Anyone have trouble keeping the rollers and rail clean? ...

[speedmaster]

I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning the steel rail and seat rollers before every use. But it seems like they get crud on them pretty easily.

Does anyone else find that even the smallest bit of lint or dog hair on the rail becomes an obnoxious "bump" feel when rowing?

[mict450]

This'll be an on-going process of clean & use. Some have recommended oil or some such to coat the rail....seems to work for them. For me, I pretend I'm in my 4x4, going down a forest road. Once I start, I like to continue to the end unless it gets really, really rough. Keep a rag & a spritz of windex near.

[Anth_F]

I used to clean rollers and rail after every session and got the same issue. Until i started just cleaning the rail only. Now i find much less black scuffing marks on the rail after sessions and frequently smoother rows by just letting the black sit and settle on the rollers and wiping only the rail.

[Carl Watts]

Just recently moved from using water on a clean cloth to using IPA, it seems to remove everything faster.

Pretty much clean the slide and rollers before every row, it takes under a minute if you do it on a regular basis.

[CJOttawa]

I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning the steel rail and seat rollers before every use. But it seems like they get crud on them pretty easily.

Does anyone else find that even the smallest bit of lint or dog hair on the rail becomes an obnoxious "bump" feel when rowing?

Concept2 has documented this very well: https://www.concept2.com/service/indoor ... e-monorail

...Black flecks on your rail are normal. They are a combination of dirt, perspiration, molydisulfide (a lubricant from the plastic rollers) and a very small amount of the nylon plastic that the rollers are made of. These four components are subjected to the mechanical action of the rollers and can dry and harden on the rail...

For cleaning:

To remove the black residue, clean the monorail. Wipe the monorail with a cloth or non-abrasive scouring pad after use. You can use soap and water or any glass cleaner. Do not use mineral acids, bleach or coarse abrasives.

I use a glass cleaner like Invisible Glass or Windex in a small spritz bottle kept near the erg for convenience, wiping down with a microfiber.

[Citroen]

Concept2 has documented this very well: https://www.concept2.com/service/indoor ... e-monorail

...Black flecks on your rail are normal. They are a combination of dirt, perspiration, molydisulfide (a lubricant from the plastic rollers) and a very small amount of the nylon plastic that the rollers are made of. These four components are subjected to the mechanical action of the rollers and can dry and harden on the rail...

This isn't quite the truth. The C2 ergo is sucking out your body and soul and depositing it on the monorail. The harder you train, the more body and soul you'll lose (which is why it only happens to the serious rowers).

[mict450]

This isn't quite the truth. The C2 ergo is sucking out your body and soul and depositing it on the monorail. The harder you train, the more body and soul you'll lose (which is why it only happens to the serious rowers).

Sheesh!! I sure wish this were true. I'd never have to do a lick of cleaning & my rail would be slicker than water off of a duck's back!

[canglem]

I'm pretty meticulous about cleaning the steel rail and seat rollers before every use. But it seems like they get crud on them pretty easily.

Does anyone else find that even the smallest bit of lint or dog hair on the rail becomes an obnoxious "bump" feel when rowing?

I do as well. Before I start actually rowing I give a few test rolls to make sure the rollers and rail are clean before I start. The last thing I need is an excuse to stop once I've started.

I did a couple months ago run into a row where I kept feeling a massive bump every so often. Took me about 10 minutes to figure out I was wearing a longer shirt and it was hanging down just far enough to get sucked under the back rollers, then come right back out as I moved past the finish into the recovery. That was a fun one!

[RR]

Hard earned sweat with a piece of kitchen roll after a session cleans it nicely

[mict450]

Does the use of an erg cover correlate with less frequent need to clean the monorail? Or maybe the hassle of taking it off & putting it on cancels out any possible advantages? What about storing your erg vertically? Surely there would be less dust building up on the rail?

[Cyclist2]

Does the use of an erg cover correlate with less frequent need to clean the monorail? Or maybe the hassle of taking it off & putting it on cancels out any possible advantages? What about storing your erg vertically? Surely there would be less dust building up on the rail?

If you are rowing less than once a month, then a cover might help (but you'd still have to clean the rail). Using a few times a week, all it takes is wetting the corner of a towel, wrapping that around your finger and applying pressure to the seat rollers and rail while moving the seat back and forth. I do this after every row before I even stand up.

I don't recommend storing the erg vertically, for lots more reasons than dust on the rail. See other threads and C2 recommendations on storing.

[Allan Olesen]

Just recently moved from using water on a clean cloth to using IPA, it seems to remove everything faster.

Would American Pale Ale work too?

[Citroen]

Just recently moved from using water on a clean cloth to using IPA, it seems to remove everything faster.

Would American Pale Ale work too?

It's not got a high enough alcohol content and it's got too much sugar which will make your rail sticky and let it suck more of your life force out of you. Hand sanitizer is close enough to iso-propyl alcohol to meet Carl's needs.

[darthcalis]

I used to use just a wet cloth (water) at the beginning but it took a lot of effort to clean the rail, and over time it was less and less clean. After a couple of weeks I switched to using glass cleaner from a spray bottle. Now I can clean the entire rail in 30-60 seconds and it’s spotless. So my vote is for glass cleaner.

I don’t clean the rollers though, just the rail.

[puffyp]

I have established that perspiration is the biggest culprit. If you are like me and at the end of a session you sit for a few minutes puffing panting with sweat dripping onto the rail there is a reasonably simple solution. After each session I place a sport towel over the rail in front of me to catch the sweat. In establishing a cleaning routine I found that if there are black spots on the rail there will certainly be black residue on the rollers. My solution was to completely clean the rail with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) using a lint free cloth and then fold the cloth up against the roller and the rail. By slowly moving the seat by hand, bending down to see that the roller is turning the alcohol will quickly remove the black residue from the roller. Remember that there are two sides and front and back rollers to clean. The first thorough clean will take time and some effort but once completed it takes less than 30 seconds next time. I go through the routine every second or third session. Hope this is of interest - incidentally pre-covid I was able to purchase 5 litres of isopropyl alcohol delivered for A$18.80, during covid the cost from the same supplier has increased to A$54 plus $26.50 delivery!