Fell off!

[mwalsh]

Strapless and only 17spm. Going great until about 15 stokes in...somehow the seat got out from underneath me and I fell off the starboard side. Seat went forward and jammed up on the plastic peice at the forward end of the rail. Nothing hurt but my pride. Fortunately nobody there to point and laugh. Only glad it wasn't a Model E.

[Carl Watts]

Really wouldn't recommend strapless, even the straps loose and shoes with the shoe laces undone are going to provide an emergency stop if something goes wrong. I mate of mine a very experienced rower was doing strapless when he had a chain problem, its a great way to learn to fly off the back of the rower during a hard pull, you know like a plane leaving the deck of an aircraft carrier but with a lot less finesse.

[Cyclingman1]

I agree completely. Even loose straps provide some protection. Most anything that can be accomplished without straps can be done with them. Why take the risk? Maybe next time, a broken wrist, twisted knee, etc.

[hjs]

Maybe you guys should wear helmets

I row 90% of my meters strapless, never ever fall off, bizar even to think about it. My stroke strapped in or not on endurance work is exactly alike. Zero difference. On faster, short work, straps are needed. People who can,t row decent strapless have a faulty stroke and could get a stronger stroke.

[bisqeet]

Have to agree with H.
Anything sub R22 is strapless.
After a few rows you completely adjust your technique.
A very efficient stroke is the result. No more flying pdf the back, all the energy goes into the stroke. No strap to absorb excesses energy.

FYI
I row at 10-12W/stroke

[Carl Watts]

You cannot predict a mechanical failure.

Sure its all good until something lets go. Probably very rare are on a new or well maintained rower and even then not so bad if your going at a low pace, but if your going hard and something happens with the chain/sprocket or the oneway bearing in the flywheel lets go your bye bye on your backside.

Its the same reason I always wear a seatbelt, I don't intend to have a crash but shit happens.

[left coaster]

sorry for a wee hijack, but Carl Watts, do you ever oil the seat/slider. I'm at about 750k on mine and it doesn't roll all the way to the front anymore, seems to be a tiny bit of friction when I slide it back and forth. I regularly clean the rail, by some mysterious phenomenon a mysterious black gunk emerges on the rail after a few sessions and this eventually turns into a series of little bumps if I don't clean it regularly.

[Carl Watts]

sorry for a wee hijack, but Carl Watts, do you ever oil the seat/slider. I'm at about 750k on mine and it doesn't roll all the way to the front anymore, seems to be a tiny bit of friction when I slide it back and forth. I regularly clean the rail, by some mysterious phenomenon a mysterious black gunk emerges on the rail after a few sessions and this eventually turns into a series of little bumps if I don't clean it regularly.

I never oil the slide and don't recommend it.

I clean the rail before EVERY row, sounds tedious I know but generally mine is also covered in sweat at the end so it gets cleaned then as well.

To clean at the start I just but my bandanna (I then turn this into a triange, roll it up and us it as a sweat band) over the end of my finger and hold it in the four places on the rollers and move the seat backwards and forwards till all the black is gone. The rail can be wiped with a damp cloth or an old hand towel you have because that black stuff is hard to get out even in the wash. Takes like 20 seconds to do the seat rollers.

A clean slide is very important as it will help you reach maximum velocity off the back of the rower and will ensure maximum penetration of your head through the wall should there be one behind you.

Seriously though, take the advice from hjs and wear a helmet.

[bisqeet]

You cannot predict a mechanical failure.

Sure its all good until something lets go. Probably very rare are on a new or well maintained rower and even then not so bad if your going at a low pace, but if your going hard and something happens with the chain/sprocket or the oneway bearing in the flywheel lets go your bye bye on your backside.

Its the same reason I always wear a seatbelt, I don't intend to have a crash but shit happens.

never have enough safety
at 15km/h (2:00 pace) it is comparable to a slow moving bike - albeit even the model e isn't as high as that - and i have yet to fit a seatbelt to that mode of transport.
-i guess i live dangerously rowing strapless @R20

afraid i leave it down to planning and preperation preventing pisspoor performance (or preventive maintenance) - that a little luck and trust in the engineers at c2 that the sturdy c2 doesnt explode during training..