fit into any of Excel’s chairs, which is understandably a deal breaker.