What office chair is everyone using?

I am sitting in a Steelcase Leap v2.

I have the Steelcase Gesture. My wife thinks it’s hard on the keester, and I agree it’s firm, but this is probably the only office chair I have ever used that seems to adjust intuitively into whatever position you could reasonably expect to sit in. I can never make sense of how to adjust office chairs other than the basic ā€œup-downā€ lever.

1 Like

Welcome to the community @NerdyOldGeek!

And same to you, @PipOfSuffolk. I wonder, Pip, if you could clarify: which chair is the best you’ve ever had? I think you mean either the Aeron or the Capisco, but I’m not sure which. Thank you!

I could have been clearer! Yes, it’s an Aeron.

1 Like

I really fancied a Capisco chair but I’m also nervous about spending so much on a chair. I wish I’d just stolen the chair from my former office, it was so comfortable and I had it set exactly how I like :joy:

I use an Ikea chair most the time, but I also have a Tic Toc Chair by Fully (I vaguely remember the company might only do commercial retail now, and can’t find the site, so I’ve linked to a review instead). It’s designed for back pain, and I mostly think its slogan is ā€œwe’ll make a chair so uncomfortable that you’ll be forced to move regularlyā€.

I only use it when my back is particularly bad, but it works - it’s so uncomfortable I fidget a lot, which seems to help :rofl:

1 Like

Herman Miller Embody for me, love this chair. The only downside to it, I wish it had a headrest

2 Likes

Same here, even the cheaper ones are passable.

Thankfully that even at 56, I’m perfectly fine in generic office chairs. Currently using whatever mesh-back rolling chair that Amazon recommended. I’m going to guess that lots of standing at the desk instead of sitting - and regular, heavy squats and deadlifts - keeps me from having to get too precious with chairs.

My wife is another story. She alternates among: a desk-height-to-drafting-height adjustable mesh back, an adjustable wobble stool (pretty cool, I have to say), and one of those weighted stability ball things.

1 Like

My ā€œnewā€ chair. Recently acquired. Very comfortable.

Well … can’t get photo to upload.

Four months later, you might have already found this… but there’s a third-party company that does headrests for the Embody! Headrests for Embody chair

2 Likes

(Split out from my previous reply because I got a bit carried away… and also stopped to do more research and watch more review videos in the course of writing this comment!)

I’ve had a refurbished black fabric (and shiny chrome frame) Humanscale Freedom chair with headrest for the past 3 years, and it’s just not doing it for me. I specifically hate having a headrest, it turns out! :joy: I have long hair that’s basically always in either a ponytail or a bun, and the headrest is definitely not comfortable for me with this hair configuration (though it does at least mostly keep out of the way while I’m sitting upright).

The gas lift is also broken (and I lack the tools/skill/confidence to replace it myself!), and both armrest cushions need to be replaced (which I absolutely could do, if I ordered some new ones)… but it seems like a fruitless endeavour to do these repairs on a chair I’m not happy with. Plus my cats have also decided it’s a cat-tree in disguise (despite them having several actual cat trees and numerous other places to get high up!), and having two now-enormous Maine Coon cats leaping up to sit on the headrest have taken a toll, and it’s now very creaky!

I’m just fundamentally not comfortable in this chair, largely due to back pain (especially in my lumbar region which has often been a problem for me, as well as now further up and in my shoulders); as well as some hip pain (it feels like the tilt angle isn’t quite right, which isn’t an available adjustment on the Freedom… though admittedly some of that could be due to not having the extra bit of height from a working gas lift - I’ve compensated for this by lowering my desk height a bit, so at least it’s not also contributing to arm/shoulder RSI exacerbation due to bad ergonomics there); and to top it all off, the seat pan isn’t very supportive or comfortable, and my butt and thighs will literally go numb from time to time! :persevere:

So I’m back to the drawing board… I’m very interested in a mesh-backed (at least) chair, because my flat is also very prone to overheating (as am I!) but it’s tough to match that up to also having good lumbar support and the other quality-of-life features and build quality I’m looking for.

Plus, it seems like all the good colourways of most of the chairs aren’t available in the UK (at least not for an individual buying one chair to use at home)! :tired_face: Since my desk is in my living room, I would really like for my chair not to be a monstrosity, and ideally fit in with my decor! (notably, I’ve got a teal-green velvet sofa, and a white Fully Jarvis frame with a custom black walnut top :ok_hand:t2:)

I like the Haworth Zody in Balsam, the Haworth Soji in Juniper, maybe the Haworth Fern in Cornflower (though I’d prefer a greener option!), and the Steelcase Karman in Peacock… but I haven’t been able to try any of them, AND (possibly more importantly) I don’t think there’s any way for me to get hold of any of these combos… which I (unhelpfully) only figured out after deciding I liked them :woman_facepalming:t2:

I’ve put the Embody back on my shortlist, and while I like the look of the normal (non-gaming) colourway with the white frame and peacock medley fabric, I’d a) be looking at a 12-20 week (!!) lead time, and b) it doesn’t seem to be rated for UK fire regulations to use at home - one link example of this, and would invalidate my home insurance in the event of a fire :grimacing:

On the upside… the Embody Gaming Chair in Galaxy is a beautiful colour combo in my eyes, and amazingly is available to buy to use at home in the UK… but for the bank-balance-busting price of Ā£1570 :money_mouth_face::cry:

This weekend I’ve been trying to suppress the urge to just BUY IT NOW (to try out at least with the 14 day return window!), in favour of doing some more research to make sure it’s a good idea, but ideally finding a more affordable option, preferably with more airflow and breathability in the back… but I’m no closer to a solution (though writing this comment and doing additional research has at least delayed the inevitable a bit!) :joy:

Basically I’m here for either the remediation of retail therapy, dear MPU-ers, or being egged on to just buy it already - I could easily go either way at this point, and anything that leads to less back-pain makes me very inclined to go in that direction!

This is my dream chair that I want to get, but the price is stopping me (although an Affirm 0% interest loan would make it a lot easier to handle). Two things: One, I don’t want Logitech branding on a chair that expensive. Two, cats. My expensive Steelcase Gesture has held up well to them in the 10 years I have had it, but if I spend that much money on a chair I think I will be constantly paranoid that one of them will come up to say hello and catch a few threads when they do. So for now, I sit in a dinning room chair at one of my computers.

Circling back to this topic…my wife is having some back issues with the Herman Miller Embody Chair. There’s no ā€˜upper body/should/neck’ support so her flair ups in that area and the neck are happening again.

For measurements sake, from the floor to the desk is a height of 29" (it’s the ikea wood block sitting on 2 ikea drawers)

Does anyone have a suggested chair that provides full back, neck, and head support?

Herman Miller Aeron with this headrest. You can usually find an Aeron for less then retail at liquidators and such.

1 Like

Reminds me of what photographer Fred Picker once said about photo equipment and how we all waste a lot of money gradually trading our way up to what we should have bought in the first place.

I went through three chairs that were cheap, reasonably comfortable and looked impressive but didn’t hold up before buying a refurbished Herman Miller Aeron for about a third what a new one would cost. Still, it seemed a guilty splurge at the time. The refurbishment was somewhat less than perfect but the chair has already held up longer than the previous three combined and is still going strong. The rollers especially seem to give out early on cheaper chairs but the typical plastic floor mats may have been partly to blame. I bought a glass Vitrazza mat and the chair glides across it. I only wish I had opted for a larger one.

I am, however, intrigued by the headrest for the Aeron that @asunapg links to. I wonder if it would fit my old Aeron.

A very, very old Herman Miller Aeron (the older style). Even after 25 years, it’s in great shape and very comfortable.

Now at 25% off at Ā£1,177.50. Still too much for me, although I suppose that for something you use every day for 8 hours it’s probably a good investment.

HermanMiller Cosm. It is one the most comfortable chairs I have ever sat in, No need for cushions; just plant my backside on it and get on with whatever is on my desk.

This thread (now very old!) made me yearn for an HM Aeron. Picked up an excellent condition one 2 or 3 years ago for about 1/3 new price and it’s the best home office chair I ever had.