Kettler Favorit Rowing Machine

This is a far cry from the flimsy rowing machine of my collge days. It assembled easily, it is solid as a rock, and I would buy it again. No regrets. Adjusting the tension just isn't as difficult as people have made it out to be. Again, quality piece of equip.!

I admit I didn't want to spend a lot for a rowing machine, so the Kettler Favorit seemed a good compromise. Shipment was free and item arrived quickly and in perfect condition. The Kettler Favorit is built of high quality, well-designed, sleek machinery (German-made after all). It's solid and quiet. The instructions are written in several languages; just seek out yours. If you can't find your language, you aren't looking close enough. For the price, this is a very nice machine. As to the alleged cumbersome adjustment of the rowing bars (seen in other reviews), I disagree. The trick is to slowly pull the bars toward you/back of the machine to an upright position before raising or lowering the clamps. Don't attempt to adjust the clamps when the rowing bars are parallel with to the ground. I'm not unusually strong and found the clamps easy to slide up or down as long as the bars are upright. Once the clamps are tightened, they stay in place. Pulse ear clip: This is the only f... Read more

This rowing machine was fairly easy to assemble, however picturing the exact size of screws, nuts, bolts, etc. would be very helpful. The reason for 3 stars is the computer unit's lack of functionality. The directions for use are horrible and confusing. We still have not been able to get it to work properly. I emailed Kettler and they responded within 2-3 days. Unfortunately, their response was of no help. They said the computer unit automatically begins working when rowing begins and offered no other assistance. Numbers do appear at times, but the information displayed is inconsistent. The display doesn't automatically come on all the time, and the methods for using the unit's control buttons are not explained anywhere (including Kettler's email). Again, the rowing maching works great, but the computer stinks.

Had no problem putting it together and have found no problem with the tightness of tension adjusting on the "oars" mentioned by previous reviewer - if anything they are very hard to release to slide up or down. So if sharing this machine with a different build quick adjustment day-to-day would be hard as you have to pry the plastic apart with a screwdriver. However still a vast improvement on my previous machine of 20 years. Shipping was a problem as the cardboard box and packing not heavy enough for the usual drop off but it survived even that!

This rower seems to be well built and very sturdy. However, buyer beware, the design of this machine contains one major, VERY IMPORTANT flaw having to do with the resistance adjustment. The resistance is controlled by tightening knobs on the side of the machine at the bottom of each individual piston. Loosen the knob and you are able to move the bottom of the piston up (to increase the resistance) or down (to decrease the resistance). Regardless of how much I tighten each knob the resistance always loosens up during my workout. Sometimes one side will come loose before the other, producing an uneven workout. Eventually both sides loosen and the workout is much too easy. Which begs the question... Why didn't Kettler catch this problem during the testing phase of this product? I am extremely disappointed and would not recommend this product until Kettler comes out with a fix or different design with respect to the resistance adjustment.