Changed Model C rowers

Maintenance, accessories, operation. Anything to do with making your erg work.
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mhwinchell
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Joined: April 4th, 2009, 9:00 am
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Changed Model C rowers

Post by mhwinchell » April 4th, 2009, 11:17 am

I changed fitness clubs. Both new and old club have a Model C, but I have had poor results at the new club vs. the old, which is frustrating and demotivating. I observe two differences that might explain my poorer results.

Effort required. At the same (highest) setting, the new club's rower requires more effort than the old. So far as I can tell, the new club's rower is well-maintained, perhaps better than the old. Could there be a mechanical difference between the two rowers that would explain this?

PM-1 inconsistency. The new club's rower has a PM-1. The elapsed time, instantaneous rate, and meters rowed seem inconsistent with one another. For example, rowing 10,000m in 45 min. requires an average rate of 2:15/500m, a typical workout for me. On the new club's rower, as best I can tell, I must keep my instantaneous rate between 2:13 and 2:14/500m to row 10,000m in 45 min. Is the PM-1 incompatible with the Model C? If so, are there conversion factors to correct for the incompatibility? If not, what could explain the inconsistency?

In the end, I want to establish comparability between my results on the two rowers, so I can measure progress and plan realistic workouts on the new club's rower.

Thanks!
MHW

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Citroen
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Post by Citroen » April 4th, 2009, 11:29 am

If the model C has a PM2 then press [0/1] to turn the monitor on then press [OK] and [REST] at the same time. Remove any HR monitor if you have that and row six or seven big strokes to get the flywheel spinning. The monitor will produce a number (annotated drag). On a PM1 there's no equivalent function.

On a PM3/PM4 from the main menu choose More Options then Display Drag Factor.

If you set the drag to the same number on both machines they will feel the same when you row them

On a clean machine it should range from 95 drag at damper lever 1 to about 210 at damper 10 and around 130 at damper 5. If you get numbers that are wildly adrift from those figures then you're either thousands of feet above sea-level or the machines are horribly in need of cleaning.

There's a fair chance that the old machine is full of dust.
Dougie Lawson
61yrs, 172cm, Almost LWt (in my dreams).
Twitter: @DougieLawson

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