AKRacing ProX Gaming Chairs - 2017 - Last Chance Discussions | Drop

May 17, 2017

Anyone actually have one of these types of racing/gaming chairs? I see a lot of people with them but they don't look any more comfortable than a standard chair. they don't even seem to use better hardware, mostly. like i look at the vast majority of dx or others and the bases are the same cheap plastic wheels and base that my currently $30-50 walmart chair had. I upgraded both the wheels and base. Base is now polished aluminum and the wheels are those roller blade casters. This chair looks to have a metal base and but those wheels are the same cheap plastic casters i used to have on my chair. another item that all these chairs including expensive office chairs have is a plastic bearing housing for the shock/lift. when that cracks (they all do) your chair creaks and squeaks a lot. Typically people think that sound is coming from the metal directly under the chair but it's not 90% of the time. if you have one of these, hit me with some feedback or one like it. IF you're adventurous enough take apart the shock/lift and let me know if your expensive chair has the same plastic bearing crap in it. This pic shows the garbage plastic bearing that's in all gas lifts i've ever seen, even high price replacement shocks and repair kits i've found.

Siasconset

May 17, 2017

JollyrifficAre the cheap plastic chairs from Walmart warranted for 5/10 years?

Vote

May 18, 2017

Siasconset*shrugs* i've had a $30 chair for 5 years and never had to fix anything on it other than the small plastic bearing. was like a $0.05 part, just added it into one of my larger orders on either digikey, mouser, or maybe mcmaster. I'm likely going to do a video showing how to upgrade your chair to something like this down the road. These are about $1 per bearing and made for very heavy loads unlike the crap they put into all gas lifts on chairs. Along with that video i was going to show how you could build your own custom chair like these using Sparco Racing seats (the real deal) including aluminum base, chrome gas lift, mechanics under the chair, roller blade casters, sparco racing seat, and padded armrests that look almost identical to the MD ones, for less money than these chairs. You wouldn't need a warranty. real car seats and upgraded gas lift = no breaking.

May 18, 2017

JollyrifficTo each his own Jollyriffic. However there is a huge difference in a $50-$100 chair and the top of the line PROX chair from AKRacing. Every part used is of superior quality to those of a cheap chair. The ergonomics are much more supportive and help with correct posture and these chairs are built and designed to be the daily chair used for long periods of time.
I have personally used the PROX chair and can say its the best chair I have tested to date and I have sat in many including DXRacer, Arozzi, Vertagear, RapdX. I had a DXRacer Iron series chair before and gave it up as the PROX was just that much better.
If you are comparing apples to apples its easy research to figure out that AKRacing is using much better quality materials than other gaming chair companies much less standard chairs as you mentioned. The castors on these chairs are plastic as are all chairs. However there is a HUGE difference in how smooth they are, how much noise they can make when there is movement, and how long they will last. Its not as easy of a comparison as stating that they are the same cheap plastic as a $50 Walmart chair.
Among other things a $50 cheap chair will not have any of the following.
Chrome Durable Steel Frame Class-4 Gaslift Cold Molding High Density Foam with Foam Density: 55 kg/m³ (seat) 50 kg/m³ (back) Best Quality of PU Leather 330LB Weight Capacity Completely Adjustable Backrest from 90-180 Degrees
5/10 Year Warranty that backs the product.

May 18, 2017

AKRacingSupportThats the info i was looking for. i have this gas lift https://www.amazon.com/Office-Chair-Lift-Cylinder-Replacement/dp/B014JY6NSU/ this base https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H4CH4VU These casters https://www.amazon.com/Katu-Rollerblade-Office-Casters-Replacement/dp/B01HADWE30 i actually have all of their casters and all of their lifts. was sent them all as freebies to test out. Like a massive box of just casters in plastic and stainless. the original casters on this 30-50 walmart chair were beefy but super ugly and had no where near the amount of rollability as these. thought the roller blade casters would suck on carpet but they're actually better than plastic.. well the original, the other katu are awesome plastic but i like the look of the roller blade wheels better. The armrests are absolutely not friendly on the elbows. so at some point i'll have to upgrade those, likely when i do the video/guide on how to make a "race style" chair. I live in a piss poor town and nobody here that i know has any of those chairs. So i'm sort of out of luck when it comes to taking one for a test sit. lumbar isn't something i really need, i'm almost always sitting fwd in my chair typing/coding/clicking/editing/modding electronics or building something with the soldering iron, dremel, epoxy.. however when i lean back, this does feel good. sadly i spend 5am till about 1 or 2am in this chair doing gobs of work on the pc. the real thing i need, is a super soft seat. after about 2 years this seat has gone sort of flat so i just tossed a memory foam pillow on it. good use for it since those murder my neck.
in summery, just seems like a massive amount of money to spend on something that looks like they are charging a premium price for that "brah, my chair looks so cool". Half the reason i want to use a real car seat is because after years of driving around, they never seem to go bad. I had a 1988 conquest TSI (its gone now) but back in 2006 the factory seats were still ultra comfortable. actually more so than a lot of these new cars.

May 18, 2017

JollyrifficLike I said, to each his own. But by your logic there is no quality difference between $50 products and $300 products. That being said the cheapest new car available right now is the Nissan Versa S, Mitsubishi Mirage ES, and Chevrolet Spark. Basically if your logic holds weight then all those cars are the same as Mercedes, BMW, or Porsche.
Products cost a different amount of money for a reason and that reason is not always because it looks cooler and thats it. In this case I will stand by my previous statement that AKRacing is using much better quality build materials and design than the cheap chairs.
Also, the parts that you listed above add up to over $60 for just those 3 parts. They are not going to be available on a $50 chair so what are you comparing?

May 18, 2017

AKRacingSupportnot comparing, just shooting the shit. sort of the first break of coding that i've gotten to take today so doing a few posts on websites about tech stuff and figured i'd ask here since most of the items are higher end priced things so, in theory, should bring people that actually have bought the items and aren't just impressed with the looks. Like if i were to ask most streamers, they would just rave about the chair because its "cool". The OP was "do they really have better build quality than say a $100 chair to justify paying the added amount". this is actually placeholders wishlist of the sort of "might build" chair i was thinking of doing a video on https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/3BWISKUF1SX1U/ i have the casters and gas lift, but this is sort of what i'm looking into. what's listed there is a total of 282.64, but i could likely shave off some of that price finding the same items or close to them for less.. but like i said, it's just placeholders for now. The main difference is that it uses a real car racing seat, it's sort of between race and normal. that way it feels just as comfortable as sitting in a car and is built to last way longer. Not something the average person would do, but i'd love to make a video about building that. I'd do that if i wasn't saving for a canon eos 80d, $50 away from getting it.

May 18, 2017

JollyrifficThats pretty cool man. Thank you for sharing. I just happen to know the Photo buyer of that community here on Massdrop. Let me see what I can do about getting the Canon EOS 80d listed here on Massdrop and save you some money!
@jaysun
Cheers.

May 18, 2017

AKRacingSupportwell i was going to order the refurbished with 18-22 lens. total is $850, not sure any lower price could be done than that. Actually need it for a lot of the work i do, just sent back a sony hx80. i expected a lot more from that camera, took terrible pics and video. so i put my GPU budget into the camera budget.. i'll have to play games wayyyy down the road.

AKRacingAmerica

889

AKRacing

May 18, 2017

JollyrifficThank you @B.Hutch for assisting with this question and answer session while I was busy elsewhere! Glad we could get it clarified and resolved. We appreciate the support of the Massdrop community and don't mind answering the tough questions when you have them.

Thujan

629

May 19, 2017

JollyrifficDude you're being obnoxious in my opinon. There is always going to be a cheaper option. People pay for warranty, aesthetics and the chair itself can only be so close to another racing chair. Your method requires more labour and some diy work to make all the components work. There is no assurance that the chair itself will be as reliable as the ones Akracing are selling. If you just want a comfortable and reliable chair just buy a refurbished herman miller aeron chair.

May 19, 2017

Thujanasking a question to those that have chairs if the price is for the cool factor or if it's based on actual excessive quality is obnoxious to you? awww sweetie, with that kind of overly triggered mentality, you're going to need a lot of medication in life. if you want, i'll start a gofundme for your prescriptions, or maybe we can do a bake sale.. Let me know how i can help @Thujan we're here for you buddy!

AKRacingAmerica

889

AKRacing

May 19, 2017

JollyrifficSo, let's engage in some facts. The Prox-X has more than eight pounds of cold-molded high density shaping foam in each chair. Here's a couple of pictures of that compared to another chair from a very well known brand that actually sells for more than the drop price for the Pro-X

It also is built upon a hand-welded steel frame, which is then painted black after QC

And the foam completely encompasses the frame once assembled

And it uses the highest grade of PU or faux leather available.

(sorry that is not a Pro-X but similar)
And lastly, I don't have a photo but the Pro-X also uses very high quality casters we actually import from Taiwan to the factory in Yangzhou, China.
Now, whether or not you want to spend the money for one, or you perceive the value of doing so, is one thing, a completely personal and subjective judgement.
If it is excessive quality then, OK, we're guilty.