Off to sit in some refurbished Herman Miller Aerons this weekend - anything I should look for?

exhashdotdot

exhashdotdot

exhashdotdot

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Title basically

I know that there's the Aeron Classic and Remastered and I'm pretty sure all of these will be the classic variety.

I've sat in one in John Lewis and it was very comfortable; I've found a seller on FBM who has a load of Aerons available so I'm going to check them out.

Is there anything I should pay attention to in particular? £450 is still a huge amount of money to spend on a chair (for me) so I want to make sure I get the most prime specimen this guy has.

Thanks all
 
Had mine over 13 years now and its still in full working order (was second hand in 2008). The only issue I have is the cloth arms are worn at the front but not too fussed about that, it might not have cloth arms.

Check all the controls and adjustments are in working order. The lean back features, height etc etc, there are a fair few levers.
 
Thank you for the replies.

If there was something minor such as the arm rests being tatty, or maybe the arch support looks a bit smelly, would you be inclined to replace those? Or would you look for a chair where they're in better condition?

I almost see Herman Miller chairs as a platform, and you buy parts depending on your needs; kinda like PCs/thinkpads/etc
 
Well, I picked it up; ended up paying £375 for it.

KypUF4p.jpg

The only issue I can identify is there's a little bit of wobble in the cylinder/piston. I wonder how easy it is to replace.
 
exhashdotdot said:
The only issue I can identify is there's a little bit of wobble in the cylinder/piston. I wonder how easy it is to replace.
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It can be easy or hard depending how long the gas lift was replaced. You will need a long Stillson pipe wrench (18' or longer), a club hammer and wd-40.

exhashdotdot said:
Been sitting in this chair since Saturday and honestly, it's kind of killing me - going to give this chair a bit longer before I might have to flip it :(
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There could be a chance the chair has not been setup properly. Looking at the image the lumbar support is probably set too high. To find the right lumbar support position, i find that the best way to find it was to put it to the lowest setting and keep pushing it up until you just feel it on your lower back.

chair.jpg

It should look something like this.
 
Hi, I'm interested to hear why it's killing you? There's a lot of hard edges on the Aeron is that something to do with it?

Those ergonomic setup photos aren't realistic. If you sit bolt upright like that for any length of time your lower back is going to be in a lot of pain, you need to have a bit of recline to relieve the pressure on your lower back.
 
Muso said:
Those ergonomic setup photos aren't realistic. If you sit bolt upright like that for any length of time your lower back is going to be in a lot of pain, you need to have a bit of recline to relieve the pressure on your lower back.
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That's more of a sign that you have weak core muscles. Persevering with the above posture and doing some planks everyday or something would be far better for you in the long run.

OP, what height/weight are you if you don't mind me asking and which size Aeron did you buy?
 
Not true I'm afraid I do a comprehensive weights and cardio regime twice a week so I know about muscle groups. Planks are in fact a terrible core exercise they put excessive pressure on your shoulders and you can quickly build up a resistance to them. I'd recommend doing squats and deadlifts over planks any day of the week.

As humans we are designed to move around, I rarely sit on one positions for more than 10 minutes, I'm constantly moving around and taking regular breaks.
 
Muso said:
Not true I'm afraid I do a comprehensive weights and cardio regime twice a week so I know about muscle groups. Planks are in fact a terrible core exercise they put excessive pressure on your shoulders and you can quickly build up a resistance to them. I'd recommend doing squats and deadlifts over planks any day of the week.

As humans we are designed to move around, I rarely sit on one positions for more than 10 minutes, I'm constantly moving around and taking regular breaks.
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It absolutely is true regarding posture, many people sit in their Aeron like the above and have no issues so it's likely something else is at play. Again, planks aren't bad for everyone and I didn't specifically mean they had to do them, just something that would strengthen their core if it is weak.

It's all well and good if you can move around every 10 minutes, but the majority can't with their work/gaming. Reclining to let the chair take most of the pressure off will obviously work for you if you don't sit in the same position for longer than 10 mins.

I had this exact same issue when I bought my Steelcase Leap V2 and persevered with the above posture and some core exercises and it was fine within a few weeks.
 
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I appreciate everyone is different, I spent a long time working on plans and quickly got to a point where I had to put weights on my back and found that I wasn't getting much benefit and started experiencing a lot of shoulder pain. They are difficult when you start but soon get easy, I mean look the world record is over 9 hours!

By the way when I move around I don't mean get out of my seat. I mean recline, lean forward, cross my legs, move around in my seat.

I've previously owned "ergonomic chairs" the Steelcase Please V2 and Human =scale Freedom. Both were terrible and imagine that is what the OP is finding with his "ergonomic" Aeron.

It shouldn't have to take a few weeks to get used to a chair, that's a crazy notion, I suppose it depends on what and how much pain or discomfort you are feeling. With the two ergonomic chairs I owned there were fundamental design flaws which wouldn't ever be right no longer how long I sat in them.

I've never tried an Aeron but what to me looks like the main design flaw is that there's a lip on the seat which could dig into your leg and I've seen numerous reports of this happening.

Isn't it amazing that there isn't a low cost, comfortable office chair available to the masses?
 
It’s why I asked for further details on his height and which size chair it was he’s bought. The lip on the seat should not dig into the backs of your knees if you've bought the right size, unless OP has abnormally short legs :D
 
I bought one new as I figured it was likely to be a chair I spend the next two decades in (this is out of character; I'm normally a bit tight) and it's a fantastic piece of human engineering.

Very Aeron you got, it looks brand new and £375 is a hell of a price. Put it this way, if I don't regret my purchase I doubt you will :)
 
Tesla said:
Hi @exhashdotdot, in which area of the UK did you pick up this chair?
I’m returning the SecretLab chair I bought so would like to try an Aeron.
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How long did you have your secret lab chair before you returned it? I like mine but it makes a really loud creaking noise from the lumbar support and they can't replace the back rest until April and I've been thinking about asking to return it for a refund. It was originally delivered mid December

Sorry for the hijack but it's on my mind!
 
Relentless81 said:
How long did you have your secret lab chair before you returned it? I like mine but it makes a really loud creaking noise from the lumbar support and they can't replace the back rest until April and I've been thinking about asking to return it for a refund. It was originally delivered mid December

Sorry for the hijack but it's on my mind!
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To keep this thread on topic head here:
Thinking about buying a secretlabs..
 
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