Here are a few manufacturers and dealers of rowing machines: KEENE Co. Ltd. of China is a 15 year old company that sells exercise equipment; Dachang Hui Autonomous County Xiadian Jiamei Sporting Goods Co., Ltd. is also another Chinese name in fitness equipment and Wuyi Patern Imp. &Exp. Co., Ltd., located in Wuyi County, next to Yiwu – the worldwide known “commodity center” in China. Wuyi Patern Imp. & Exp. Co. claims that they specialize in exporting fitness equipment, daily necessities and building materials. Shanghai Sunbanker Sporting Goods Co., Ltd. specializes in the production of fitness equipment in Taiwan. Guangquan Industrial & Development Co., Ltd. was established in 1997. Its main products include fitness equipment. Yang Fit Co., Ltd. is yet another company that specializes in fitness equipment like Shanghai Hankang Fitness Equipment Co., Ltd. and many, many others all over the world.

There are intermediaries like Made In China, Ebay, Ali Baba and others that make comparing prices a piece of cake.

Before buying, you must make sure that the information is from a reliable source and complete because online stores tend to hide faults and if you are buying a rowing machine in person, make sure that the product is not faulty.

Apart from that, all the types individually have downsides. The piston resistance models though cheap and portable shouldn’t even be referred to as rowing machines as rowing requires a sort of elliptical path for the hands to move, which they don’t provide. Also, piston resistance models of rowing machines are mostly fixed. So your legs don’t really do anything, another reason these contraptions should not be called rowing machines. Let’s talk about the brake fly wheel resistance models of rowing machines. They have earned the right to be called rowing machines. But they cost a lot. In the brake flywheel resistance rowing machines, the individual braking types have unique problems. The Air Resistance models of rowing machines are first of all very noisy. I personally do not like noise during my workout. It’s hard enough setting the hell out of me. These require a lot of space. After those there are Water Resistance models of rowing machines that make less noise, but they use water for brakes. As you might imagine, they would need a whole lot of space for the tank, but they do a good job simulating the rowing experience, too bad they require a little lake of their own. The final rowing machine models that use Magnetic Resistance ones have electromagnet in brakes. They are quiet but they are still very expensive and as compared to Water resistance models, they aren’t that good.

So every type has its own problems. Consider yourself warned.

The first factor is the cost if you are going for the cheapest experience. In such a case, you should go for the piston resistance models. Then come the space requirements. All of the three types, namely Magnetic Resistance models, Air Resistance models and Water Resistance models, require a separate and fairly large dedicated space. The piston resistance models can be folded, if only they were better at functionality. Now we’re talking about functionality. The function of a rowing machine is to train rower by simulating rowing. A real rowing experience is only by actually rowing. So all these rowing machines try to get the experience as close to the reality as possible. Or better yet they just train the rower for the real deal by strengthening them. And that can be done by the brake flywheel resistance models. The choice is of the trainer. The Air resistance models apply brakes by air resistance. That means that the harder the rower paddles, the more resistance is offered. So the resistance is totally up to the rower. There are dampers provided to regulate the flow the air though. But the problem with these models is that they are noisy. The Magnetic Resistance models apply brakes by strong electromagnets, so they are pretty quiet. Their resistance is controllable, but the Water Resistance models dominate in providing the best experience. These models are heavy and are less noisy than the air resistance models. They offer the most natural resistance that can be regulated by changing the amount of water in the tank. There are also models that offer measurements like distance travelled, calories burnt, time rowed and etc. Some are even available with facilities to do other exercises too.

But keep in mind your budget and your requirements. And don’t buy it unless you need it.

There are two groups in the types of resistances that rowing machines use. The first is Piston Resistance. This type uses a hydraulic piston that is attached to the handle. The length of the rower handles is usually adjustable but it does not change while rowing. So the trajectory of the handle once fixed remains same throughout the workout. That means that the path that is taken while pulling is the same for returning. Such models usually have a fixed seat position. This means that legs can’t be used to push in these models.

The second group, brake flywheel resistance has three types: Magnetic Resistance, Air Resistance and Water resistance. All the three models are grouped under brake flywheel resistance, as they all have the same basic design, have a flywheel that is connected to the handle with either a chain or rope. And since all of them have a flexible medium by which they connect the handle and the flywheel, therefore it is possible for a rower to have a different trajectory during pull and return. Also all the models offer movable seats. That makes the experience close to reality. In the Magnetic Resistance models, the brake uses an electromagnet that engages the brakes. In these models the braking resistance can be adjusted. In the Air Resistance models, air-fins are used which are like the blades of a fan. The air pressure they take onto themselves causes braking. They use a damper to control the resistance. As they are very similar to fans, their speed is measured through sensors by the dissipated amount of energy. The last type Water Resistance models are very similar to the Air resistance models as they have the same type of fins on the flywheel, but instead of air they use water to resist movement. The flywheel in these models is submerged in water.

The rowing machine is a very good simulator not only for people who are rowers and wish to improve, but also for people who would like to start as practice on the rowing machine will give them a strong base and an idea of what the real thing is like.