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Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing

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Re: Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing

#12

Post by dumbfoundded »

I always felt a large missing aspect was the realism as it relates to water. In particular, on a machine you neither feather nor feel variable resistance due to how vertical your blade is. There are a lot of specific details that the machine doesn't capture that I think make the actual experience on the water much more thoughtful than just pulling as hard and fast as you can.

Re: Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing

#13

Post by AWildC182 »

Long time high level rower here. Why make a new rowing machine when Concept 2 is the calibration standard all athletes use and has a relatively open USB interface?

For those not in the know, rowing machines all have different calibrations. C2 is the standard because they're very consistent across machines and are by far the best made allowing for many thousands of hours of use without failures. Most experienced rowers won't touch anything other than a C2.

Edit: reading further, the 'moat' here appears to be electrically controlled 100lb high resistance settings. Be VERY careful with this. It's well established that most non-trained athletes will hurt themselves with this feature as it's a common trope on C2 machines. The rowing posture can be rather dangerous for high weight if misused.

Re: Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing

#14

Post by candiddevmike »

FullNameAndy wrote: post #7
hagibborim wrote: post #2

I have a Concept 2 -- how can I incorportate your product into my workout?

A huge part of our experience is the electronically controlled resistance that adds up to 100+ lbs of resistance. Our high-intensity games and strength content, which differentiates us, requires this and the reason why we opted to build our own rower.

Also concept2 owner. I think it's a miss not having some offering for existing rowers--these are not cheap devices, most people love their current one, and concept2's build quality has created a huge moat for them.

Better to compete on software/integration instead of hardware as it makes your offering a niche player in an already niche market.

Re: Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing

#16

Post by madaxe_again »

AWildC182 wrote: post #13

Long time high level rower here. Why make a new rowing machine when Concept 2 is the calibration standard all athletes use and has a relatively open USB interface? For those not in the know, rowing machines all have different calibrations. C2 is the standard because they're very consistent across machines and are by far the best made allowing for many thousands of hours of use without failures. Most experienced rower…

This was my query - it’s almost impossible to replace the concept 2, as it’s the de facto standard for splits and 2k times etc.

Add to that, I recall us racing the ergs on a virtual lake on a tv as far back as 2000 or so - made doing 2ks way more interesting, as you could compete with the rest of the crew directly.

Re: Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing

#17

Post by FullNameAndy »

alangibson wrote: post #8
FullNameAndy wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the team has done an amazing job at making it look like we are pretty mature. I can count everyone on two hands.

I really feel your pain on learning the manufacturing landscape, especially the point about manufacturers not being motivated by money. I'm about to launch something much less complicated than yours and I don't know how many times I've yelled 'do these people not like money?' after hanging up the phone.

Yea. No joke. I literally offered $25K on top to push our delivery up 4 weeks (beats flying it all over). They felt so disrespected I was ashamed.

Re: Launch HN: Aviron (YC W21) – High-Intensity Peloton for Rowing

#19

Post by shmatt »

Apple is currently the only company in the fitness world that can afford to force hardware and software coupling. You are not Apple.

Peloton, which you compare yourself to, allows me to use my Life Fitness bike with their platform, and they even charge me about 70% less than they charge their own bike buyers.

Hopefully this will soon sink in, there is a huge market of people who already invested thousands in their workout gear, and all they need is your platform. Plus its always interesting to hear how usable the hardware is, if I stop paying or if your platform goes offline. Every company handles this a bit differently

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