Entertainment For Lively Minds
Best office chair?
Posted by JustinQuirk on 31 August 2011 - 9:23pm.
Slighty random one, but I figure the Massive probably spend as long as anyone hunched over desks/laptops. Anyway, after a few months of working from home and sitting on a hard wooden chair, I'm aware that I'm probably doing my lower back some fairly serious damage.
So... can any of you suggest a really good chair that you'd recommend for being my workhorse? Only just realised how expensive these things can be, but I guess if I can then use it for the next 20 years it'll be worth splashing out... Money's obviously not limitless, but given how much I use it I'm prepared to spend a fair bit...
All tips gratefully received, thank you.
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Jeeziz Man!
I had an absolutely fantastic chair at work but it was sans any sort of markings.
The Mum splashed out £289 on a piece of shit for me, which 3 years down the line, really is an awful pest. (he says/types as he rocks sideways when all he wants is front to back)
I even tested the bugger out, it was just fine but the best we'd seen out of a terrible bunch.
I was praying when I retired they'd give me my old chair instead of an AppleStore™ voucher.
Sadly I got the voucher and it wasn't even enough to pay for the fuckin' iPod dock I bought!
Kntz!!!
Only one company to consider. Varier.
http://www.backinaction.co.uk/brands/varier&linkfrom=varier1?gclid=CKnP9...
Bastard expensive but they crop up on eBay regularly, especially under the former company name, Stokke. I've got a gravity at home which I love. They're completely bulletproof and are absolute design classics. I'd love a Tok but I haven't got the space for it unless I flog my Eames. Which I'm not going to.
Seconded.
My back was damaged many years ago (I never talk about it) and I suffered from office chair induced back-ache incessantly until I finally bought myself a Stokke 100 balancer.
These days they are called the Varier Variable, and come in at about £260. When I bought mine it was well over £200, so they haven't risen in price very much over the last decade. At first I thought, "How much? For three pieces of moulded ply and three foam pads? You must think I'm stupid." I was wrong. It has transformed my home office from a place of slow torture to somewhere I can sit all day long without a twinge. Very highly recommended.
They flat-pack easily too, with only a few Allen bolts holding them together, so you can even disassemble one and take it into work. If you do, make sure you Kensington lock the thing to your desk, or some bastard will try to pinch it when you're not there.
Live on your knees
Only if you've got absolutely NO knee problems though, because otherwise it will knacker them.
That's not an accurate assessment at all.
For one thing, the chair encourages you to move around while you work; you never stay in the same position for more than the span of your attention as regards whatever you're currently engaged in. Sometimes you'll rest your feet on the ground, either side of the small pads and not use them at all. Sometimes you'll rest your feet on the small pads, with your elbows on your knees. There are many more ways to occupy one of these than you'd think.
If you slide your bum back up a little on the big pad, the small pads touch the lower part of your shins and your feet rest on the tops of the middle of the runners. If you slide your bum forwards a little on the big pad, the small pads touch the upper part of your shins and your toes rest on the tops of the back of the the runners. In neither position do your knees take any weight at all.
Honestly, it's the best chair I've owned, and I don't have particularly Olympic standard knees either.
We have Vitra in my office.
The model we have are Headline - http://www.vitra.com/en-gb/office/products/headline/overview/ - and they're really comfy. Excellent lower back support, nice and straight. Good shit.
The classic Herman Miller 'Aeron' chair
Keeps my fat arse comfy all day.
That
is the chair you are looking for. Can be bought second hand at slightly less eye-watering expense.
Which means?
So, if my eyes were to water, to what extent? What sort of moolah/greenbacks/dinarii are we talking, if you don't mind me asking?
Enough change from a grand
for a £50 run to Fopp.
If you're lucky.
Yikes!
So advised. Many thanks.
I've got an Aeron,,,
,,,,and it's one of the best purchases I ever made. Where it this place where you can get them cheap? Wouldn't mind another.
Yes
This is the chair God would sit in if he worked at a desk
I second that.
Well worth the money. Simply cannot be beaten.
I love mine. If only they had them at the office.
Another endorsement
Fantastic chairs - really comfortable.
I never had the pleasure of sitting on one all day as my own chair - but one of our suppliers had them and it certainly made dreary meetings more bearable. I always promised myself one.......
Low cost copy
but I have one of these at home and its very comfy. Quality ok and good service from the shop. Spending more will get you a better chair but I don't think you will get better at the price.
http://www.milandirect.co.uk/shop/office-chair-designer-mesh-executive-l...
I have one of these
http://www.shape-seating.co.uk/executive-office-chairs/rh-logic-400-eleg...
With arms added.
I work from home and was regularly wracked with upper back/shoulder pain and finally acknowledged that I needed to do something about it otherwise this would evolve into a lifetime condition.
Five years ago I bought one of these chairs from RH - my dear wife was slightly shocked at the cost but since then I have had no further need of our chiropractor who was becoming a family friend as far I'm concerned that was money well spent.
Also at the GLW's recommendation I started attending a Pilates class - despite initial scepticism this is now part of my regular routine so a combination of both enable me to be still sitting here the best part of 14 hours since I started "work" with no ill effects.
If the bum fits...
When I'm not hippying about in a mature manner I'm an illustrator.
For the past 25 years or so I've sat at my desk in the same battered old rocking chair. It allows my lower half to fidget while the upper bit gets on with the important stuff. Obviously this isn't a recommendation. It was purely by chance that I found my perfect seat. At the end of the day your backside knows best.
I tried one of those 'kneeling chairs' once...
It was most definitely not my bag. After about one minute my knees were in agony.
See above.
One minute of tentative wobbling does not constitute evidence!
Hmm...
...looks like a set of Bang & Olufsen headphones!
Have you thought about standing?
I have done away with a chair and it has been much better for my back. You just need to sort out the monitor height, but I got a desk from Ikea and it works out really well. Would never go back to sitting at a desk again.
The Gravity
Works reclined, seated, kneeling and semi-reclined. The problem is that it's a bit tempting to tip back and have a quick kip. Just as well I only work from home occasionally.
Nice Pad Lenny!
And is that the lovely Mrs Law?
Silly boy. Couldn't be.
My Gravity's in black leather.
Say ahh
Nothing like taking your work home with you, eh Lenny?
Out of interest, if you stand behind it and push down hard on the headrest and then let go, does it twang the user across the room? I'm definitely getting one if it does.
Almost..
I use it to ping my son onto the bed. He finds it highly amusing.
Thank you...
... for all the recommendations. At the moment I'm erring towards scouting ebay for an Aeron, but any more tips gratefully received. Once again, the Word board comes good!
Get yourself off
to John Lewis and have a look at a Morgan office chair, got one for home, had been suffering badly from back problems, however this chair has been flipping marvellous - both comfortable and good support for the back as well. It was about £159, bought last December. It is similar to the Aeron chair in design though more cushioned. I did try a lot of specialist ergonomically designed chairs for the back and none did it for me. If you have been suffering from back, the main thing is to have something which supports the lower back comfortably.