I had this rower for about a week, and I have to say it was a big disappointment. I chose it mainly because of all of the good reviews, and the price. I had been using a concept 2 at the gym and I was really excited about having a rower at home.
Shipping and Assembly:
As usual, Amazon's shipping was great and the box arrived in great condition. Everything inside was well packaged, and it all seemed very solid and well put together. It assembled really easily and I was up and running within 15 minutes of opening the box.
The computer:
Completely useless as anything but a clock. The sensor that counts your rows basically picks up on the seat sliding over a certain spot. So instead of a full row counting as a pull back and then a slide forward, each motion is counted leaving it looking like you're a super-fast rower :). As with most calorie counters, I have no idea where the numbers are coming from on this thing . For how simple the functions of the computer its ridiculous how non-intuitive it is. The button layout is confusing and i felt like I was just randomly button mashing to get the clock to start or for the data to reset. Its worth noting, I'm very computer savvy and this thing was stupid-ridiculous.
The hydraulics:
So here's were the problem starts, the hydraulics on each side have their own dial to twist for resistance. Now I'm cool with that, except that the numbers on the dial aren't the same resistance on both sides. So if you have the left set at '5' and the right set at '5', your left side may be getting much more, or much less of a workout than your right. So again, I'm a relatively reasonable person, I do a little trial and error, and I figure out what feels the same on both sides and set each dial to whatever arbitrary number gives me the same level of resistance, and off I go.
The problem:
So here's where the problem starts. As you work out, the hydraulics get hot, and as they get hot the friction changes, and lo and behold, the friction doesn't change evenly on both sides. So throughout your workout, you are constantly changing the resistance on the hydraulics on both sides so that you can keep going at the pace you're going (oh, and during all this the thing is squeaking like two steroid-induced mice in a cage match). The other problem that happens as it gets hot is the range of motion, everything gets tighter. So where you used to be able to push each "oar" well in front of you as you were coming in to end a rep, the "oars" are now hitting you in the shins. So I tell myself, this thing isn't a gym-quality machine, so you get what you pay for. Even though its not exactly cheap, in the realm of workout equipment, it is. I decided to resign to my fate of having a subpar workout machine, it wasn't great, but boxing up a 60lb workout machine and shipping it back seemed like more trouble than it was worth. As fate should have it on workout #4, about 26 mins into a 30 min workout,( "oars" hitting me in the shins and deafening squeaks waking the neighbors) , the left hydraulic explodes and pours hydraulic oil all over the place. I mean, I AM a fitness god, and no machine can tame my manly athletic prowess, but really?!?
The replacement:
So now its boxed up and on its way back to amazon. Needless to say the thing was a lot easier to unpack than it was to repack, finally a workout. I ended up ponying up a bit more dough and picking up the LifeSpan rw1000 rower, and so far so good. It hasn't exploded hot oil all over the place, so I'll call it a win.
Not to knock the positive experiences that many other reviewers had, but I definitely would not recommend this puppy to anyone. In general, quality rowers seem to be hard to come by in the entry-level price range (under $500) so I can see the appeal of this unit, but trust me this is not the rower you're looking for.Get more detail about HCI Fitness Sprint Outrigger Scull Rowing Machine.
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