Product: Leap Chair
Designer: Steelcase
Price: $850 - $1600*
Rating: Strong Recommend**
Though our recent Test Lab experience with Herman Miller's Embody Chair was a successful one (we loved the lumbar support), we really enjoyed our trial period with the competitor — the Leap Chair from Steelcase. Less a show dog and more a work horse, the Leap is basic enough not to offend your design aesthetic and we found it easier to use...
You'll see in the pictures that all of the levers and adjustment tools on the Leap are clearly labeled — we jumped right in and easily figured out how to manipulate the chair for our own comfort. No guidebook or learning curve — it's just a very nice chair. The Steelcase Leap chair received Silver Cradle to Cradle Product Certification from MBDC and is up to 94% recyclable.
Our test model was upholstered in a soft white leather (ridiculous but ra-sha-sha!) and I included an image with my arm to prove that the pictures I took were NOT black and white...just a white, silver and black colored chair in a fluorescent-lit, black floored, white walled hallway.
* The lowest-priced Steelcase Leap is $849, and the model we tested has an MSRP/list price of $1543 (though we've been told it can usually be found for $950).
**OUR RATINGS
Strong Recommend
Recommend
Weak Recommend
Avoid!
(Images: Aaron Able, Steelcase)
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
I solemnly swear to love this office chair forever and ever if I could have one!
;-)
view dewi's profile
My mother has one of these. I couldn't afford one, but it is seriously the most comfortable, and customizable, task chair I have ever tried.
view ottan's profile
My father has a the leap work/lounge version and that think is COM-FEEEE!!
view wampler's profile
Love the Leap chair, but you guys need to cover the super sexy Siento chair. If I could, I'd buy one of those in a heartbeat!
FYI: Steelcase is one of the GREENEST companies out there!!! Love 'em!
view modtramp's profile
having worked with/for the the designer/design-shop, i got my leap at a significant discount (had to buy my own work chair or get stuck with an office-depot reject) and my wife got her home-office aeron free from her office (they replaced them with leaps). and having sat on a good many styles of chairs, the fabric-covered leap is the best for me. the real winner is the widely adjustable arm rests and ample seating area... doesn't feel like you're in a race-car. unlike the aeron, the leap's seating surfaces seem more... confident. the meshy chairs simply instill a bit of fear as i always have keys on my belt or an xacto in my hand. in the aforementioned design shop, we had leather leaps, but over time, the leather gets slick which makes sitting put without slouching hard -- something leap buyers might want to consider -- especially for those who sit for long periods of time. another odd bonus is that the chair also doesn't *look* like a design artifact (office theft... i work in a university environment where things disappear) or something off of the starship enterprise yet has a decidedly modern air. at full price, i'd have a difficult time paying for it (or rationalizing its worth)... i have no idea why these (and other similar chairs) are so expensive save their provenance.
view redneckmodern's profile