What do I replace first?

[PaulG]

At the CRASH-Bs I was impressed and spoiled by the smooth feel of the ergs compared to mine. I bought my Model D used from a health club and had the shock cord replaced. It is clean and the chain is lubricated without any frozen links.

It may have many millions of meters without much maintenace. What do I replace first: chain, cog?

[johnlvs2run]

At the CRASH-Bs I was impressed and spoiled by the smooth feel of the ergs compared to mine. I bought my Model D used from a health club and had the shock cord replaced. It is clean and the chain is lubricated without any frozen links.

It may have many millions of meters without much maintenace. What do I replace first: chain, cog?

I rowed more than 24 million meters on a modelB before changing the shock cord. Prior to that, I had taken the shock cord up 6 to10 inches, as it had begun hanging loosely in front of the cage. Upon replacement, I found the new shock cord was too tight. It had resistance even when tight against the cage, and though I had loosened it a couple of inches. My recommendation is to keep the old shock cord as long as possible. If it doesn't hold (not too hard) against the cage, you can always tighten it so it does.

I would check to make sure everything inside the shock cord & chain mechanism is moving freely and easily. Other than these things, I don't know of any other reason the other machines would be smoother. My modelB was far more smooth than the modelC & D machines I used later.

If you replace the chain, then be sure to also change the cogwheel in front. Otherwise, the new chain will not fit the cogwheel properly. This takes approximately one hour to change.

[Carl Watts]

The flywheel contains a one way bearing. This bearing locks up and then spins freely on the shaft on every stroke you take on the rower. It is essential that this bearing is lubricated. Each stroke should be smooth and the only noise of significance should be the Woosh Woosh Woosh sound from the air passing through the flywheel.

It is not hard to remove the flywheel and the shaft to check all of the main bearings that are taking all the load for low noise, free spinning operation.

[c2jonw]

Paul, You ought to call C2 tech support if you have any specific issues. If the chain feels rough on the drive but isn't skipping, you may not need to do anything but oil it. But if you'd like to smooth it out then replace both the chain and sprocket as they wear into one another as the chain "stretches" (wearing at each pin), and the odds are that a new chain or sprocket would skip when mated to an old sprocket or chain. Additionally check inside the frame for the condition of the bungee and clean the seat rail and rollers. C2JonW

[PaulG]

Thanks Jon, I may try the chain and sprocket. It isn't bad at all, just a little noisier and less smooth than the new ergs at Boston.