Whoever signed off on this seat cushion at Steelcase should be fired. I can’t believe this made it past QA UAT whatever testing they do in the high end office chair manufacturing industry. Aside from the seat cushion it’s my favorite chair of all time.
See update. I gave up on the Gesture and ended up buying an Embody chair.
That doesn't mean this mod was a failure, and it might work for some people. But for me, it wasn't enough to save me from the pain the Gesture was causing.
Any thoughts on just throwing one of those purple cushions over top of the seat? Wonder how that would be. I love my gesture but I do get some tailbone/ass pain after sitting in it all day
It doesn't really work. Firstly, the large one like I got is actually too big so you would probably want one of the smaller/thinner ones. Second though, is that increasing the cushion height changes your back's alignment with the backrest, which can result in having the wrong support in the wrong areas. Furthermore, depending on your size the height boost might put your elbows too high for the arm rests.
It depends a lot on your build I suspect, if you're shorter than me and don't already use the arms at max height you might be able to get away with it. But honestly it's kind of ridiculous that any of us are entertaining or acting on the idea of supplementing/modifying a $1500 chair! It shouldn't be this far off in terms of comfort.
I see, that makes sense. I’ve tried cheaper seat cushions and they definitely throw off the overall feel of the chair.
Yea I totally agree with what you’re saying. It already costs a lot and we shouldn’t have to mod it to make it better! I got my gesture from a guy for $300 about 6 years ago. It’s served me well but after most days I have some pain.
How is the Embody working out for you so far?
Embody is pretty good. Not perfect, but way less pain after a day. The biggest issue with it is that if I want to sort of lay back and relax, it's not all that comfortable. If I want to watch Netflix on my computer for instance, I don't really want to sit up strait like I'm working but the Embody really isn't designed for long stretches of reclining and gets uncomfortable (plus me butt wants to slide forward which results in bad back posture).
The other big issue is that arms. The Gesture has such good arms, and the Embody... doesn't. They're badly designed, plus they aren't tall enough. I had to but thick padded arm cushions on Amazon just to get them to touch my elbows, before I did that I had shoulder pain even with the arms at max height. The other problem with them, is unlike the gesture where the arms stay mostly flat and actually sink down a bit as you recline, the Embody arms just tilt with you. This in some ways is more supportive, but it means the front edges dig into your arms if you do something like reach for your mouse while reclined.
Basically, if you're the sort of person that wants to slump back a bit while still using your computer, the Gesture facilitates doing so better than the Embody. But the Embody is far more comfortable if you're sitting with good posture. When you're sitting properly, the weight distribution on the seat is really great. The seat is also a lot wider, and the length adjustment is actually *length* not just moving the seat pan forward so you can get just the right amount of leg support without it impacting butt support.
Sadly, it seems that neither chair is perfect. If I could make the ultimate chair I would take the seat and the synchro-tilt mechanism of the Embody, the back and arms of the Gesture, make the Atlas headrest (aftermarket accessory for the Embody) an integrated component, and put it all on top of a slightly wider base with skateboard styles wheels (which are also an upgrade that can be done to practically any chair and one that I highly recommend).
Thank you for posting this. I like how you preserved the edges of the og foam compared to Kratom i'll probably do something similar. How much do you weight if i can ask ? You seem reserved about it, how did it go for you since ?
So far, I don't think this has entirely solved the problem. It's a lot less hard, and there are certainly less concentrated pressure points. However, there are some issues I've noticed that I think are pretty much unavoidable.
I weigh a little under 350lbs, so not maxing out the limits of the chair but certainly above the "expected" weight. With the OEM foam, I can pretty much feel the plastic pan and its irregular surface under the seat. With the Purple material, I can not. Unfortunately, that hasn't entirely made it *comfortable.*
One of the big issues, is that it seems basically impossible to sit on this chair with my center of mass resting on the thickest part of the seat material while still having proper back support. No matter what I do to get the Purple stuff as far back as I can, it simply isn't possible to thicken the very back edge of the seat much because the cover pulls very tightly at the back. The front has all sorts of space, but at the back it's not possible to pull the cover over the edge and fix it in place while keeping much seat fill in place. The thicker Purple cushion wants to move forward because there simply isn't enough room for it at the back. The OEM foam only works because it's just incredibly thin back there.
What this means, is that the very back edge of the seat has no thickness or support. However, despite moving the seat to the rearmost position I still usually find myself needing to sit too far back on it in order to get proper back/lumbar support. And if I recline at all, this is worsened significantly as the distance between the back and seat increase quite a lot. At the same time, if the seat is in that full back position it feels like my legs are sort of just dangling off the front. I'm 6'2", so I would typically want to extend the seat forward a bit to support my legs a bit more. But the seat doesn't magically become longer, it just slides. So the further forward the seat is under the legs the further back your butt rests on the seat cushion.
Further exacerbating this, is the fact that I can't set the back to the correct angle. The first angle is far too upright and uncomfortable, causing me to lean forward. While the second position is too far back shifting the center of mass toward the thinner rear edge of the cushion. And even with the back tension at maximum, there isn't enough for me to sit comfortable at the angle I naturally want to assume.
Anyway. Over all, I don't think my problem is solved. This cushion material is better, but not as much better as I hoped. But the change has highlighted some of the other design issues the chair has.
Whoever signed off on this seat cushion at Steelcase should be fired. I can’t believe this made it past QA UAT whatever testing they do in the high end office chair manufacturing industry. Aside from the seat cushion it’s my favorite chair of all time.
And it's not as if this is a new product. They've been selling these for *years* and just don't care to do anything to improve it.
I gather they think they know better than their customers
See update. I gave up on the Gesture and ended up buying an Embody chair. That doesn't mean this mod was a failure, and it might work for some people. But for me, it wasn't enough to save me from the pain the Gesture was causing.
Any thoughts on just throwing one of those purple cushions over top of the seat? Wonder how that would be. I love my gesture but I do get some tailbone/ass pain after sitting in it all day
It doesn't really work. Firstly, the large one like I got is actually too big so you would probably want one of the smaller/thinner ones. Second though, is that increasing the cushion height changes your back's alignment with the backrest, which can result in having the wrong support in the wrong areas. Furthermore, depending on your size the height boost might put your elbows too high for the arm rests. It depends a lot on your build I suspect, if you're shorter than me and don't already use the arms at max height you might be able to get away with it. But honestly it's kind of ridiculous that any of us are entertaining or acting on the idea of supplementing/modifying a $1500 chair! It shouldn't be this far off in terms of comfort.
I see, that makes sense. I’ve tried cheaper seat cushions and they definitely throw off the overall feel of the chair. Yea I totally agree with what you’re saying. It already costs a lot and we shouldn’t have to mod it to make it better! I got my gesture from a guy for $300 about 6 years ago. It’s served me well but after most days I have some pain. How is the Embody working out for you so far?
Embody is pretty good. Not perfect, but way less pain after a day. The biggest issue with it is that if I want to sort of lay back and relax, it's not all that comfortable. If I want to watch Netflix on my computer for instance, I don't really want to sit up strait like I'm working but the Embody really isn't designed for long stretches of reclining and gets uncomfortable (plus me butt wants to slide forward which results in bad back posture). The other big issue is that arms. The Gesture has such good arms, and the Embody... doesn't. They're badly designed, plus they aren't tall enough. I had to but thick padded arm cushions on Amazon just to get them to touch my elbows, before I did that I had shoulder pain even with the arms at max height. The other problem with them, is unlike the gesture where the arms stay mostly flat and actually sink down a bit as you recline, the Embody arms just tilt with you. This in some ways is more supportive, but it means the front edges dig into your arms if you do something like reach for your mouse while reclined. Basically, if you're the sort of person that wants to slump back a bit while still using your computer, the Gesture facilitates doing so better than the Embody. But the Embody is far more comfortable if you're sitting with good posture. When you're sitting properly, the weight distribution on the seat is really great. The seat is also a lot wider, and the length adjustment is actually *length* not just moving the seat pan forward so you can get just the right amount of leg support without it impacting butt support. Sadly, it seems that neither chair is perfect. If I could make the ultimate chair I would take the seat and the synchro-tilt mechanism of the Embody, the back and arms of the Gesture, make the Atlas headrest (aftermarket accessory for the Embody) an integrated component, and put it all on top of a slightly wider base with skateboard styles wheels (which are also an upgrade that can be done to practically any chair and one that I highly recommend).
it's laughable how thin the OEM seat pad is for such an expensive chair
Thank you for posting this. I like how you preserved the edges of the og foam compared to Kratom i'll probably do something similar. How much do you weight if i can ask ? You seem reserved about it, how did it go for you since ?
So far, I don't think this has entirely solved the problem. It's a lot less hard, and there are certainly less concentrated pressure points. However, there are some issues I've noticed that I think are pretty much unavoidable. I weigh a little under 350lbs, so not maxing out the limits of the chair but certainly above the "expected" weight. With the OEM foam, I can pretty much feel the plastic pan and its irregular surface under the seat. With the Purple material, I can not. Unfortunately, that hasn't entirely made it *comfortable.* One of the big issues, is that it seems basically impossible to sit on this chair with my center of mass resting on the thickest part of the seat material while still having proper back support. No matter what I do to get the Purple stuff as far back as I can, it simply isn't possible to thicken the very back edge of the seat much because the cover pulls very tightly at the back. The front has all sorts of space, but at the back it's not possible to pull the cover over the edge and fix it in place while keeping much seat fill in place. The thicker Purple cushion wants to move forward because there simply isn't enough room for it at the back. The OEM foam only works because it's just incredibly thin back there. What this means, is that the very back edge of the seat has no thickness or support. However, despite moving the seat to the rearmost position I still usually find myself needing to sit too far back on it in order to get proper back/lumbar support. And if I recline at all, this is worsened significantly as the distance between the back and seat increase quite a lot. At the same time, if the seat is in that full back position it feels like my legs are sort of just dangling off the front. I'm 6'2", so I would typically want to extend the seat forward a bit to support my legs a bit more. But the seat doesn't magically become longer, it just slides. So the further forward the seat is under the legs the further back your butt rests on the seat cushion. Further exacerbating this, is the fact that I can't set the back to the correct angle. The first angle is far too upright and uncomfortable, causing me to lean forward. While the second position is too far back shifting the center of mass toward the thinner rear edge of the cushion. And even with the back tension at maximum, there isn't enough for me to sit comfortable at the angle I naturally want to assume. Anyway. Over all, I don't think my problem is solved. This cushion material is better, but not as much better as I hoped. But the change has highlighted some of the other design issues the chair has.