My Obutto
I have spoken several times about the uncomfortable situation I was racing in with my desk/chair combo. For reference, here it is:
Ignoring the mess, the situation was less than ideal as you can see. The biggest problem, other than the mess…stop judging me…was I could never get a comfortable height between the pedals, wheel, my monitor, and the chair. And then when I was gaming, surfing the web or podcasting I would have to add this high-tech piece of equipment to support my legs in a comfortable position:
For the record, that is my daughter’s Dora stool…
As chronicled here and on the show, I finally pulled the trigger and purchased an Obutto after discovering how comfortable they were when racing and just using the computer in general. After several days of impatiently waiting…those who follow me on Twitter derived much amusement from my updates on the situation as I waited…my box of joy finally arrived 
Heavy sucker too…
So heavy in fact that I decided to just unpack it in my garage and carry the individual pieces inside to my office. So with some careful cutting of the box, I got my first view of my new desk/cockpit:
Now I will take a minute to mention that all of the information I read about the cockpits being well packed to protect them from being damaged in shipping is absolutely true. So much bubblewrap! But everything arrived undamaged so the system works. Here is an example of some of the piping in their full condomed glory:
So I set to work rescuing my new toy from its cocoon of safety using what I believe to be the dullest utility knife in existence. Several days later…okay, perhaps not quite…after about a half hour I had all the major parts unwrapped. Inside the big box of happiness all that was left was a smaller box and the chair itself. So with much excitement I took the surprisingly heavy box out, opened it up and gazed inside…
Crap…
Okay, another half hour later of cursing my dull knife, wondering why I didn’t go get another one and thinking that at least with a dull knife I was less likely to injure myself or the cockpit I transformed that box into this one:
After removing my chair from the box, I stood back to admire the carnage that I had created. That garbage bag in the background is completely full of packing material…
Also of note, is that while these suckers are packed to survive, they are also packed in the dustiest place on Earth. Seriously, my hands were coated in dust when I was done. My wife, who had arrived at the end of the garage portion of my adventure, suggested I keep the bubblewrap for our daughters to play with. I looked at the wrap, then at my hands, and suggested against it…no telling where that dust has been…
Down in my office I had cleared an area for my cockpit to live opposite where my desk currently resides. My office is a big long rectangle…it may be a big closet, I’m not sure.
Empty space sitting in anticipation:
Full:
And after a small amount of organizing, I’m ready to build. I will admit that the instructions that come with the cockpit are a bit vague. I can’t say how well the build would have gone following them though because I discovered some great videos on Obutto’s site that showed most of the assembly. Good on them for going this extra step. Check them out here: http://www.obutto.com/instructional_videos.html
Following the video, the chair went on quite easily…for the record I used the holes for the “shorter person”
And the front of the frame was also quick.
Next came the monitor, only single for now. Yes, I know I could probably take the dangling stand mount off. No, I don’t care 
An interesting note about the monitor. There are three positions you can mount it in height wise. I initially had it in the middle one, but found I actually had to move it to the top one. Curse my freak body with normal sized torso and hobbit sized legs! Thankfully Mr. Obutto made a cockpit that would fit weirdos such as myself.
A keyboard tray and wheel mount later and the cockpit is complete waiting for me all clean with its nice lines. Now I shall place wires all about it with the skill of organizing that makes it look like my cat put all of my wires in its mouth and threw them up all over this thing of beauty.
Let’s pause now for some more building tips with Trevor. The video explaining how to install the keyboard tray on mentions tightening the bolts mounting it to the frame really tight. This is important, because if you don’t then the tray mount WILL move. I think I cranked them “tight enough” twice before I actually had them tightened proper. I believe on that final attempt I looked something like this:
Secondly, being a man of short legs I used the short person position for the pedal tray. However I found this to be unnecessary and had to move it to the standard position. For the record you can also place the tray in 3 different angles. I chose the steepest angle and it seems natural.
Where was I? Oh ya, here is the pre-wire vomit cockpit. I did not install the included shifter mount as I do not have a separate shifter.
My wheel and pedals have a new home…they seem quite happy and excited.
So neat, so tidy, so beautiful, so…oh dear God, what have you done!
Ah, but what does it matter. It will look beautiful from the driver’s seat…
Oh dear…
Seriously though, originally I had the case in front because my monitor cable was too short. I have since corrected that and the tower is behind the chair and the wires flow much nicer. I’ve also got some tie wraps and will be tidying up the wiring even further. I’ll post some updated pictures once I’m finished.
Of course the problem with the tidy work is the fact that it is completely functional now. So I’ve gone down to perform the task a few times when I had some time and quickly decided that racing would be a better use of my time…
I will say that in the brief time I’ve had the cockpit so far I absolutely love it. Whatever I’m doing, racing, gaming, surfing, this thing is the most comfortable “desk” I’ve ever sat in. I was in it the other day just messing around on the computer watching videos for 4 hours…don’t judge me…without a hint of discomfort. In my old chair if I got up after an hour, I would hurt.
And finally, I’m not sure if it is the excitement of a new toy but I swear I have better control of the car when racing. I just feel more “connected” to the car and have set new personal bests in the Indy Car at Pocono and the Late Model at South Boston.
My wife took this picture of me shortly after building my Obutto:
