Concept2 Forum

Hi there, new guy here but have been lurking for a while. Just started using my new D/PM5 yesterday. I see so many people posting their split times/2k times, etc. As a measurement stick, is there a common damper setting/DF that people use for recording these times? Not that I'm looking to best anyone at this point

Thanks!

Damper/drag factor is a purely personal choice. There are some guidelines based on whether you're a big strapping heavyweight 6'4" monster or a flimsy 5'7" 165lb lightweight. That gives you a starting point rather than a definitive drag value.

There's no prescription that "thou shalt row at drag 135 or the sky shall fall in".

Right - just what feels good to you! There are innumerable threads on drag factor in this forum. Basically, it doesn't affect your times (beyond comfort while rowing). The monitor takes all that into account. Your times depend solely on how much power you put into the stroke, independent of drag factor. Search around in here and you'll have days of reading on drag factor theories, truths, anecdotes, and alternate facts.

Have fun on your new machine, and welcome!

Keep it low, after all we're supposed to make our boat go fast and we don't need brakes to do that.

Basically its in the 110 to 130 region for anything other than short sprints where you increase it.

Its typical to start higher when your a newbie until you develop the leg speed etc and you find you will row better with a lower drag which also reduces you chances of back injury.

Pretty much started at 164 and came down from there, still on the high side at 134 but a few points either side of this makes no difference. Still need to crank it up to get a really fast pace, tried it yesterday for 1 minute and 30 spm gets me about 1:33 pace so thats not fast enough for a 500m.

Your basically my height but a little heavier so depending on the "composition" of that weight it gives you a starting point.

And note that an individual who does, for example, a 2k in 7mins at a drag factor of 200 has done no more work, is worthy of no more applause, than another individual who does a 2k in 7mins at a drag factor of 100.

The pace or watts shown on the monitor always accurately reflect the efforts of the rower regardless of drag factor.
Hence there's no need for folk to specify their drag factor when reporting efforts, pbs, records.

GJS wrote:And note that an individual who does, for example, a 2k in 7mins at a drag factor of 200 has done no more work, is worthy of no more applause, than another individual who does a 2k in 7mins at a drag factor of 100.

The pace or watts shown on the monitor always accurately reflect the efforts of the rower regardless of drag factor.
Hence there's no need for folk to specify their drag factor when reporting efforts, pbs, records.

Interesting to note is that when I'm running Ergdata on my phone that gets the drag stored in the logbook records.

Excellent and right on point. That is great info. Thank you all very much. Still sorting out my HR strap and come connectivity issues trying to upload data to RowPro - think I have a handle on it. This is gonna be fun.

Thank you all again!

Citroen wrote:

GJS wrote:And note that an individual who does, for example, a 2k in 7mins at a drag factor of 200 has done no more work, is worthy of no more applause, than another individual who does a 2k in 7mins at a drag factor of 100.

The pace or watts shown on the monitor always accurately reflect the efforts of the rower regardless of drag factor.
Hence there's no need for folk to specify their drag factor when reporting efforts, pbs, records.

Interesting to note is that when I'm running Ergdata on my phone that gets the drag stored in the logbook records.

As I mentioned in another thread, it would be great if they recorded the drag factor at big race events like crash-b's ...that way there'd be a massive amount of data to pinpoint the most common df range and what df the best performers used.

...and I think that would also be a very easy way to illustrate how higher is not better.

Would the data reveal much?

A good proportion of those doing well will be otw folk very likely using dfs prescribed by clubs or national bodies or dictated by the feel of their boats on the water. 100-135 would surely predominate on that basis alone.

GJS wrote:Would the data reveal much?

A good proportion of those doing well will be otw folk very likely using dfs prescribed by clubs or national bodies or dictated by the feel of their boats on the water. 100-135 would surely predominate on that basis alone.

Otw more 135 ish, not super low. French sub 6 lightweight uses 160..

Was including females too, Henry. Those who row in 8s might go - and be encouraged to go - very low too.

GJS wrote:Was including females too, Henry. Those who row in 8s might go - and be encouraged to go - very low too.

Ok, those a bit lower, but still not superlow.

I like the ErgData idea of showing it on screen, I wish RowPro would add it to one of the live boxes I don't use on screen. The reason is you tend to forget about it and it gradually drops over time and its certainly not something I check before every row, in fact it probably gets checked once a year if I'm lucky or only after cleaning the fan housing out.

I think many people underestimate the importance of it and top rowers keep it a bit of a secret or just hand out misinformation on it.

GJS wrote:Would the data reveal much?

A good proportion of those doing well will be otw folk very likely using dfs prescribed by clubs or national bodies or dictated by the feel of their boats on the water. 100-135 would surely predominate on that basis alone.

Well for competition you can guarantee any and everyone would be using their absolute optimal drag factor for the best score.

I'd over several years all the best rowers all used a similar df then it would fairly clearly show an optimal range

If heavier or taller rowers all used a higher number and did well and smaller lighter ones used a lower df - or the other way round, then I think it would be very useful.