Steelcase Leap Chair Review: Lucrative, But Is It Worth The Spend?If the lift mechanism in your office chair needs repair but the upholstery portion is still in good shape, don’t toss the chair. You can replace the gas cylinder yourself for about $40 (one source for office chair Rebuilding the lift mechanism is aFirst you have to disassemble the lift mechanism so you can measure the size of the gas cylinder and order the new part. You’ll need a needlenose pliers, a pipe wrench with a long handle, and a helper. about a half hour. Then you just reassemble when the part arrives. takes 15 minutes, and you can do it Start the repair by flipping it upside down on your workbench. the spring retaining clip on the bottom of the pedestal (Photo 1). entire pedestal and column off the chair. Lift off the bearing, washers and rubber bumper and keep the parts together forRemove the telescoping trim bezel
Then grab your pipe wrench and helper and remove the cylinder (Photo 3). If it won’t budge, soak it with rust penetrant and tap with a hammer to setThen try the wrench Measure the length of the gas cylinder from the bottom of the taper to the top. Don’t include the piston rod in the measurement. Then measure the cylinder width at the widest part. replacement from an office chair repair parts Web site. To reassemble, just push the tapered end of the cylinder into the chair seat and install the telescoping trim bezel. bearing with grease and install it back on the piston rod with the original washers. Next, slide the pedestal base and column over the rod and secure the piston rod with the washer and spring clip. the job by turning the chair right side up and bouncing on it a few times. weight will drive the tapered gas cylinder into the seat retainer. Then raise the lift mechanism to the proper height and get
Online sources for parts:The facts were undeniable: my task chair's wheels had the ride of a Jeep traversing off-road terrain with a flat tire and roadkill stuck to the bottom. After weeks of home improvement projects, our apartment's floors had become dirty with an assortment of debris, half of which seemed to have found itself stuck onto the caster wheels. Combine that with the normal amount of dust and pet hair that accumulates on the floor, and it's no wonder my task chair wasn't rolling smoothly. It was time to get cleaning! Follow the instructions step by step above via slideshow, or with all images at once below.Here's our Steelcase Leap chair's caster wheels. They look pretty nasty, with bits of paint, dirt, and other things we couldn't identify (nor would want to know). 2. Just in case you needed more proof, here's a close up. 3. Supplies you'll need: drop cloth or plastic sheeting, screw driver, rubbing alcohol, surface cleaner, cloth or paper towel, cotton swabs/Q-tips, scrub brush, vacuum (not pictured).
4. Protect your floor with the drop cloth before starting so what you clean off doesn't end up spoiling your floor, carpet or rug beneath. 5. Flip your chair for better access to the caster wheels. 6. Use a scrub brush to remove the majority of debris stuck onto the wheels. We like to follow up a second time with the brush slightly soap-dampened; this removes additional material, while also softening up some of the more stubborn debris for the next step. 7. Here you can see the majority of foreign material has been removed just with the brush, but some gummed up material is stubbornly holding on. 8. Bust out the butter knife for stuck-on stubborn material. Angle your knife nearly parallel with the wheels, holding it steady, but "slicing" in the same directions as the wheels spin. Spreading onto toast afterward is not recommended. 9. Gummy debris has been removed, but alas, there's still more stuck inside the wheel. 10. Next, we vacuum any hair, dust or pet hair caught inside the wheel.
This Dyson pet vac sucked up so much hair, we practically had another small kitten's worth inside the dust receptacle! 11. For a very thorough cleaning, we removed the wheel from the base. This may require the use of additional tools like a wrench or screw driver, depending upon your model. Our wheel popped out with a little bit of elbow grease. 12. First using a surface cleaner spray onto a dampened wash cloth, then followed with some rubbing alcohol applied to cotton balls, we clean each wheel thoroughly inside and around of any remaining debris. The rubbing alcohol is especially good at cleaning and creating a very dry and smooth surface. If you've got any spray lubricant on hand, this is a great opportunity to add a little to the wheel mechanism.Now your wheels should make less noise and you've extended the life of your chair and the floor underneath. Take your chair out for a spin and congratulate yourself for a job well done. Additional Notes: Before returning your newly cleaned task chair, be sure to vacuum, and wipe clean the area on which your task chair normally resides.
All that hard work would be wasted if you were just to return it back to a dirty surface! Want more smart tutorials for getting things done around the home? See all of our Home Hacks tutorials We're looking for great examples of your own household intelligence too! Submit your own Home Hacks tutorial or idea here! Republished from July 16, 2010Herman Miller� Replacement Casters Reduces Scratches, Nicks, Scrapes, Gouges Antimicrobial, Cleanroom, Conductive, Decorative, Electronic, Plate, Polymer, Stainless Steel & Stem Self Stick on WheelsReview: DX Racer FastbackIntroductionFor the past year or so, Need for Seat has been a very active sponsor for professional gamers such as Flo, and has also sponsored various tournaments as well. I'm sure most people here have seen or heard about these chairs and may be considering purchasing one. I have purchased the DX Racer Fastback recently, and I am writing this review because prior to esports, this company was unheard of and many of you are probably wondering if their chairs are any good.
The answer is, not really. I am not a chair expert or enthusiast by any means, so take my advice as a typical customer review. This chair is obviously not featured in the OP simply because it's not a high end chair. It is not a chair you should get if you are willing to shell out for the best chair for your body type, but at $279, it is a chair worth considering if you are on a budget.PicturesAdjustmentsThere are only three adjustments on this chair - backrest angle, seat height, and armrest height. It lacks the customization for seat depth and seat angle. For my height (5'11), the seat depth is perfect. When sitting properly, I can fit 3 fingers between my back of my legs and the front of the seat. The seat has a slight backwards angle of about 4 degrees. Although sitting back is very comfortable, leaning forward is a bit difficult.Build QualityAs you can see from the picture, the chair has a steel frame. The legs are steel as well. This makes the chair very sturdy, but also quite heavy (55 pounds).
The fabric is stitched nicely, but I have not used this chair long enough to see how long the stitching holds up. There are a few holes in the fabric where screwed go through, but these holes are not reinforced in any way, so tugging on the fabric may tear it on the screw. The plastic parts on the chair are low quality. It is not textured, and you can see visible imperfections in it, similar to cheap plastic toys. Some plastic pieces have one screw in the center to attach to the chair, so you can lift up the sides. FabricAs you can see from the picture, there are two types of fabric on this chair - the non-speckly one and the speckly one. I'm not a fabric person, I don't know what they are called, okay? The non-speckly one is a little big abrasive, so contact with bare skin is not very comfortable. The speckly one feels weird. The fabric itself is soft and smooth, but there are small plastic bits on there. When sitting normally, you don't actually feel any of it.BackrestThis chair has a full backrest and is rigid.
This means that you can rest your entire back and head on it, and when leaning back, the backrest stays in place. As you can see from the picture, the backrest has curves on the sides which bend forward. The upper curve serve as shoulder rests. You are able to lean to the side against them. When leaning back in the seat and putting your arms in the most relaxed position, the lower curves serve as an armrest for the upper arm. I find this very comfortable and definitely a very redeeming quality of this chair. The backrest is made of foam, probably this kind or something similar. The foam is fairly stiff. It is slightly softer than mesh chairs, but not nearly as soft as typical leather seats or cushioned seats. Overall, I find it quite comfortable, but maybe a little softer would be nice for me. The shape of the backrest is perfect flat and rectangular. There's no arch or concave.SeatThe seat is also made of foam. The seat cushion is quite thick, so even though the foam is stiff, it still feels soft enough.
The foam is perfectly flat. Some other chairs have slightly concaving seats, but not this one. With foam, it's probably better this way. The seat cushion is actually a separate part from the seat itself, as shown in the picture, but they are stitched together by these small copper rings on the underside of the seat, so I don't think you can take it off. This means that whatever goes between the seat cushion and the seat isn't coming out easily. MovementThe chair rolls around and rotates very smoothly, so no problems here. The parts came nicely oiled. The rotation has a tiny bit more static friction than typical chairs, so it won't rotate when you don't want it to. Overall, the increase is so little that you won't notice it unless looking for it.CushionsThis chair comes with two cusions - one for your neck and one for your lumbar. The neck one feels like a pillow, while the lumbar one is foam. These cushions really suck. I tried positioning them in various ways, and they just really don't fit well.
They are too big and just get in the way. I think this chair definitely needs a cushion for the neck or some sort of headrest, since leaning your head back puts it too far back, but the cushion it came with isn't the right shape or size. I'm considering ripping open the cushion and carving it into the right shape myself.Overall VerdictIf you want a high end chair, you will have to pay at least $500. The DX Racer Fastback is only $279. Other chairs I have used include the Herman Miller Aeron and the Steelcase Leap. The Fastback is noticeably inferior in both build quality and comfort, but it's definitely not bad. When sitting on this chair for longer periods, I don't even notice it's there and there's absolutely no discomfort. Leaning back on this chair actually feels fairly nice. When buying a chair, it's important to know that you will be using it for many hours a day for the decade or so that the chair survives, so shelling out extra cash for a noticeable improvement is always worth it.