How a Simple Rowing Machine Revives the Original Appeal of Home Fitness | Gear Patrol

Deep in the COVID-19 pandemic, home fitness products began resembling gym memberships, with bikes and treadmills and interactive screens attaching one big string: a monthly subscription fee.

For some folks, that works. They log in daily, track stats, develop a parasocial relationship with a hot instructor and get shredded.

But just as gyms make bank off dropouts who don’t actually cancel, these products’ brands host loads of “zombie” accounts, subscribers who’ve stopped pedaling but keep paying. On the flip side are people who do the sample workout over and over without ponying up.

Those folks will love Hydrow’s “limited edition” Core Rower, released in November of 2024.

The Core Rower is just like the Pro Rower but costs $200 less and doesn’t require a membership. 

Hydrow