Aspen Seating, the parent company of Ride Designs, will celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2008. Aspen Seating was originally created by Joe Bieganek, Orthotist, ATP, after nearly 20 years of experience in exclusive use of orthotic and prosthetic sciences in wheelchair seating. Tom Hetzel, PT, ATP, following over a decade of experience in wheelchair seating and mobility, joined forces with Joe in 2000 to create what is now the Aspen Seating clinic where people with the most specific, profound and/or severe seating issues come for the provision of Aspen Seating Orthoses. Aspen Seating now serves over 2100 consumers at their clinic in Denver, Coloarado, including many of the world’s top Paralympic athletes. Aspen Seating’s Race and Recreational Interface Program (RRIP) has proven to be the intervention of choice for recreational and competitive athletes participating in virtually any activity pursued in the seated posture.

Ride Designs was launched in 2002 as a research and development arm of Aspen Seating with the goal of refining and further developing the key elements of the Aspen Seating program for product development and distribution to a broader audience. 5 years and 5 patents later Ride Designs is recognized as the most innovative seating manufacturer in the industry. The Ride Custom Cushion is the first commercially available custom seat that addresses the complex combination of skin and postural control issues without compromise. By off-loading at-risk bony prominences, and enhancing support of soft tissue tolerant of pressure and shear (what we call “Force Isolation”), we provide safe, accurate and specific support to wheelchair users of most any shape size or need.

Now, after nearly 5 years of research and development, Ride Designs has introduced a contoured seat and back support system based on the patented Aspen Seating/Ride Designs mechanism of support, the Ride Forward cushion and Corbac adjustable contour back support. The Forward/Corbac seating system provides excellent postural control and skin protection for a broad range of needs, yet priced to compete with other simpler off-the-shelf seating options.