Comments on: Stamina 35-1400 ATS Air Rower

By: Octavious

Octavious — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:34:22 +0000

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.

By: Nuri

Nuri — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:03:02 +0000

I've used this rowing machine for the past 5 months (114 miles) and have not had a problem with it. It provides a good, convenient workout in comfort of my living room. Obviously, there are more expensive machines out there but this one does the job for me.

February 2007 update: I've rowed 288 miles on this machine since May 2005, and it still works fine. My only minor complaint is that it can be slightly noisy.

By: Neena

Neena — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:41:36 +0000

4.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty Good Value
Easy assembly (4 bolts) and simple adjustment. Good action, but a tad easy on the resistance. Overall good value.

By: Denji

Denji — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 02:10:00 +0000

3.0 out of 5 stars
1400 Rower is pretty good
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.

By: Osman

Osman — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:27:13 +0000

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for rowers
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.

By: Bing

Bing — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 23:47:26 +0000

I purchased my Stamina ATS Air Rowing Machine from Mercantila. When my stamina arrived, it was quite a workout just putting it together. I was rather disappointed, as I thought I'd be receiving better quality for 300.00. The components were obviously very cheap. Nonetheless, I was optimistically hoping to get a great workout on the machine.

I did get a great workout on the machine...for 3 weeks. Then one day I was using it, and the chain just exploded. The handle flew up in the air, and there were little pieces of metal all over the floor. Now, I'm not some Hercules or amazon. This was certainly not due to excessive force exerted on the machine. I'm just an out of shape 5' 5" woman. Mercantila was fabulous about it though. They paid to have it returned, and quickly refunded my money.

Supposing the "explosion" of my machine was a fluke, I still wouldn't recommend the Stamina ATS Air Rowing Machine. It was not very sturdy. After I'd been using it about 1.5 weeks, one of the bolts came off and hit the floor in the middle of a workout. When I tightened the bolt back on, it bent the metal. The machine has a pronounced "check" which bothered my shoulders (ironic, since I chose as air rower because it's supposed to be easier on a woman's shoulders than a piston rower) The seat was wobbly. The foot straps had to be tightened repeatedly throughout a workout. Oh, and the most ANNOYING part: every workout, within 5 minutes, one of the grips had slipped off the handle!!! And of course it would take 2-3 minutes to get it back on.

Bottom line: It's not a comfortable machine, and I think it could be downright dangerous for any kind of athlete. I'm a 5 foot 5 inch woman who's out of shape -- I can't imagine a muscular athlete using this thing without extreme irritation in the least, and possibly injury (due to the lack of sturdiness) at the most.