Im So Confused

[[old] Ben Rea]

im not sure i understand what drag factor is....at all. what is it supposed to ditermine? and why is it so important? i have looked at it once but it didnt really mean anything to me...

[[old] jamesg]

The drag factor is a measure of the flywheel deceleration when idling. Presumably it relates brake torque to some function of flywheel speed. <br /><br />During our recovery, the flywheel decelerates. The higher the drag, the sooner it stops. So by adjusting the drag, we can set the speed of the flywheel at the catch to a value that we like. <br /><br />What we like can depend on whether we are lazy, energetic, macho, want it to feel like a boat, avoid injury or whatever.<br /><br />The "right" value for me gives a smooth quick catch with no slam, but without losing too much length in catching up with the flywheel, so lets me show most power on the monitor with least force and least risk. This lets me work easily at say 170-180W rating 20 (UT2 limit) but with low force, makes it feel something like a 1x and so far I've avoided injury too.<br /><br />Could be we also need the counters to know the drag factor, so that by measuring deceleration and hence work done on the air by the flywheel during the recovery, they can estimate the work done on the air during the pull too, and so calculate the total - which is what we put in. However this calculation would need a little analysis to see exactly how it's done and I haven't bothered yet.

[[old] TomR/the elder]

Ben--<br /><br />You've got two choices.<br /><br />(1) You can go to "search" and enter "drag factor" and read what comes up. That should keep you occupied for a while.<br /><br />(2) You can set the lever on 3 or 4 (drag between 110-120) and just row. That should keep you more usefully occupied for a while.<br /><br />If you're feeling not only curious but also energetic, you can do both 1 and 2.<br /><br />Tom

[[old] Citroen]

<!--quoteo(post=57944:date=Mar 1 2006, 08:41 PM:name=Ben Rea)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Ben Rea @ Mar 1 2006, 08:41 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>im not sure i understand what drag factor is....at all. what is it supposed to ditermine? and why is it so important? i have looked at it once but it didnt really mean anything to me...<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br /><a href="http://www.concept2.co.uk/guide/guide.p ... mper_lever" target="_blank">http://www.concept2.co.uk/guide/guide.p ... r_lever</a> might make it clearer.

[[old] Porkchop]

Ben, if you do 1), you're going to find that most rowers set the lever on 3 or 4 and just go for it. You can fine-tune these things a lot, and some do, but the conventional wisdom is that a 3 or 4 most closely approximates the "feel" of rowing in an 8. The drag factor allows you to adjust the resistance more finely than the 1-10 lever settings. Basically, the higher you set the lever, the harder it is to pull. Deciding where to set it is really depends on where you feel comfortable and safe rowing. Some people have remarked that rowing at very high settings is hard on their backs. I usually row at a setting of 4, and don't feel the necessity to fine-tune at all. Others are very exact in their settings. Probably the best thing to do is experiment carefully. Enjoy yourself.

[[old] Ben Rea]

thanks guys, that covers it all