Concept2 Forum

How will a stretched out shock cord effect your times on the erg?

It won't affect performance/times/results.

Slack cords just makes the return to front stops horribly sloppy. Cords should have about 6-8lbs of force on the handle. You may be able to tighten the existing cords enough to continue using the machine while waiting for your new cords to be despatched by C2.

Thank you for the response, I was hoping for an excuse for a poor time on 2k.

I bought a Model B used and am pretty sure it was stored with handle in the extended out to the holding pegs. How much adjustment can be made and how do do so? I assume it entails cutting the cord, but how much can it be shortened? Seems like a foot would need to removed before it would retract back to the cage under its own tension.

http://www.concept2.com/us/service/indo ... enance.asp

C2JonW

Thank you, shortened the cord and the handle returns perfectly. A real easy fix.

I'm soon to be a new dad and stumbled across a bit of rowing advice in a men's magazine.

The letter writer was also going to be a new dad and wanted to know how to incorporate a fitness regiment into his schedule. The answer was to get a rowing machine and put the child on his back.

Has anyone tried this? I haven't been able to find any reference to it on the boards. The wife seemed to be up for in theory, we'll see when the time comes.

It is a nice idea to have the baby close to you like that, but babies don't have much strength in the neck and I would worry about bouncing the head around too much.

Byron Drachman wrote:It is a nice idea to have the baby close to you like that, but babies don't have much strength in the neck and I would worry about bouncing the head around too much.

Thats what I thought too. You certainly wouldn't be doing 500m test or start in the first 6 months. I'd imagine you could do it but you would have to go so easy on the rowing that it wouldn't be much of a benefit to you.

For the first 6 months, the baby will likely be sleeping 16+ hours per day anyway ... and if not, the noise of the rower will put him/her to sleep in a few minutes. I'd just put a pack and play or small crib next to the rower if you're looking to give the wife a break while staying close to your new baby.

luckylindy wrote:For the first 6 months, the baby will likely be sleeping 16+ hours per day anyway ... and if not, the noise of the rower will put him/her to sleep in a few minutes. I'd just put a pack and play or small crib next to the rower if you're looking to give the wife a break while staying close to your new baby.

That's what I did. The babies would fall asleep quickly to the whooshing of the erg fan, and while in the pack and play, or playpen, would be out of harm's way. (On your back I don't think would be good for the baby, or your back.)

David

I'm puzzled by the claim that a stretched shock cord will not affect times.
Suppose the user of the machine is pulling on the handle with 20 pounds of force. If the shock cord requires 7 pounds of force to stretch it, then 35% of the user's effort is going to the shock cord, the remaining 65%, or 13 pounds of force will be directed to the flywheel. If that shock cord is old and only requires 3 pounds of force to stretch it, then only 15% of the user's effort will be dissipated in the shock cord, and 85%, or 17 pounds of force will be directed to the flywheel.

To realize how silly it is to assert that shock cord tension does not affect times, imagine if the machine were fitted with a shock cord that required 50 pounds of force to stretch it. Of course this is going to affect the time. It would take most of the user's energy just to stretch the cord.

Since energy expended to stretch the shock cord does not show up on the PM, and energy imparted to the flywheel does, the easiest way to cheat and post lower times is to loosen the shock cord or replace it with a lighter one.

Slidewinder wrote:I'm puzzled by the claim that a stretched shock cord will not affect times.
Suppose the user of the machine is pulling on the handle with 20 pounds of force. If the shock cord requires 7 pounds of force to stretch it, then 35% of the user's effort is going to the shock cord, the remaining 65%, or 13 pounds of force will be directed to the flywheel. If that shock cord is old and only requires 3 pounds of force to stretch it, then only 15% of the user's effort will be dissipated in the shock cord, and 85%, or 17 pounds of force will be directed to the flywheel.

To realize how silly it is to assert that shock cord tension does not affect times, imagine if the machine were fitted with a shock cord that required 50 pounds of force to stretch it. Of course this is going to affect the time. It would take most of the user's energy just to stretch the cord.

Since energy expended to stretch the shock cord does not show up on the PM, and energy imparted to the flywheel does, the easiest way to cheat and post lower times is to loosen the shock cord or replace it with a lighter one.

True, but you also have the return fase here the cord helps.
Plus, most rowers use a lot more then 20 pounds.

But in the end, it is a force, so it must be doing something.

I think it would be more relavent to look at the total loss by the shock cord.

Yes you have to expend energy to stretch it but then it is also assisting you in the recovery so the net loss of energy into the cord would be minimal or it would get hot as the energy would need to go somewhere as heat.

As everyone has essentially the same set-up it's a level playing field.

Sufficient tention is important as it begins to effect the chain at high spm's and this is going to have mechanical effects that will far outweigh any gains your getting from the reduced shock cord losses.

hjs wrote, "Plus most rowers use a lot more than twenty pounds..."

My point is valid whether the user pulls with 20 pounds of force or 80. Approximately 7 pounds of that force is used to stretch the elastic cord. The best times on the machine would be achieved by having just enough elasticity to return the handle quickly enough to match one's cadence.
For those who like to experiment, high quality elastic (shock) cord is available from marine rigging suppliers. Fitting the machine with a lighter cord would almost certainly result in reduced times.
In an indoor rowing competition, the athlete on a well used machine with reduced shock cord tension will have an advantage. Unless the shock cord tension in absolutely identical on all machines (which it isn't), competition results (ie:recorded times) are suspect.

Carl Watts wrote, "Yes you have to expend energy to stretch it but then it is also assisting you in the recovery so...etc)

Alright, to test this hypothesis, remove the elastic cord from the machine, fasten one end to something solid and then repeatedly stretch that cord - no flywheel, just the cord by itself. The elasticity of the cord will help you return to the starting position each time, but you will still grow tired pulling on that cord. This will not change with the cord back in the machine. Energy will still be expended stretching that cord. Expending that energy will contribute to the tiring effect on the user, but that energy is not going to the flywheel and is therefore not being recorded by the PM.