I’ve been wishing for a product like MyRow to come back onto the market for so long as I can keep in mind. I like rowing, and personal a Concept2 Mannequin D, which is likely one of the world’s hottest rowing machines. Concept2’s ergometers — which is the flamboyant phrase for “rowing machine” — are a mainstay of gyms all around the globe. However the Vermont-based firm has dragged its toes relating to embracing the sensible health revolution. The perfect it provides is a few clips on its newest machine that can be utilized to carry a third-party pill in place.
Impressed by Peloton, loads of different firms have bolted HD screens with dwell courses to their fitness center tools. However Concept2 remains to be standing by the PM5, a bit black field with a liquid crystal show that debuted in 2014 which shows stats like your break up instances and stroke charge. When you can’t fairly think about how I really feel: It’s as should you personal a Sport Boy, and everybody else on this planet is rocking a Steam Deck. To try to enhance issues, I purchased a bit 3D-printed smartphone holder from eBay however, even so, it’s laborious to not really feel short-changed.
Step ahead MyRow, the brainchild of Gary Simpson, founding father of Transit Wi-fi, the corporate that introduced cell service to the New York Metropolis subway. Whereas sheltering in place from COVID, he had a Concept2 and a Peloton bike at house to assist preserve in form. Again at CES, he advised me, regardless of his love of rowing, he would typically default to the bike with its shiny display and video courses. Impressed, he based MyRow within the spirit of bringing one thing much like the Concept2.
The tip product is an internet-connected show that may be retrofitted onto a Concept2 Mannequin C, D, E or RowErg as long as it’s geared up with the PM5. The bundle features a 22-inch show, energy adapter and the mounting arm you’ll must bolt onto the rower. As soon as put in, you possibly can entry on-demand video courses and digital exercise guides, in addition to only a nicer technique to stare at your rowing stats in comparison with the sub-Sport Boy show you’re used to.
Set up took me lower than half an hour, and most of that was simply bolting the mounting arm onto the rower. Keep in mind, you’ll must run a knowledge cable from the PM5 to MyRow because the pill can’t interface with the machine instantly. I hope you’re good at cable administration, because you’ll must discover a technique to elegantly route the info and energy cables alongside the physique of the rower.
Beneath the hood, MyRow is only a skinned Android pill which takes a minute besides, with software program updates taking one other minute. Given the machine is so new, there have been a lot of updates, together with the addition of plans and options. The UI is easy sufficient, with massive goal containers and clear traces, which is right if you have to change a setting mid-row.
There’s a stunning quantity of connectivity on this factor, too, with ports for Ethernet, USB-C, micro-USB, USB-A and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Plus, it’s Bluetooth and ANT+ suitable for any wi-fi headphones or heart-rate screens you employ. There’s a forward-facing webcam within the physique that isn’t getting used for something proper now. The corporate is trying to construct a kind evaluation instrument that’ll harness it will definitely, and can also use the digital camera to reinforce group rows.
As soon as your toes are strapped in and also you’ve acquired one hand on the seize, it’s time to select your exercise. Customers can choose from video exercises, in addition to preset and customized coaching plans that can simply throw your intervals on the display. The stats are laid out like just about each different on-demand health class, together with your key vitals operating alongside the underside. That features energy burned, distance rowed, stroke charge, tempo per 500 meters, common tempo, stroke size, energy and common energy.
On the left aspect of the show, you’ll get a timeline exhibiting you when the subsequent inside is, and on the right-hand aspect, a leaderboard for the video class you’re taking part in. I shocked myself, as a result of I don’t consider myself as somebody who’s that aggressive, however the leaderboards introduced one thing out in me. The actual fact I used to be in a position to leap into the highest 10 in plenty of courses is, I’m certain, simply right down to MyRow’s presently small consumer base. However, a win is a win.
As a lot as I take pleasure in utilizing MyRow, I do have one gripe given the customized nature of the product. Concept2’s rowing machines use air resistance, so once you pull the chain you’re driving a fan. A fan which kicks out sufficient noise that it could actually drown out the teacher’s voice and music even once you flip the amount as much as max. Perhaps sharper-eared rowers gained’t discover it an issue, however I want they’d have made extra effort to compensate for the final noise of the rower.
Now, 2024 has been a yr of rigorous self-examination and one the place I’m humble sufficient to confess my flaws. I’m practically 40 and I’m by no means going to magically evolve into a kind of individuals who cares about their very own marginal beneficial properties. I’m not going to take a look at a countdown timer, evaluate it to my earlier lap’s greatest after which attempt to beat it regularly. And as a lot as I like rowing, I get bored, and a giant display might alleviate that if I can watch the streaming service of my alternative whereas I achieve this.
For this reason I’m excited to know that MyRow has promised to combine streaming movies into its platform by spring 2025. As a result of once you’re not taking an on-demand video class, you’re simply gazing a well-designed stats display. The earlier we will add any type of leisure to that, even when it’s only a clip of somebody rowing down an exquisite river, the higher.
I’m optimistic about MyRow’s potential to assist flip the Concept2 right into a machine that’s a bit friendlier, even for its diehard customers. It’s available for purchase now, with the pill setting you again $500 and the membership prices both $36 a month or $359.88 should you pay for the yr, which represents a 20 % low cost. When you get the pill by itself, nevertheless, you’ll nonetheless be capable to use the Simply Row characteristic, though it’s a hefty value for principally higher information visualization.
