Aeron chair; is it the best?

History:

The Aeron chair was designed by Bill Stumpf and Don Chadwick for Herman Miller in the late 1980's and early 1990's. They threw out all of the existing ideas about what an office chair was, why did it have to be fabric over foam, why did the chair have to limit your movement, etc. What they did do was use anthropometrics to fit the chair to the user and allow the chair to fluidly move with them. Our gracious US military participated in the study by allowing soldiers bodies to be mapped and a solution to the problem of a one size fits all chair was solved.

The Aeron chair redefined what a work chair is. It doesn't have padding or fabric. Aeron comes in three sizes, not based on job title, but on body size and shape. It looked like nothing that came before it, and set the office furniture industry on fire. Named Design of the Decade by Time magazine and given a permanent home in the New York Museum of Modern Art the Aeron chair has reached a status unseen by any predecessor... some have even called it an icon.

My thoughts:

You have to admit the Aeron chair looks pretty cool, although fairly masculine. At first sit the chair feels different. You are suspended in a mesh called Pellicle allowing the seat and back to conform to your body. The chairs ability to conform allows your body weight to be distributed across a larger surface area and makes the chair comfortable for a longer sit. The mesh also allows for air flow. No more standing up with a sweaty back or seat, this can also be a negative for people who get cold easily. I thought the first time I sat in it that the frame would be hitting my shoulders or under my legs. Not so, they definitely spent some time making sure your body doesn't come in contact with any 'hard' surfaces. I read some websites that claimed the mesh ripped holes in their pants, so I contacted Herman Miller's customer service to get the low down. It seems that the original mesh used back in the late 1990's may have been abrasive, they since changed the way it was made to be less so.

The rest of the chair has a nice feel, I recommend spending some time getting used to the tilt features. The Aeron chair's mechanism has a lot of adjusting for body weight, this I was told is one of the biggest advantages to the chair. If you turn the knob on the right side of the chair; it will either increase or decrease the tension of the recline. If you have it set correctly the chair will support you in a sort of free floating recline. Of course the chair does have a lever to lock the recline. But take the few minutes to adjust that knob, oh one other thing, it takes a lot of turning to get set correctly. Don't expect to feel any difference after one or two turns, it takes about 15 to have any noticeable effect.

Newer versions of the chair adjust much easier than the original version. The biggest change is how the arms adjust. Back before 2005 the arm height adjusted by spinning a thumb screw to loosen or tighten the arms. Newer Aeron chairs have a flip lever, much easier to adjust and operate.

Back support is achieved in two different manners:

1. Standard lumbar support. This support is dual sided and can be adjusted in height an pressure to conform you the lumbar region of your back.
2. PostureFit. Herman Miller doesn't consider this a lumbar support, but more of a better posture support. What it basically does is if you sit up straight in your chair this devise will keep your pelvis from rotating back while seated. With your pelvis forward, your spine is kept naturally aligned. The height cannot be adjusted, but the pressure is adjusted by an additional knob on the side of the chair.

Is one better or worse? It's more of a preference thing, you could always buy both and return the one you don't like.

Pros to owning this chair:

• It breathes
• Nice clean look, available in a subtle color pallet
• 12 year parts and labor warranty (when bought new, or so they say)
• High resale value
• Fairly durable
• Three sizes A, B, C (small, medium, large)

Cons to owning this chair:

• The forward tilt can be tricky, even seems kind of useless at times.
• It breaks, with all those moving parts it happens.
• Unfortunately they are expensive to fix too, especially if you bought it used.(warranty does not transfer)

Overall evaluation:

The Aeron chair is nice looking and the mesh adds a comfortable feel. I heard some rattling around as the chair tilted which was a little nerve racking. My wife also sat in the chair, she found it uncomfortable. This is one of the draw back to the three sizes, she would be an 'A' and I'm a 'C'. The chair seems easy to clean. Back when I tried the chair I looked online for companies who fixed and could get parts for the chair. The best and most knowledgeable company I found was ChairMD. They have since dropped off the radar and been replaced by some companies that take forever to get back to you and even longer to get the chair fixed.

If you decide to own one or more of these chairs find out if the company you are buying them from also services them. These supposed "Service Centers" out there are a joke now; with the price of these chairs it should be easier to get it fixed.

Looks: A+

Comfort: B

Durability: B

Service: C

Manufacturer: A

Value: B