Amazing chair--If You Have Pain (Especially Back Pain), Read This!
This chair has been phenomenal! I was reading the primary complaints against it are that users experience a lot of back pain, especially in their lower backs when first getting this chair, complaining their cheap chairs caused less pain...
What I think is going on here is these users have really poor back posture and dont realize it--which is why transitioning to an ergonomic chair is so painful. The key here is that the back pain GETS PROGESSIVELY BETTER each day. If it doesnt then yes this chair is not for you, especially if the pain is still persistent after 2-3 weeks. Given the amount of research/work put into designing this chair, however, I think those that continue to experience pain past 2-3 weeks would be quite rare and the proportion of 5 star reviews to 1-2 star reviews complaining about pain speak to this point. I also think some of this comes down to expectations: this is still a chair and overall you still need to stand up/stretch etc. every hour or so; getting an ergonomic chair is not a panacea to eliminating back pain. It will absolutely help posture and back pain but you cant expect to sit in the chair for 8+ hours without taking breaks, its not a miracle chair. ONE OTHER NOTE: the lumbar support is a tad aggressive and something that helped me (I experienced some sharp back pain the first few days of sitting on the chair) was sliding the seat pan FORWARD a bit so my back wasnt shoved so hard against the aggressive lumbar support. For those on the fence about wanting the $20 lumbar support adjustment, you dont need it, its just a piece of plastic that doesnt do much.
If you are getting shoulder blade pain, lower the arm rests!! I had experienced some pain around my shoulder blades and realized I was leaning too much on the arm rest and it was also way too high. A users arms should be at a 90 degree angle at the elbows when resting on the arm rests but they should also hang a bit from the body (see the user manual for this). The arm rests shouldnt be pushing your arm upward!
If the above dont work, try adjusting the chair more before giving up hope. Otherwise it really may not be the chair for you.
The above being said, this chair is super comfortable for a desk chair with lots of meaningful adjustments. The amount of flexibility and design put into the active back genuinely impressed me when I looked at how the chair works as I sit in it. Its built well and I love the design. I also tried out the Leap v2 chairs which I admit are a tad more comfortable but they dont offer the same range of sitting positions that I find myself in (whatever chair I use, and the Gesture accommodates a wider range of positions than the Leap). The Leap is more of a sit in the correct posture and dont move around type of a chair. Further, the leap just looks so old--the design originally dates back to 1999; thats 22 years old and it shows despite a minor v2 refresh. A chair is a piece of furniture after all and aesthetic still matters, though I wouldnt at all blame anyone for getting a used Leap for $200-300 since its still a super comfortable chair and overall in a chair, form should definitely trump function. Also, the seatpan on the Gesture is meant to wobble a bit to promote moving positions and activating the spine to get nutrients around to the various discs.
Things I dislike? Really just one trivial thing and its not enough to affect my star rating: the plastic bits on my chair (I have a light/light design with platinum colored backing and legs) is painted in a metallic metal-like paint that makes the plastic bits seem as if they are metal. Its a nice touch and I love the look over the black/darker colored options but it still is hiding the fact that the legs and support on the back of the chair are actually made of plastic and not metal. I suppose with these items not being metal it keeps the chair from weighing even more than its already-hefty 72lbs.
Amazing chair--If You Have Pain (Especially Back Pain), Read This!
This chair has been phenomenal! I was reading the primary complaints against it are that users experience a lot of back pain, especially in their lower backs when first getting this chair, complaining their cheap chairs caused less pain... What I think is going on here is these users have really poor back posture and dont realize it--which is why transitioning to an ergonomic chair is so painful. The key here is that the back pain GETS PROGESSIVELY BETTER each day. If it doesnt then yes this chair is not for you, especially if the pain is still persistent after 2-3 weeks. Given the amount of research/work put into designing this chair, however, I think those that continue to experience pain past 2-3 weeks would be quite rare and the proportion of 5 star reviews to 1-2 star reviews complaining about pain speak to this point. I also think some of this comes down to expectations: this is still a chair and overall you still need to stand up/stretch etc. every hour or so; getting an ergonomic chair is not a panacea to eliminating back pain. It will absolutely help posture and back pain but you cant expect to sit in the chair for 8+ hours without taking breaks, its not a miracle chair. ONE OTHER NOTE: the lumbar support is a tad aggressive and something that helped me (I experienced some sharp back pain the first few days of sitting on the chair) was sliding the seat pan FORWARD a bit so my back wasnt shoved so hard against the aggressive lumbar support. For those on the fence about wanting the $20 lumbar support adjustment, you dont need it, its just a piece of plastic that doesnt do much. If you are getting shoulder blade pain, lower the arm rests!! I had experienced some pain around my shoulder blades and realized I was leaning too much on the arm rest and it was also way too high. A users arms should be at a 90 degree angle at the elbows when resting on the arm rests but they should also hang a bit from the body (see the user manual for this). The arm rests shouldnt be pushing your arm upward! If the above dont work, try adjusting the chair more before giving up hope. Otherwise it really may not be the chair for you. The above being said, this chair is super comfortable for a desk chair with lots of meaningful adjustments. The amount of flexibility and design put into the active back genuinely impressed me when I looked at how the chair works as I sit in it. Its built well and I love the design. I also tried out the Leap v2 chairs which I admit are a tad more comfortable but they dont offer the same range of sitting positions that I find myself in (whatever chair I use, and the Gesture accommodates a wider range of positions than the Leap). The Leap is more of a sit in the correct posture and dont move around type of a chair. Further, the leap just looks so old--the design originally dates back to 1999; thats 22 years old and it shows despite a minor v2 refresh. A chair is a piece of furniture after all and aesthetic still matters, though I wouldnt at all blame anyone for getting a used Leap for $200-300 since its still a super comfortable chair and overall in a chair, form should definitely trump function. Also, the seatpan on the Gesture is meant to wobble a bit to promote moving positions and activating the spine to get nutrients around to the various discs. Things I dislike? Really just one trivial thing and its not enough to affect my star rating: the plastic bits on my chair (I have a light/light design with platinum colored backing and legs) is painted in a metallic metal-like paint that makes the plastic bits seem as if they are metal. Its a nice touch and I love the look over the black/darker colored options but it still is hiding the fact that the legs and support on the back of the chair are actually made of plastic and not metal. I suppose with these items not being metal it keeps the chair from weighing even more than its already-hefty 72lbs.