161–170 of 184 posts
Set aside the chair and just read this through as an amazing work of prose. "The tilt mechanism delivers an even more seamless experience of movement (and stasis)" "from intense upright focus to relaxed contemplative recline" "a health-positive, more comfortable sit."
Also have Jony Ive read it in your mind.
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We assesed the Aeron, Mirra 2 and Embody - the Embody won in our office pretty much unanimously. Just over a year later and everyone still loves it.
Does the Embody have mesh back and seating?
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Here's the problem: cheap office chairs are not ergonomic. If you're not willing to pay for two-axis adjustable armrests, adjustable seat pan depth, adjustable recline, proper padding, and lumbar support, then you don't have an ergonomic chair. I'd recommend buying an expensive ergonomic chair from Craigslist or an office furniture liquidation company. You can pick up a great chair at 1/3 the retail price. You should…
The other problem is that cheap chairs will often feel pretty good when you first sit in them. But because they're made with cheap, low-density foam, they quickly pancake, and lose any semblance of comfort and ergonomics they might have had. I used to do the $100 chair every year or two thing too. Then I bought a Steelcase Leap (for considerably more than $100), and while it's only been a year or so, it looks and fee…
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I have an Aeron and a Mirra 2. The Mirra is both better looking, better constructed and more ergonomic. There are more adjustments, and the mechanisms are very intuitive and integrated into the design. Perhaps the new Aeron will bring it up to par. Besides, the Mirra 2 is beautiful, while the Aeron is... debatable. This is mine: http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/dam/hermanmiller/page_as...
I have both as well and the Mirra 2, in my mind, is the way to go. For me, the Aeron has the edge of the seat part where the back of my thighs rest and it starts getting uncomfortable after 15 mins. The Mirra doesn't have this issue. The Mirra back also hugs my shoulder blades a little better. The plastic back of my Mirra doesn't bother me vs. the Aeron mesh. I would recommend the Mirra for anyone looking at Aeron. T…
Agree that the lumbar support is more comfortable but PF does have some benefits. I like that they redesigned the arms which support the seat above the part which connects to the top of the gas cylinder. Hopefully this will have less tendency over time to wobble.
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Interestingly, The Wirecutter has consistently preferred Steelcase chairs: http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-office-chair —first the Leap and then the Gesture. I loved the Aeron I used to have, until I hurt my shoulder swimming and discovered that its skeleton actually digs uncomfortably against the shoulder. That jarred me out of complacency about the chair's possible flaws, at least compared to others.
Haven't tried the Gesture but did have the Leaps somewhere I previously worked. I think a lot comes down to your feelings around breathability and feel of seat and back material. Personally, I like the mesh of the Aeron but there are a lot of people who prefer a more "traditional" chair material.
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I used to buy cheap used iconic dot-com office furniture at Desk Depot [1] in Mountain View in the 90's (they've been there since '76). That must have been one of the most profitable companies during the dot-com bubble era, and I bet there's furniture that's been recycled through that same warehouse multiple times! The Desk Depot is a Silicon Valley cultural touch-stone, like the Haltek Surplus Electronics [2] [3] or…
That is brilliant.
A question before my own story: What does everyone do as far as trying out chairs? It's crazy to me to base my buying decision on 10 minutes of sitting in a store. Are there stores out there that allow for in-home trials of these products? One of the thing that always amuses me about "best chair" recommendations is that it's an entirely personal choice. I am 6' 2" and 200lbs. Understanding even more than that about t…
I'm 6'2" and a bit heavier than you. I have never found a chair nearly as comfortable/ergonomically good for me as the C size Aeron. Their LONG warranty, longer life, and loaner chair program makes them a worthwhile investment for me. My current Aeron is ~15 years old, had one warranty repair 7 years ago to replace the cylinder and lumbar pad, and has been perfect otherwise.
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Agreed, I bought a used one 10 years ago and I'm sitting on it right now. Before that I was replacing foam office chairs every few years due to wear or degassing, but not so with the Aeron. The only maintenance I've had to do is replace the foam at the seat's edge and clean it occasionally. The build quality of these chairs is amazing when I consider the tens of thousands of hours I've been sitting in this thing.
Where did you get the foam? I have this problem as well.
Have a search for "Aeron seat foam insert" if you're outside the UK and need an alternative option.
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I agree. The Embody is a great chair if you have pretty good posture. It is pretty rigid in the center (all the flexibility is on the sides), so that it forces your back into the 'proper' shape like a plastic mold. The problem is, it's a pretty hard chair, so if you have any 'irregularities', like, say, a bit of hunchback (thoracic hyperkyphosis), the hard plastic "pixels" will just dig into your back in all the plac…
I summarize something similar to all this in a deep reply above to the top comment along with some other observations. I will say that when I was first assigned an Embody at work, I went through a period of comfy->uncomfy->comfy-again, so sometimes sticking it out works. Going through the setup guide (think it came with a DVD even) and putting some work into making it just right helped. Ultimately it became such an i…
About the reclining, yeah -- Herman Miller would probably say that the chair isn't meant for active reclining, but that's no defense. Sometimes I like to recline at more than 120° to relieve the pressure on my spine (for example, when I'm not typing but for example, watching a YouTube video). I prefer chairs that allow me to do that (e.g. Steelcase Think/Leap/Please, Humanscale Liberty). The fact that the absence of this feature was a design choice by Herman Miller doesn't really change my appraisal of the product.
Funny you should say that the armests sit too far back. I had the opposite problem: they were always bumping on the edge of my desk, so I had to sit further from my desk than I would have liked. And I'm not the only person who had this complaint. I guess everybody is different.
A question before my own story: What does everyone do as far as trying out chairs? It's crazy to me to base my buying decision on 10 minutes of sitting in a store. Are there stores out there that allow for in-home trials of these products? One of the thing that always amuses me about "best chair" recommendations is that it's an entirely personal choice. I am 6' 2" and 200lbs. Understanding even more than that about t…
I'm amazed how often a chair that feels great in the store turns out to be a complete dud once you place it in your workspace and sit on it for 2 days.