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The Chadwick Chair

daringfireball.net

40 pointsshawndumas45 comments

Gruber's comment here is a bit ingenuous:

"Don Chadwick is the designer behind both the Aeron and the Chadwick. The Chadwick is the one he put his name on."

The Aeron was a collaboration between Bill Stumpf and Chadwick. They'd worked together on chairs before for Herman Miller (Equa chair, 1984 & Sarah chair, 1988). I'm not sure Bill would have appreciated naming any of these chairs "the Chadwick."

Bill Stumpf was an extremely talented industrial designer. He passed away at age 70 in 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/obituaries/10stumpf.html http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/hermanmiller/english/pro...

It's also worth reading some of the backstory on the creation of the Aeron chair: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671789/the-untold-history-of-ho...

Yeah, I like the implication that the one with his name is better because of that, even though it's meaningless.

I'm in my late 30s and I hack for 10 hours a day in a director's chair from the '60s at the kitchen table.

I'd suggest getting enough exercise and standing up at least once an hour. And of course paying some attention to the basic ergonomics of where you work. But spending ludicrous amounts of money on a chair seems, well, silly.

- From the directors chair.

A thousand times this. Yeah a great chair helps, but all too often people throw posture and simple stretches/breaks out the window.

I agree. Daily exercise and stretching helps tremendously as does keeping an eye on your posture. If I slack off on exercising over a week or so I begin to see my posture decline and start to feel uncomfortable while sitting for long periods.

I get where you're coming from. Personally, I don't think a director's chair is visually appealing. This chair is visually appealing to me. I'd gladly pay a premium for something that looks amazing. I win twice in this case because it satisfies that AND is incredibly comfortable. If I stretch and get up every now and then, it's that much better. It's all about priorities; aesthetics is very important to me.

How often do you look at your chair?

It helps if a) you're old, b) you drink large amounts of coffee/juice/water. Then you'll be getting up at least once an hour, like it or not.

I don't consider it a "ludicrous" amount of money. It's about the same amount one spends on a mattress and boxspring. And we spend about the same amount of time each day in both.

(I just use the chairs at my office, and I don't like the logistics of lugging my own chair to the office. But if I was in a situation where I was buying a chair for myself, I would consider something like this.)

Agreed. Here's something I realized about 5 years ago.

You will spend 95% of your time putting pressure on your: - Shoes - Mattress - Chair

Skimping on any of those can lead to fatigue, discomfort and pain.

Any chair is fine until your body has had enough of it, then it's too late.

...and fitness, ergonomics, and standing up once an hour affect when your body "has had enough".

Increasing my physical activity is the single best thing I've done to help my body better handle sitting on my ass for most of the day. You can get a year of gym membership for less than the price of an Aeron chair. If you aren't already taking care of your body in that way a better chair is treating the symptoms, not the disease.

Yeah, and I get a back ache if I do the same thing. Let's argue over who's anecdote people should listen to...

The thing I didn't like about the Aeron is that the fabric seating base wasn't flat/wide/firm enough and the frame edges would roll my legs together. The Chadwick Chair has the same basic design, and looks like it would do the same thing.

I found that the Herman Miller Embody was a good choice for me, and a good value despite the stunning price on them. With their 12-year warranty, it came out to about 28 cents a day. Three years into it and the fabric still looks good, and cat hair is easy to remove (always a plus).

I don't know that this does, but the Aeron comes in three different sizes. You can adjust the tension of the fabric base (that's the twisty knob on the right-hand side), also.

The store where I bought the Embody also had the Aeron in all three sizes, and I tried both the B (medium) and the C (large) frames, fiddled with the tension knobs, and still didn't like it as much.

I just reached down and fiddled with that. The knob on the right adjusts the tilt tension.

Another popular office chair recommendation is the Steelcase Leap [1]. It may not have the same namedropping power at the Chadwick, but that's not important. I got mine off Craigslist for about $300, and it's the best chair I've ever had. It's also way better than the Herman Miller Reaction we have at my current office.

[1] http://www.steelcase.com/en/products/category/seating/task/l...

Is there any science behind the design? Studies, analysis, etc?

I used to suffer form frequent backaches. A couple of years back I shifted from modern office chairs to a solid wooden chair ($50) with no arms at home. The chair is heavy enough that it does not move as I shift my weight around. I find myself sitting up straight more often, as against slouching all the time, and since then I never had any back-pain.

I've used an Aeron and tried various other high-tech chairs and had similar results. I tend to have the best posture and feel most comfortable when in a hard chair, ideally with four legs I can prop my legs against. The rest of the time I spend standing.

I've been sitting on a $16 exercise ball (55cm) for the last few months while slowly recovering from a herniated disc in my back. As a former sloucher (and Aeron chair sitter), I can't speak highly enough about the new setup.

I have had a standing desk for almost 6 months now and I couldn't be happier. I have lower back herniated discs and sitting exerts way more pressure on my lower spine than standing. The added benefit is that I get to move and stretch more easily then I'd do sitting.

I do not stand the entire day though. I take short breaks by sitting on a high chair. I stand for about 2 hours and then sit for 15-30 minutes. This has worked way better than any ergonomic chair for me.

I have an adjustable height table and an Aeron. This is certainly THE combination if you can get it. Because there are mornings when standing is simply not an option.

I agree with you but after a while it became a habit for me. Although I am not perfect yet but I can avoid sitting during "those" mornings to a great extent now.

A solution similar in spirit, sitting on an exercise ball: http://lifehacker.com/5830748/why-i-switched-my-office-chair...

I have tried exercise ball and still own one. The only problem is that it does not work with high table. I'd love to switch to the exercise ball when I have to sit.

I also like the Kneeling chair[1] which is a similar solution although works mostly on keeping your back straight where as, exercise ball helps your core as well.

[1] http://amzn.com/B000TMK0O0

I often suffer of bad back pains and the only thing that fixed it (or greatly improved it) was the purchase of an Embody Chair http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-wor...

Edit: With a bit of research you can find it used or open box (like I did) and save some money.

I'm no fan of Chadwick's because both the Aeron and Chadwick look so complex, there are knobs and levers everywhere. I prefer Humanscale's stuff (Liberty and Diffrient), the self-adjusting recline works very well, they're way too comfortable for my health and they've got a lower dust-trap coefficient. They also look... simpler.

While I don't intend this to in any way to try to sway you from your perfectly reasonable preferences here — with the Aeron chairs I've sat in — slide the armrests inward toward your body, and you'll find directions underneath for the knobs and dials and levers. Which is not exactly the most intuitive, but it is handy.

You may be thinking of a Steelcase Leap or similar. The Aeron armrests don't slide in, they just pivot. I just had to look up the guide http://www.hermanmiller.com/content/dam/hermanmiller/documen...

The Humanscale Freedom chairs are amazing.

I had one in the UK, and gave it to my accountant when I left for North America 6 years ago. I still miss that chair.

I have Herman Miller Mirra chairs. They’re an improvement over the Aeron in two important ways:

* Less knobs, more automatic adjustments

* One size fits all

http://www.hermanmiller.com/products/seating/performance-wor...

The Supporto chair, while more expensive than others is incredibly comfortable and & good looking. I have both an Aeron and a Supporto. The difference between the two is like Photoshop vs Acorn on Mac. With the Aeron it sometimes feels like the designer chose not to choose… which I disagree with!

I sit in a small wooden folding chair I bought for $30. People cringe when they see it, especially since I have scoliosis. Yet, I never experience back pains. Maybe doing squats 3-4 times a week at the gym is a better way to back health than spending so much on a chair.

Much as I love my fat arse, $750 for a chair seems a tad exorbitant without a doctor's note.

MSRP is not retail. Quick search shows a list price of $400 at one place.

The $400 one I see looks like an open box, but there are some new around $600.

A dollar a day over 2 years...

Exactly. You can choose what to put money into, over time.

Bikes. And doughnuts.

If you're in a decently sized city, craigslist is your friend. The going rate on used Aeron/Chadwick/Life/Leap/Think/Liberty/Freedom/etc. is about $200-300.

Totally agree. Two weeks ago I bought a Steelcase Leap for $300 - only a year old and in great condition - and I couldn't be happier with the decision.

I have an Aeron chair, but I actually stand up most of the time now. Much better than sitting.

Given the source this must be an analogy. The ivePhone is coming!!!

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