I have found myself resent squeezing into the gym after work only to wait to use any of the equipment.
Beyond extending my gym time, it also made me lose faith in how much money I was spending to go to an exercise room full of people.
Therefore, I took the first step in beginning my own home gym space.
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I knew I had to start small and slowly grow the space with all of my favorite workout equipment.
Therefore, I knew I had to start with one of my favorite and most practical machines I could think of, the Concept2 Rowing machine.
Experience
Just as I had hoped, I have such instant accessibility to my Concpet2 rowing machine allows me to work out far more regularly than normal. It was great. I tailored my daily workouts perfectly to fit in with my days.
Unfortunately, after a few weeks of use, I experienced a problem I had never encountered when I used the rowing machine at the gym.
The chain became stiff and tough to handle. During the pulling and retraction, there was an accident sluggishness that because increasingly worse as I used it.
Then it dawned on me that maybe there was some crucial piece of maintenance required that I had never had to worry about before.
You might also want to clean the whole Concept2 rowing machine too.
Read:
Lubricating the Concept2 Rowing Machine Chain: Step By Step
Once I began experiencing the chain issues, I went straight to identify the troubleshooting method I should use to resolve this nasty issue.
I am aware that the pulling chain should be oiled regularly to allow the machine to function optimally.
Just like a bicycle, chains need to be lubricated to avoid friction between the chain links.
As it is used, the lubricating substance wears down and evaporates, which will increase the friction experienced.
How to Lubricate the Concept 2 Chain
The process is very simple and only requires:
- Rowing Machine Chain Oil (Available on Amazon – Recommended) OR
- Bike Chain Lube, OR
- Pneumatic Tool Lubricant (I used this because I found it in my room – easy)
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- To lubricate the chain, it should first be fully extended out of the machine, preferably by the extra pair of hands you have recruited. If you would like to do it alone, you can attach the handle at the end of the rower as shown below.
- Once extended, I used a dry cloth to clean and remove any dirt on the chain.
- The next step is to apply the lubricant generously to the length of the chain. I put a dry cloth under the chain so that the oil won’t drop on the other parts of the rower.
- The last step is to pull and retract the rower chain and make the newly applied lubricant absorbs naturally.
- To lubricate the chain, it should first be fully extended out of the machine, preferably by the extra pair of hands you have recruited. If you would like to do it alone, you can attach the handle at the end of the rower as shown below.
After completing these simple steps, I could go back to using the rower as normal.
Any improvements after the maintenance?
Yes, the chain becomes more smooth and I can feel the same performance just like when it is still new.
At the same time, I also did an experiment to find out if lubricating the rower chain would decrease the noise level of the Concept2 rowing machine.
The answer is No, the noise level would be still the same, but it did improve the overall experience while using this machine.
Now I just have to remember to do this every month or so and the rower function like it was new and just out of the box every time.
