Best Indoor Rowing Machine – Which One Should I Buy? Need Your Advice

Training
1

I researched the best indoor rowing machine to find the perfect option for home workouts, full-body training, and everyday fitness. After reading expert reviews from trusted sources like The New York Times, Garage Gym Reviews, and CNET, two models consistently stand out as top recommendations:

The Concept2 Model D is known for its reliable performance and commercial-grade durability. It uses air resistance for a smooth and natural rowing feel, includes a PM5 performance monitor for accurate tracking, and is widely used in gyms and competitions. It’s praised for its long lifespan, easy storage, and consistent workout experience, making it a strong choice for serious fitness users.

On the other hand, the YOSUDA Magnetic Rowing Machine for Home offers a more modern, connected fitness experience. It features electromagnetic resistance for a quiet and smooth ride, a sleek design, and a built-in screen with immersive workout classes led by professional athletes. It is known for being engaging, beginner-friendly, and well suited for users who prefer guided workouts at home.

However, I am having trouble deciding which one would better suit my needs. I care about workout effectiveness, build quality, noise level, and whether it offers interactive training features. Easy storage and comfort are also important factors for me.

Has anyone tried either of these? Which one would you recommend? Any advice or personal experiences would be really appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

1 Like
2

C2. It’s the industry standard. The Hydrow won’t even record sessions without an active subscription to its own service and cannot use other services.

C2 can connect to its free ErgData app as well as apps like EXR and Kinomap.

C2 is also durable and I know folks who have owned for longer than a decade. Hydrow’s tend to have issues after a year or two from what I’ve seen.

6 Likes
3

I have had a Concept 2 Model D rower for 20+ years. I’ve done a couple of upgrades (PM5 monitor from PM4, seat mat, iPad holder) but otherwise no issues and just normal maintenance (clean and oiled chain, clean the fan as it attracts dust, clean the seat track).

I think @richie_engineer has a C2 and has put thousands of KM on his…

If pricing for new is an issue, take a look for a lightly used one. I think they are worth the cost.

5 Likes
4

I have a lot of thoughts here, as someone who ergs about a million meters a year.

The only brands you should trust, in order of preference (ignoring really specific ones for on the water rowers):

  1. Concept2. Any age, any condition. They’re fully repairable and C2 sells parts and upgrades at cost.
  2. RP3. I actually really want to get a RP3 Aqua.
  3. A name brand WaterRower. No knockoffs.
  4. The Rogue erg.
  5. Hydrow. *
  6. Peloton rower. *

Hydrow and Peleton rowers are interesting for two reasons:

  1. If you don’t pay the subscription they turn into bricks.
  2. They have magnetic resistance, like erg mode.

If you decide to ignore everyone’s advice and venture into other ergs, I would take a look at the machines that EXR supports. They support a ton of rowers, including some really bad ones. If an erg is so bad EXR doesn’t support it, be scared.

Side note, I really like EXR, kind of like Zwift for rowing.

7 Likes
5

A key thing about magnetic resistance in rowing is that it doesn’t work like air or water resistance. I’m sure you know this but want to explain for Kathie.

With air resistance and water resistance, the more force you put on the drive, the more air/water gets displaced which makes the effort harder. At the same cadence (SPM, strokes per minute) one might do a “light” effort, or “moderate” or “hard.” For example, at a low cadence of 20spm, one might do an effort of 100w (about 2:32/500m pace), or 200w (2:00/500m) pace. This is similar to how one can do a cycling effort at either 100w or 200w at 80rpm, but with cycling, one needs to change gears or adjust resistance to change power output at the same cadence. With rowing, it’s putting more effort in the drive. Rowing is approximately 60% legs, 20% core, and 20% arms, so that extra effort typically is more leg engagement.

With most magnetic rowing machines, there is no way to adjust intensity at the same cadence without manually “changing resistance levels,” which should be a red flag to anyone looking at a rowing machine. The Peloton Row and Hydrow both do some tricks to detect acceleration on the drive to adjust the magnetic resistance, so those two don’t ask people to change resistance mid-session, but that’s extra machinery that can fail on those two machines, just to make their magnetic systems work closer to what air and water do naturally.

Finally, regarding “resistance” and “difficulty,” note the dial on a Concept2 is a “damper setting” which affects one’s “drag factor” which simulates different styles of boats. C2 themselves say this is NOT a resistance setting: The Damper and Drag of Olympians

“Damper Setting is not resistance. The damper controls the air flow into the flywheel. It affects the feel of the stroke, but does not directly determine the resistance—which is generated by the speed of the rotating flywheel. A setting of “10” is not “better” nor indicating strength or speed.”

"Many people confuse damper setting with intensity level or resistance. Instead, the intensity of your workout is controlled by how much you use your legs, back and arms to move the handle—in other words, how hard you pull. This is true regardless of where the damper lever is set: the harder you pull, the more resistance you will feel. Because our ergs use wind resistance (which is generated by the spinning flywheel), the faster you get the wheel spinning, the more resistance there will be.

Example: Think about rowing on the water. Regardless of whether you are rowing in a sleek racing shell, or in a big, slow rowboat, you will need to increase your intensity and apply more force to make either boat go faster. The difference is in how it feels to make the different boats go fast. Making a sleek boat go fast requires you to apply your force more quickly. Making the slow boat go fast also requires more force, but the speed at which you apply the force will be slower over the course of the rowing stroke.

At a damper setting of 1–4, the indoor rower feels like a sleek racing shell; at the higher numbers, the indoor rower feels like a slow rowboat. Regardless of the setting, you will need to increase your effort to increase your intensity."

6 Likes
6

On another note about Hydrow, if one is mostly interested in their service (rather than the machine), note they support connect with the Concept2 if one uses an iOS device: https://support.hydrow.com/s/article/C2-Connection

So a person with a C2 can use the Hydrow app or a number of other apps, but you’ll need to “bring your own screen,” which for me is preferable. One can use a large iPad for this which can also run SYSTM when you’re doing cycling. Meanwhile, the screen that comes on the Hydrow can’t run other rowing apps and won’t be useful when you’re not rowing.

3 Likes
7

Oh yeah great notes. I was glossing over the things Hydrow/Peleton do to make mag resistance work, and agree completely that a cheapo mag resistance trainer is a hot mess.

I’ve always described drag factor as how firm does the catch feel, which lines up with your different boat descriptions. I will say that rowing at low drag factor is a skill worth learning. I’ve seen videos of Phil Clapp pull something like 1:15’s at a drag factor below 100; anyone who says you need high drag to go fast is wrong.

Personally I erg between 105-115.

4 Likes
8

It was the comment “They have magnetic resistance, like erg mode.” that made me decide to step back in the thread. To be clear, even with Peloton and Hydrow, the machines won’t auto-adjust to ensure you’re at the same power output regardless of cadence. It’s more they will note the time of stroke drive and use that to determine how to adjust resistance. Overall, it’s a workable system but it’s a lot of extra engineering that simply isn’t needed with air and water.

That can lead people to ask “why are there magnetic rowers then,” and the answer to that is partially about sound and partially about marketing. If the C2 has a flaw, one might consider that it air resistance is the loudest of the three. It’s not that big a deal, and some like the sound, but it certainly is not silent. Water resistance is a bit quieter, and many might prefer the quality of that sound of water moving in the tank, but again, not silent. Magnetic resistance can be fairly quiet, although from what I’ve noticed not totally so, and for Hydrow/Peloton in particular, if one is using their programming, the sound of instructors and music will typically be louder than any rower.

As for marketing, some people see a claim like “16 resistance levels” and think it’s a good thing, not knowing how rowing works, and that air/water effectively has as much “resistance” as you can put into the machine. This is where new people will get on a Concept2 and just toss the damper setting to “10,” thinking that’s the best workout, which the links above should show otherwise. Meanwhile, the companies putting out these cheap magnetic rowing machines are not really interested in teaching proper rowing mechanics or teaching how to improve. They just want to sell you a machine then you’re on your own.

At least Peloton/Hydrow have put a little more effort into things, but for them, you’re signing up for an eternal subscription. It’s not that the subscription is bad, per se. I noted Hydrow app can connect to Concept2 earlier, and the same is true for the Peloton app. So one can use either (or both!) subscriptions (and they are cheaper this way) and turn them on/off at any time and can just record with the free ErgData if nothing else is in play. The combination of “magnetic is the worst type of rowing machine” and “without the sub you’re unable to record session” makes the Hydrow/Peloton machines unacceptable for me.

5 Likes
9

@Technique To me rowing always requires tunes so I don’t even pay attention to the sound of the flywheel. I have a water rower which is good but if I were to be in the market right now for a rower I would definitely get a C2 - reliable, easier to maintain than the water rower (eg. Tank seal fail, tightening bolts), easy to adjust, better electronics, etc.

4 Likes
10

c2 is also so common which is nice. Used in so many gyms, used for almost all—maybe actually all?—indoor rowing competitions, etc. C2 makes it most likely you’ll get to row on your own type of rower when you travel.

At least for me personally though, the water ones feel more like actually rowing on the water.

4 Likes
11

This got me in the mood for rowing btw

5 Likes
12

Always a good idea

6 Likes
13

What everyone above said … Concept 2 is industry standard, can be found in boathouses all over the planet, including Oxford, Cambridge and all the US equivalents.

Have used a C2 for something like 30 years.

Also pretty much bullet proof.

My favorite erg cartoon … courtesy of anna railton, who was an oxford blue.

image
image367×899 50.8 KB

anna also developed a “love” for a thing called The Sufferfest

##warning## if you don’t like '“language” then i suggest you squint a bit.

7 Likes
14

I’ve had a C2 for about 14 years. I’ve upgraded the PM3 to PM5 (because the PM3 didn’t have bluetooth - but it was still rock solid in what it did). I can’t compare it to the other brands you’ve mentioned, but I can say I love m C2 enough that if replacement ever became an issue, I wouldn’t bother shopping around - would just get another.

5 Likes
15

Hey! That is a great blog post. Thanks for linking it!

4 Likes
16

Revolver was 90 minutes long at one time? Don’t tell @Glen.Coutts !

1 Like
17

If done twice a la ToS 2015 Stage 2 but you haven’t lived until you’ve done Revolver+Revolver is Easy+Half is Easy. Fun times. Fuuuuuun tiiiimes. :face_vomiting:

5 Likes
18

If I understood the blog post correctly, it seems that Revolver by itself was 90 minutes. :

"I have done every single sufferfest video now EXCEPT Revolver… Just… FEAR. And are you seriously implying you do 90mins of 1 min intervals? INSANITY WOLF. "

19

It’s an error. Tho one of the commenters suggesting doing it, then rewinding it to the beginning and doing it again.

Lindsay said: Try Revolver x2, with only the time it takes to unclip and rewind back to the first interval without drowning laptop in sweat/ breaking leg by slipping in sweat on cleats in between… 'tis masochistic in the extreme :>

4 Likes
20

Yeah epic. Never actually noticed before but Sir David reviewed Anna’s review. hah !

IMG_0410
IMG_04101487×2266 297 KB

5 Likes