Peloton Rower Review (2024) | BarBend

There are two types of people in this world: those who Peloton, and those who think, “I can’t spend my life’s savings, even if it is on one of the best rowing machines.” Yes, the Peloton Row costs a pretty penny — a substantial $3,295 upfront fee followed by a monthly $44 subscription to access the Peloton app — but it’s a top-of-the-line product with premium programming and technology. The Peloton Bike took the world by storm, the Peloton Tread followed on its heels, and in this Peloton Rower review, we’re tackling everything you want to know about Peloton’s newest addition. 

I’ve done my fair share of CrossFit rowing workouts on the Concept2 and also got a chance to try out the Peloton Row by visiting a local showroom. To provide the clearest understanding of my findings I’ve utilized the BarBend equipment testing methodology, providing a score between 1 (bad) to 5 (super) in areas like programming, price, durability, and more. While I can’t recommend this pricey rower to anybody I know — perhaps I need wealthier friends — I do wish I had a generous benefactor to buy one for me. Read on for our full Peloton Row review. 

Peloton Row

The Peloton Row utilizes the brand’s library of trainer-led workouts for an engaging at-home fitness experience. Additionally, this rower can be great for beginner athletes thanks to real-time form feedback notes that can help you make each stroke as efficient as possible.

Main Takeaways

• Form feedback helps keep your rowing form dialed in
• View trainer-led classes, scenic rowing, and entertainment apps on the 23.8-inch HD touchscreen
• Monthly All-Access subscription is needed to get the most out of this machine

Peloton Row Specs

The Peloton Row is Peloton’s newest addition, bringing all of the features (and more) of the brand’s indoor bike and treadmill to a rowing machine. With a sleek — dare I say sexy? — and ergonomic design, a quiet workout experience, and technology that helps keep you informed and connected, users can tackle a full-body workout from the comfort of their own home.

When I hopped on this rower to test it out, the first thing that stood out to me was the Form Assist technology. I’ve done more than 100 rowing workouts over the years, but I’ve never felt 100% confident that I was doing the movement correctly. However, with Form Assist, which presents as a little avatar illustration of my body, the Peloton Row showed me what part of my body wasn’t performing with proper technique.

Similar to the Peloton Bike and Tread, this rower provides a large and luxurious 23.8-inch HD touchscreen. With the $44 a month All-Access membership to the Peloton app, you’ll have the ability to stream on-demand classes and boot camps with motivational instructors, zone out while you paddle across scenic bodies of water with Scenic Row, or tune into your favorite entertainment apps to stream movies, shows, sporting events, and more. You will, however, need additional subscriptions to access the streaming services. 

The Peloton Row’s functionality is top-of-the-line, going toe-to-toe with some of the best cardio machines on the market. The touchscreen keeps you informed on the metrics of your workout, tracking every stroke, every calorie burned, and every bead of sweat (ok, not really, but maybe in the future). Plus, you’ll have access to the wildly popular leaderboard, so you can see how you stand up against the competition. 

“Smart rowing machines are more expensive [than other types of rowers] and usually require a monthly subscription to access full functionality,” notes Amanda Capreitto, BarBend expert contributor and certified personal trainer. So, if you’re in the market for perhaps the smartest rower in the biz, be prepared to sell your soul — or at least hand over an initial $3,295 plus the monthly $44 All-Access membership fee.

Who Should Use / Who Shouldn’t Use Peloton Row

After testing 20 of the most popular rowing machines on the market — including the Peloton Row — here’s who we think would benefit from investing in the Peloton Row and who should consider other options.

Recommended for:

• Beginners looking for both motivational classes and help with their rowing form
• Individuals who have the Peloton Bike or Tread and are already subscribed to Peloton’s All-Access membership
• Athletes who appreciate Peloton’s community atmosphere

Not Recommended for:

• Those who aren’t interested in streaming trainer-led rowing classes and programming
• Anyone on a tight budget
• People living in small spaces

Our Experience Training With the Peloton Row

“Once reserved for rowing athletes as a way to train indoors, rowing ergs have made it mainstream, and that’s for a lot of good reasons,” says Amanda Capritto, BarBend expert contributor and certified personal trainer. “Rowing is an effective form of exercise, engaging most of the body’s muscles and significantly working the cardiovascular system.”

We put the Peloton Row through the ringer, testing out both Scenic Row and on-demand HIIT rowing workouts and smooshing all the buttons on the swivel screen to see how difficult or easy it was to navigate settings. Read on to see if this Peloton equipment is worth your hard-earned money.

Form Feedback

Learning how to run and ride a bike are some of the first things we do as children, so it’s normal for many people to feel uncomfortable with their technique while on an indoor rower as opposed to a treadmill or exercise bike. It’s a total-body workout that requires a good amount of coordination, and for many, it may be a new piece of equipment they’re just getting the hang of. 

To help you achieve proper form, Peloton provides Form Assist, which can give you visual cues about how to fix your technique. This cue appears as an animated on-screen body in the upper left corner of the display. The animation mirrors your movements, and any areas that need an adjustment will be highlighted in red. Textual cues are also available. 

So, if your concern about investing in an at-home rower stems from not being confident in how to use a rowing machine, Form Assist has your back (and legs, and arms, and torso). Additionally, after each class, you’ll receive a Form Rating that tells you what percentage of your workout was done with an optimal stroke. We scored this feature a 5 out of 5. 

Peloton App Rowing Content, Classes, and Coaching

The Peloton app’s programming is truly where this rower shines — and just like with the brand’s Bike and Tread, you’ll find live classes where you can work out in real time with trainers, friends, and others in the community. If you’ve already spent time with the app’s cardio, strength, and mobility classes, you’re likely aware that the music, production value, energy, and coaching are unmatched in the fitness app space. 

While not every coach is for every athlete, there’s a packed roster so you can find the right vibe for you. Whether you want energetic, supportive coaching from Denis Morton or Matt Wilpers — BarBend editorial member Randall Colburn’s favorites — or appreciate the humorous, easy-going vibes of Adrian Williams, there’s probably a coach with the perfect attitude and music taste to suit your preferences. That said, Peloton Row currently only has six rowing coaches.

What I really enjoyed during testing was my scenic row, which was definitely something I could see myself doing if I wasn’t in the mood to listen to anyone yapping. Scenic rows aim for deeper immersion by (virtually) transporting you to an actual body of water. I was out on this large peaceful lake and the pace of my row dictated how quickly my boat moved through the water. If you want this experience with some guidance on form, effort, and motivation, there are also guided scenic rows with trainers leading you. We scored Peloton’s dynamic programming a 5 out of 5.

Technology

The app’s user interface is the same on the rower as it is on the Peloton Bike or Tread. This app, which requires a Wi-Fi connection to function, provides users with a large library of live and on-demand classes. And thanks to the swiveling HD touchscreen, which can rotate 45 degrees in either direction, you can also take advantage of the app’s off-rower warm-ups and strength workouts. 

Perhaps my favorite part about fitness tech such as this is that it tracks your metrics, providing stats like strokes per minute, calories burned, pace, output, and distance. It can even pair with compatible Bluetooth heart rate monitors to keep track of your heart rate and provide you with a Strive Score, which can help you see how hard you’re working.

The 2.2 audio system has front- and rear-facing speakers that contribute to the studio environment the app works to cultivate. If you need to keep the noise down, you can also opt to connect Bluetooth headphones. The quality of this sound system, in addition to how quiet the rower is while in motion, really impressed me. I was able to hear the instructor on-screen without any problems, and I didn’t even have the audio cranked up.

When your workout is done, you’ll get a post-row screen that provides a ton of workout metrics, details, and information about what muscles you utilized, how your effort compares to previous rows, and more. Technology scored a 5 out of 5.

Resistance and Intensity

Similar to the best air rowing machines, the Peloton Rower utilizes electronically-controlled resistance that increases or decreases based on how hard you drive through your legs and pull in on the handle. The Drag Factor, which is how quickly the flywheel slows between strokes, has 230 micro-adjustments, with a light, medium, and heavy preset that you can choose to work with.

Unlike the Peloton Bike and Tread, you don’t actually adjust the resistance on the Peloton Row. Instead, you make adjustments to Drag Factors. I found adjusting this during a class to be a little annoying. There aren’t quick adjustments on the screen so that you can toggle up or down in the middle of your workout. Instead, I had to stop rowing, navigate to “Settings”, and then to “Drag Factor,” where I found a slider I could drag one way or the other.

In place of using resistance as a way to challenge users, the Peloton instructors work with four intensity levels that are your Personal Pace Targets. You can set these to easy, moderate, challenging, or max before a class.

While I’m accustomed to air rowers like the Concept2 — one of the best rowing machines under $1,000 — where the resistance is primarily dictated by how hard you row, I do wish that the Peloton Row had some more adjustments for resistance. I was hoping to see the kinds of quick-adjust controls on the handle like you’ll find on the Aviron Strong Rower or Echelon-Row S — but no dice. 

Overall, I give the resistance system a 4 out of 5. It would have been a 3.5 out of 5, but the fact that the resistance is super quiet helped me get over the fact that the adjustability wasn’t as impressive as some other offerings.

What to Consider Before Buying the Peloton Row

“Rowing is great for those who want a full body workout and are looking for a form of cardio that is low impact,” says Lauren Keary, BarBend editorial member and former collegiate rower. However, you still have a few areas to mull over before choosing the right rower for you. After testing 20 rowers from top brands, here are some considerations before you bring home any new, shiny fitness equipment.

• Cost: In addition to the $3,295 price tag of the Peloton Row, you’ll also need to consider if you’ll be willing and able to pay the $44 monthly membership for Peloton’s All-Access subscription.
• App Subscription: You can absolutely just row on the Peloton Row, but if you’re not planning on taking advantage of Peloton’s classes, scenic rows, and stat tracking, you (and your bank account) may be better off with a budget machine that doesn’t include a big touchscreen or integration with one of the best workout apps. 
• Type of Workout: “Rowers are versatile pieces of equipment: You can use them for high-intensity interval training and steady-state cardio exercise,” says Amanda Capritto, BarBend expert contributor and certified personal trainer. “They can also be used for some strength-training exercises, like pikes, for added versatility.” Ideally, you’ll want to stream workouts from the Peloton app, so if that’s not what you’re aiming to do, you may want to look elsewhere.
• Space: The Peloton Row takes up 15.7 square feet — about half the size of a queen-sized bed — so make sure you have the space for it in your home gym. (1) “Triple-measure your space to make sure it will fit,” says Capritto. The rower is also capable of vertical storage, but it needs to be attached to the included wall anchors for safety.
• Entertainment: While many pieces of gym equipment with built-in HD touchscreens don’t allow users to access entertainment apps, the Peloton Row makes it easy to boot up Netflix, Disney+, AMC+, YouTubeTV, and more as you row. However, access to these apps is dependent on additional subscriptions.

Peloton Row Vs. Competitors

We know how much of a struggle it can be when looking for the right rower for your home gym. To help you along, we’ve dropped a chart below comparing the Peloton Row with some of our other favorite rowers, both of which feature some of the best rowing apps we’ve tested. 

Ordering and Assembling the Peloton Row

Peloton offers free shipping and delivery, and the brand will send out professionals who will set up your rower in your room of choice. This shipping takes between one and two weeks, and set-up takes about 20 minutes. While this service is offered free of charge, some individuals living in remote areas may be required to pay additional shipping fees.

Places to Buy Peloton Row

You can purchase the Peloton Row directly from the brand’s website, as well as via Amazon.

Brand Reputation and Customer Reviews

Peloton hit the scene in 2012 and took the fitness industry by storm during the pandemic thanks to their exercise bikes and engaging programming. They’ve become beloved for their high-energy coaching, interactive live classes, and supportive community.

The Peloton Row currently has 497 customer reviews on the website, with a 4.5 out of 5 score. Perusing these reviews, it appears as if many of the 5-star reviews love how Form Assist has helped to correct their rowing posture. Many of the 1- and 2-star reviews complain about shipping from the third-party company.

To contact Peloton’s customer service, you can call them at 1-866-679-9129. They’re available every day between 6 a.m. and 12 a.m. ET.

Warranties

The Peloton Row comes with a 12-month limited warranty that covers labor and parts for the touchscreen and other original components. The frame is covered by a 5-year limited warranty for parts. For an additional $299, you can purchase a protection plan that provides total coverage for 48 months. This extended protection offer is only available for those in the continental U.S.

Final Thoughts on the Peloton Row

The Peloton Row offers an impressive combination of high-tech design, immersive steady-state and HIIT workouts, and top-tier coaching that sets it apart from traditional rowing machines. The real-time form feedback, smooth and silent rowing experience, and integration with Peloton’s dynamic programming make it an ideal tool for beginners and seasoned athletes alike. 

However, with this top-tier machine comes a doozy of a price tag. While the Peloton Row provides a solid workout, it’s not necessarily for those who want a simple machine or who aren’t interested in the app’s workout programming and content. But if you’re in the market for a piece of equipment that blends fitness, tech, and entertainment, the Peloton Row may be worth the investment.

Peloton Row FAQs

References

1. Cocreativeinteriors. (2022b, March 17). Standard Furniture Size Guide. CoCreative Interiors. https://cocreativeinteriors.com/2022/03/standard-furniture-size-guide/