News in this morning from Mark Campbell the Rowperfect manufacturer…..
At some stage over the past few months you have enquired about the development of the new Rowperfect – thankyou for your patience to date, the development process has been somewhat longer than originally planned but we hope the result justifies the extra care and attention to detail. We have just uploaded a video of the latest prototype to the YouTube site. To view, simply click on the link below and you can view a 2 minute video comparing the original Rowperfect and that prototype.
The machine in the video is actually the third prototype, and as you can see there have been some revolutionary changes. With only two or three minor refinements, the machine you see will be the production version. We plan to complete testing of the new Rowperfect within one month
Any feedback is welcome.
Regards,
Mark
Hey, I assume feedback is left through this comment board.
A few things:
1. The spring in the handle looks like it could hit you in the middle of the abdomen if you draw too long. Has this issue been addressed?
2. Surely it’s no trouble to secure the bit of foam/plastic to the seat; I really hope that comes into the product version.
3. I really like what appear to be sculling grips on the handle. On my C2 model D ergo the blue plastic on the grip fell off with wear, I put on two grey croker sculling grips and they work much better: giving people the option to put on their own sculling grips would be a great change and fit in with your ‘indoor sculler’ theme.
4. I really hope this version still moves, feels and is just like a rowing boat to the same degree as the last rowperfect. The only thing which looks like could alter is the new slide for the seat and their attatchment.
I’m sure you’ve thought through all of this, I just thought some feedback could be useful.
Does the seat still move, or is it fixed to the rear leg? Can’t quite tell from the video.
Just a couple of thoughts to:
a problem with the old row perfect, is that if you tilt the seat, it locks onto the rail, which actually makes it very easy (if uncomfortable) to row. An alternative.. ‘result’ might be more helpful.
Similarly, unlike in a boat, only the seat tilts; it might be better to have the seat and foot carriage fixed to the rail and have the entire rail tilt; this would not only simulate a boat better, but it would be possible to have enough of a tilt to make it impossible to row. This may require some sort of balancing assistance. I suspect that a correctly selected/adjustable torsion spring would work best. That way, when the rail is almost level, it would remain so, but anything more than a degree or two of tilt would cause instability, as the rower’s weight is displaced further of centre.
One other thing: the grips on the handle appear to be sculling grips. If so, they are the wrong way around! (I.e. the ends are under the pinkies, not the thumbs). A ‘G’ shaped handle might be a bit more bulky, but would give more space to draw further back at the finish and could have spring loading built into the handle, without needing any extra mechanisms.
The seat does move, Mike but only along the shorter flange at the back of the bar (I guess this is about 50-60cm long)/
You are right about people ‘locking’ the seat into place. I think this won’t happen because the new design instead of having four rollers under the seat – one on each corner – it will have two large ones spanning the width which will still allow the seat to move sideways but not to the same degree.
I like your idea about the entire thing tilting… reminds me of trying to ergo while sitting on a wobble cushion. But since I’m not an engineer I won’t comment on whether this i possible or commercially viable.
The grips are, I believe, sculling grips. Does it matter if they are the ‘wrong’ way round? How would you construct a G-shaped handle to allow grips to be put on and off?
Thanks so much for your thoughtful comments.
Best wishes
Rebecca and Grant