
Herman Miller Launches New Aeron Chair - petemill
http://www.hermanmiller.com/about-us/press/press-releases/all/herman-miller-launches-new-aeron-chair.html
======
paddy_m
I bought two Aeron chairs, $10 each at separate times.

The first chair was being pushed down the street by a guy who looked
borderline homeless. He was about to go into the Bowling Green subway station.
I said "Are you selling that chair", he said "How much would you offer?". I
offered $10, he said "great, I didn't really want to carry this all the way
home". I had a pang of regret and thought I had possibly walked into some type
of high design sting operation. I asked "Do you own this chair?", he replied
"My office was renovating and they were throwing it out." Good enough for me.

The second chair came a couple of weeks later. I was walking down Broadway by
the bull, about 100 yards from the first place. One of the street vendors was
sitting on an Aeron. I asked if he would sell me the chair, he said sure, $20.
As I was inspecting it, a woman walked by and said "That's a nice chair, it's
not a real Aeron like they have at my office, but it's a nice chair". The
hydraulic cylinder was broken on this one, the chair only sat at the lowest
position, when you would pick it up, the cylinder extended. I offered him $10
and he accepted. It was a genuine Aeron. I ordered a new cylinder for this
chair and it is like new, the cylinder was around $90.

Both of these sales happened within my first 3 months of moving downtown. I
have never seen another Aeron chair for sale on that street or any other. I
looked.

~~~
paddy_m
I guess I should actually review the chair. I think the Aeron is ok, but I
haven't sat in another chair that I think is notably better. I also haven't
ever sat in an office chair that felt 100% right. I have short legs and a long
torso. I'm 5'8" and I wear a 29" inseam pant. I do sometimes notice the front
bar putting pressure on my legs. Most of the time I put my legs up on
something. and have my knees slightly bent pushing me back into the chair, in
this position, the front bar isn't an issue. I do like the mesh for the
circulation.

I recently had trouble with stiff knees after a cross country drive. I saw a
massage therapist who does structural integration/bodywork. A small amount of
what he said was whooo-whooo, but he was very helpful with alignment, helping
my flexibility and explaining how to use my body. He told me that when I sit
down I should spread my cheeks and push myself firmly back into my chair. This
has helped. Because of this, I think a wheeled chair might not be the best
option. I want something firmly planted on the ground. The next time I setup
an office for myself I intend to have a video chat with him, with a third
party holding the iPad so he can help me with alignment and suggestions.

Another thing that I am interested in trying is the Esse Liberator [1], it
looks comfortable and interesting to sit in alone. I'm just worried about my
Mom coming over and saying "oh I like that chair where can I buy one", then
I'd have to just give it as a gift.

[1] [https://www.amazon.com/Liberator-Sensual-Lounge-Espresso-
Vel...](https://www.amazon.com/Liberator-Sensual-Lounge-Espresso-
Velvish/dp/B00VGIK7EO/)

~~~
mulletbum
I know you are getting recommendations, but the Embody chair is what you would
be looking for.

[http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-
wor...](http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-work-
chairs/embody-chairs.html)

~~~
robertleon
Wow, this sounds so amazing. I have never spent any money on a desk chair and
I have the worst neck pain + sciatic pain + shoulder pain every day now. This
chair seems heavenly.

~~~
mannykannot
My neck and shoulder pain went away after I started kayaking. I am not saying
it is for everyone, and I cannot say for sure even that it worked for me, but
I suspect it did.

~~~
lttlrck
I started doing push-ups every day. I hate push-ups and I am not very good at
them, to make it easier I do them on an incline and it has helped tremendously
with my shoulder and neck pain.

------
grogenaut
Wow, this is just full of people who don't like the aeron. I agree it's
expensive. I just buy used ones on craigslist for $375. I just wait till there
is one. I've got 3. I've had a work aeron since 2002. Love the things they
work for me. I know plenty of people they don't work for. I used several other
ergonomic chairs and they pinched the nerves at the back of my knees and
caused the outsides of my feet to go numb. Aeron works great for me.

Now what is missing from the comments is a good summary of the differences. I
read the comments to I don't have to think for myself and so I don't have to
digest the article. I think of the comments as the mturk version of AI article
summaries. GET ON IT PEOPLE! :)

~~~
petemill
\- More adjustable arm rests (they go back and forward too)

\- New mesh material which is apparently more supportive

\- New back support mechanism which is a combination of the two previous
options (which you could not put together) - both the lumbar and the pelvis
supports

\- Chair is angled 1.8 degrees further forward

\- Tilt mechanism causes the chair to hug your body more, with less latency

\- A new white-ish color option

Other than that it looks the same.

I'm in the middle of an assessment of both Aeron and Mirra 2, so yeah I've
been in the details a bit too much this week...

...as a programmer I find it easy to make decisions based on facts, but when
it's a decision based on how something feels, I lock up in panicked indecision
and almost always make a choice I regret!

~~~
aedron
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...](http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/dam/hermanmiller/page_assets/products/Mirra2_Chairs/design_story_mirra2_chair_2.jpg)

~~~
equalarrow
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. They're usually
cheaper too. I got my Mirra on Amazon for around $600 which the Aeron was
going for, I think at the time, around $900.

~~~
seanp2k2
I always get Aerons used on CL. In the Bay Area, if you shop around for a few
days, you can get one for $300. My last one came from a dentist office. I sold
my OK-condition size C for $280 and picked up a better-condition size B (which
is actually my size, at 6'0 and 220# with a 44" chest and 36" waist) for $300
later that day. It was the second one I called about; the first person didn't
call me back fast enough.

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.

------
forrestthewoods
I've switched my recommended chair from Aeron to Steelcase Leap.

The problem with Aerons is the mesh seat. Because you sit on mesh there is a
hard plastic rim. The front of that rim press up into your leg on your thigh.
It restricts circulations which can cause outright pain.

The severity depends on your body and how you fit in the chair exactly. But
it's bad enough for enough people that I recommend people avoid Aeron; with
the Steelcase Leap being my current chair of choice.

[https://www.steelcase.com/products/office-
chairs/leap/](https://www.steelcase.com/products/office-chairs/leap/)

~~~
abirkill
I had the same issue with the seat edge, I believe that it's referred to as a
waterfall edge. The rest of the chair was great, but I found that extremely
uncomfortable after a few hours. Many people don't have a problem with it,
however.

I also recommend Steelcase as a good alternative. I considered the Leap but
eventually chose the Gesture, and am extremely satisfied.

~~~
bigtones
I too had the same problem with the seat edge - and after a couple of hours it
cut off circulation in my legs. Not something you want when you pay $1,300 for
an office chair. I found the Mirra to be better.

~~~
aedron
The Mirra lets you adjust the tilt of the forward part of the seat, solving
the biggest problem with the Aeron. It's basically an improved Aeron, in my
opinion (I have both).

------
Freak_NL
Ironically, a couple of articles below this one this headline shows up:

> The Tech Bubble Didn’t Burst This Year. Just Wait (bloomberg.com)

Do others have this strong association with the first internet tech bubble and
Aeron chairs? For me there is a strong visual link between the floundering
tech companies of that era and the images of the seemingly ubiquitous Aeron
chair in the offices being cleared.

Not to belittle the notion of good ergonomics — on the contrary, I love my
Steelcase chair and hight adjustable desk — it's just that the brand seems
tainted. I wonder if their market research took this into account and came up
with a strategy for this association?

~~~
DonHopkins
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 Halted Electronics [4] of office
furniture.

[1] [http://www.deskdepot.net/](http://www.deskdepot.net/)

[2] [http://www.mv-
voice.com/morgue/2000/2000_05_05.haltek05.html](http://www.mv-
voice.com/morgue/2000/2000_05_05.haltek05.html)

[3]
[http://www.bluefeathertech.com/technoid/surplusmemorial.html](http://www.bluefeathertech.com/technoid/surplusmemorial.html)

[4] [http://www.halted.com/](http://www.halted.com/)

~~~
DrScump
I think the giant of used office furniture in the 1990s was Curtis Trading
Company ("Surplus Stuff") in Milpitas.

~~~
DonHopkins
And there's also WeirdStuff Warehouse in Sunnyvale for more weird surplus
electronics!

[http://www.weirdstuff.com/](http://www.weirdstuff.com/)

------
caminante
For perspective, the original was a radical departure from convention.

Quote from Blink by Gladwell:

    
    
      "In late 1993, as they prepared to launch the chair, Herman Miller 
      put together a series of focus groups around the country. They wanted 
      to get some ideas about pricing and marketing and make sure there was 
      general support for the concept. They started with panels of architects 
      and designers, and they were generally receptive. “They understood 
      how radical the chair was,” Dowell said. “Even if they didn’t see it 
      as a thing of beauty, they understood that it had to look the way it 
      did.” Then they presented the chair to groups of facility managers 
      and ergonomic experts—the kinds of people who would ultimately be 
      responsible for making the chair a commercial success. This time the 
      reception was downright chilly.
      [...]
      Before long, however, the chair started to attract the attention of 
      some of the very cutting-edge elements of the design community. It 
      won a design of the decade award from the Industrial Designers Society 
      of America. In California and New York, in the advertising world and in
      Silicon Valley, it became a kind of cult object that matched the 
      stripped-down aesthetic of the new economy. It began to appear in 
      films and television commercials, and from there its profile built 
      and grew and blossomed. By the end of the 1990s, sales were growing 
      50 to 70 percent annually, and the people at Herman Miller suddenly 
      realized that what they had on their hands was the best-selling chair 
      in the history of the company."

------
thisjustinm
I've sat in Aerons for a few years across various jobs and they were always
just OK - I felt like they could have been great if I could just adjust a few
more things to fit my body better.

When it came time to get a "real" office chair for the home office I decided
to go with the Steelcase Leap[1] and I have not regretted it. I had no idea a
chair could fit me this well. Everything is adjustable and actually labeled -
it's like they actually thought about how people use chairs.

The biggest problem with having a chair as good as the Leap to sit in 90% of
the time is the other 10% of the time where I'm somewhere with a terrible
generic office chair - I can feel it in my back and legs within a few hours.

Everyone is different but I really can't recommend enough at least trying out
the leap.

[1][https://www.steelcase.com/products/office-
chairs/leap/](https://www.steelcase.com/products/office-chairs/leap/)

~~~
ajford
How's the Leap with heat retention? I've found that most solid backed (and
seated, though less so) chairs I've used annoy me with how much they hold heat
in.

I find mesh backed chairs to seem more comfortable to me in that regards since
they have much more airflow against my back.

~~~
masklinn
> I've found that most solid backed (and seated, though less so) chairs I've
> used annoy me with how much they hold heat in.

Hello, fellow warm-back sitter. I've generally had the same experience and
bought a mesh-backed chair for myself years ago. I was even looking at mesh
seating, though the chair I was eyeing apparently doesn't hold up long term.

------
nikcub
I know the Aeron is extremely popular, but IMO the Embody is a better chair:

[http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-
wor...](http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-work-
chairs/embody-chairs.html)

~~~
pizza234
I think it's seriously flawed, to the point of being a ripoff (especially
considering the price).

Specifically, I think that the two, radical flaws, are not just due to my
personal shape:

1\. the lower back support is very hard; anything around the waist will push
against the pelvis/lower back. It took time to get used to, even using cotton
trousers, I can't imagine people wearing a belt ever feeling comfortable.

2\. the upper top back is significantly concave; it pushes against the
shoulders, leading to a severely bad posture, especially if you have a minimum
of muscles in the back.

I think they reason why I originally chose it over the Aeron was that on a
short try, the back support was adapting better; turned out to be a bad
decision.

I don't complain about the materials (it looks like it will last for years),
although I understand why some people would judge them as second class.

~~~
tszyn
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 places that stick out where they shouldn't.

There is a single adjustment knob for the back, but it adjusts the thoracic
and the lumbar part at the same time. So if you have a rounded upper back,
you'll adjust the knob to make the backrest a more deeply curved S shape to
prevent the upper backrest from poking your shoulder blades. But then the
lower part of the S gets deeper as well and it starts digging into your
lumbar/sacral region. It's not easy to notice -- after 15 minutes in the
store, I was in love with the Embody; after 1 hour at home, it felt like my
lower back was covered in bruises from the hard plastic.

For this reason, I do not recommend the Embody to people with incorrect
posture, or to people who don't like hard chairs.

Other things worth noting are the poor armrests (they have no back movement,
so you can't move your chair close to your desk without lowering them) and the
fact that you can't really recline very far in this chair because the back
tension rises pretty fast after a certain point. Well, you can recline if you
adjust the back tension, but it's a continuous knob, so it'll take you ages to
go back your regular setting.

~~~
geoelectric
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 important
part of my workstation ergos that I dropped a few hundred on one so I could
work from home in the same chair as work, and haven't regretted it.

But I totally agree with you--you either fit the profile for it or you don't.
I think it's incredibly important that you test the Embody before buying it.
_If_ it fits you it's going to be the best chair on the market, hands down,
bar none. If it doesn't it's going to be a serious pain.

Regarding reclining, the tilt knob isn't _really_ for active reclining, if I
recall their setup guide correctly, more to set the right resistance so you
float at an ergonomic 110 degrees while allowing wiggle room to fidget. At the
very least, that's how I set mine, and it works pretty well. I feel kind of
suspended in the chair that way.

The tilt limiter is set so I don't have much room at all beyond that--that
lets me push backwards against the limiter and then arch my (and the chair's)
back to stretch.

The arms are crappy. I can't argue there. They sit too far back, and there's
too much play in the spread adjuster joint. The height adjustment on them is
excellent--they drop well below my elbows so I can use the chair "without"
armrests--but the rest of the adjustment is poor.

(To the parent poster, btw, I wear a pretty thick leather belt with mine fine
--really does depend on how you're shaped).

~~~
tszyn
I agree that sticking it out can sometimes help. The Embody is very punishing
if you slouch (the hard sacral part will just dig into your spine), so the
first step would be to make an effort to maintain correct posture. But if
you're sitting straight AND still feel discomfort, I'd say the Embody is not
for you.

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.

------
bcrescimanno
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 the size of a
person is critical to understanding their needs in a chair. No matter how
adjustable a chair is, it's simply not going to be best for everyone.

At home, I own a size-C Aeron chair that I purchased in 2007. I love it and
the only thing I've ever considered is upgrading to one with the highest-end
back support rather than the standard lumbar cushion.

At work, I sit in a Steelcase Leap. It's certainly a fine chair and I have no
real problems with it. I find it very comfortable and I'm able to sit for much
of the day in this chair without any issues.

My gut tells me that I prefer my Aeron; that said, the more I think about it,
the more I realize that I've never questioned that assumption. The one thing I
know is that I do prefer the breathable material on the Aeron.

~~~
doughj3
I don't know if all or most stores will let you do this, but I went to a
Design Within Reach store in Cambridge, MA and they let me bring in my laptop
and work off their wifi for a full day. I'm sure they wold have let me spend a
couple days there if I needed.

I doubt you'd be able to get an in home trial, though.

~~~
bcrescimanno
> I doubt you'd be able to get an in home trial, though.

It seems odd that every decent mattress store will allow you an in-home trial
--some as many as 4 months. Maybe because the return rate on chairs would be a
lot higher?

~~~
geoelectric
Probably. I imagine the sheer hassle of returning a mattress is friction for a
lot of people, and that they don't get many returns.

------
SwellJoe
I bought an Aeron from the Arthur Andersen bankruptcy auction, and kept it for
about a decade until I moved into an RV and didn't have room for it. I loved
it, and miss it every time I have a twinge of back pain because of sitting too
long on the sofa or at the dinette. I have frequently considered getting a
bigger RV just so I'd have room for a new Aeron. I'm sure there are other
great chairs, but the Aeron was the first great chair I ever owned (I'd gone
through a half dozen or so cheapo office chairs before getting the Aeron).

In short, a chair is one of those things that it is well worth spending some
money on. The nice thing about Aerons after so long on the market is how
common they are on the used market now.

~~~
robin_reala
I inherited an Aeron from my dad who’d bought it in the Enron bankruptcy
auction. I’ve replaced the base mesh that wore through, the arm pads as the
foam crumbled, and the gas lift has been replaced twice. Wouldn’t even think
about buying another chair though. The availability of spare parts is key to
that.

~~~
bdcravens
What about the warranty?

~~~
robin_reala
I think the warranty stopped in 2007 if I remember right.

------
flyinglizard
I have an Aeron, like many others, but I tried their new stuff (like the
Embody and Mira) and they just felt plasticky and cheap (obviously they're
expensive as all HM products). The Embody, their flagship chair, is complete
trash in my eyes. It's absurdly uncomfortable during long periods, to the
point a friend of mine bought one and sold it few months later at 50% off
because he had back aches, and another friend just brought his to the
company's office where it's left deserted among the cheap conference room
seating, and bought something else to use at home.

It seems like HM haven't managed to top the original Aeron, and all they did
since is making new stuff that's cheaper to manufacture. I suspect this new
Aeron is yet another attempt at reducing manufacturing costs (replacing metals
with plastics etc) but we'll see. If it's really better than the original,
I'll pick one when my 12-years warranty ends in couple of years.

------
Mao_Zedang
I used to buy a $100 chair every year because it would break, I have had my
miller for almost 11 years now.

~~~
Hydraulix989
I bought a $100 chair, and then I bought a Herman Miller Aeron.

The $100 chair is much more comfortable. For one thing, the seat pan is padded
cloth instead of mesh. Even my coworkers prefer it, so we outfitted the office
with the $100 chairs, and nobody wants to sit on the uncomfortable $800
Aerons.

~~~
greglindahl
The purpose of the mesh is to prevent your ass from sweating. Perhaps you
don't have that problem, but it's an issue for a lot of people.

I lost weight down to a BMI of 22 and still appreciate a mesh seat.

~~~
SyneRyder
I think it's also something you don't really notice until you've used the
Aeron a lot - but once you do, you'll become quite aware of it on almost any
other seat. Also depends how long you're sitting in a seat at one time.

My Aeron is still one of my favorite purchases (and I paid full price for mine
over a decade ago, I don't regret it).

~~~
Hydraulix989
I sit in chairs for 12+ hours a day, I recently got a standing desk though. I
can't sit on the mesh without putting a cushion underneath; it's one step
above concrete.

------
idlewords
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."

~~~
alpeb
Also have Jony Ive read it in your mind.

~~~
cbsmith
It was written in his style, so I kind of did that automatically.

------
cantrevealname
Several people here mentioned that they hate the mesh fabric of the Aeron
chairs because it tears over time, because it feels "like sitting in a hammock
and putting pressure in unwanted areas causing numbness", and because the hard
plastic rim under the mesh presses into your thigh.

For everyone who likes the basic Herman Miller shape but not the mesh, I
recommend the older Herman Miller Equa and Equa 2 chairs:

[https://www.google.com/search?q=herman+miller+equa+chair&sou...](https://www.google.com/search?q=herman+miller+equa+chair&source=lnms&tbm=isch)

These pre-date the Aeron chairs, and IMO are much more comfortable. The
downsides are that they are slightly less adjustable in general (e.g., on my
_particular_ model, the armrests don't go up and down) and obviously don't
offer the ventilation of the mesh (which I personally don't like anyway).

~~~
bshimmin
I have a Herman Miller Sayl
([http://www.hermanmiller.co.uk/products/seating/performance-w...](http://www.hermanmiller.co.uk/products/seating/performance-
work-chairs/sayl-chairs.html)), which is a bit cheaper than an Aeron and also,
I think, more comfortable for those who don't like the mesh. They come in
fairly cheerful colours - I have a white one with a bright orange seat. I'm
not sure they're as ergonomically sound as an Aeron, but I've been very happy
with mine for the last five years (I did tear one of the armrests in an office
move, but they sent a replacement free of charge).

------
SloopJon
I've had an Aeron at home for ten years or so. Both of the arms have broken
off. It actually seemed like an improvement, so I never got around to a
warranty replacement.

Arms aside, I'm not crazy about the chair. It's not really comfortable for
anything besides sitting straight up at a desk. The Steelcase chairs I've had
at work are more versatile, although I've broken one of those too.

~~~
shoover
I can't imagine what it would take to break a Steelcase, but I won't ask. My
Leap is seven years old and other than the missing new chair smell and bit of
grime on the rubber arm rests (easily cleanable) there is no discernible
difference from the day I assembled it. It does take some effort to keep the
kids from using it as a playground.

------
tristor
When I switched to working from home full-time I went through a collection of
chairs and finally settled on the Herman Miller Mirra2. It's a derivative
design of the Aeron, but on the Aeron I had problems with the front lip
cutting off circulation in my lower legs and putting too much pressure. The
adjustable front lip on the Mirra2 was a godsend and after getting it adjusted
professionally to fit me, I feel like the chair cradles me.

Now that I'm on the road traveling while I work, other than air conditioning
on hot days the biggest thing I miss from the US is my Herman Miller Mirra2.
Skip the Aeron, get a Mirra2 or an Embody. Both are amazing.

~~~
mickronome
I have a very slender complexion and had exactly the same problem with my
Aeron. I came to the conclusion that my 60kg/180cm was simply to little weight
over to much area to make the foam lip curve enough.

Do you happen to be a featherweight also ? I would love to have a mesh chair,
but one that works for my complexion.

------
sshumaker
The cynic in me thinks they are releasing a new chair so they can recapture
revenue in this market. Aeron is somewhat a victim of its own succcess - they
are incredibly well-made so there is a thriving secondary market that Herman
Miller doesn't capture. This could be like a drug company subtly making
changes to a drug once generics show up on the market. I suppose that's better
than building in planned obsolescence.

------
npezolano
Not sure why people don't like this chair. I've worked for a large company
where everyone had Aerons and I absolutely loved the chair. I've even bought
the higher end Embody from Herman Miller and I love that as well.

~~~
coldcode
I worked for a giant wealthy famous company and we have two choices in chairs.
Both ultra cheap and painful. Ergonomics, not.

------
pieterhg
Bought the Aeron this year. It cut off blood flow to my legs at the thigh
area.

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Randgalt
How can you improve on perfection? I'm dubious. I've had mine for over 15
years and will never part with it. I had it refurbished 3 years ago and it's
still great. It made a huge difference in my life. I had back problems and
severe repetitive stress problems. The chair makes a huge difference for me.
In particular, it allows me to have a tilting-forward position. Also, the mesh
is extremely comfortable without trapping heat. It's pure genius.

------
mixedbit
I was considering Aeron but I've read reviews that its adjustments are not
very flexible, especially taller people were complaining that is is hard for
them to adjust Aeron in a way that the chair is comfortable. Aeron has larger
size, but it seems to be intended for taller and thicker, not for taller and
thin. I ended up buying Hag H05. It isn't as popular, but I'm very satisfied
with it (Using it for about 5 years now).

~~~
thenomad
I didn't buy an Aeron as its back is too short for me to lean back against
comfortably. So I got the next model down, the Mirra - which I've had for more
than a decade and is absolutely awesome.

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jdmoreira
I've been looking at buying an aeron for quite a while, they are not so common
in Europe. They might be more common in London but I've never seen one or sat
on one.

I can get them refurbished for around 350€ for the standard and 500€ for the
executive model plus shipping to Sweden from either the UK or Germany.

If anyone knows a better way of getting one in Europe / Sweden let me know!

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eddyg
Not sure why I don't hear more about Knoll's ergonomic chairs:
[http://www.knoll.com/shop/by-category/ergonomic-desk-
chairs](http://www.knoll.com/shop/by-category/ergonomic-desk-chairs)

Please comment if you've used a Knoll chair and can compare it to an Aeron or
Leap.

------
_Codemonkeyism
Shouldn't they have done this at the beginning of the bubble? ;-)

~~~
m72
Or... They're the comfortable, ergonomic stallions of the apocalypse returning
to us with the collapse of the bubble.

------
dh12345
Shameless plug. At Autonomous, we just launched the $179 ErgoChair yesterday
to compliment our SmartDesk.

$179 ErgoChair by Autonomous [https://www.autonomous.ai/office-
chair](https://www.autonomous.ai/office-chair)

~~~
throwanem
That's not much of a plug. Sure, it's cheaper. Beyond that, why do I want it?

------
uptown
Used to have one at an old job but never liked them. I found the plastic
leading-edge of the seat gouged into my legs uncomfortably. I did find one
with a torn mesh seat on the street once -- repaired it and gave it to a
family member.

For me - I've been sitting on a Humanscale Freedom for about a decade. The
company replaced the gel seat once due to wear and tear - but otherwise it's
been a great seat if you're okay using something that doesn't have a million
knobs and levers to customize your sitting experience.

------
earlyriser
I have drunk the cool-aid about expensive chairs and cheap tables. For years I
wanted to buy an Aeron for my home office but I didn't want to do it until I
test one (I live in a small town, so no opportunity). Finally this year I
tested an Aeron during a business trip, for 10 days. Maybe it's my own body,
but it wasn't as comfortable as I thought it was going to be, I was very
disappointed.

The best chair I've been on was one during an EA interview (Montreal studio).
I still wonder which kind of chair it was.

~~~
mulletbum
I might be writing this a lot for this thread, but the embody chair is by far
the best office chair I have ever sat in:

[http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-
wor...](http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-work-
chairs/embody-chairs.html)

~~~
rublev
This activates my 'any one of these 10 million screws might pop and fuck me'
phobia to the max. Is there something that provides similar comfort but
without the 'sentient' aesthetic, something simpler in design?

~~~
mulletbum
It comes with a 5 year warranty.

You can go with a more industrial look, such as the Steelcase Gesture, but in
reality most of what is done is just covered to look like there is less screws
and such.

The difference is that Embody was made to deal with pressure points, but there
are not as many screws as you might think.

------
petemill
I wonder if the new mesh material is actually the same as Mirra 2's mesh
material, which was always different from the (now classic) Aeron.

I've been trying both chairs out, and found some of the Mirra 2's features a
lot better than the Aeron (notably it's forward tilt and it's more adjustable
arm rests), but hated the softness of the seat mesh which felt like I was
sitting in a hammock and put pressure in unwanted areas, causing numbness.

------
nsxwolf
I've had mine for 11 years now. The lowest end model with no lumbar support
and nothing but the height is adjustable. The left arm rest now has a huge
crack in the vinyl which digs into my forearms sometimes but overall it's
better than all the other chairs I have access to.

------
zwieback
Where I work cast-off Aerons bunch up in abandoned cubicle tracts. Some people
like them but others seem to move back to traditional ones. Personally, I
don't like the hammock-feel very much.

------
bryanmgreen
Can anyone tell me why chairs are so expensive though?

------
runnr_az
Can I get it in True Black?

------
elcct
Is it only me who thinks the design of this chair is aesthetically awful? It
looks like it belongs to something like hospital not an office...

~~~
Solinoid
No, I find them really off putting. I much prefer the look of Haworth Zody
office chairs, and they offer similar adjustability.

[http://www.haworth.com/products/seating/desk-
chairs/zody](http://www.haworth.com/products/seating/desk-chairs/zody)

~~~
neves
How is the Zody quality? Is it as high as Aeron and Steelcase? It looks
somewhat easier to find at a decent price.

~~~
Solinoid
I've had one for about 8 years and the rubber on the armrests has started to
degrade in the past 2 years, but other than that no issues to report.
Replacement armrests run about 60$.

That said I worked in an office that had about 200 of them, and chairs subject
to heavier individuals had problems with the gas height adjuster failing. This
was about 5 years ago so maybe they've sorted it out.

