I’ve blogged before about the importance of movement in a chair. One aspect of a quality chair that surprises many people when they first try one is the chair moving, rather than it being still.
Yet this most understood part of the chair is also one of the most important. The body has around 206 bones, and these are all held together by a series of ligaments, tendons and other soft tissues. These parts need hydrating and nourishing, and this doesn’t happen so well when the body is sedentary. This drying out of the squidgy bits is often why we experience discomfort when we stand after long periods of sitting.
If the chair is going to move, there needs to be a way of controlling it, as people of different sizes and weights are going to exert different forces on the chair. Some mechanisms have self balancing springs so that they automatically adjust to the users weight. Others require the user to adjust the tension themselves, which requires greater understanding but a better experience when set up correctly. The most basic mechanisms are gravity driven and offer little control.
So what types of mechanisms are there?
1:1 single point of tilt. In chairs of this type, the entire chair, seat and back, move as one, with the balance point being under the seat just rear of the centre. This ensures that the pelvis is held in the correct position and support of the back is maintained. Movement is generated in the feet and the ankles.
All Hag chairs have this type of movement. It is not usually possible to provide a separate adjustment for the backrest with these mechanisms.
Synchronous. This allows the backrest to move more than the seat base. Usually at a ratio of about 2:1. As with a 1:1 mechanism it is rare that the backrest will be independently adjustable. With a synchronous mechanism the feet will stay flat on the floor, with movement being generated around the pelvis and the upper body. This usually feels very nice, but it can reduce support in the lower back as you move.
This is a commonly used system in mesh backed chairs, such as Giroflex and the Ergohuman.
Asynchronous. With an asynchronous mechanism the base of the chair and the backrest can be moved independently of each other. This allows us to create a very bespoke sitting solution and can be useful when the chair is to be used in a variety of situations, for example at a laboratory bench. An increased amount of understanding and care needs to be taken when using chairs of this type.
The Zenki Sitstand has this mechanism.
Hybrid. The very best chairs have mechanisms that allow for independent adjustment of the backrest angle, and a 1:1 tilting mechanism. In chairs like Ergochairs Adapt 600 and the Rh Logic use powerful springs and dampers are also used to provide a ‘free floating’ feel when adjusted correctly. Paired with a strong supportive backrest, this is where you should be looking if you’re an 8 hour a day desk worker.
A good office chair will have surprisingly short armrests. If the armrest is too long, or mounted too far forward on the chair then the user will not be able to get close enough to the desk to work in a relaxed and supported position. Gamers generally won’t be as concerned about that, but even then some of the best office chairs now come with a 5D armrest that can be raised at the front to support a player holding a controller. I’ve not seen this on a gaming chair.
And the quality is often nowhere near good enough. A good office chair will typically have a maximum user weight of 150kg and at least a 5 year warranty. We’re not seeing much of that in a gaming chair. If my backside is going to spend hours in one place I want a natural breathable textile, like leather or wool. Too often gaming chairs are finished in garishly coloured polyesters which fall apart about the same time as the limited warranty expires.
So to our favourite chairs for gaming. We don’t like to call them gaming chairs as we don’t want you to assume they’re the same poorly built limited feature chairs that usually wear that tag. But the Ergohuman Elite, complete with neck rest and footrest we think makes as good a gaming chair as you can buy. With its cool mesh, it’s got ‘the look’, its mechanism reclines further than most office chairs and it has an adjustable headrest and foldable foot rest. And it has large soft topped 5D armrests.
And we also love the Rh Mereo 220 chair. Rh make some of the best ergonomic chairs in the world and the Mereo has been designed to allow you to move about more in the chair, hence it’s a little smaller in the back than most so your shoulders and upper back feel more free. It can also be had in a massive choice of fabrics and colours, which can be combined to allow the user to create a truly individual chair.