Drag Factor Question

[seeodywhy1]

I have had my drag fact set to about 104 since I had the rower. I noticed that it was catching pretty late in the stroke so I increased the drag fact to around 120 and that solved the problem. My question is if I row at the exact same stroke rate and length of stroke will the machine register it as me traveling farther per stroke because of the increased drag factor? It is definitely more difficult.

[hjs]

I have had my drag fact set to about 104 since I had the rower. I noticed that it was catching pretty late in the stroke so I increased the drag fact to around 120 and that solved the problem. My question is if I row at the exact same stroke rate and length of stroke will the machine register it as me traveling farther per stroke because of the increased drag factor? It is definitely more difficult.

No, its simply how much energy you put in. Even at a much higher drag and the same rate you can go slower. But if you had trouble catching the stroke, you can proberly row faster.

Even if the rate is the same but you stroke is slower and recovery a bit faster you have not put in more energy. Its not about rate, its purely about the strokepart of the stroke.
Given a certain strokelenght, the shorter amount of time you use, the faster that stroke is. Ofcourse the more strokes you take per time unit the faster you go.
But a very fast stroke on low drag and low rate can still produce a fast pace. And vice versa.

[mikvan52]

I noticed that it was catching pretty late in the stroke s

Your force curve (PM4 models) will show how late you connect at the catch.
Drag factor doesn't have anything to do with timing the correct application of power at the beginning of the drive.

[seeodywhy1]

I noticed that the flywheel wasn't really slowing down in between strokes because the drag was to slow or at least that was my estimation. I wanted to know is the distance the machine says I travel a function of the wattage of my strokes or is it based on something else.

[hjs]

I noticed that the flywheel wasn't really slowing down in between strokes because the drag was to slow or at least that was my estimation. I wanted to know is the distance the machine says I travel a function of the wattage of my strokes or is it based on something else.

Something else. At low drag the fan moves faster, but that des not give meters on the pm. Due to the faster fan it is harder to catch the stroke.

[jamesg]

The ergometer measures power which is expressed in Watts on the monitor.
A calculation then gives speed (W = 2.8 x V^3) and hence metres travelled, time per 500 (= "pace") and so on.