Concept2 Forum

I purchased the shoxbox a month or so ago for the purpose of adding leg resistance to my home erg setup, and to see if it really helped to lower strain on the back from each pull. I have now put over 100K on it so I figured a short review was in order.

I must say that I love raising the back of the erg up, because for me as a skier adding leg resistance is awesome because I never felt like my legs got much of a workout on a flat erg. This alone seemed worth it to me to spend the extra money on the device.

The real issue however is what by most is considered the main selling point of the shoxbox, and that is; how well does it reduce shock on the back? To be 100% honest, I feel like it hurts my back more than it helps. Allow me to explain the fatal flaw in the shoxbox system with an analogy. On a mountain bike that has front shocks, the spring is pre loaded so that it rests in the upright position and only has one direction that it can travel when starting at equilibrium, which is down. This means that applying force to it causes it to be compressed downward, and immediately return to its original fully upright position with no oscillation- just down, and then all the way up where it ceases all movement.

The shoxbox however is a very different design than this and which is why I am not sold on it. The floating platform that you put the rear post of the erg in is not equalized against a hard surface in one direction. Instead, there are springs holding it in place in the center of its range of motion. Every stroke that you take causes it to first bounce down and then up(which would be great if it was pre loaded and stopped here), but since its equilibrium position is at the center of its range of motion in the middle of 2 springs equalized against eachother it then oscillates back and forth in an uncomfortable motion which I honestly feel puts more strain on my back then not having it at all. I recently have begun using the thing upsidedown just to have the back raised up and not get me so jostled from the spring movement.

I hate to put up a bad review because I was considering selling it on here to someone who wanted to try it, but I am not a liar and needed to put up an honest review like I promised someone I would do in a previous thread. If the company would just pre-load the springs like a bicycle shock then it would be an awesome product where the down motion of the spring would be transferred to forward motion propelling you forward for the recovery then it would be perfect and do just what it is advertised to do.


Does anyone else who has used the product have a different opinion than I do?


I am considering selling it. If you are in the Boston area and would like to buy it at a substantial discount just to try it then feel free to PM me and we can meet up and do the transaction. I think it will be of even less use once I purchase the new dynamic erg from C2 when it is released so if no one here wants it I will most likely put it up on ebay.

I purchased a Shox Box over the summer of 09, have rowed over 250k, and it has made a huge differance in my ability to Erg harder & longer plus it feels a lot like my single. So I was surprised that you had just the opposite experience.

The 1-2 inch elevation seemed to make a differance over time for me. When I decided to compete in the CRASHB's i noticed about a 2 sec increase in my split times initially. I kept training on it exclusively until the week before. I rowed a test piece without the box and rowed a time 8 seconds lower than the test piece i did 2 days previously with the box. i wound up rowing a PR in Boston and i believe that it was due mainly to the use of the box because of the comfort to my back allowing me to train harder & more frequently. My back has not felt better in years.

As far as your analysis of how the box works compared to shocks on a mountain bike, i've got to differ here as well. Both are preloaded to the top of their stroke (how else would the leg holder stay in position?), both deflect upon initial engagement but they are designed for different ranges of acceleration management. I have some experience in applied physics and the big differance is how and to what degree the shocks & shox box respond to the acceleration inputs that generate these compressive forces. Traditional shock absorbers (like on mountian bikes, motorcycles, etc.) have to deal with accelerations upwards of 3-5 g's, i've estimated that with the velocities & mass of the rowers body the shox box is dealing with something around .3-.6 g's or about a factor of 10 less. Therefore how these accelerations are dealt with is through the damping (or slowing) of their respective motions. Shocks typically push oil through an orifice or, compress a gas. the shox box from what i can see uses a plastic sleeve of some kind to slow how it moves.

When i'm near the end of a hard piece often my form tends to degrade and where i sometimes really rip-it at the finish and i have noticed an extra hop or two from the box on the return up the slide. if i have the gas left in the tank i correct it and the hop seems to go away. I could be delerious at this point in the workout but I believe the harsher inputs to the box are not damped as well but i think that is good feedback, no?

Anybody else buy one of these? definintely glad i did. I know a couple of coaches who bought a few and really like them. i'll see if one of them wants to buy your box.

Did you ever manage to sell this? I'm looking to buy a shox box so if you have this one still I would be very interested in taking it off your hands. I do live in CA however and I would be willing to pay for extra shipping/hassles you may encounter upon sending this. Shoot me an email at Nate.Estrada@gmail.com