… Aeron chairs really aren’t that great! When I used to work for Arsdigita, Aeron chairs came as standard and I remember thinking how great they were – it was a long time ago. A few years ago I was looking around to buy a decent chair for myself. I went to several “specialist” shops that sold ergonomic chairs and they all told me that Aerons are crap from an ergonomic perspective. At the time I didn’t believe them. In the end I opted to buy one of these because they were recommended and they cost about 500 quid less than an Aeron! Anyway, I have just recently moved into an office and have been using an Aeron for a couple of weeks now – there are more Aerons in the office than people – and I am surprised to say that having been using one for the last few weeks they really aren’t that great! I refrain from using the word “crap” because they are comfortable but give me my chair any day of the week! I think part of the problem is that the Aerons don’t have a forward tilt mechanism and my hips feel as though they are below the level of my knees – not a good thing!
One thing is for certain: the next time I feel like splashing out on an expensive chair, I certainly won’t be spending my hard-earned cash on an Aeron.
Ah yes. I have one of those, my wife has the low backed version and we’ve got 10 of the Credo 4470 conference chairs round our dining table. Peter Opsvik (http://www.opsvik.no/), the designer is a man of genius. If I could afford it (and he designed sofas) I would have no chairs in the house that he didn’t design.
His Balans Gravity chair is a thing of shining beauty and a holy terror for any cats in the house…
Actually Aerons do have a forward tilt. I use it all the time:
http://www.hermanmiller.com/CDA/QTV/1,,982,00.html
Dean: I should have been more specific. I should have said that the Aeron chair I was using didn’t have a forward tilt mechanism – it didn’t. I still wouldn’t buy one though 🙂
In the office space I was renting they had Aeron chairs but there was no lumbar support and the arms were fixed; they obviously went for the cheapest model. Too many additional “extras” to choose from, which increases the price even more. I think certain features, such as forward-tilt, should come as standard with an ergonomic chair.