Small advisory and price guide for the RECARO Office chairs.
RECARO has significant presence in the automotive scene. They’re present in many cars from factory, and are amongst the few brands that people will tell you to upgrade to.
Apart from dabbling in the automotive scene and certain.. bankruptcy, RECARO also has its footing in the airline industry and for this topic – office needs.
Clarification
Generalizing “RECARO Office” is a bit difficult and grey. Information about these office seats are spread thin and are not very easy to come by. For this entry, I will be focusing primarily on the 24H Office model, disregarding other factory-designated office-use models.
What is “RECARO Office”?
(Citation would be appreciated) RECARO Office is an informal term for the 24H Office lineup of chairs offered (presumably) for sale exclusively in Japan. I am aware that there are other ranges of seats that reside in the USA or Europe that are also official office-use seats, but from what I can digest, the 24H Office is currently offered officially in Japan.
These are offered under RECARO’s Medical lineup in Japan. Two material options are available – fabric and leather.
These chairs are based off the LX and Ergomed series, difference beingthigh bolsters are fully flat for ergonomics (bolsters aren’t needed for virtual cornering). These have identical build to the LX, but is offered with the Ergomeds lumbar support.
There too are a lot more variants that date back pre-2000s, being based off other designs with integrated armrests, thicker bolstering or electronic adjustments.
Prices and availability
As new, the Office will cost around ~2,000USD, varying for materials. As such, these are a very expensive option for one brand new; best suited for diehard enthusiasts with more than enough spare money to burn.
However, I have news for you; much more attainable (for overseas) are used units. Even so, secondhand are not easy to find – I would classify them as being a niche product for diehard enthusiasts to scout for.
The brand new units like most RECARO seats are found in select stores. For best success, I recommend surfing domestic marketplace websites to best find the second-hand units.
Going by roughly two used listings that I know, these seats may sell for around 50,000¥ (~315USD).
Image credit: YAHOO! Auction
Wear & tear
Wear and tear is similar to that of the normal seats; sagging stuffing, tearing seams, broken adjustment sliders and for the office chairs, degradation of the armrests.
Due to the market availability of these seats, finding the original pieces for replacement will be extremely difficult, apart from the sliders as they are likely universal. Aftermarket fabrics or off-the-shelf armrests may need to be considered if purchasing a broken unit.
The armrests are very fragile, being susceptible to damages very easily. Spares for these and the base itself is hen’s teeth to find at all. The approximate price for one armrest is 9,800¥, the whole base at 24,800¥.
Shipping estimate
For shipping (to Singapore from Japan), expect issues to arise from cheaper delivery options if offered to you. Due to the pneumatic pump for height adjustment, some couriers may reject air shipping.
In my experience, the chair was split into two pieces – the seat itself and the base. I had paid around 200SGD for a cheaper mode of shipping for the base but was rejected (did not get my money back either!). The base was reshipped under DHL.
Under my proxy service’s offer for Japan Post, shipping the seat was 29250¥. The base shipped correctly was 37354¥.
Use-case
As stated, these seats are about the same as the LX (which is the LS but with added lumbar support), so they work as seats, but nowhere as comfortable as an ergonomic chair.
Compared to other office chairs, these RECAROs are seated higher. According to dealer sources, the 24H Office can be adjusted approximately from 39 cm to 46 cm. As such, these seats may not be compatible with low-mounted tables.
The armrests can be adjusted to tilt inwards and outwards plus height, but no option to slide back and forth.
What if I want to convert a RECARO intended for cars?
Some companies may offer conversion kits in the form of the seat base and holes pre-installed for plug-and-play fitting. However, these companies may offer these plates for newer or older RECARO models and may not fit for your model. In these cases, it would be required for you to self-screw the necessary holes for installation.
Image credit: shopee.my
I have tried the AOS conversion base (image above) for my non-office RECARO LX. It is an older unit before the listing was updated, but the mounting plate had incompatible mounting holes to the LX, which is an older 2000s model. Additional drilling was required in this case to have the seat mounted.
Office Conclusion
Would I recommend purchasing a set of 24H Office? Only as a one-time thing. I would urge you to look for an ergonomic chair for the same price as they fundamentally will be more suited for long-term seating.
These reign high on the enthusiast scale, so it is a good talking point, but for the trouble and cost, please just find something else, realistically speaking. Judging by price alone for both new and used, I stress one more time that there are better options out there. But there’s no mistaking that these are cool.
~Efini
Read more: Fuel for Thought: Research rabbit-hole for my RECAROs
