Velocity Exercise Magnetic Rower

"The best exercise machine is the exercise machine you're going to use". With this thought in mind I chose this magnetic rower over the Concept rower, despite the amazing reviews that machine universally generates. I like to watch television when I exercise and with the noise of the air resistance models, that could be difficult. In addition, the size of most of these rowers would be somewhat prohibitive in the space I had available. The air resistance models provide a more realistic rowing experience. I guess that's great if you plan on joining a rowing crew but that's not on my agenda anytime soon.This Velocity is made in Taiwan and apparently is the same machine marketed under several other names, one of them being the Stamina Avari. If this is true, it makes one wonder what is going on with the maker of this machine. Are they reliable? What is the quality of the product.As others have stated, the packaging of this product is pretty deficient. Parts that were supposed to be secure, were lose in the box. The computer monitor was hanging loose outside the housing and the box was pretty beat up. That being said, nothing was damaged and it was quite easy to snap the monitor back into place.Another criticism is that the manual is really deficient. It doesn't explain things well and it helps to have a little mechanical ability when trying to figure out assembly. None the less, the rower did assemble quite easily. Parts fit well and assembly time was just about half an hour.The manual could also do a much better job explaining operation of the rower and use of the monitor. By using the machine for just a few sessions though, I found operation to be pretty intuitive and before long had things working well.Now to the good stuff. If you were fortunate as I was and got a non-damaged machine that assembled easily, you will experience a really well designed machine that should perfectly meet your rowing needs.This thing runs whisper quiet. The monitor adjusts resistance on the rower effortlessly and with a spectrum for low to higher levels that should meet the needs of any strength or fitness level.I have heard that customer service is terrible. I hope not to have a need to use them. By the quality of the assembled product, I don't see where that will be an issue for quite a while. I think the weakest link might be with a monitor malfunction which with a magnetic rower would affect the entire operation of the machine.I bought the additional warranty to cover any malfunction essentially over the next two years. The warranty that comes with the rower is pretty weak.I genuinely love this machine. I have used a Nordic Track Ski Machine since the 80's. I envision using this for many years to come. Despite the poor packaging, lousy warranty and less than great customer service, this rower seems to be solidly and precisely made and offers a superlative exercise experience. I hope you have the same experience as I if you choose to purchase this product.

After reading reviews of this rowing machine, I was thrilled to order one as my birthday present to myself. In college, I learned what great exercise rowing is; it exercises most muscle groups without pounding your knees or exposing you to traumatic injuries. I loved that this machine is so quiet I could watch TV while rowing. And I knew my wife would love that it folds up when not in use.Having now received TWO defective units -- the first with the pull cord on the side, not the middle, so it was being ripped to shreds with every pull, and the second with a monitor that gave me an "E1" error message the first time I turned it on and then refused to ever power on again -- I could not be more bitterly disappointed in this product that seemed so promising. I must have gotten unlucky that both units were defective. But any product with so high a defect rate that any customer could receive two defective units is unlikely to last long. The build quality is obvious just from the metal "Made in Taiwan" plate glued onto the machine at a 15-degree angle.Even worse, though my attempts to address these problems were responded to, the responses proved completely unhelpful.Carolina Fuentes at Cap Barbell -- Velocity Fitness is their sub-brand -- replied to my emails but wasn't able to fix either problem. For the first problem, she emailed: "attached is a pic of what the cord is supposed to be placed. that is not correct behavior and its better to exchage the unit instead of tryin to fix it."After several back-and-forths on the second problem, she put me in touch with the manufacturer ([email protected]) who emailed this:"First, please allow us to grant our appreicate to your support our production. Regarding of this situation, our QC made a few studying for the possible reason.From your description, machine dysfuntuion could be as following issue1. Monitor drawback: the whole machine is control by monitor system. change a new monitor could be a result.2. Motor is jammed or build-in electric circuit burned by rapidly frequently power reboot. Change a new motor could be a result.3. The connect cable is broke or connect pin damaged. Change connect cable could be a result.For the above situation could be the possiblity, also, the plug power source must be check, there is a adaptor with the machine, if not use the same one or not using the adaptor will damage the build in spare part.To exam the all above situation, please contact with the retailer or Amazon E-shop which can send the technician to exam every step. The technician should be bring the following parts to check your machine. A. a new monitor B. a full set of connect cable(include monitor connect cable) ; C. a new motor , D. a new adaptor.We are pay the great care to this case, please keep contact with us the related situation if you may. You also can connect with [email protected] again for bought our CHR-2001"The manufacturer sold two defective products, expects Amazon to send a technician to fix their defective machines, and can't find even one person to write comprehensible English! I'm depressed I wasted many, many hours unboxing, assembling, disassembling, and re-boxing their unreliable, unsupported machines. The only exercise I got was lugging the heavy machines up and down stairs. It's a promising concept and a promising design. But quality control and customer service are completely non-existent.

The instructions specifically say to not plug in the rower until fully assembled. So... I didn't find out that the computer was defective (E2 error) right out of the box until I fully assembled the rower. I will say however that it was not difficult at all to put together.The build quality is just ok lots of plastic on non load bearing/moving parts but the rail, seat and mechanism seemed strong. After a few rows I performed with a dead computer, I will confirm that this machine is likely the quietest row machine you could ever own. Ultimately, the fact that the computer was dead on arrival and that there is only a 90 day warranty (significantly less than all other competitors) on the computer made me reconsider owning this model long term. I ended up biting the bullet and buying a Concept 2 Model D, which seems to be considered the best machine you can buy. I'll judge that for myself when it arrives.It may work well if it works but due to the plastic and the very short warranty on a part that was dead out of the box I'm going to take it as a sign and steer clear of this one.At the end of the day, the best workout I got from this rower was trying to repackage it into the original box to return to Amazon (they were awesome as always).