Purchasing a "Modern" Handle

[unclefester]

I am seriously thinking of updating the original wooden handle on my model B (love my old B )

Can those who have experience with that old style handle tell me what the differences are??

What will I notice if I upgrade & might my times improve??

Is it easy to change over??

I've owned my B for close to 25 years now

Thanks

[Ombrax]

I've found that the "old" handle on my C (at home) is less slippery when sweaty than the newer one on the E at the gym. I've fixed this by using Crew Stop gloves whenever I row in the gym.

It's super, super easy to change over from one to the other.

[Erik A]

i row with both. one gym has the older handle and the other gym has the new handle. to be honest i prefer the older handle. but that may because i predominately row at one gym.

[Cyclist2]

I have a B and a C that both had the original wooden handle. I changed both to the new ergonomic handle because I like the slight angle, which seems to relieve a little stress on my wrists. I still have the wooden ones, however, just in case. I don't know if a new handle will improve your times, but like me, it might feel slightly more comfortable. Or not.

I have found in some gyms where the ergs get abused, that the rubber grips are gone and you are just grabbing the plastic handle. It is, obviously, a smaller diameter, and very slippery. Make sure you're not comparing the old handle to one of those - when new they have the same diameter and nice rubber grips. (I changed the original grips on the wooden handle to solid rubber grips at some point in time, before I replaced them with the new handles).

Changing to the new handle is easy, C2 made it that way.

[hjs]

I am seriously thinking of updating the original wooden handle on my model B (love my old B )

Can those who have experience with that old style handle tell me what the differences are??

What will I notice if I upgrade & might my times improve??

Is it easy to change over??

I've owned my B for close to 25 years now

Thanks

Biggest difference, it is wider, and at first you get blisters, there is a sticky surface, which takes some time to rub off. There is also a slight angle, not straight like the older one.
Don,t expect pace difference.

[Steve1960VA]

I have only a few minutes of experience with the straight, wooden handle (was on a gym Model D that I briefly tried out before buying my own machine).

I'm very satisfied with the slightly angled plastic handle on my erg. Somehow the slight angle makes sense to me. Satisfied with grip, cushioning, etc. Assessment based on 3 years experience - on and off, unfortunately.

[MPx]

My Model C came with the straight wooden handle in 1997. In one of my "upgrades" where I was replacing the PM (I've had the PM2 it came with, a PM2+ and now a PM3 for the last decade or so) I also got the new handle. Much prefer it - slight angle, wider and less abrasive but good grip for me. The downside is that the rubber end covers only lasted me a few million meters before I wore them through down to the plastic so I have since replaced the replacement handle to get a decent grip back. I'm lucky in that things like a new handle every few years don't feel like a big investment and if I've reached a plateau then "throwing money at the problem" can give me a psychological boost...

Talking of which I'm planning to upgrade to a D/PM5 in the Autumn so should be unstoppable by the end of the year!

[Edward4492]

Everybody is different. I found the wood handle better for long rows (HM on up). I'm guessing that due to the thicker diameter there's less "bunching up" of lose skin than on the thinner modern handle, so less potential blisters. Did my last (and truly my last!) FM on a "C" with the wood handle, no hand issues at all. Currently row model "D"s with the modern handle.

[Carl Watts]

The new handle is wider so its better if you have wider shoulders.

The grips are smaller on the new handle and its more hygienic if you sweat a lot because its wipe clean. The model C handle simply stinks of sweat. I had an early model D handle that had the black foam grips and I needed to keep washing them.

The D handle has an angled grip.

You also change the handle holder, the new design is much better and the handle is less likely to slip out or get knocked out.

Overall the new handle is much better for me so I converted every rower over to it.

Change of handle has less impact on your performance than a haircut and yes seriously a short haircut improves your performance.

[sekitori]

I found the wood handle better for long rows (HM on up). I'm guessing that due to the thicker diameter there's less "bunching up" of lose skin than on the thinner modern handle, so less potential blisters.

The diameter of the grip area of the wood handle appears to be and actually does feel slightly larger than that of the newer handle. But when I measured them, the diameters at the ends of both handles are virtually the same. Can c2jonw confirm that?