Peloton Row Review

Our Take on the Peloton Row

The Peloton Row is an innovative, well-designed, and feature-rich indoor rowing machine with an eye-popping $2,995 price tag. The dedicated Peloton fan will no doubt appreciate it, especially is they already have an All-Access subscription which includes rowing workouts for Peloton Row owners.

The physical experience of this rowing machine is surprisingly good. The Peloton Row is unbelievably quiet with a sturdy, smooth feel and a super-comfortable seat. The Row has the familiar Peloton stylish look with a black and red theme with a 24-inch HD touchscreen that rotates and tilts to support easier viewing of off-the-rower workout options. The touchscreen is similar to the Peloton Bike+, but does not move 360 degrees, not as easy to view off-the-rower workouts depending on your floor space configuration.

The Row has a unique real-time feature called Form Assist. This is a significant shift in rower design, helping people new to rowing on how to row correctly and improve over time. Based on form tracking sensors, you get immediate real-time feedback on your rowing stroke.

Form Assist illustrates within a window where to make adjustments to your form for optimal results and power. There are also options for live 1-on-1 form coaching and personalized pace targets to adjust the difficulty level in each class.

OUR TAKE. 

The Peloton Row is a solid piece of hardware comfortable, incredibly quiet, feels well built, and has a super touchscreen but it’s priced high (originally over $3,100) but as we recently reported reduced to $2,995.

For Peloton Fans, or if you are familiar with and like the Peloton Bike or Tread it is a recommended buy. The workout format, user interface, and training style will be very comfortable and familiar to you. The Row is definitely one of the more enjoyable rowers we have tried on the market, especially If you are a committed rower. If you are new to rowing, however there are better alternatives, for less, that that offer more robust training and instruction, as comparatively a smaller number and variety of classes are available.

QUICK KEY FEATURES:

■ Beautifully Designed
■ Exceptionally Quiet
■ Familiar Peloton User Interface
■ Real Time Form Feedback
■ 24-inch touchscreen which rotates and pivots
■ Exceptionally Comfortable seat
■ Full Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0 and ANT+ connectivity
■ Longer than most any other rowing machine

Trust Our Reviews of Fitness Equipment

Our team knows what makes good fitness equipment – indoor bikes, rowers, treadmills, ellipticals, and strength equipment. If it’s good, it’s good; if it’s bad, then it’s bad, we will tell you. Over the past ten years, we have tested and published exercise equipment reviews. We get hands-on with gear and discuss overall design and function, including the feel, price, drilling down components such as the motor, the screen display (if applicable), subscription content, adjustment features, noise levels, warranty and durability.

Based on extensive use and testing, we discuss, summarize, and compare equipment to help you determine if it’s the right one. When testing and evaluating the Peloton Row, we compared it to comparable models like the Hydrow and NordicTrack RW900, Concept2 RowErg, Ergatta, and other rowing machines.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT PELOTON ROW

THE PROS

• Real-time form feedback, helpful for new rowers

• Upbeat live classes and workouts

• Super Comfortable seat outstanding ergonomic feel

• Superb big 24-inch HD touchscreen display

• Slide-Action is smooth and virtually silent.

• Smooth and ultra-quiet Electromagnetic Resistance mechanism

• Stow the Row upright for tight home gym spaces

• Wall anchor included to secure Peloton Row when stood up-right.

• Well suited for people who generally like the Peloton competitive vibe and overall class concept, leaderboard and shout-outs by trainers.

• No additional subscription fee for rowing workout sessions, if you are a current Peloton All-Access member.

• Rowing Workouts for the beginner to experienced rower a variety of teaching styles to select from.

THE CONS

• It’s Big! really big. At nearly 8-feet it is way longer when compared to Hydrow and the latest NordicTrack RW900. It takes up considerably more floor space. Peloton Row can be stood up in a vertical upright position when not in use, but even then, it is tall. Not everyone will have the ceiling space and its quite heavy.

• The Peloton Row is expensive, approximately $700 and $1,300 more than the two top rowers reviewed, the Hydrow, Hydrow Wave and NordicTrack RW900 Review which also stream well produced connected rowing workouts.

• If you do not already own a Peloton Bike or Tread, the cost for rowing workout content is $528 per year, same cost as Hydrow but $132 more than Nordictrack indoor rowers for an iFit Pro subscription over a year which works out to $33 per month.

• The Row has a comparatively small number of classes available in the on-demand library (slowly) compared to its main competitors and has been voiced as an issue by current Peloton Row owners.

• Not the Best Rower for those new to Rowing

• Mostly Studio Class focused, there are not enough live on-the-water row sessions.

• When you first use a Peloton Row it does require Calibration (minor issue).

• At this price point, lack of support for Apple GymKit is annoying as on the Peloton Bike+ to capture a complete set of metrics. You can connect an Apple Watch directly to the Peloton Rowing machine.

• The Warranty is shorter than many competitors. The included limited warranty covers the touchscreen, mechanics, parts, and service for issues related to normal wear and tear for one year. The Row frame has a five-year warranty.

TEST DRIVE OF PELOTON ROW

THE SEAT

Peloton Row has a super comfortable seat that is larger and a little squishier that its competitors. The seat is low to the ground and may be difficult for people with limited flexibility. The maximum user weight is 300 lbs.

ACCESSORIES HOLDER
(Unique to Peloton Row)

As a nice touch, the Row includes a bottle holder and additional place to store your headphones, phone or other small item like a baby monitor integrated into the frame’s design towards the front of the rail. Most other rowers we have tested provide zero space for a miscellaneous item or two.

FOOT PAD / PEDALS

The foot pad is wide and allows for comfortable positioning. If you have smaller feet, it might be too oversized to position the strap. The footpad has seven adjustment positions. But only the 1st position will be suitable for women shoe size 8, seems a little odd considering how many women are Peloton fans. If your feet are men’s size 9.5 you will want to be in position 2 – so the other 5 positions are for men shoe sizes 10-13+.

ROW HANDLE

We found the handle is comfortable but has a triangle with a Peloton logo that is awkward. We think they could have done better with a softer feel than the hard plastic. The handle while it initially feels nice, has 2 divot holes each side on the under-side that is proving an annoyance to some rowers after rowing for a while, some even have complained it causes blisters. “You find yourself adjusting your hands to avoid them”. Previously it has been reported the handle also can become slippery when wet. But if you hold the handle correctly with a loose light grip you should not experience these issues.

TOUCHSCREEN Console

Like all Peloton equipment the touchscreen is well designed, responsive to touch and displays crisp graphics quickly. The Row touchscreen is 24-inches (23.8” to be exact) with a nice 1080 HD resolution. There are rear woofer and two forward facing speakers for excellent sound. The console includes an 8-megapixel camera which is off by default and has a built-in sliding privacy cover.

[RELATED NOTE:] After 15 minutes of inactivity, the Peloton Row display automatically goes into sleep mode. To wake up the Row, you can press the button on the back or simply pull the handle from the dock. To completely turn off the rower there is a power switch at the bottom of rower’s base towards the front.

The screen pivots 25 degrees up or down and can rotate left or right but only 45 degrees, which is OK for some off-the-rower and on-the-mat workouts like yoga, strength or Bootcamp. Bootcamp workouts have part of the class is on the Row and part is off the Rower. There are many different home gym setups that will require a greater degree of screen swivel, like the Peloton Bike+. In comparison the Nordictrack RW900 and RW700 rowers for instance have a greater degree of flexibility where their console displays designed to rotate 360 degrees and pivot to 45-degree angles.

RESISTANCE

The Peloton Row uses an electromagnetic resistance mechanism on their rowing machine. This is a flywheel with two computer-controlled magnets on either side designed to work with how hard and fast you are pushing your legs and pulling your arms. You create the resistance. The harder you pull, the greater the resistance with the Peloton Row. By default, resistance is set to a medium Drag (115) setting that is recommended by Peloton not to be changed unless you have significant rowing experience.

ROWING EXPERIENCE

Rowing on the Peloton Row is certainly quiet. Mute a workout class while rowing and it is almost silent. This is great if you have a little-one asleep or for any shared living situation as hardly any noise is produced while in use and you are using Bluetooth wireless headphones or Air Pods. The rowing is silky smooth, and you can feel the resistance.

The form guide on the left top corner of the screen highlights in red and illustrates where you need to adjust your rowing stroke. This live interactive feedback combined with post-class analytics (you get a rating score at the end of each session) helps to provide insights on your technique which can help improve your rowing.  Be aware the Form Assist feature does not offer any tips to improve but rather points out where your form is not quite correct and can sometimes leave you a little puzzled where you're going wrong. Bottom line you can swipe it away and ignore this feature if it’s not helpful or your rowing technique is beyond the beginner level.

When first setting up the Peloton Row you are taken through a Calibration guide for Form Assist to work correctly, where it measures your starting and ending position. If the Form Assist figure appears to be out of sync with your movements, it may need to be recalibrated according to Peloton.

Our Experience with the Peloton Row was overall good, the music and trainer narration, with a nice variety of Stroke-Rate (speed) and WATTS output, but for us the mid-session form drills felt more like an interruption to our rowing rhythm and cardio goals - heart rate in particular and were at times somewhat annoying, we just want to row. As a note Peloton Row HIIT and boot camps don’t drill as much.

MATCHING YOUR SKILL LEVEL

There is also a cool feature called Pace Targets, this is a new Peloton feature to set up Personal Pace Targets that help match a workout to be appropriate for different skill levels, where you will hear instructors call out a “category” that you can set how easy or hard to push it – “Easy, Moderate, Challenging or Max”. You can decide and set the pace target level you want to set to match your ability for each interval.

Peloton Row Workout Classes

Rowing classes are mostly in the Studio and range from 5 to 45 minutes. The classes include beginner rows through endurance row options. There are rowing BootCamp workouts that include some work off-the-rower sessions similar to those at CityRow and tend to provide a more challenging workout. Overall, Peloton rowing sessions have a high-energy, face-paced, competitive leaderboard vibe, with music and number-shout-outs by instructors. For the most part, rowing sessions are very different from Hydrow and iFit trainer-led destination rowing sessions.

There is also a “Just Row” option for rowing a workout where you just see your metrics displayed on the screen. It is recommended to purchase or have a subscription to Peloton “All-Access” for the best use of this indoor rowing machine. There is also a limited number of scenic waterway rows available at destinations around the globe. These are very popular, but you are on your own without a trainer.

Peloton has slowly ramped up to expand its rowing sessions outside of the studio. Recently, several Peloton Row trainers were spotted in California to film scenic rows and guided on-the-water rowing workouts around San Diego. Additional new workouts are slated to be launched this year. Currently, the bulk of the Peloton Row classes is studio rows.

A major difference is Hydrow offers Live Workouts on the water. Whether on a lake, river, or estuary, you match stroke for stroke during live sessions with your Hydrow or Hydrow Wave instructor. NordicTrack’s iFit rowing machines also offer exceptional trainer-led rowing workouts, on waterways across multiple global destinations, in Europe, French Polynesia, and Africa to name some as well as offering sessions in a studio setting.

Peloton rowing workouts are currently only available to Row owners. If you already own a Peloton Bike or Tread, then there are no additional subscription charges. If you are digital only member (app user) and don’t own a rower, you may have access to a limited number of rowing workouts in the near future.

Rowing content and format is similar to the Peloton bike and Tread equipment workouts where, you will hear the classic, “What’s up Peloton Fam?”  There are sessions for beginner, intermediate, and advanced difficulty.

Adrian Williams and current instructor Matt Wilpers are familiar Peloton instructors that have moved over to the Row. New instructors include Olympic rower Alex Karwoski, Katie Wang, and US Rowing Level 2 coach Ash Pryor who wants everyone to start rowing.

Metrics Displayed

STROKE RATE

Stroke Rate is on the bottom right-hand side of the Peloton Row screen. Measured in strokes per minute, or SPM, this is the number of completed strokes you take every minute. Instructors will give a stroke rate target during a session.

PACE

This number is more well known or referred to as Split Time. You should aim to keep your 500-meter pace consistent throughout your workout session. Pace is the speed at which you would be moving through the water if you were rowing in a boat. It is expressed as the number of minutes it would take you to row a boat 500 meters—which means that the faster you go, the lower this number will be.

OUTPUT

Watts refers to the amount of power you expend in a single stroke. Output is measured in WATTS; output is the power you generate with each stroke.

CALORIES AND TOTAL OUTPUT

The smaller numbers in the left corner of the screen are calories and total output. Total output is the formula that determines your position on the leaderboard.

DISTANCE AND STOKES

In the left corner of the screen, there are distance and stroke rates. Measured in meters, distance is how far you have rowed over the course of the class if you were rowing on the water. Strokes are the total number of strokes taken over the course of the class.

What are the User Requirements?

The Peloton Row is designed and tested for user heights between 4'11'' and 6'5'’ (150 - 193 cm) tall. And for a maximum weight of up to 300 lbs. (136 kg) Peloton states this rowing machine is for those aged 16 and over.

PRICE OPTIONS

The Peloton Row costs $2,995 with included delivery and set-up. It has a 12-month limited warranty. There are packages you can purchase that will include dumbbells, a heart rate armband monitor, a water bottle, a workout mat, and yoga accessories. There are three available, $3,270 and $3,520, and $3,570 depending on which one you choose. Financing options are available from Affirm.

The monthly workout subscription All-Access is $44 per month. Peloton All-Access Membership $44/month required with all packages. You can access a variety of workouts from your Peloton Row or with the Peloton App. The subscription membership includes Peloton Bike content along with a wide selection off-the-rower cross-training workout content.

Peloton offers a 30-day at-home trial. If you are not satisfied, Peloton will pick up the rowing machine and provide a refund.

Warranty breaks-out out as follows:

- Frame: 5 years
- Screen: 1 year
- Parts: 1 year
- Labor: 1 year

Overall, the Peloton Warranty is a little weak, we would expect at this price point at least 2 years on the parts and 10 years on the Frame. This is an area where Peloton is not as competitive. We recommend you consider purchasing the extended warranty especially if you have multiple users that row for longer sessions.

Extended warranty pricing for an additional 12 months of coverage is $270; for an additional 27 months of coverage, add $325. All parts and labor for covered repairs are included with extended coverage options.

Monthly Membership (Content): $44/month All-Access

IN THE END ─ Final thoughts

Peloton Row is a Beautifully designed indoor rower with all the hallmarks you would expect from Peloton connected-fitness equipment with a wide rotating 24-inch HD touchscreen and super-comfortable seat supported by studio classes for beginners to advanced rowers.

Peloton has taken the design approach with the Peloton Row to embrace fitness enthusiasts new to rowing. Most individuals can more or less get on a bike and ride, but when it comes to rowing, many may have little to no experience but would like to expand their workout regime. Read why Rowing is Good for You

The price is considerable, but there are financing options to buy a Peloton Row. Peloton Row is a good-looking rowing machine with a sleek, contemporary design which is classic Peloton. The seat is plusher and much more comfortable than most other rowers. The foot straps are sturdy and easy to adjust.

The Peloton Row takes up a good chunk of a room, at 7 feet, 10 inches, 2 feet wide, and 4 feet tall to the top of the display. Luckily, the Row only weighs 156 lbs. if you must move it, you probably can by yourself. A wall mount is included to secure the Row, when upright, whereas with Hydrow this option has an extra charge. More than likely the wall mount is not going to be used as it's a little awkward to get the Row up and vertical, with a handle under the rail to assist (but at 8ft. might hit some lower ceilings) better to leave it down if you can - however, standing the Peloton Row upright is an option.

Peloton Row workouts overall have an upbeat vibe. We did not find them meditative compared with the Hydrow or as challenging and unique as the Nordictrack iFit destination trainer-led rowing sessions, where you can row on the Thames past London's Big Ben or a herd of Elephants drinking at the side of an African river. But in the end, the types of workouts you prefer are a personal choice.

Peloton is building on a small but growing library of well-produced live-streaming and on-demand classes starring Peloton celebrity instructors with plenty of competition on the leaderboard if you are the competitive type.

If you love Peloton on the Bike or Tread, you most likely will love the Peloton Row workouts. Rowing is a fantastic complement to the bike and will give you an intense full-body cardio-driven workout exercising over 85% of your body’s muscles.

Peloton Row instructors are mostly in a studio, and stroke at a higher intensity than Hydrow, especially with the Bootcamp sessions or when you try to be towards the top of the leaderboard. There are some scenic rows available you can do on your own, but no live on-the-water-rowing-session like Hydrow offers.

If you are a Peloton Fan, the Row is something to consider expanding your fitness options. The subscription cost is included if you already have an All-Access membership with your Peloton Bike or Tread. (Full reviews) We highly recommend trying the Row if you are already into Peloton.

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