If you are new or new-ish to rowing or indoor rowing, you perhaps don’t realise that the latest
stylish new Model E is actually
the Great, Great Grandfather of the original indoor rowing machine
Concept 2 designed 25 years ago, the Model A. |
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 Left to right: Model A, B,C, D and E |
It was way back in 1980 that the first machine was unveiled and for the rowing community, it was a revelation. What it turned out to be for the fitness industry was a revolution, as it sowed the seeds of success for one of the fitness industry’s most successful products.
You have steppers, treadmills, weights, multi-gyms and you have the Concept 2. It is perhaps the only brand that has dominated a sector of the fitness industry so comprehensively for so long and it is now an essential ingredient of almost any gym or club – whatever sport they focus on. Great, Great Grandfather was called, naturally enough, The Model A. It was designed in 1980 by two engineer rowers from the USA – Peter and Dick Dreissigacker – the same guys who have overseen design and development of every model and modification since. Based north of Boston, where winters get very cold indeed, the brothers and their rowing colleagues faced the perennial problem of rivers freezing over, preventing vital time on the water for both training and competitions. The brothers wanted a solution but the rowing machines on the market didn't mimic the rowing stroke accurately at all and the products were simply not tough enough to withstand the relentless grind of a top class rower. |
 Early Model A used bicycle wheel and paddles  In the 'A' driving seat - milometer only  Model B had bespoke monitor and air resistance system  Model C introduced new chassis  Model D offered further refinements |
The solution? – A simple frame with a moving seat carrying a large bicycle wheel with a solid steel 'tyre'. The rower sat on the seat, held a handle and started to row. Around went the heavy wheel – slowed by air resistance from plastic fins mounted around its circumference. Primitive, but it created a near perfect replica of the rowing stroke. A ‘stroke’ that was infinitely more refined and realistic than anything any rowing machine of the day could offer. The air resistance idea turned out to a key component. The ‘Model A’ Concept 2 soon became very popular with rowing clubs, adding a new dimension to land training, and allowing land-based testing and technical coaching. Model A proved very popular with rowing clubs, and many would have one of the machines in the gym or rowing club. There were one or two refinements over the first few years of its life but the first major development came along in 1986 with Model B (below), essentially as a refined evolution of the Model A. It had a much smoother and quieter air resistance system which did away with the bicycle wheel idea and utilised a specially designed system and a performance monitor which perhaps proved – through its uniform calibration - to be the other major key to the machine's ultimate success. Model B was significant because it took Concept 2 Indoor Rowers out of rowing and into the wider public. Its reputation as a robust, reliable total body workout station was gathering pace by the day. Growth in the rowing market was rapid and it was the world’s rowing entrepreneurs who snapped up global distributorships. New Zealand was no different, with 1984 Olympic Single Sculler Gary Reid taking the opportunity to bring the first machines in into the country and begin a business which today remains the only official Concept 2 supplier in NZ. The story was the same in many other countries. Rowers with an eye for business spotted the opportunity and put their orders in. The further refined Model D was unveiled in 2003, by which time the rise of the Internet had spread the word about the all round health benefits of indoor rowing, given life to huge global on-line communities, and promoted races, world rankings and world records ranging from 500 metres to the almost unbelievable 1,000,000 metre solo race, the record for which is something around one whole week….. |
 Branding of the Indoor Rower has enjoyed 25 years of development as well  |
