Rowing Machine Recommendations

Good Afternoon TZ!

I am considering purchasing a rowing machine for use at home. I would like a sturdy, well made machine that will withstand some frequent use. All I have read points to the Concept 2 being the machine to have, but these come a quite a price, even second hand.

I am am not totally adverse to paying the money for what seems to be the best, but wanted to ask if anyone is aware of any viable alternatives that might save me a few quid?!

Equally, if you have a machine collecting dust that you want to turn into cash, please feel free to let me know (apologies for the badly disguised wtb!!)

Thanks in advance guys.

I bought a refurbished Concept direct from them several years ago. When delivered it looked good as new and was considerably cheaper. Still going strong - recommended


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Bought a concept 2 4 years ago, its been brilliant. Best rowing machine around, unless you want a water rower.

You could always go with a refurbished Concept2

http://www.originfitness.com/concept...m3-refurbished

https://www.ukgymequipment.com/cardi...rower-pm3-p548

Though I would say if you are interested tracking / logging your rows and progress the pm5 computer is much better that the pm3 units that come with the above. I’d assume this would add around another £100 to the prices above and put the price too close to new for me.

Have a look at Tunturi's range.
I had an old R710 that was bombproof and very smooth in use.

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Bodymax R200. Commercial grade, unbeatable.

I have a water rower and am very happy with it. Stores upright when not in use.

I’ve had a WaterRower for about a year now, it’s the only piece of exercise equipment I’ve owned that hasn’t been used as a clothes horse after a month.
The missus uses it too, probably more than me since my old ticker has been playing up!

Another vote for water rower, although I rarely use it, it is great piece of kit.

Water rower here too. Still waiting for my elbow injury to recover before using it in anger again (unrelated) It is so nice to have a quiet, home friendly rower.

Concept probably better as a rower, if you have a deaf wife or separate out building. Always too noisy for me in a home environment


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Concept have been widely regarded as the best rowers for many years.

Another vote for water rower. There was one on SC a couple of weeks ago too. Not cheap, but they look good and can be stood up and out of the way as mentioned.

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Originally Posted by Thewatchbloke

Bodymax R200. Commercial grade, unbeatable.

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Another vote for the R200.

Had one for years now. Built like a what-ever. Mine spends it's life in an unheated shed and whatever the temperature or humidity it seems to cope fine. Much more flexible with the programmes than the usual concept offering and also gives the option of a much harder pull than the concept. The two times I've tried a concept, in both cases I had to whack the effort to full and even then I found it a bit on the weedy side compared to what I was used to with the R200. The other things the R200 can do which the Concept can't are workouts based upon heart rate using the cheap chest strap. One thing with my R200 though is the calories burnt figures are totally ridiculous.... 50 mins on mine this morning and it reckoned I'd done nearly 6 thousand calories!!

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Originally Posted by mangoosian

Another vote for water rower. There was one on SC a couple of weeks ago too. Not cheap, but they look good and can be stood up and out of the way as mentioned.

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I looked at the water rower before going for the R200 and the issue I had was how well it would cope with sub zero temperatures i.e. the water freezing! My rower spends it's life in a shed so often has to cope with negative freezing temperatures. I sent an enquiry to the UK importer about coping with freezing temperatures and it took them 6 weeks to reply (by which time I'd gone elsewhere) and then they said they didn't know the answer.

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Originally Posted by solwisesteve

I looked at the water rower before going for the R200 and the issue I had was how well it would cope with sub zero temperatures i.e. the water freezing! My rower spends it's life in a shed so often has to cope with negative freezing temperatures. I sent an enquiry to the UK importer about coping with freezing temperatures and it took them 6 weeks to reply (by which time I'd gone elsewhere) and then they said they didn't know the answer.

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Sub zero would be a problem unless you used antifreeze! And that could react with the material of the water container.

The plus with these is they can live in the house. Ours is in the living room. Lots of positive comments received.

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P.s. my wife rows at a rowing club and the coaches recommended the Water Rower.

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Thanks all. Some great stuff to investigate for me here, including the water rowers that I hadn't considered. Cheers for all the input so far. :)

any links to the water rower?

We have had a Life Fitness water rower for approx 2 years now. Cannot fault it but think it may have cost slightly more than a concept 2 at the time.
The advantage is how easy it is to flip up out of the way when not use as it is much lighter than the Concept and more compact.
Not necessary an issue if in a shed but the LF also looks smart (ours shares a room in the house).

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Originally Posted by mangoosian

Sub zero would be a problem unless you used antifreeze!

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Or you could fill with vodka... and the wife would never know. You could make perfect Martinis.

Think of the noise too - Concept 2 is great but you can make quite a racket using it in the house.

I've had experience of both the water rower and the concept 2.

Both are very good, not cheap but they are very well made and hold their value very well. I've not got the Concept 2 and prefer that mainly down to the monitor that comes with it - its much better than the one with the water rower. With their latest PM5 you can connect heart rate (Ant+ and Bluetooth) plus connect smartphone apps via bluetooth to create custom workouts and race against other people - I use the LiveRowing app which is very good.

The other thing is its much easier to adjust the resistance on the fly via the air damper so if you want to go for high power (short) workouts you can. Its not as easy on the water rower as you need to adjust the amount of water in it. Having said that if you not worried about the power workouts the water rower will be fine.

Quite a lot of people prefer the feel of the water rower - its is a more relaxing sound!

If you can find a store that has both and try them. I'm glad I went with the Concept 2 - its built like a tank and easy to maintain/repair, most probably why its the workhorse in most gyms.

I’ve used concept2 rowers in various gyms and haven’t been impressed to put it mildly. They feel flimsy probably due to the narrow beam it uses, the chain drive is noisy and cranked up to the max gives the same resistance as my machine on its 50% setting. There’s no doubting concept2’s are used in lots of gyms but I feel that has to be down to price rather than build quality and usability.

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Originally Posted by rdesouza

any links to the water rower?

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https://www.waterrower.co.uk/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_s...errower&_frs=1

It's a bit of an Apple/PC type subject which seems to polarise opinions but I'm happy with the Waterrower as it sits on end in a corner of the living room & isn't horrendously noisy to use. I don't think you would want to use a Concept indoors, although according to some it may technically be a better machine.

If you want to try it you can rent one from Waterrower - see the website.

Bodymax R100 infiniti is a good solid rower.

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Originally Posted by Thewatchbloke

I’ve used concept2 rowers in various gyms and haven’t been impressed to put it mildly. They feel flimsy probably due to the narrow beam it uses, the chain drive is noisy and cranked up to the max gives the same resistance as my machine on its 50% setting. There’s no doubting concept2’s are used in lots of gyms but I feel that has to be down to price rather than build quality and usability.

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Or because they are recognised as the best rowing machine. They are rock solid, not flimsy and are very high quality, that is why gyms use them, not cost. You also do not need to row on max resistance, although most real men in the gym think they have to be on 10 resistance, just messes up your back.

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Originally Posted by casbar

Or because they are recognised as the best rowing machine. They are rock solid, not flimsy and are very high quality, that is why gyms use them, not cost. You also do not need to row on max resistance, although most real men in the gym think they have to be on 10 resistance, just messes up your back.

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Spot on. Using concept rowers due to low costs [emoji848]


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Originally Posted by Mr Pointy

https://www.waterrower.co.uk/

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_s...errower&_frs=1

It's a bit of an Apple/PC type subject which seems to polarise opinions but I'm happy with the Waterrower as it sits on end in a corner of the living room & isn't horrendously noisy to use. I don't think you would want to use a Concept indoors, although according to some it may technically be a better machine.

If you want to try it you can rent one from Waterrower - see the website.

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Yes we went for the row hire option with a view of if it did not get the use we could return it. It is a keeper.

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thanks, will get one to test!

available in costco as well

https://www.costco.co.uk/Sports-Spas...ewood/p/253410

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Originally Posted by jeepie

Spot on. Using concept rowers due to low cost

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Prices must have changed because when I was in the market the cheapest I could get an R200 for was £150 more than the cheapest I could get a concept2 for. I almost bought a concept2 until I tried them both out then I decided I’d pay the extra.