Peloton on the water

[mitchel674]

This company looks interesting. Promising great videos with motivational instructors.

https://hydrow.com/

[Aquaman]

That's a lot like what Nordictrack is offering (new ERG, instructor-led videos - some that simulate rowing on the water by actual Olympians):

https://www.nordictrack.com/rowing-machines/rw900-rower

The compromises are that you have to purchase relatively more expensive, immature machines and be restricted to a certain flavor of content - but that will work for some. The Nordictrack is more similar to the Concept2 design with its use of air resistance versus electromagnetic for a few others like Hydrow. Pros and cons to both. This relatively small market is getting flooded with new ERGs - difficult to believe it's large enough to support all these new entrants.

[mitchel674]

The nordic trac rower looks interesting. The design looks similar to the concept 2. Disturbing that the actor in the promotional video had such horrible rowing form.

[Cyclist2]

This relatively small market is getting flooded with new ERGs - difficult to believe it's large enough to support all these new entrants.

I think CrossFit, using the C2 erg, got the general exercise population interested - and therefore the companies that see an opportunity to make money - and that group is not as interested in getting to be a stronger "rower" as they are in the "exercise" aspect. Look at the people that use all the other gym equipment, with the bells and whistles to distract you from the work you are doing and it becomes apparent, to me at least, that THAT is the market all these new machines with fancy software are trying to tap. A perfect example is the video for the NordicTrak rower - the guy does more other stuff than rowing, and as noted, he's obviously not real interested in the rowing technique.

IMO, for the hard core rowers, who are actually interested in becoming stronger and more proficient at rowing, the PM monitors (even an old PM2) are adequate to monitor your current workout, with basic stats to record for progress purposes. With ErgData for the new PMs, it's more than enough. These are the people concentrating on ROWING, they don't need live classes or fancy graphics to get what they need. I also think that was Concept2's original intent when they invented the erg and that is still their stated purpose (as Aquaman noted in an earlier post).

It will be interesting to see if gyms and clubs start installing these fancy new rowers to line up alongside the elliptical machines and treadmills. And whether they get used for more than the typical 5 minutes per session that the C2 machines see.

[Aquaman]

This relatively small market is getting flooded with new ERGs - difficult to believe it's large enough to support all these new entrants.

... that THAT is the market all these new machines with fancy software are trying to tap. A perfect example is the video for the NordicTrak rower - the guy does more other stuff than rowing, and as noted, he's obviously not real interested in the rowing technique....It will be interesting to see if gyms and clubs start installing these fancy new rowers to line up alongside the elliptical machines and treadmills. And whether they get used for more than the typical 5 minutes per session that the C2 machines see.

Very much agree even with the CrossFit ascendance - they've really taken to the Spartan nature of the C2 but differ from the more casual, suburban fitness types that prefer spa-like boutique experiences. I think the danger is making the machines too exclusive/fashionable (like Peloton or Mirror) and the content too NYC techno-club/gangsta (Turnstyle or Nordictrak) while alienating the vast majority of people who want a well-led cross-fit type work-out that is not exclusively rowing (ala OrangeTheory). There's a huge market of those people out there.

Treads & ellipticals outpace sales of most other machines 10:1 (both at-home and in the gym). Without equal shelf space, these new rowers will probably get used at least for 5 minutes because of all the screen set-ups and logins needed to get started but continue to be ignored because they aren't featured. I would expect to see more gyms create internal rowing studios by switching with spin bikes. In that case, mainly C2 and Technogym have the advantage due to their competition-like group software.