The Concept 2 looks very similar to the Beny V-Fit, but costs about £1000 and is the de-facto standard in indoor rowing. There are many, many brands of air rowers, but this is commonly accepted to be the best. These are great because the engineering on them is supposedly terrific, and they are all calibrated to the same standard. So that if you do a certain time on one concept 2 rower, you can feel confident that this would be exactly replicated on another. This is the reason that the World Indoor Rowing Championships use Concept 2 rowers, because times are directly comparable.

They also last forever. These are the same rowers that you will typically encounter in a commercial gym, because you can row on them from dawn to dusk and they will still last years. Do a search on the web for concept 2, and you will see that their users absolutely rave about them. By all accounts the customer service from Concept 2 is outstanding. The depth of information that the display monitors show is considerable, with the new monitors even being able to be plugged into a PC for 'races' with other owners around the world. Their website also has a great depth of rowing information, and a real sense of community.

Concept 2

Enough. Enough! Why didn't I buy one then?

Quite simply because they are too expensive. This rower costs £1000 in the UK (about $1667 as of today's exchange rate) And that assumes that you buy it direct from concept 2 (http://www.concept2.co.uk). I have seen it on other web sites for up to £1286. Quite why it costs so much is beyond me. No parts of it are made from gold, and yet you might think so judging by the cost. The US does much better price wise. The identical PM2+ (i.e. the PC pluggable display version) Concept 2 machine can be had for $830. (about £497) in the United States - HALF what you pay for it in the UK. Unfortunately, shipping is only available within the US. It strikes me as strange that I could almost fly to the US and travel back with a machine (on my back because that would definitely get me fit) and maybe still save money. Feel free to send me the explanation of all this Concept 2, as it bemuses the hell out of me.