Concept2 Forum

I am excited that rowing exercise machines are becoming more active, and that scores can have the opportunity to result more closely from the skills of the rower, as they do on the water, instead of brute size and weight.

I am interested in health, longevity, exercise, and want to choose a rowing machine that is especially beneficial for these, and capable of performance scores based on skills, not on weight.

I personally would rather participate in a ranking system that is based on skills vs weight, and that the top lightweight and heavyweight scores be competitive with each other, the same as they are on the water.

Emphasis on rowing skills is probably affected by the buoyancy of the erg, speed of return of the handle mechanism, and how fast the speed of the fan is picked up by the drive. It is the result of these that I'm looking for. I'm interested in how well lightweight scores compare with heavyweight scores on the Oartec Slider and the C2 Dynamic.

My feeling is that the best rowing exercise machines will have identical scores for the top lightweight and open class rowers, as they do on the water, and this is the type of machine that I wish to use personally. If anyone has used both machines and has results to compare, please feel free to post them for comparison purposes, or to send a private message if preferred.

I am actually hoping the scores to not match up well between the two different machines, as that will make my decision much easier. Regardless of that, not having tried either of them yet, I am excited about both the Oartec Slider and the C2 Dynamic. The Rowperfect looks good too but is out of my price range, and doesn't have that much of a following yet. However I am also excited that there are potentially three different companies providing great rowing machines. This is awesome.

The Olympic sculling records shown below are almost identical regardless of weight class.

Women Double Scull
lightweight ... Sally Newmarch, Amber Halliday, Australia 6:49.90
open ... Kerstin Koeppen, Kathrin Boron, Germany 6:49.00 ... almost identical

Men Double Scull
lightweight ... Zac Purchase, Mark Hunter, Great Britain 6:10.99
open ... Rossano Galtarossa, Alessio Sartori, Italy 6:11.49 ... almost identical

Men Coxless Four
lightweight ... Ebert, Joergensen, Andersen, Ebbesen, Denmark 5:47.76
open ... Urban, Thormann, Stuer, Heidicker, Germany 5:48.52 ... almost identical

Trying to compare OTW results from different events on different days and/or at different venues is more or less useless. The racing is far too affected by conditions, both ambient (wind, temperature, waves) and competitive (there are no prizes for records* and you only have to go fast enough to win). Steering also is a potential issue as there is room to move a bit from side to side in your lane. Moreover, times in multiple-rower boats are hugely affected by rower synchronization that won't come into play for a single erger.

FISA in fact does not recognize OTW "world records." Only "world bests," which are the fastest times recorded whatever the conditions. Thus the oldest "world best" currently on the books goes back to 1991.

You're not going to find an erg that will magically equalize LW and HW performances.