The Peloton Rower is now available for preorder! Check out our first look review here.
If you’ve been to Peloton’s website recently, you’ve probably noticed the new banner that displays, “The Countdown Begins” with a picture of their rower. Known widely for their premium home use stationary bikes and treadmills, Peloton Interactive, Inc is venturing into their third piece of high-end equipment with their first rower. Here’s everything we know.
The long awaited Peloton Rower has a sleek design, and attached touchscreen for connected fitness content.
The Peloton Rower Is Now Available For Preorder
Peloton now has the Peloton Row listed on their website with the option to preorder the rower. The rower is priced starting at $2,995 and is “estimated to ship in early December”, according to Peloton. Peloton is including delivery and set-up, and Peloton Row comes with a 12-month limited warranty. This warranty is less extensive than what other rowers like the NordicTrack RW900 Rower comes with. A full view of the Peloton Rower, including a list of specs is now available as well when you sign up to preorder.
Peloton Teased The Rower At Homecoming
Peloton kicked off their Homecoming by confirming that “rowing is coming” in a post on their Instagram. A video shortly followed showing Peloton’s instructor, Adrian Williams, using the rower. From what we can see, the rower is primarily black with red accents and Peloton’s logo. It looks really sleek and minimal which is on trend with the rest of their equipment.
The rower has a large attached touchscreen and singular monorail. It is most likely a magnetic rower by the looks of it and from Peloton stating that it is quiet. It has a belt drive system that connects the handle to the flywheel. This will help make the rower quiet to use, too. A red line extends down the middle of the belt, and also across the foot straps. The foot straps could be velcro, but it’s impossible to know for sure in the photos we’ve seen. The handle does appear to have a cut-out in the center for single-arm rowing though. There is also a water bottle holder and potentially another small pocket for storage on the rower. This is a thoughtful addition, although I hope it doesn’t get in the way while in the catch position.
For storing, the Peloton Rower will be able to be stored upright. One of Peloton’s instructors, Kirsten Ferguson posted on her Instagram story a Peloton Rower in the background stored upright. There even appears to be a handle mounted to the bottom of the monorail for you to lower and raise the rower. Like other rowers, Peloton Row has front transportation wheels.
Other speculations is that the handle might have control buttons, maybe for the resistance and/or navigating the leaderboard. It is also speculated that this rower might provide form correction in real-time and a form summary after each class.
Peloton Rowing Machine In The Peloton App
Much of the speculation comes from researchers who have decoded new information in the Peloton app. Some hints in the code refer to a rower and even code names for the rumored rower. There are also news reports that have come out with updates. The code name is Project Caesar.
The rower has a large touch screen like their other equipment that features outdoor and indoor rowing classes that are led by instructors. It sounds like the classes will be similar to their current classes, but with rowing content.
There are even rumors of outdoor classes filmed on the water, too. This is how Hydrow’s content is filmed.
It has also come out that Bradford Stevens who is the former Head Coach for the Men’s Crew Team at the University of South Florida, and the owner and director of Viking Row LLC, has been working for Peloton since June of 2021. With his extensive background in rowing, it makes sense that he has been advising Peloton while they develop their rower.
More specifically, Stevens’ LinkedIn profile mentions that he has been assisting with “inital training and on-camera training for existing and new talent”. By the sounds of it, we can expect to see new trainers, as well as some of the already beloved trainers from Peloton, lead guided rowing classes.
Along with Adrian Williams, Matt Wilpers is a possible current Peloton instructor that will lead rowing classes. Possible new comers to Peloton’s lineup of star-studded instructors are Olympian rower Alex Karwoski, Katie Wang, and Ashley Pryor. With Peloton most likely including Peloton Rower Bootcamp classes on their schedule in addition to their other bootcamp classes, I’m sure Katie Wang will be teaching some of those from her experience at Barry’s Bootcamp.
Peloton Rower In New Facility Plans
Another hint that users have found is in the outline drawing of Peloton’s newest facility that will be built in Ohio, The Peloton Output Park Factory. Peloton announced the plans back in May of 2021. In the outlines for this new factory, users can see a clear section planned out for a testing room for a new rowing machine. It was recently announced however that Peloton removed the production of this factory in order to restructure their spending plan.
That being said, we are under the impression that Peloton has had a rowing machine in the works for the past several months if not years. Peloton Digital, along with their bikes and treadmill, have been extremely popular the past several years. We expect the rower to make similar waves in the news but are curious to see how it actually performs compared to the best rowing machines on the market.
Comparing Other Popular Rowing Machines
We are excited to see what kind of content comes out on Peloton Digital for the highly anticipated rowing machine. We have already seen amazing and engaging content come out with products such as the Hydrow where you have a world-class or Olympic athlete coaching you on the water. Hydrow has really nailed down content and training on their rowing machine, it’s engaging and keeps you motivated and moving. Peloton is going to have their work cutout for them when it comes to content.
Another company that is creating unique content on their rowing machine is Ergatta. Ergatta uses a waterrower with an attached touchscreen but it comes with a twist. Instead of studio or on the water classes, all of the training content has been gamefied. This is another way to keep you engaged and motivated on your rowing machine where you can compete in games or even race against other users online.
Smart connected fitness is increasing in popularity and brands are constantly innovating and creating new ways for consumers to stay active and healthy at home. Brands like Hydrow and Ergatta have innovated and brought great products to market so we are excited to see how Peloton responds with their rowing machine.
High Demand For Home Gym Equipment
Home gym equipment is in high demand–with no sign of a slowdown–and rowers are popular pieces of equipment. Throwing their hat into the ring with a rowing machine is common sense. People with Peloton treadmills and bikes are looking for ways to cross-train. Rowers are often the next piece of equipment people get to round out their collection.
Rowing has many benefits that athletes need. It’s easy on the joints, provides a full-body workout, and builds overall strength and fitness. Other benefits include:
- Improved stamina
- Improved posture
- High-calorie burn
- An excellent option for rowers to train in the bad weather
New Subscribers
Peloton can also add a whole new class of athletes to drive their subscription memberships higher, adding to their bottom line. Peloton hopes to diversify and compete with indoor industry leader Hydrow, which streams live classes on the water from places like London and Miami.
Currently, Peloton has three live studios and a fourth “mystery” studio. The live studios include one for their bike, one for the Tread, and one for Yoga. The speculation is that the fourth mystery studio will be a rowing studio.
Peloton Management has so far declined to confirm any production or release dates, though most in the industry expect production to begin sometime in 2022 because of delays from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Right now, we just have to wait like the rest of the world for word from Peloton. We’ll keep our eyes and ears open and continue to update our readers here as soon as we hear anything.
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