Concept2 Forum

I started the season with slides and have used them now for 8 months, with just a few days off when I had to wait for replacement bungees.

However, slides are not used for the competitions and Long Beach is coming up in just 4 weeks, so I started the month with the slides removed in order to have plenty of time to get readjusted to erging without them.

I didn't have a regular workout scheduled for today, but I did my normal daily 10' wakeup piece. Bummer! I really missed the slides. The worst was at the start, so I think that I will get over it soon enough, but as soon as I am done with L.B. I will be back on them again.

Incidentally, I had a 18 1/2' square frame made of angle iron welded together and braced in the corners. I use this with 4 C-clamps to keep the slides aligned and at the 18 1/2' required spacing. It would be more elegant to have it bolted together with wing nuts on the bolts, but it would be inconvenient to have to drill the holes in the slide frames. I have often wondered why C2 didn't sell a gadget like this to use with the slides. Well, it is a bit late for that now. The new Dynamic erg should replace any D or E/slide combinations.

The 18 1/2 inch placement is not cast in stone (or metal). I adjust mine based on where they settle at the catch and release, but it's close to that recommendation (they are at 21" right now). The strengths of the individual bungee cords is a factor, too. I use a chalk string (without the chalk) to check alignment occasionally.

I turn the slides around every so often so that the tracks get used a little more evenly. I also found that even just the weight of the erg left resting on them puts little "notches" where the wheels meet the softer track surfaces, so when I'm finished rowing I lift the erg legs off of the carriages (not entirely off the slides). May be a princess-and-the-pea thing but I can feel it.