Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

news.ycombinator.com

51–60 of 101 posts

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#52
Just went pretty deep in researching these...

If you're not budget conscious, look at the Herman Miller Aeron, Steelcase Leap V2, Steelcase Gesture, or Humanscale Freedom. Budget, seems to be a serious crapshoot. Lots of people like the top end Ikea chairs and those will cost 1/4 as much, but depends on if they fit your body and if you're ok with rigid arms.

Steelcase Leap V2 seems like the winner to me. Most adjustable, with a soft seat (Aeron has hard edged bottom mesh... and looks like an insect). Humanscale Freedom with headrest looks best IMO but not as comfortable and couldn't find good remanufactured ones.

Lots of refurbished/second hand options.

I ended up going with a remanufactured (starts with refurbished, gets cleaned up nicely, reupholstered and rebuilt). Half price for a chair that I hope feels like new.

BTOD (https://www.btod.com/) and Crandall (https://www.crandalloffice.com/) look like they sell the same product (and Crandall is the "factory" for both). If you go this route, see what price works better for you after promo codes and tax are factored in.

I went with this BTOD Leap V2: https://www.btod.com/steelcase-leap-v2. Ordered yesterday. Fingers crossed that it feels like new.

I can't believe a great $300 or $400 (new) chair that's fully adjustable doesn't exist.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#53

If you want something minimalist I can recommend the HÅG Capisco. It looks a little bit weird, but is really comfy once you get used to it. The chair supports active sitting which means you won’t sit in one position for eight hours straight, instead the chair will invite you to move around and try out other seating positions which will inevitably lead to more movement and stronger muscles. https://store.flokk.com/us/…

I would strongly suggest you to try it out. My experience after using it for 8 weeks was basically:

- First week: Oh, interesting chair

- Week 2-4: I can’t really find a comfortable position, constantly fidgeting with table height and chair settings

- Week 4-8: Mild pain in back, rather stand than use the chair

Then I moved office to a super normal supportive chair, which was a relief and all pain disappeared immediately.

I think of it almost like barefoot running/standing desk, you’ll have to gradually get used to it and especially if you have a weak core (I’m guessing), it might provide to little support for you for quite a while.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#55
post #6
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're in the Bay Area, you can get them used on CL in that range. That's how I got mine.

I am not, but maybe they can be found in Austin too

There are often times liquidators that will have mass stock of common office chairs. Especially with the state of the current economy, I wouldn't be surprised if there will be more chairs hitting the liquidators soon. You may have to get creative with contacting these companies (they tend to be B2B) but if you're motivated you can likely save yourself quite a few dollars by going this route. :)

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#57

I use the Variable balans chair from Varier [1]. It is particularly useful to keep your back straight and in a good position. It's also important to place your screen at the correct height to avoid neck pains. [1] https://varierchairs.com/product/variable-balans-quickship/

I have two of these for work and home and love them. However I find it best to spend about half my time on this and half on a normal office chair otherwise my back gets tired. Also, the Varier isn't height adjustable and my home desk is a touch too high for it which is annoying.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#58

If you want something minimalist I can recommend the HÅG Capisco. It looks a little bit weird, but is really comfy once you get used to it. The chair supports active sitting which means you won’t sit in one position for eight hours straight, instead the chair will invite you to move around and try out other seating positions which will inevitably lead to more movement and stronger muscles. https://store.flokk.com/us/…

Note that if you go this route, you will need to get a standing desk converter to raise your setup a few inches. I have a 30" desk and, without a converter, my knees touch the edge of my desk. And with this chair you are encouraged to swap heights a lot, which you can't do if you have a static desk.

So the price of the chair isn't the full price, since you need some additional hardware too. But, that said, it has been a transformative change for myself and when I was grinding 12-14 hours every day for months on end this chair ended up fixing my back pain. (I'd been using pretty "meh" chairs for the first few weeks)

The price may feel high but the price of physical therapy for fixing your back muscles is much more expensive. And, in our profession, your only expenses are : Chair, desk, and computer setup.

Do yourself a favor and make a conscious decision to better your health. ;)

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#59
Lots of recommendations for the Steelcase Leap here. I’ve not tried it, but I’ve been using a Steelcase Think for about 12 years and have found it to be superlative. Can’t imagine sitting on anything else for an extended period.

Fwiw I have also tried an Aeron - it wasn’t for me at all.

Post reply on HN