Ideas to secure Concept2 to the floor

[simdim]

Folks,
Just got new C2 model D - love it so far (just did slower pace 2k). However when my son came from school - he is high school varsity crew - the erg just moved all over the floor - not just inches but feet!
What do people do - I can not see putting screws in the floor of the family room ...

Cheers,

Simon

[Carl Watts]

Never had a problem with the Erg moving so I would be looking at your technique.

Even at 1:20 pace 34spm its not going anywhere. Mine is on carpet so that no doubt helps but a significant amount of movement points to energy going into the frame and not into the flywheel so I would be looking at correcting this first before trying to bolt down the Erg.

[simdim]

Just to clarify - I had erg set on a rug that is over wood floor - just was not sure if C2 rubber feet will scoff the floor.

[Citroen]

Get a roll of gaffer/duct/duck tape. Turn twice round the foot of the ergo sticky side in. Half twist so it's sticky side out, two turns. Four feet. Put ergo on floor and stand on it and it won't move unless you're pulling better than a 1:08 pace.

When you've learned not to throw your weight at frontstops you can take the tape off. It's nearly always a technique issue that causes an ergo to move unless the floor is very highly polished.

[simdim]

Citroen,
superb idea - will try it right away. As far as kid's technique goes - does it mean he is not smooth enough at transition from catch to a drive, or there is some other dynamics in play?

[Citroen]

As far as kid's technique goes - does it mean he is not smooth enough at transition from catch to a drive

That's a good way to describe it. You're moving forward too fast when you reach the point where recovery switches to drive.

[Bob S.]

That's a good way to describe it. You're moving forward too fast when you reach the point where recovery switches to drive.

If that happens OTW, it really slows the boat, so I would think that the coach would notice it right away and correct it.

Bob S.

[hjs]

As far as kid's technique goes - does it mean he is not smooth enough at transition from catch to a drive

That's a good way to describe it. You're moving forward too fast when you reach the point where recovery switches to drive.

Or you start the drive and are not fully connected yet with the chain, the erg will go forwards in that case. Certainly on low drag that is easy to get.

[simdim]

Folks,
Just want to report back. After reviewing technique and smoothing out the catch - C2 stands still as a rock and power output almost doubled.

Cheers,

Simon

[C2Trevor]

For the record, it's never a good idea to fix a C2 Indoor Rower to the floor. Securing the feet to the floor can focus a great deal of stress on the legs and boxframe of the machine. The added stress can result in frame fatigue and failure.

Good form will generally eliminate all movement of the erg on the floor. If the machine must be secured, only secure one foot, preferably the rear foot using the previously mentioned tape method.

Trevor
Concept2, Inc.

[floatingbones]

If this were truly a problem on machines, C2 could engineer a tuned mass damper to run longitudinally through the machine. The mass would passively shift in its container in response to impulses; the energy would be absorbed by the damping mechanism (probably a liquid) and converted into a bit of heat.

IMHO, tuned mass dampers are rather magical devices. For the Taipei 101 tower, a 660 ton pendulum swings near the top of the building. This video shows that pendulum doing its thing during the earthquake in China back in 2008.

The Wikipedia page for the Hancock Tower notes that it as retrofitted with a damper on the 58th floor several years ago. The design is clever: it absorbs the energy of both shifts and twisting of the building.

[Rockin Roland]

Put some C2 slides under it and your problem is solved.
If you want your son to do well at high school varsity crew he shouldn't be rowing on a static/grounded erg anyway. It won't help his rowing form one bit. Much better off to use slides or to have purchased a dynamic erg.

[simdim]

Put some C2 slides under it and your problem is solved.
If you want your son to do well at high school varsity crew he shouldn't be rowing on a static/grounded erg anyway. It won't help his rowing form one bit. Much better off to use slides or to have purchased a dynamic erg.

Rockin Roland,
I had been eying slides for a while now - seems like a very right thing to do, what stops me now - is size limitation. The erg sits in very small room and I think on slides it will not fit at all. I want to keep it in that room since it is hooked up to TV that displays RowPro stuff.
How much space do slides take on each side?

Cheers,

Simon

[Bob S.]

How much space do slides take on each side?
Simon

Slide length 56.25'X2 = 112.5". Adding 18.5" spacing between slides makes it 131" or just 1" short of 11' - unless I screwed up my arithmetic or measurement. But I vaguely remember something about 11' when I still had it set up. (They are just sitting idle, stored away now. Sold the D, bought a dynamic, and the D purchaser did not have space for the slides.)

Note: They don't stick out to the side. It is the total length that is hard to accommodate.

Bob S.

[Carl Watts]

Put some C2 slides under it and your problem is solved.
If you want your son to do well at high school varsity crew he shouldn't be rowing on a static/grounded erg anyway. It won't help his rowing form one bit. Much better off to use slides or to have purchased a dynamic erg.

Rockin Roland,
I had been eying slides for a while now - seems like a very right thing to do, what stops me now - is size limitation. The erg sits in very small room and I think on slides it will not fit at all. I want to keep it in that room since it is hooked up to TV that displays RowPro stuff.
How much space do slides take on each side?

Cheers,

Simon

I don't think slides are going to work for you if your using RowPro because you need the USB cable connected to the monitor and the Erg will now be in constant motion so a cable is not a good idea. This is where the PM4 needs Bluetooth or Ant wireless to the PC that you just put a wireless USB dongle into the PC.