Stamina 35-1400 ATS Air Rower

I'm a competative collegiate rower, I got this erg in order to keep in shape over semester break. The noise and the difficult assembly didn't bother me. The two main problems with this machine are the lenght and the monitor. At 6' I'm not very tall for a rower and I'm not getting anything close to full extension, I'm barely half an inch away from the end of the slide on my drive and I can't pull the handle all the way in, and when I come up to the catch I can still stretch my arms almost past the fan assembly. The monitor displays distances in miles and speed in mph instead on meters and 500m split, making it extremely difficult to keep track of my performance. The seat is less comfortable the solid plastic seats in shells and the concept 2. In sumation this machine is fine for the casual rower, but not for anyone seriously invloved in the sport.

I've had this rower for almost a year now and it has held up well. There were a few issues locking down the resistance fan housing on the front of the rower. It took some effort and force but I finally got it secured.

The idea that resistance is generated by increasing the speed of the rowing motion is sound, but it does reach a point of diminishing returns. You are going to go anaerobic (or catatonic) trying to get enough true resistance by speeding your stroke pace.

It's not great but it is a good introduction to rowing. It was good enough to get me hooked on rowing as an addition to my aerobic home gym stockpile (along with the Treadclimber, Airdyne Bike, and ellipticals). But, I will be finding a new rowing machine that will allow me to set a static resistance instead of the dynamic air driven kind.

I've owned a Stamina 1400 for about 2 years. I use it religiously twice per week for a half hour per session. So that's 52 hours per year or about 100 hours so far.

The electronic counter worked correctly for about a week. The timer function still works and that's been good enough for my purposes, but not what I paid for.

The foot strap buckles slip sideways. I finally just replaced them with some wide velcro straps that work ok. Again, not what I paid for.

The machine is now making some very loud metallic scraping sounds from within the chain housing which is impossible to get into. Based on other reviews I'm fully expecting a complete meltdown soon.

The initial assembly wasn't too bad, though there are a couple of connections that were tedious and difficult. The first impressions were very favorable. Everything worked smoothly and quietly. That changed abruptly after about two weeks. That's when the high pitched scraping/rubbing noises started from the fan housing. Then I started noticing a black "powder" that was starting to coat one side of the fan that resembled greese. Then I'd find a spot of greese on my face after a workout. The noise became VERY loud and the rowing effort just about doubled! I could no longer hear my mp3 player without turning it up too loud! Stamina cust service sent me a whole new fan assembly that I had to install, and that started making noise after another two weeks. Finally, the straw to break my back nearly injured my back when after about ten weeks of use (admitedly, heavy use - by one 57 yr old 145 lb man)something snapped underneath and about 30 inches of slack pull chain came out and woudn't go back. It had died.
When I called Stamina cust service, intending for them to take it back and get my money back, they wanted to send another part, but couldn't because I could not tell tham WHAT had broken! They wouldn't entertain the idea of taking it back, so I had to call the seller and after much effort to get to the right listener, it was picked up. Fortunatly I had a box from a new rower - a different make - that I could fit this junk into.
This is NOT made for anyone even mildly athletic! Buy it if you're going to use it once a week for 20 min at a time, it might be worthwhile. If you're serious about improving your fitness, do what I did (now) and spent about $1,000 for something that has a proven record, and is used by professionals and intituions.

Easy assembly (4 bolts) and simple adjustment. Good action, but a tad easy on the resistance. Overall good value. Two complaints - sensor wire can cut out on speed and distance, and speed and distance should be in meters, not miles.