Concept2 Forum

Anybody here used it? Is it worth the 100 bucks compared to the PM3? How has it assisted your training, if it has?<br /><br />tony

<!--QuoteBegin-anthonys+Jan 2 2006, 01:54 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(anthonys @ Jan 2 2006, 01:54 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Anybody here used it? Is it worth the 100 bucks compared to the PM3? How has it assisted your training, if it has?<br /><br />tony <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Tony,<br /><br />Ergmonitor is very good. The force profile is much better then the one from the PM3. Setting up complex workouts is nice. I like the metronome function; the reporting facilities are complete and accurate. <br />But: I am addicted to Rowpro. and therefore I rarely use Ergmonitor.<br /><br />Tom

<!--QuoteBegin-anthonys+Jan 2 2006, 01:54 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(anthonys @ Jan 2 2006, 01:54 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Anybody here used it? Is it worth the 100 bucks compared to the PM3? How has it assisted your training, if it has?<br /><br />tony <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Tony,<br /><br />Like Tom I primarily use RowPro (RP) but do use Ergmonitor (EM) occasionally and used EM quite a bit when I first got it. In my opinion EM is the best tool for the serious rower to do stroke analysis. When I first got EM I added a second pickup head to my erg so that EM and RP could be run at the same time. That way I could use RP to control my race or workout and use EM analyze the effect on my stroke. At times I would leave the EM screen hidden behind the RP screen and then go back after the workout to analyze my stroke. <br /><br />Other times I would setup EM to run in a corner of the screen over RP and watch it during a race or workout and experiment with slight stroke changes and the effect on the power curve. EM deserves a lot of the credit for my good performances in the longer distances as I worked with it to fine tune an efficient stroke. <br /><br />Another handy feature is that I have saved representative rows from the past. If I'm having trouble with a 5K I can record it in EM then compare it with older 5Ks to see if my stroke has changed. <br /><br />If you are serious about rowing at your maximum EM is a tool you shouldn't be without. <br /><br />Frank

Tom and Frank,<br /><br />thanks for your feedback, guys. I've got RowPro, though I've not used it much. when I have, I've especially liked its ability to compare workouts. Also, Frank, how'd you hook up the additional sensor so that you can use both pieces of software?<br /><br />tony

<!--QuoteBegin-anthonys+Jan 2 2006, 04:23 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(anthonys @ Jan 2 2006, 04:23 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Tom and Frank,<br /><br />thanks for your feedback, guys. I've got RowPro, though I've not used it much. when I have, I've especially liked its ability to compare workouts. Also, Frank, how'd you hook up the additional sensor so that you can use both pieces of software?<br /><br />tony <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Tony,<br /><br />I got the idea from Paul Smith. There are basically 2 ways to do it. One is to punch another hole in the housing and mount the new sensor like the current one is mounted. The other (my choice) is to cut most of the mounting off of the sensor and glue in onto the housing. In either case you end up opening up the housing and taking off the flywheel. The tough part about cutting the mounting down on the sensor is that you have to be very careful with the delicate wires. The wire is actually wound onto a nylon spool and I had to sand a bit of the spool down to get clearance to the flywheel. If you're interested I have a couple of pictures that I could send you.<br /><br />Frank

Frank,<br /><br />i'd really appreciate the pictures, Frank. and thanks again so much for your help.<br /><br />tony

Regarding the sensor, all you need to do is get a splitter, and attach it to the end of the sensor.<br /><br />Then run one of the leads to one of the monitors and the other lead to the other one.

John<br /><br />damn, why didn't i think of that!! thanks much. <br /><br />BTW, congrats on your 2:35 marathon, partner, that's a helluva good show under any circumstances. Best I could ever do was 3:05 at Presque Isle in Erie, PA probably back in '80 or so, though I did do 7:40 something for 50 miles at the AMJA ultra's in Chicago the year after. I tried the Old Dominion 100 mile in 79, 80 and 81 and made 50, 61 and 50 miles respectively. Would that we would have had ErgMonitors and GPS 301's etc in those days, eh?<br /><br />thanks again for the splitter idea.<br /><br />take care,<br /><br />tony

<!--QuoteBegin-anthonys+Jan 2 2006, 07:43 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(anthonys @ Jan 2 2006, 07:43 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->John<br /><br />damn, why didn't i think of that!! thanks much. <br /><br />BTW, congrats on your 2:35 marathon, partner, that's a helluva good show under any circumstances. Best I could ever do was 3:05 at Presque Isle in Erie, PA probably back in '80 or so, though I did do 7:40 something for 50 miles at the AMJA ultra's in Chicago the year after. I tried the Old Dominion 100 mile in 79, 80 and 81 and made 50, 61 and 50 miles respectively. Would that we would have had ErgMonitors and GPS 301's etc in those days, eh?<br /><br />thanks again for the splitter idea.<br /><br />take care,<br /><br />tony <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Tony,<br /><br />I tried the splitter and it would not work for me. What you are doing is sending a very low amplitude pulse to the monitor and to your sound card on your PC. If you split the signal you decrease the amplitude. In my case when I connected the split signal to my PC my PM2 stopped working. You can try it if you like. If you still want the pictures send me a personal message with your email address.<br /><br />Frank

Hi Tony,<br /><br />It is nice to meet another distance runner.<br /><br />I am impressed that you went for the 100 miles on 3 different occasions.<br /><br />That is quite a distance.<br /><br />I would ask at an electronics specialty store about the splitter and they might have an answer for the signal, i.e. gold connections or something else.

You can buy a microphone signal booster that will do the trick for about $15 on E-Bay, plus shipping.<br /><br />Radio Shack may sell one too, for all I know.

Tony,<br /><br />You can use a splitter to run both the Concept2 monitor and ErgMonitor together. To do what Frank is doing, running both ErgMonitor and RowPro together, you will probably need a second sensor. I tried all kinds of ways with splitters including reversing polarity, but could not get eRow and ErgMonitor to run together on the same PC. I think it is a short circuit problem once you have the sensor hooked into your PC's sound card and the PM2+ or PM3 plugged into your PC as well.<br /><br />ErgOn,<br />Mike

Yep,<br /><br />that's just what I found out; couldn't get rowpro and ergmonitor to run concurrently; fortunately, I can still use my PM3 to give me a read out of HR data and I can use my Polar software to keep track of the HR data as a function of time; event markers, whatever. There's more data on that screen that I know nothing about and so how to intepret it. But, looks like a lot to learn. I sure do like the curve generated by the stroke, whatever the h*** it's called, especially the greying out of prior strokes so that succeeding ones can be compared to it for form, amplitude, etc. PM3 can't even approach that IMHO. Also, the bar that moves back and forth indicating drive and rest times has already paid for the software. I had no idea how improperly I was performing on the "rest" part of the cycle<br /><br />thanks for feedback, Mike,<br /><br />tony<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><!--QuoteBegin-Mike Niezgoda+Jan 3 2006, 10:18 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Mike Niezgoda @ Jan 3 2006, 10:18 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Tony,<br /><br />You can use a splitter to run both the Concept2 monitor and ErgMonitor together.  To do what Frank is doing, running both ErgMonitor and RowPro together, you will probably need a second sensor.  I tried all kinds of ways with splitters including reversing polarity, but could not get eRow and ErgMonitor to run together on the same PC.  I think it is a short circuit problem once you have the sensor hooked into your PC's sound card and the PM2+ or PM3 plugged into your PC as well.<br /><br />ErgOn,<br />Mike <br /> </td></tr></table><br />