Looking for a new rowing machine

[StangGT]

Hi folks,

I will shortly be kitting out a small company gym. I've decided to put a rower in there, but I need to keep the total budget under control.

I have a water rower at home, but I've been looking at the slightly cheaper end of the scale.

For example, Ive seen a Nordictrack RX800 for £500... Are these any good or am I better off sticking with a Concept?

thanks

[Thankyou4calling]

I've a Concept 2 you can have for £500. Very good condition with console fully working. It breaks into two pieces and fits in a car easily.

PM me with location if you like and I'll send pics.

[StangGT]

Thanks for the offer but this is a company gym so needs to be VAT invoice etc etc... looking at new kit only...

[throt]

Bought a C2 from new. Excellent bit of kit..

[clonmult]

Concept 2, model D. With a PM5. £860.

It will outlast every other rower on the market, give more consistent workouts and they can (literally) cope with being used in a war zone (a friend in the indoor community bought an ex army erg that had been dragged around various hostile locations, it worked perfectly).

[StangGT]

No love for the Nordic Track then?

[clonmult]

StangGT said:

No love for the Nordic Track then?

Even the reviews make it out to be poor. No on screen heart rate display, resistance is way too low so you can't even get a good workout on them. Maximum weight they can take is 200lb, so they even appear to be badly built - the C2 can take over twice that and not have any problems.

Honestly, steer clear of the Nordicktrack - buy the C2 Model D.

[jshell]

clonmult said:

Honestly, steer clear of the Nordicktrack - buy the C2 Model D.

[Danm1les]

I work for a sprts equipment retailer and the Concept 2 stuff really as good as its gets and the only option in a commercial enviroment. The big thing to think about is warranties and how much use the bit of kit is going to get.

[Europa1]

Ah, the wheel of pain; I don't miss the endless hours and tests on them.

Go for the Concept 2; it's still the machine of choice for rowers from beginner to Olympian. Sturdy, wide range of resistance which can be easily altered, easily moved and stored.

As an aside, with a WaterRower, how did you not feel the overwhelming need for a slash after a few minutes?

[clonmult]

Europa1 said:

Ah, the wheel of pain; I don't miss the endless hours and tests on them.

Go for the Concept 2; it's still the machine of choice for rowers from beginner to Olympian. Sturdy, wide range of resistance which can be easily altered, easily moved and stored.

As an aside, with a WaterRower, how did you not feel the overwhelming need for a slash after a few minutes?

Plus you don't get a consistent workout on the waterrower - they're renowned for giving inconsistent performance readouts.

The C2 is calibrated against OTW rowing output and is the standard for a good reason.

And yes, many seem to have an urge for a slash after a while messing around on them.

[ocd]

Another vote for Concept. I've had mine from new for 18y. Have a chat with Tom at RowGear in Henley. They serviced mine last year and sell refurbished as well as new stuff.

[StangGT]

Europa1 said:

As an aside, with a WaterRower, how did you not feel the overwhelming need for a slash after a few minutes?

never had that problem

[StangGT]

OK, so thanks to this thread, I've decided on a concept for the office gym;

Next on the list is a cable machine. The ones I'm looking at are a Life Fitness G7 and the Inspire FT1... anyone know anything about them?

TIA