Steelcase Think Chair
My new Steelcase Think chair arrived yesterday. It’s replacing a Herman Miller Aeron chair that I picked up from a dot-com bust company several years ago. The Aeron has been heralded as a great task chair, but I never felt fully comfortable in it. At the D6 conference, we were given Think chairs in the command center. The minute I sat down in it, I knew I was sitting in my next chair. Fortunately, Steelcase was offering a terrific 40% off discount for D6 attendees, and I quickly jumped on the deal once I got back from the East Coast
I’m really digging the adjustable arm rests, which can move forwards and backwards in addition to pivoting inwards and outwards. Now, I can be right up against my desk, and my forearms are supported by the armrests while typing. This wasn’t possible with the Aeron, whose armrests only pivoted inward. I also picked up the optional lumbar support and headrest, which will help to reduce neck and back strain during those 10-12 hour coding or editing sessions I frequently find myself in these days.
June 22nd, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I’ll be really interested to hear your impressions after a few weeks, and if you have any tips on getting the right settings. We have these at work, and I’ve never been able to get it set up in a way that doesn’t cause lower back pain after a day or two. But maybe it’s just not the right chair for me. I switched to some other random chair I found in a vacant office (not sure what type it is), and it’s been working a lot better, but I’m always on the lookout for improvements…
June 22nd, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Will do, Sean. Does your Think have the headrest or lumbar support? What setting do you have your preference control set at? I’m currently using the weight-activated, 20% boost setting.
June 22nd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
I don’t have one anymore, so I don’t remember the settings I liked, but I tried many permutations over the course of about six weeks before trading it out for something else. It did have the lumbar support, but not the headrest. It was really weird, because I could get settings that felt good while I was sitting in it, but I still ended up with lower back pain after a while. It’s hard to adjust for something like that, since you have to wait a long time between each adjustment to see if it helped or not. I can’t even definitively say it was the chair causing the problem, but it did get better when I switched chairs.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:36 am
That’s a sweet chair but I’d have a hard time justifying $600 for a chair. Even with the discount.
June 23rd, 2008 at 6:42 am
The Herman Miller Mirra chair is another good alternative to the Aeron (which I think is overrated)
June 25th, 2008 at 8:13 am
I love all that is ergonomic. I’ve actually tried out all three of the Mirra, Aeron and Think chairs. I knew that if I was going to spend the money on it, I wanted to make sure I got one that fit me. I had a hard time with the arm rest too, so I called the company I got it from, OfficeDesigns.com, and they gave me a step by step lesson on how to get it to fit me perfectly. The lumbar support is supposed to be at the top of your belt and I had no idea until I talked to one of their super friendly reps. I decided on the Aeron and I think its totally worth the money spent, especially when your sitting all day.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:16 am
What are the back flexors made of? They look like plastic rope, does it get uncomfortable after awhile? Have you sat on an AMIA?
December 31st, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Mine are made from metal. Haven’t sat on an AMIA yet.
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:34 am
More interested on how one can get that 40% discount again????