Mobility
Aluminium, steel or carbon: what the frame actually changes
Three materials, three trade-offs that show up in weight, rated capacity and repair cost — not in a marketing adjective.
Frame material is the single most quoted and least explained specification in this category. “Aircraft-grade aluminium” and “carbon fibre” are used as if they were guarantees. They are not. What matters is what the material lets the frame do.
The three we build, and what each is for
- Aluminium — the default. Light, does not rust, welds and repairs easily. Takes a powder coat well, which is why colour customisation lives here.
- Steel — heavier per unit of strength, but cheap and very stiff. It is the material that lets a 130 kg chair sell at an entry price, and the one that survives being thrown into a van every day.
- Carbon fibre — the lightest way to reach a high rated capacity. Expensive, and it fails differently: a carbon tube does not bend, it cracks.
What that looks like in our range
| Model | Frame | Net weight | Rated capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| JYW002 | Aluminium | 13.8 kg | 100 kg |
| JYW5919 | Aluminium | 15 kg | 100 kg |
| T100 | Carbon fibre | 15.5 kg | 130 kg |
| JYW5903 | Steel | 23.5 kg | 130 kg |
| JYW001 | Aluminium | 25 kg | 130 kg |
The interesting row is T100. It carries the same 130 kg as the 23.5 kg steel chair while weighing 8 kg less. That is what carbon buys you: capacity without mass. What it does not buy you is forgiveness — a steel frame that is overloaded bends and can often be straightened; a carbon frame that is overloaded is scrap.
What buyers get wrong
Assuming lighter always means better. A 13.8 kg chair and a 25 kg chair are not competing on the same buyer:
- The light chair goes into a car boot, up a flight of stairs, onto a plane. Its owner is often the user.
- The heavy chair is pushed by a carer, lives mostly on the ground floor, and is expected to survive ten years of daily use.
Rated capacity is a structural number set by the frame, the welds and the castors together — not by the tube alone. Two chairs can share a capacity and behave very differently under a 120 kg user who drops into the seat rather than sitting down.
Repair is part of the material choice
Steel and aluminium can be welded locally. Carbon needs a specialist, usually the original factory. For a distributor selling into a country where service means “the shop down the road”, that difference is a warranty cost you will carry for years.