Concept2

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Concept2 are 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 (under the name Dreissigacker) and the DYNO (a strength training machine using air resistance rather than weights). They commonly used when rowing the dreaded ErgTest.

The company was founded in 1976 by rowing brothers Dick and Pete Dreissigacker. The two brothers trialed for the 1976 US Olympic team 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.

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. (See Rowing terms). 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 new oars.

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), the Model C (1993), Model D (2003) and the newly released 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 will start selling the model E as well as offering 2 separate upgraded versions of the model D.

The company facilitates a thriving community of home-based rowers who maintain online logs hosted on the Concept2 web site. The total number of meters logged in 2004 exceeded 4 billion, logged by over 13,000 active members—an average of over 300,000 meters per member.

[edit] External links

• Concept2 Official Site
• Concept2 UK Official Site
• Concept2 France Official Site
• Reflections on 25 Years of Concept 2
• What a Concept
• History of the Concept 2 Rowing Machine Article on the history and the evolution of the Concept2 rower.