Home > Reviews > Proteus PAR-5500 Commercial Club Series Rowing Machine

Proteus PAR-5500 Commercial Club Series Rowing Machine

List price: $1,499.00
Amazon price: $999.00
You save: $500.00 (33%)
Prices subject to change.

Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 2 days

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Product Details

Binding: Sports
Brand: HCI Fitness
EAN: 0689076629874
Label: HCI Fitness
Dimension: 0.19 x 96 x 0.3 inches
Manufacturer: HCI Fitness
Model: PAR-5500
Publisher: HCI Fitness
Release Date: September 01, 2009
Studio: HCI Fitness

Features and Descriptions

Commercial-grade rowing machine with both air and magnetic resistance systems
Combines "on the water" feel of air resistance with strength and smoothness of magnetic resistance
Comfortable ergo seat with underside seat rollers for exceptional gliding
Oversized, easy-to-read LCD display panel with 16 resistance levels
280-pound capacity; measures 96 x 31 x 19 inches (W x H x D); weighs 100 pounds

Product Reviews (Overall: 4.5

)

- Still waiting to see what happens...
Got this for $700 during a lightning deal, thiking it was a good price. As usual, got it on time and everything was OK with Amazon. However, after spending a few hours putting it all together and finally starting to use it, the handle/cable would not fully retract, and at times, not retract at all. I called the company for the rower, and they were shocked that this model would have any problems, and said there's nothing I could do to fix it, but rather that I needed to contact AMZ to get a replacement.
So AMZ immediately sent me a replacement, but I had to pack up the first one in the box for the new one and ship it back. Although they attempted to send a USPS label, I told them the USPS would never pick that up, and that it had to go back UPS. they said that I had to go ship it myself, and that they would reimburse for shipping. However, after the UPS driver delivered the 2nd one, he said not to do that, but rather have AMZ issue a "call tag."
They did, and the defective one has now been picked up. the new one seems to be retracting OK so far - but I wonder if I'm going to have this problem in the future, and what will happen if I do... I did not notice that this has any kind of manufacturer's warranty....
Anyway, I got good service, but for $700, I would have expected a good machine and not to have to worry about it breaking down...

- Love the machine, just have one issue
EDIT: I'm editing my original review up to 5 stars. The machine is great, and I found my error on how to get customer service. Looking again at the product page, I saw an "other products from HCI Fitness" link. HCI Fitness is in Seattle, and looks like who I'd contact to resolve any further service problems. It certainly isn't obvious from what's inside the box, but now I know and feel much more confident about the machine. Below is my original review:

There is only one reason I'm not giving this product five stars. On my first workout on this machine, I got about 2/3 through when suddenly the computer displayed an "E-2" error. I tried power cycling the machine, but "E-2" came back. That's when I went to the manual to look for customer service.

The only contact info of any kind that I found was the company website. The website URL is shared with "Zeta & Co" auto parts, and clicking through to Proteus Fitness revealed a pretty basic and Taiwan-based website. I could either call or email Taiwan. I chose email. To the company's credit, I received a response in 24 hours, with a Word doc with pictures on what I might look for to troubleshoot the E-2 error. As it turns out, in that time my husband unplugged and plugged the machine back in several times and the error cleared itself. We think it isn't a computer problem, but rather perhaps something with the magnetic resistance getting stuck that aborted the workout program. But what if it hadn't worked out? What if it's flawed in some way still? How would I get this machine fixed? They really need a U.S. customer service line or something that instills a little more confidence.

We've had a couple error-free workouts on the machine since. The machine itself is fantastic... smooth mechanical operation, well-constructed. The workout programs are great. We especially like that they aren't fixed length... you can choose the workout profile and separately the workout time and one will scale to the other. So far, we're keeping the machine, but I'm checking Amazon's return policy so I know what I'm dealing with. If it remains error free before a return period is up, we'll probably roll the dice and keep it. We love it that much. If it craps out again, sadly it will have to go back to Amazon rather than have some reasonable repair path available.

- Great rower that lives up to the hype
Almost pulled the trigger on the Concept 2 but was convinced by a friend to check out the Proteus Rower (we each ended up buying one). This rower is definitely commercial quality as advertised from head to toe. I am very impressed with the fit and form of all components, the European manufacturing influence is very noticeable. Display panel provides more than I will ever need but it is great to have all of the options. Extremely smooth workout, so far so good. I will keep you posted.

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