CONCEPT2

'Concept2' is a manufacturer of rowing equipment. They are probably most well known for their indoor rowing machine, which can be found in most gyms and are considered the standard training machine for world-class rowers. They also manufacture oars for sculling and sweep rowing (under the name ''Dreissigacker''). Their products are shipped worldwide.

Contents

History

Oars

Indoor rower

Indoor rowing rankings

External links

History

The company was founded in 1976 by rowing brothers Dick and Pete Dreissigacker. The two brothers trialed for the American team for the 1976 Summer Olympics and whilst preparing they modified their oars with carbon fibre in an attempt to go faster. When they failed to be selected for the team they founded the company and started selling carbon fibre oars. Their first office was in the back of a bread truck until they bought a farm in Morrisville, Vermont, USA.

Oars

The Dreissigacker oars were well received by the rowing community and they quickly established themselves as one of the major players in the market. In 1991, the company came out with asymmetrical "hatchet" oar blades. These new oar blades improved a teams performance by 1 or 2% and the blades became popular so quickly that by 1992, most of the Olympic crews were using the style new oars. Many elite rowers use Concept2 oars and together with Croker oars make up the majority of oars used in international competition.

Indoor rower

In 1981, the brothers had the idea of making an indoor rowing machine (the ''Model A'') made mainly from bicycle parts. At the time the indoor machines on the market cost $3,000 but the brothers (with help from friend Jon Williams) sold theirs for $600. The product was an instant success and has been revised over the years with the ''Model B'' (1986), ''Model C'' (1993), ''Model D'' (2003) and the ''Model E'' (2006). Ever since its inception the company has only produced and sold one model of indoor rower at any time but starting in September 2006 it began selling the Model E as well as offering 2 separate upgraded versions of the Model D. Indoor rowing machines are commonly used when rowing ''Erg Tests''. Concept 2 Model E machines are typically used for indoor rowing events such as BIRC or CRASH-B.

Indoor rowing rankings

The company facilitates a community of home-based rowers who maintain online logs hosted on the Concept2 web site. Their performances are ranked in real-time by the Concept2 software. The total number of meters logged in 2006 exceeded 6.5 billion, logged by over 34,000 active members—an average of over 189,000 meters per member. There are hundreds of clubs (e.g. Free Spirits Rowing) that rowers may affiliate to with when registering with the ranking system.

External links

★ Concept2 Official Site

★ Concept2 UK Official Site

★ Concept2 Over The Years

★ What a Concept

★ Concept2 Online Ranking and Logbook