I seem to notice that when I start there seems to be no tension on the handle for first 3" to 6" of the drive. This occurs once the flywheel is spinning and doesn't seem to happen when starting from a dead stop. Is this normal?
Thanks,
Jack
New to Erging, Is there a Minor Issue with My Model D?
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Re: New to Erging, Is there a Minor Issue with My Model D?
Where do you have the damper lever? (Or do you know what drag factor your rowing on?) On a clean machine you should have it somewhere between 3 and 5 to get a drag factor somewhere between 110 and 135. [What drag you row on is a personal choice, predicated by things such as height and weight. Only the meatheads use damper 10.]Jack S. wrote:Is this normal?
So, it's probably mostly a technique issue.
Check that you're not over compressing at the catch, check your shins aren't going over vertical. Drive with the legs (imagine pushing the machine away not pulling the handle towards you). Remember it's 70% legs. The stroke is legs - body - arms, hands away fast, arms - body - legs. Don't move your body before your hands are behind your knees.
Xeno Müller sells some instructional DVDs. I don't have them, but they are highly rated by the folks on here who have bought them.
JS
The slack at the catch is unfortunately normal, and is perhaps the only major fault of the stationary erg; some say it doesn't float. As you saw, there's a big difference between a dead start and a spinning catch. The slack is due to us having to catch up with the speed of the flywheel through the free-wheel and its play in the hub - we have to accelerate almost our entire body mass to the right speed, and Newton governs.
The trick is to get the handle moving fast without losing too much leg thrust length, otherwise the legs do no work against the handle. It's best not to increase the drag to avoid the problem by shortening the catch, you might find excess loads in your back.
If you don't like it, go afloat or on slides. Slides can't eliminate the free-wheel slack, but at least the erg can have higher acceleration when decoupled fore and aft - i.e. when floating - and the net effect is a slightly longer stroke if you want.
Better still on water, where by judicious pressure on the stretcher you can slow the boat as you like and just drop the sculls in quick with no loss of length.
The slack at the catch is unfortunately normal, and is perhaps the only major fault of the stationary erg; some say it doesn't float. As you saw, there's a big difference between a dead start and a spinning catch. The slack is due to us having to catch up with the speed of the flywheel through the free-wheel and its play in the hub - we have to accelerate almost our entire body mass to the right speed, and Newton governs.
The trick is to get the handle moving fast without losing too much leg thrust length, otherwise the legs do no work against the handle. It's best not to increase the drag to avoid the problem by shortening the catch, you might find excess loads in your back.
If you don't like it, go afloat or on slides. Slides can't eliminate the free-wheel slack, but at least the erg can have higher acceleration when decoupled fore and aft - i.e. when floating - and the net effect is a slightly longer stroke if you want.
Better still on water, where by judicious pressure on the stretcher you can slow the boat as you like and just drop the sculls in quick with no loss of length.
08-1940, 179cm, 75kg post-op (3 bp January 2025).