Rowperfect vs Concept2 Research Article

[bloomp]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQJcIgba6G8

Quite ingenious. The only thing I'd worry about is the apparent looseness of the cage hookup to the rail.

The gent is open to criticism - 1xsculler on the RowingIllustrated forums - and seems friendly enough.

[drifting away]

How ingenious? The guy has built a circa 1989 Rowperfect...well almost. Where you been?

[Rockin Roland]

Isn,t the price also a big factor? A concept 2 is relative cheap.

Only if your economy is in recession.

A C2 erg is cheap enough for people to think nothing of butchering their C2s and rebuilding them into their own interpretation of the ideal erg."1Xsculler" is just one of many that has done that. I found it easier to just sell the C2 erg and buy an erg that is a lot closer to a rowing simular than what the C2 erg currently is.

[hjs]

Isn,t the price also a big factor? A concept 2 is relative cheap.

Only if your economy is in recession.

A C2 erg is cheap enough for people to think nothing of butchering their C2s and rebuilding them into their own interpretation of the ideal erg."1Xsculler" is just one of many that has done that. I found it easier to just sell the C2 erg and buy an erg that is a lot closer to a rowing simular than what the C2 erg currently is.

If I look at myself, I only erg in the gym, so I don,t change any equipement. But on the subject of the c2, I don,t know the Rowperfect so can,t comment on that.
I am very "unfit", have a bad back and bad hip, due to an accident, I can cycle a bit on low gear and erg also on low drag. I can,t do any other sport like exercise any more, not even jog very slowly.
Doing this I can get in first few percent of ergers in my age cat. (43), and although I can injuree myself if I don,t watch out I do think that the erg is very safe piece of equipement. If I only would erg to stay a bit fit and never did any fast work I think I could do this for many years to come.


Ps I do agree that erging in itself has not much to do with rowing, it's quit funny to see how people use it in the gym, but I also see people reading the paper on there bikes, answering the foon on the stepper, walking on the tredmill with beautifull weather outside, people going by car to the gym to go step on a indoor bike.
People are strange, the erg is not used for rowing, but is just a piece of fitness equipement.

[bloomp]

How ingenious? The guy has built a circa 1989 Rowperfect...well almost. Where you been?

Ingenuity because he took the time to actually make it out of the C2. And no, it's not a circa 1989 Rowperfect because it uses the C2 monitor, flywheel and other technology. And had I been alive in 1989 maybe I would know what that machine looks like. Probably not much better than a C2 Model B.

[Tinus]

because it uses the C2 monitor, flywheel and other technology.

Which is quite a lot like 1989 rowperfect technology.

[bloomp]

because it uses the C2 monitor, flywheel and other technology.

Which is quite a lot like 1989 rowperfect technology.

Rowperfect did not (and still does not) have anything as good as the PM3/4, nor the firmware on it. It does not have any online community and no way of transferring data easily (serial cables are from when I was 5 years old, come on).

[Rockin Roland]

because it uses the C2 monitor, flywheel and other technology.

Which is quite a lot like 1989 rowperfect technology.

Rowperfect did not (and still does not) have anything as good as the PM3/4, nor the firmware on it. It does not have any online community and no way of transferring data easily (serial cables are from when I was 5 years old, come on).

I use the new Rowperfect monitor several times a week and note that it has quite a lot of functions that I would have liked on my PM4. These are:
1) Distance per stroke (C2 only has that available on Rowpro and not their PM4).
2) Power per heart beat (Useful to know when you've gone too hard at the start)
3) Backlight for night erging (which I currently do outsisde in the dark as the days are short here now).
4)Number of strokes taken
5)Average speed
6) Multi option window where a wide range of selected measurements constantly alternates in display in the window.
7) Weight adjusted scores(lightweights would love that)
8) Choice of monitor data speed eg. 8+, 1X, 4- etc.

The RP mate monitor is similar to the Coxmate monitors used in boats.
The old Rowperfect had more advanced software than what C2 currently has (no gamer stuff like Rowpro though) which will before long, it is promised, be available for the new Rowperfect.

There is no online community yet but with only a few hundred units sold there wouldn't be sufficient numbers using it to justify it.

So the really the C2 PM4 isn't as advanced as people think. It could do more without being too complicated.