Some of the other reviews here are, in my opinion, off base. Let''s face it: we all got this because Amazon offered it on Black Friday at a supposed 66% discount. Anyone who knew what they were doing knew that was too good to be true. That being said, a few things...1. yes, the LCD is terrible. Hard to see and even harder to use. On the other hand, reading through the manual shows at least some basic functionality, and the HRM works great with a Polar strap.
2. "The plastic looks bad"? Seriously? People are buying a rowing machine based on how it *looks*? Have you ever seen a Concept2? Rowing machines aren''t works of art (shells are). They exist to serve a purpose and most do it well. This one may not win any beauty contests, but if you bought it to display in your living room, well...
3. The slide is NOT 18". Mine has 36" easy. I''m 6''4" and I have to fully extend to hit the back stop and the front stop would be an EXTREMELY close catch.
4. The pull is bit tough, but if you lower the resistance, it glides a bit smoother. There IS some of hard resistance near the end, but I imagine this is to prevent damage.
5.
The bottom line: I''m a big guy and, during my crew years, worked out on the old Concept ergos. This is definitely not one of them, but neither is it as bad as some of the reviews here say. The resistance is a bit funky, but that''s because it''s not a $1,000 machine. However, if you''ve ever rowed on an ergo before and have decent form, this one works fine. Whether it''ll stand the test of time remains to be seen, but if this is parked in a spot in your room and you intend to use it for a 30-45m pull 4-5 days a week, I imagine it''ll hold up. Of course, all this is moot since something tells me Amazon won''t ever be stocking this again. Seems to have been a closeout item in retrospect.
EDIT: After 3 days in a row of rowing (pun intended?), I''m quite pleased with this machine. So much so, that I''m bumping my review up to 4 stars. The slide is smooth, the pull seems fairly consistent, I get a full range of motion, and the fact that it folds up in a corner is excellent. And this thing is oh-so-quiet! Compared to the air resistance ergs, it''s amazing! I can row in an adjoining room after my toddler goes to sleep and keep the music down so I can hear it without waking him up. In fact, after I start breathing hard, my wife says it''s ME that''s gonna wake our son up! Still, the LCD remains a serious weak spot, but seeing as how this didn''t cost me an arm and a leg (leaving all two pairs to row with), I''m quite happy (I think the other reviewers just don''t realize how much a new, quality rowing machine costs).
This item, like nearly everyone else, was purchased on as a black friday deal. I''ve always wanted a concept 2 but at a third of the price, this was too good to pass up.
It came in 2 packages. I''m not much into assembling things but this one was fairly simple. One challenge I had was putting the handle through the pull cable
Visually, the machine looks great. There are no problems in the function of the rowing machine itself. Everything fits into place.
The problem I''m having is the computer program. I can''t seem to get the bottom left STOP to turn into START
I''ve gone through the instructions over and over again, pressing MODE just as the booklet says and I can''t get the machine''s computer to start tracking the row
I''ll take a break and check this out later but as it stands, if the computer doesn''t start working then this one looks like it''ll have to be returned
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(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)(TOP 10 REVIEWER)Like everyone else who posted a review for this product so far, I purchased it as an Amazon Black Friday deal for about one third of its ''listed'' price. There were no reviews at the time so I trusted Amazon for not hyping a worthless product. Based on my experience setting it up and using it for a few days, I would say that this rower lives up to expectations barely and $300 probably reflects its worth.DELIVERY, PACKAGING AND SETUP
No complaints here. Nothing beats ''free shipping''. The rower comes in 2 boxes, both heavy but 2 people should be able to take them to the basement (my case) or generally moving them around.
Assembly was not hard at all. In fact, I did it all by myself even for the parts where a second helper was recommended. All the needed tools are included, all parts were present and everything fit as expected. The assembly instructions and illustrations were clear enough not to make me scratch my head more than maybe once or twice.
USER EXPERIENCE
Mechanically speaking this is NOT a bad rower. The rail is long enough to accommodate users much taller than me (I''m 6''2") and, weightwise, it''s should support up to 250 lbs.
The seat is quite comfortable and it glides well and the grip is okay. The ride is not exactly smooth. The resistance feels a little jerky when you approach the ''fully extended'' state but it''s something I got used to eventually and I can''t say that it''s bothering me much at this time. This is not a good water rowing simulation but it''s not that bad as an exercise.
The ''computer'' supports a number of programs besides ''manual settings''. It varies settings as you row and you can pick from programs named: Rolling, Valley, Fatburn, Ramp, Mountain and Interval. In addition to these, there are 4 ''heart rate control'' programs: TGT H.R., 55% H.R., 75% H.R. and 90% H.R.. These should work when used with the ''transmitter belt'' accessory a chest belt that should be able to monitor your heart rate (haven''t tried it yet) but I will update my review if I do.
The ''folds for easy storage'' claim is partially accurate. It does fold but, the way the folding was engineered, I would NOT be comfortable folding it on a daily basis because I would be afraid that it would fall apart eventually. If it''s not moved around too often it should withstand a couple of years of use in a basement.
All looks good so far and this would be a GREAT rower if it weren''t for 2 big problems:
THE DISPLAY is probably the worst LCD I''ve seen in many years. Given that you are supposed to have your rower plugged into a power outlet (no batteries) it''s hard to comprehend why the displayed information is almost impossible to read: small, faded characters. Well... there is an explanation. The manufacturer probably saved $5 or so by picking the cheapest display on the market. It''s not impossible to read the display but for the first couple of sessions I had to actually use a flashlight while picking up a ''program''. Now, that I know where to look, I can figure out the number of strokes, the time and the calories burned while rowing IF I am wearing my glasses.
THE MANUAL while the assembly instructions could be followed, the ''computer operation'' pages are much more difficult to comprehend, probably because they are a computer translation from some other language. A few days later, I am still learning how to properly interpret the words (2 out of 5 pages more or less deciphered so far) and the fact that I can''t hardly read the display that should show the effect of me pushing the various buttons does not help at all.
MY RATING
Clearly, I am not very enthusiastic about my new rower but, considering its price and the fact that it does work, I am not as disappointed as to try to return it. A 3-star (more like 2.75 stars) rating, meaning "it''s Okay" seems to be fair.
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I purchased this rower on black Friday as part of the lighting deals. I have had a rower on the list of things I would like for our home workouts for a while and while I wanted a commercial quality unit with the build quality of my Precor treadmill, I just couldn''t pass up the deal amazon offered on this unit. The computer provided is minimal at best and seems to have no backlight so it is hard to adjust in low light, and teh plastics used in the unit look cheap. Functionally with the rower I have no issues and after working out on it twice I can say I have no issue with the length of the motion or the build quality of the unit.(I''m 6''0" and 260lbs) It is as I expected for what I paid and an excellent addition for a budget home gym. I do see myself replacing it with a nicer unit at a later date, but this will hold me over for the time being.ER
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I assembled today the Rowing machine and had the following issues:1. Seat doesn''t slide --> hole location on one of rollers is misaligned
2. Strap #31 doesn''t come out (it is stock inside)
3. Plastic body is cracked not clear how, because packaging is good
4. the Lock Bolt doesn''t work
There are too many quality issues for an item which I purchased for $300
If you didn''t have any quality issues then it might be a good purchase, but longevity of unit is questionable based on my findings.
Quality issues such as I have should have been caught by the manufacturer Quality department before shipping it to the customer.
I think that for $300 it is possible to buy a better quality machine. Currently the unit I purchased is unusable.
It''s very unlikely that Amazon is going to carry such a poor quality product in the future
THis an update to my original review
I contacted Body Flex Co. about the issues I have. I kind of hoped to make the unit usable so I can try it out. THey offered to send me new seat and Lock bolt, but I still wasn''t able to release the strap which is stuck and wouldn''t move. THey suggested to return the unit back to Amazon. I upgraded my review from 1 star to 2 stars based on my contact with them. Boby Flex Customer service is very good and they really were trying to help me.
Updated 7-11-11.
After returning BRW7200 I purchased LifeCore R100. What a difference! LifeCore R100 is a fantastic unit and very high quality. I would highly recommend to by either Concept2 or LifeCore R100
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