The Herman Miller Aeron (tall edition)

3 minute read

tl;dr

  • You may need to reduce the Aeron seat height or it’ll destroy your hamstrings
  • If you reduce your seat height, make sure your desk can accomodate it
  • If you buy a standing desk like the Fully Jarvis, don’t scrimp on accessories; future-proof it with the 3-stage frame!

Expensive chairs and some frustration

TODO: picture of Aeron

This post serves as a warning for Tall People who decide to spend an unreasonable amount of money on a chair. If you want to hear about some potential problems with Aerons for tall people, read on.

Before I start yammering on, here’s a good video on how to find/buy an Aeron for less.

The one recommendation I can 100% make is not to buy an Aeron (or any chair) without trying it first. Sit in it for an hour or more if possible.

Even if you do this, it won’t necessarily be 100% indicative of whether the chair is right for you.

Aeron sizing

The Aeron comes in 3 progressively larger sizes: A, B and C. There’s also a size chart that offers some vague recommendations.

TODO: picture of aeron sizing guide

I’m 6’6 (198cm) tall and wear 38” in-seam jeans. In short, I’m all legs. As a consequence, I replaced the gas cylinder in my previous chair with a longer one. This allowed me to sit in an ergonomic, comfortable position with my knees and hips in allignment and my thigh parallel to the ground. As a consequence of the raised seat height, I also increased my desk height with a desk risers.

I tried my friend’s size B and it was comfortable, if a little small. I was worried about the seat height & gas cylinder length, but even the size B seemed perfectly fine. I did feel like the back rest was a little short, so I plumped for a size C.

Anyway, the point of this post is that the Aeron is different. Not bad or good different, just different.

Death to your hamstrings

When I took delivery of my size C Aeron, I changed its seat height to match my previous setup – I wanted my elbows at desk height. All seemed good.

After a week or use, my lower back (and back in general) was feeling excellent. However, my hamstrings were dying. They felt absolutely dreadful. For whatever reason, sitting at a like-for-like height seems to put a lot of weight on my hamstrings/haunches and less through my feet.

The fix: lower the seat height

I did a bit of searching, and the main suggestion was to lower the seat. After following this advice, everything was fixed. It took a few days for my aches to fully disappear, but smooth sailing resumed. Problem solved!

For whatever reason, sitting lower in the Aeron feels a lot better and works fine – possibly because the seat is deeper than my old one and/or because the Aeron is constructed from a pellicle mesh, and you sink down into it a little more. I can’t really say for sure.

Death to your desk

Unfortunately, this change has a knock-on effect: because I’m sitting lower in the chair, my elbows are now well below the desk!

For my work desk, this is no problem at all – I can simply remove one set of desk risers to get the perfect height.

On the other hand, my gaming PC sits on a Fully Jarvis standing desk and … well, I’m stuck. The lowest this desk goes is around 80cm (73cm + a 7cm thick custom worktop). When buying the Jarvis, you can pay +£40 to extend the range with the 3-stage frame (range: 62-127cm). That would’ve given me an effective range of 69-134cm.

TODO: picture of jarvis

I didn’t bother. I knew the exact dimensions I needed to work with my usual chair height & ergonomics, so why spend the extra? Well, I really wish I did now! If you’re buying a Jarvis (or any standing desk) I would strongly encourage you to spend a little more for the improved long-term flexibility.

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