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Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

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Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#71
post #24

I have a Herman Miller Mirra 2 that I like a lot. But it's very personal, you should go try several out, which in most of the world you can't right now. Higher end chairs also come in multiple sizes, making it even more important to try them out.

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Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#72
Herman Miller Embody is great, but hard to clean (or prepare to pay 25-35% of its price for the service) and looks terrible after 9 years of use. Similar age Aeron looks new, but my back much prefers the Embody.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#73

Probably not the answer you want to hear but the best office chair is no chair. I only have a standing desk at home and my back/legs are so much better after 3 weeks of WFH than they have ever been.

Here are mentioned some studies that say LBP is not linked to sitting. https://www.painscience.com/articles/chair-trouble.php

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#74

Probably not the answer you want to hear but the best office chair is no chair. I only have a standing desk at home and my back/legs are so much better after 3 weeks of WFH than they have ever been.

http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/CUESitStand.html Here they've found out that standing up all day not particularly good: "Standing to work has long known to be problematic, it is more tiring, it dramatically increases the risks of carotid atherosclerosis (ninefold) because of the additional load on the circulatory system, and it also increases the risks of varicose veins, so standing all day is unhealthy. The performance of many fine motor skills also is less good when people stand rather than sit."

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#75
My GoodForm propeller chair, circa 1958. I bought it at Goodwill for $10, it has lasted years longer than any other office chair in my home office.

The styling is timeless, the construction indestructable. I have had to replace the castors and one of the arms is missing a piece of plastic, but that's not bad for 60 years of service.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#76
post #24

I have a Herman Miller Mirra 2 that I like a lot. But it's very personal, you should go try several out, which in most of the world you can't right now. Higher end chairs also come in multiple sizes, making it even more important to try them out.

My favorite thing about the Mirra 2 is how you can set it to follow you when you lean forward, and it still gives good back support.

The worst thing is that it's so comfortable I can sit in it for many hours straight, so I don't get up and move around as much.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#77

Steelcase Leap. I went and sat in a bunch of high end office chairs including the Herman Miller Aeron, Herman Miller Embody, and Steelcase Gesture. I feel like the HM chairs are a lot more "opinionated" about how you sit, and sitting wrong will be punished with pain (e.g. back of the legs for folding your legs under the chair). I have heard that shorter people find them more comfortable though (6'1" here). The Steelc…

I also have one of these (Leap) and have been pretty happy with it. It's very adjustable so I have no problem getting comfortable in it.

I did not have the luxury of trying other high end chairs, though, so I couldn't offer any comparisons. I bought it secondhand for ~$350 sight unseen.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#78
We got fancy ergonomic chairs when moving offices a few years ago and immediately after the move I developed back pain. I tried adjusting the chair and we even had trained professionals come to help us adjust them, but it didn't seem to work. A coworker of mine had gotten a kneeling chair for his back issues at the same office, but that didn't work for him, so he let me borrow it. I noticed a positive difference immediately. The chair is a Varier Wing Balans and I have been using it at work for several years now.

When we switched to WFH due to the virus, we were unable to take office equipment home aside from necessary hardware which was securely shipped to us. Because of this and because the switch was too sudden for anyone to really be able to prepare their home environments, we got an allowance to buy some home office equipment and many people opted for chairs. The Wing Balans was a bit expensive for me to justify, so instead I got the Varier Variable Balans. Also a kneeling chair, but no adjustable height. Aside from being much cheaper, one thing I love is that it sits on two rocking rails instead of a wheeled base. I am a fidgeter and it lets me rock back and forth as I work. It lets me have just as much flexibility in my sitting position as the Wing Balans at the same time.

The one negative is that it can be quite fiddly to place properly - the Wing Balans single swivel foot does not get in the way of certain table legs as much as these two rails. I also learned that to take full advantage of this chair a height adjustable desk is recommended (which we have at work, but which I do not have at home). For example, if I want to sit on it by putting one or both feet up on the shin rests, my knees hit the underside of my normal-height desk. I've purchased a height-adjustable laptop stand which should be here this week and look forward to using the chair with that setup.

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#79
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for the recommendation and the link. I've been lucky to test it once, it is a very good chair. What is the price?

$800 for the Capisco new. They have the "Capisco Puls" model which is a bit cheaper but I'm not sure it's as comfortable.

I just got the Puls. It is very comfortable, but I've never tried the Capisco. It's very sturdy and really helps me maintain a good posture while working.

I also like the fact that it's a good looking minimalist chair which is nice when you care about your interior design and not having a bulky black office chair in your house

Re: Ask HN: Best Office Chair?

#80
Proud owner of Steelcase Leap V2

I find the Leap more comfortable for sitting long periods of time. The Leap also allows me to sit on one of my legs (I know, not a good idea), while the Aeron makes this impossible. The Leap also has more adjustments for the arms which I move quite often. Regardless of the chair model, take frequent breaks and our back does not made for long sitting!

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