Totally agree @Lars
Concept2 owner here…please add my vote for rowing.
Adding my vote for rowing / Waterrower.
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Me too. Add my vote for Rowing.
Was disappointed when they did the survey and then shelved rowing. What did they expect when they survey a proportion of zwift paying members who of course are super into cycling (and I would guess few of them rowers) and ask would you like us to develop rowing? Do you mind if we throw some of your cycling development resources at rowing…? No prizes for guessing the outcome!
There is a massive market of rowers out there, survey them and I’m sure you’ll get a completely different answer.
I’ve just invested in the Waterrower/smartrow (power meter) and I’m back to staring at numbers. There are a few apps out there but not worth the subscription imo.
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Waterrower/Smartrow owner here. I vote for rowing added to the Zwift world.
Waterrower/Smartrow. Would love to Zwift with it.
Maybe we need a reminder that there is a way to row on Zwift:
Zwiftinsider: Rowing on Zwift
It works like charm for me, I´ve been rowing about 3000 km on Zwift and still enjoy it every time.
It is true that you can power your running and cycling avatar by rowing - and yes works a charm. We were ‘teased’ with native rowing support with an actual rowing avatar.
This, unfortunately has been shelved, but would have nicely opening up triathlon style event possibilities.
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Thanks for that linked, works fine, my phone disconnects at times, but I guess that’s related to the wifi dropping or something other magical going on… who knows!?
Hey Paul,
I’m the PainSled/RowedBiker developer. I have found that drops are often related to having too many other 2.4GHz WiFi or Bluetooth “classic” devices (headphones, usually) in the area. If possible, moving WiFi devices to 5GHz can help. Send an email to the support address if it keeps dropping and we’ll sort it.
James
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What one could say is Zwift has missed the boat 
Sadly I think not the only one to have been missed , they road the crest of the wave of last year to get some investment but failed to use that to improve core product , instead are off chasing some Pelotonesque hardware project that has all the hallmarks of being no more than a folly . Especially since there appears to be no market for one player in this space let alone two .
They are now in debt to the bean counters so forget anything we want getting done when growth turns to shrinking which it inevitably will do not least because of the changing nature of the world politic but because Zwift didnt invest in (or even listen to) any of the real features users wanted ,
Best we can hope for is the investors will call time and force a sale and hopefully someone with a vision more aligned to the user base will take over.
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Bring back this feature team please. I know people who’d move to see this added and are not zwift users yet. Asking cyclists if building a feature for non cyclists is important to them is a bad concept.
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I would also like to get some basic rowing on zwift with separate distance and metrics counting.
Pls continue development.
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Are we really saying Peloton is better? O_o
Well, since this thread has been necro-posted, I’ll chime in, bullets for brevity.
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I had a Concept2 RowErg and wanted Zwift rowing to happen. I gave up, sold the RowErg, and bought a smart trainer and bicycle.
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I think I’d have eventually switched anyway, even if Zwift Rowing existed - there is only so much training volume you can sustain on a rowing machine where a bicycle lets you spin merrily away for hours. (context: I’ve done a rowing marathon just to say I did, use RowErgs at the gym for nearly a decade and had my own at home for about 3 years)
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Rowing as a “studio class” is even more niche than spin classes. On a bike, you don’t really need coaching on form, you just spin. Not having your form dialled in on a rower - inefficiency aside - can lead to injury.
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Zwift has a lot of work to do to on their core service - complete code refactor, new content like the UI, world building etc. It makes ZERO sense for them to invest in a TINY market that offers poor ROI.
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Peloton is such a different a service from Zwift they barely warrant comparison. I’m sure Zwift has Peloton on their radar but they’re in no danger of losing their core userbase no matter what Peloton does. (disclosure: I’ve used a Peloton bike briefly, and tried their other fitness classes)
From the linked article:
“We’re pricing it for what it is. It is truly a premium experience, and it’s priced as a premium experience,” says Tom Cortese, a Peloton cofounder and the chief product officer of the company. “I mean, this is a conversation we’ve had a lot over 10 years. When we came to the market with the Peloton bike, I used to hear, ‘I could buy a bike for $250 on Amazon.’ Great, go buy a bike for $250 on Amazon. The value of Peloton Row is, we believe, unparalleled in the market.”
OK, so you don’t want it. That’s fair enough.
I still do. Like you I’ve done marathons on the C2. Three hours on the erg isn’t really much harder than 3 hours on the bike, once you’re used to it - but I almost never spend 3 hours on my bike in Zwift anyway. Barely ever more than 2.
Most of my erg workouts were 30 minutes or 10k at most, so personally I’m not really concerned about how long I can sit on my erg in Zwift. I just want to be able to do it because bike every time is boring.
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@Daren i don’t have a row machine myself, but could see it being more enjoyable with fellow towers in Zwift. Small population for sure but Zwift would be the first. Perhaps it could convert cyclists or vice versa. Having a triathlon type approach would be fun, but the core cycling has a lot to focus on and with RGT getting some begged for features in virtual cycling I think Zwift will need to keep pace to stay ahead in cycling. They put little yo no effort into running and I think all three could play lovely together down the road. Heck lots of new beaches to row in now and if Watopia and Makuri became the two regular worlds with one rotating guest you could row all day without any hacks
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I would love rowing to be added to Zwift. There are so few options for virtual rowing out there that Zwift would dominate the market.
Bring it home Zwift!
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