Decent Desk Chairs

I've tried quite a few in various stores from £30 Ikea stuff right through to £700+ Herman Miller chairs. On that budget I think the Staples Gotham is hard to beat. It's deep enough on the leg support, has good back support as is fairly adjustable. It's also well padded throughout. Had mine around 6-12 months and no issues. Worth watching some stores exec type chairs as the back support doesn't go quite upright enough as they aren't designed for PC use. They can initially seem really supportive but wheel one up to a desk and sit as you would using a mouse and keyboard and the back support is none existent.

Oh, and the Ikea Markus is criminally overrated. Whilst not bad, it's far from comfortable.
 
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Drollic said:
Oh, and the Ikea Markus is criminally overrated. Whilst not bad, it's far from comfortable.
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Agreed, rubbish quality and support, but cheap. I bought one and replaced it with a Herman Miller. Now the price difference was huge, but if you spend a lot of time in a seat like I do, I think it's justifiable, like a bed.
 
Phantom Shadow said:
I'm on an Ikea Markus atm, most comfortable desk chair I've had. I especially like the mesh back to stop my back from overheating so much in the summer.
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Agreed on the mesh back alone, its pretty decent for the money. As housey mentions above though, it lacks the lower back support.
 
Phantom Shadow said:
I'm on an Ikea Markus atm, most comfortable desk chair I've had. I especially like the mesh back to stop my back from overheating so much in the summer.
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How old are you?

I think a young person will find any seat comfy pretty much. Old farts like me however it's different and older bones find crap seats quickly :D
 
Housey said:
Agreed, rubbish quality and support, but cheap. I bought one and replaced it with a Herman Miller. Now the price difference was huge, but if you spend a lot of time in a seat like I do, I think it's justifiable, like a bed.
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I don't think I could ever justify that amount for a chair.

How can they justify that markup? :eek:
 
Nix said:
I don't think I could ever justify that amount for a chair.

How can they justify that markup? :eek:
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They have nice coffee in their HQ, I think that's why.....and nice soap on their bathrooms so that too. :D

Though to be fair my daily watch would buy me 10 iPhones and tells the time worse. At least their chairs are built to look after my body.
 
Phantom Shadow said:
Ah you got me, I'm 23 :D It's not the worst chair you could get though, I had one where my ass would go numb after 30 minutes sitting on it!
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I gave mine to a 26 year old, he loves it, best chair he's ever had. Sadly as you age things like poor support start to show themselves, the Markus destroyed my back and bottom in 3 months, it was rubbish. I was buying a desk and saw the seat and just added one to my order thinking, it will do. It didn't but if you're a you guy/girl I'm sure it's fine.
 
Housey said:
Agreed, rubbish quality and support, but cheap. I bought one and replaced it with a Herman Miller. Now the price difference was huge, but if you spend a lot of time in a seat like I do, I think it's justifiable, like a bed.
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I'm 40, had the Markus for about 6 months, love it. The fact it has a 10 year guarantee is just a bonus but I couldn't disagree more with you.

I suggest the OP go try chairs out though, I've got a £5 one I got off ebay as a temporary chair 6 years ago that I swear is one of the best I've ever sat in.
 
When I had this same decision to take there were mixed reviews about the Aeron.

In the end I went for a 2nd hand Steelcase Leap v2 on ebay which was about £250 (bear with me here)
I was also having problems with my chair at work and HR and my manager basically did nothing so I went searching on ebay and found a steelcase Leap V1 for £110, its not 100% as comfy as the V2 but it's still way comfier than anything I've sat on at work. obviously it will be quite old now as well but if you looked at my chairs you wouldn't be able to tell they are a few years old now.


TL: DR - Steelcase Leap V1 :)
 
You're not supposed to rest your head on your chair, it weakens your neck muscles. Some chairs do have headrests but they tend to move into position as you recline to provide support.

The Aeron is a pretty old design now in terms of ergonomics, biggest flaw is the front edge of the seat isn't adjustable so it's possible to cause discomfort behind your knees if you're sat on it for too long.

I will usually go for the Herman Miller Embody or Mirra 2, Steelcase Think or Gesture, and Humanscale have a couple of good options as well. £120 on a used 'proper' chair will be ten times better than something that you could buy new for the same money.
 
Halfmad said:
I'm 40, had the Markus for about 6 months, love it. The fact it has a 10 year guarantee is just a bonus but I couldn't disagree more with you.

I suggest the OP go try chairs out though, I've got a £5 one I got off ebay as a temporary chair 6 years ago that I swear is one of the best I've ever sat in.
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I have a Hermin Miller Aeron as my office chair, a Herman Miller Mira as my home office chair and I can sit on them for 12 hours with zero back issues (not that I would sit that long without moving) I had a Markus for 3 months. Whether you agree or not one gave me back pain, it wobbled after time, a wheel broke and after 2 months I had massive coccyx issues. It is therefore in my experience a bad seat if, like me you suffer from a weakness of the pelvis (it twists) which in turn exposes the coccyx it is not of a good enough quality to prevent that.

To my point, if you are fine then these things do not show themselves so I can understand how you think it's great but I don't feel the need to buyer justify either as I bought one and in my experience it was garbage.

Each to their own however and I agree go try a few OP but sitting in a seat for 15 minutes in a shop will show you nothing.
 
Caged said:
The Aeron is a pretty old design now in terms of ergonomics, biggest flaw is the front edge of the seat isn't adjustable so it's possible to cause discomfort behind your knees if you're sat on it for too long.
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I don't suffer that problem, but I bought the Mira because of the adjustable front.
 
Steelcase Think is what I have, highly adjustable and built like a tank.

There is a good shop on that auction site, 2nd-hnd, who does refurbs of all the major workstation chair manufacturers.
 
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+1 to the Steelcase Leap.

After years of cheap poorly made chairs lasting barely a year each I bought a second-hand Leap for about £100 almost 6 years ago and its only now showing signs of wearing out.
 
I vouch for the Ikea Markus. I was looking at gaming chairs as they looked incredibly comfy but opted for the Markus. I remember approaching it thinking it looked uncomfortable but found it the opposite. life time warranty and you can change wheels to stands if you don't want it wheeling about so easy on laminate, I have a combo of both wheel and stands :D.

I would love to have a Herman Miller but dont due to cost. Worth it if you can afford it.
 
Had my Markus for 7 years and its still going strong. For the price its great. If I had the money to spend on a Herman Miller or Steelcase then I would buy one of them.

The OP has a budget and if he wants new then the Markus fits, If 2nd hand, a bit of searching will result in a Steelcase.
 
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