Aldi Rowing machine....any good?

Neilw

Hi,

Is this any good, it's 170 euro, any opinions?

http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/58_4623.htm

Thanks.

Cheeky_gal

ah here, will someone reply to this dudes post, i'm pretty curious myself...;)

Also here check out this one, is that supposed to be good for your back or something? Worth purchasing? http://www.buy4now.ie/elverys/aspx/productdetail.aspx?pid=3000&loc=P&catid=9.4

Colm_OReilly

It is new year's day, a lot of people with hangovers, dreading work in the morning. Mightn't be the best time to expect a speedy response.

I can't comment directly on the aldi one, but I'd advise against it because it's

A) It's Aldi
It's too cheap
C) It seems to low, you're in line with the foot straps which although I can't picture exactly why, I imaging this puts you out of normal rowing alignment.

I can't tell from just a picture but it just looks wrong wrt handle height.

Also, the slide isn't level, it's inclined, which again would change the nature of rowing.

There is the ad hominem argument that the best rowing coaches will use Concept 2s and nothing else. Concept 2s are build better, but you're going to pay for them.

That Elvery's one just looks silly, tbh, you have a degree of hip and trunk flexion throughout the rowing stroke, so why put in a back on the seat? Unless you were doing adaptive rowing I fail to see a point.

Imposter

I have one of these. I think it's quite ok especially for the price.

Only downsides are:
- I have it on a wooden floor and it does slide forward quite a bit. If you have it against a wall that isn't a problem.
- The counter thingee is not accurate. You can wiggle the handle at the end of a stroke and it counts the stroke as double. Not a huge issue unless you're likely to try and fool yourself into thinking you are doing more than you are.
- The 'computer' itself is pretty basic - no distance measure for example.

All-in-all for the price I think it's quite ok considering a concept 2 costs over 1k! The rowing motion is quite similar too and the fact that the rope comes out at the top rather than halfway down (like the concept2) doesn't seem to change anything imo.

spiral

I picked up a cocept 2 on the ads board here for less than 500 keep yer eye out theres plenty of them about and if I ever get sick of it I will get my money back on it.
Pay pennies get crap

PeadarofAodh

As a member of a boat club I can say with 100% confidence that that ergo is a load of crap! All ergometers have a slight tilt forward on the rails to aid the natural slide towards front-stops but the degree of the angle on that slide looks painful for taking the stroke!

To be honest it looks like you'd be paying for an injury by buying that thing. I've sat on a similar machine that someone bought to save money and it was just impossible to use. Full stop. Ended up just taking up space in their apartment and lying unused. Concept 2 has a monopoly in the market but it's for a reason - they can't be beaten!