Drag Times / Rower Maintenance

[arch3r]

Hi all,

I have done some reading on these forums and I have seen in a few postings about checking the drag times of your erg. What I read said that the drag numbers should be:

1 - 90
5 - 125
10 - 190

But when I test my erg, I get the following:

1 - 99
5 - 158
10 - 228

I took off the front cage of the fan and cleaned out the dust ( there was not very much at all ) and re-tested the drag but got the almost identical numbers as I did before the cleaning. What else should I do/look at to recalibrate to erg and get the drag times more in line with what is appropriate?

btw: I have a model C with a PM2+

Thanks in advance.

chris.

[rowland]

there is nothing wrong, those #'s are perfectly fine, you have a clean erg.

[Cyclist2]

You're right, there is lots of discussion on drag factors. However, it is all relative. There are lots of things that can affect it, so your machine is not "wrong". What drag factor IS good for is when you alternate between machines, it is a good starting point to get the resistance to feel similar between them. If you only use one machine, it really doesn't matter, set the damper where it feels right (or use different settings to get different kinds of workouts). In general, most experienced ergers use numbers in the 120s to 140s for most workouts.

As always, the bottom line is: Have fun!!

[Bob S.]

Hi all,

I have done some reading on these forums and I have seen in a few postings about checking the drag times of your erg. What I read said that the drag numbers should be:

1 - 90
5 - 125
10 - 190

But when I test my erg, I get the following:

1 - 99
5 - 158
10 - 228

I took off the front cage of the fan and cleaned out the dust ( there was not very much at all ) and re-tested the drag but got the almost identical numbers as I did before the cleaning. What else should I do/look at to recalibrate to erg and get the drag times more in line with what is appropriate?

btw: I have a model C with a PM2+

Thanks in advance.

chris.

It is not surprising that cleaning did not change anything, since the main effect of a dirty cage is a lowering of the drag facto and yours are higher that the ones you quoted. Other factors are the air temperature and pressure. The drag factor depends on the density of the air, so it goes down as the temperature rises and goes up if the atmospheric pressure rises.

Bob S.