Concept2 Forum

I'm interested in getting a rowing machine, and have seen good reviews of two--The Concept 2 line, and the Lifecore. Can someone let me know the main differences between them, and what they mean? I can see "air/magnetic resistance", but would appreciate knowing what that means to me. Obviously Concept 2 has a great following, so I came here to get a knowledgeable discussion.

You're unlikely to get an unbiased opinion from here. We're using Concept2 rowing machines because they are the world leaders, they provide consistent results and Concept2 provide excellent after sales support along with this forum. See http://concept2.com for their main site.

To get an unbiased opinion you'd need to post the same question on an independent forum that isn't specifically aligned to one manufacturer or another.

Air resistance means we have a fan moving a body of air we can vary the resistance by controlling the airflow through the fan.

Magnetic resistance means you have a wheel with a set of magnets and a frame with similar magnets with like poles towards the wheel. That's often found on cycling turbo trainers. The resistance tends to be less variable on a magnetic system than with a fan and a damping system.

Some rowing machines use a paddle wheel in a water bath.

Do any of your alternative rowing machines offer an online racing system?

As per the last line above, you need to look at what you want from the whole package before you buy a rower.

There are several on the market and I'm sure many of them would do the job but if you want to say start rowing online or doing some of the Concept 2 challanges a bit further down the track, then there is only one choice.

Personally I like the air system as it cools me down when you fit a C-Breeze to the Erg.

Hi,

I am relatively new to the Concept2 world. I have used them at fitness centers intermittently over the years, and started to get really into it this past fall. I spent a little while on the lifecore website and downloaded the manuals for R99 and the R100 model rowers. Here is what I concluded...

1. There is one thing that magnetic resistance enables that the air resistance does not, computer controlled resistance profiles during the workout. I know that this helps keep things interesting on other machines like ellipticals, but what I have found on the concept is that rowing for specific stroke rates and split times is more engaging than variable resistance on other exercise machines.

2. On the R99 model, it looks like the distance from the "pivoting heel supports" to the enclosure for the resistance mechanism is not large enough. I suspect that someone with reasonbly long arms would have trouble achieving enough forward travel. This looks much better on the R100, but that's 500 bucks more money.

3. There does not appear to be a way to link machines for racing, which is only a big deal if you want to race.

4. Both the R99 and the R100 use a "power band" instead of a bicycle type chain as the connection to the handle. I would want to try the rower to be really sure that there is absolutely no slip or stretch in this connection. I have used machines where this was a rope or cable and it was incredibly annoying and jerky.

5. Don't underestimate the advantage that the Concept2 online community provides. The online logbook is incredibly useful, and the ranking system is very motivational. All of this really ties back to the tight calibration and accuracy of the rowers. Essentially every rower performs the same as every other rower, so you can measure your own improvements, and also measure yourself against others. The online community is also the best way to get questions answered, and to keep you interested in using your new machine.

I have bought other exercise machines in the past. The concept2 is the only one that my frequency of use has increased over time. I attribute that to the fact that the machine works well and the online log has me motivated to improve, rather than just exercise.

Sorry for the length of the post. There is nothing like the zeal of the recently converted.

The biggest difference between mag. resistance and air (fluid) resistance is how it behaves. With the C2 (or for that matter, waterrower, rowperfect, oartec, etc.) machines, the harder you pull, the more the machine pulls back, so the effort required for increased speed increases at a decidedly non-linear rate. As in, going from a 1:50/500m to 1:40/500m is far easier than going from 1:40/500m to 1:30/500m.

Also, the monitors on machines targeted solely to home users or gyms are generally really poor in producing repeatable results. They don't use "drag factor", which is really C2's "secret sauce" in producing nearly universal results.

SirWired