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Concept2 Model D Indoor Rowing Machine

List price: $900.00
Amazon price: $900.00
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Used price: $900.00

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Product Details

Binding: Sports
Brand: Concept2
EAN: 0347023432440
Label: Concept2
Dimension: 0.14 x 95 x 0.3 inches
Manufacturer: Concept2
Model: 1990-US
Publisher: Concept2
Release Date: May 12, 2008
Studio: Concept2

Features and Descriptions

Indoor rowing machine with sliding seat for complete total body workouts
Quiet flywheel minimizes noise while providing smooth feel of water rowing
Lets rowers choose between sleek, fast boat and slow, heavy boat
PM3 performance monitor tracks your distance, speed, pace, and calories
Requires footprint of 9 x 4 feet; 500-pound capacity; 5-year frame warranty

Product Reviews (Overall: 5.0

)

- The best single piece of exercise equipment one can own
Indoor rowing is perhaps the best cardiovascular/toning exercise one can do. This is the defacto machine for doing it as most crew teams around the world, and other training programs use Concept 2 rowers exclusively.

It does not matter if you are an elite athlete, or someone just starting out, or even someone who cannot do high impact exercises like running. This is low impact, and as intense as you want it. Almost all muscles in your body are used as well. So by using this machine you get a great cardio work out and total body motion. Honestly, there is nobody I would not recommend this to, it is for all levels.

The computer keeps track of your work, and you can keep your pace at whatever you feel comfortable with. In time you will see that your split times are going down as your fitness improves. It keeps a log of your workouts and also stores it on a card that you can bring to other machines. The great thing is that these machines all automatically calibrate, so your time on any one machine is valid everywhere because they all yield the same results.

The company is great, this is made in USA and of very good quality. I used to row on a team, and none of our machines ever broke. Even if it does break, the company is very responsive and friendly. They have a very good website where you can log your times, and see how you stack up with others, or just keep a record for yourself. They have contests all the time there where they select random people that row certain distances and give them free gear. Also if you row a million meters on your machine or a marathon they give you free gear as well. All of this is free!

The most important thing to learn is proper form, otherwise you will tire out fast. The biggest mistake beginners make is using their arms too much and not enough legs. Concept 2 has a lot of videos that show you proper rowing technique and the good thing is it pretty much directly translates to what one would do on a real boat!

At my gym these things sit there collecting dust while people do the inferior treadmills etc, but everyone I know that I have introduced to rowing loves it. It is good to have one at home because it is very possible to watch TV while you are rowing (it is not loud). The machine also disassembles and can be stored pretty easily. If you stand it up fully assembled it is nearly 8ft tall so it is not very storable that way, but if you take the sled off, you can store it even in a coat closet.

- Good product.
I have the machine for 2 months and it is a good one.

The only comment that I have for the design is that they could have collected and directed the air flow from the fly weel to the rower direction and that would provide a cooling breeze with zero carbon foot print.

Natan

- Great workout! Display not compatible with my 2 yr old Mac.
15 years ago I was 18 and was introduced to the Concept 2 by friends in Crew. My very first Concept 2 workout was the best workout I'd ever had, but I never got much time on the Erg.
Years passed and bicycling and running were my almost exclusive workouts. After a couple knee injuries, trading my bike for a motorcar, and putting on 20 pounds (not muscle) I have to be a little more deliberate about my exercise.
The wife and I got a treadmill to help in training for our first marathon and we set up the whole garage for working out on a stationary bike or treadmill while watching dvds. But something was missing...
Out of nowhere I had an insane impulse to order up a Concept 2 rower.
Reading many of the other reviews I had the OPPOSITE experience regarding the price. Other reviewers were reluctant to pay the $900. Without having any idea what the rower would cost, and knowing the incredible quality of the machine and the amazing workout it offered I actually expected it to cost far more. I was steeling myself for it to cost $1500-$2000. When I saw it was ONLY $900 I jumped on it.
This machine is awesome. It's still the best workout ever. I wish I could share it with the world. While I'm rowing I actually fantasize about throwing it into the back of the truck and setting it up at a park for people to have a turn. Although I have no intention actually doing this, in reality it wouldn't be very difficult, since the machine is surprisingly portable.
I think I saw where other people got a DVD showing rowing technique. I actually didn't get one. I don't know if that was an oversight or if they've discontinued providing the DVD, but it was very easy to go to the Concept 2 website and see several good demonstrations of technique.
Its a good idea to watch these videos to prevent injury and to avoid ingraining bad habits. Most helpful to me has been learning to use the feature that shows power distribution between the strokes. I thought I had great form but saw that I had "two peaks" it was good to correct this early.
The Concept 2 is a terrific machine, and it's the one exercise I can do while "spacing out" or listening to music. For some reason on my treadmill I go crazy if I don't distract myself with DVDs. On the Concept 2 I can get an excellent workout while just enjoying the scenery of my backyard or watching my dogs.
I do have a criticism which is this: the computer display is NOT compatible with my Mac.
The Mac is a wonderful computer and I actually suspect that many of the "type" of people who get into rowing are probably the "type" of people who would own Macintosh computers. They are simply superior computers for general, all around use, and they are used by a sizable minority of schools and homes. Why the heck didn't my unit ship ready to plug and play with my Mac?
If I want to keep track of my meters rowed for the "Million Meter" club I have to do it manually on a clipboard, or find some other solution. That's pretty annoying.
And speaking of the Million Meter club, I went to the site to read up on it and found that the Million Meter T-shirts are not available anymore. What's that all about? I know it's just a shirt, but it's not just a shirt, it's a trophy; it's something to reach for... and it's "No longer available"? That's pretty crappy. How much could it cost to print up a bunch of t-shirts and just have them ready on a shelf? Free advertising for Concept 2, too. Tsk tsk tsk.
Oh well, I bought the Concept 2 for an awesome workout. The "display downloading to my computer" and the little incentives clubs were just gravy. And who eats gravy, anyway?

Edit: Oh, I forgot. One more tiny little complaint... the "Calories burned" feature is set to assume the user is a 175 pound male. (Which I am not.) I found this out on the C2 website. I know that "calories burned" are almost never accurate on workout equipment, and I'm not a calorie freak, but it would be nice to be able to get a better approximation based on my own stats.
Weight loss is only one of my fitness goals, so this is definitely not a deal breaker. I still love the machine. Just one of those little "hang-nails" that proves I'm not dreaming.

- Professional Gym Equipment Right at Home
Rowing has always been my favorite aerobic activity in the gym and every rower I have used in a gym has been a Concept2 machine. When I started shopping around for a rowing machine for home use I thought I'd save some money and look at cheaper models. It's not like the Model D was very expensive at $900 but there seem to be quite a few machines out there at lower prices. After reading all of the reviews I could get my hands on I just gave up. Every single one of those cheaper machines had one or more reviews complaining about it.

My reasoning is this... for a reasonable price why not own the same rowing machine that's been in use for years and years in almost every single gym in the US? Just using a good piece of equipment can be motivating in and of itself.

Assembling the Concept2 Model took around 10 min. It was just a matter of attaching the base under the flywheel. It stores vertically in two pieces and only takes up around 4 sq. ft. of floor space. Setting it up can be done in under a minute.

The Model D console offers almost everything you need. I just wish it had a built in hear rate monitor since the one you can get from Concept2 that supports Polar transmitters needs to have the receiver mounter under the seat and that means playing with the wires every time it's taken apart. That's really my only quibble.

There's a solid online community so you can post your rowing times and compare your progress to others and there's also a piece of software called RowPro which is exclusively available for the Concept2 rowers. But that's another review.

Overall I've been very satisfied and I'm glad I just got it over with and bought the same machine for home use that I'd be using the gym anyway.

- Concept2 Model D indoor Rowing Machine
This machine was the one I used at my Gym before they close it... I try every other exercise; weights, Body Systems, orbitals, but rowing... rowing with a Concept 2 machines really makes the difference.
It is gentle to your knees and you do a complete body workout.... COMPLETE BODY WORKOUT...

It is expensive..but believe, do not hesitate, do not look at other brands... CONCEPT 2 ROWER is the only one...

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