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The Ergatta Rower gamifies your rowing experience to entertain you and make you a better rower. Continue reading this review of the Ergatta Rower to decide if this beautiful wooden rower is best for you.
Updated: February 28, 2024
The Ergatta Rower wants a place in your bedroom or living room. It's a beautifully designed wooden rower with high-tech, fun training options. The Ergatta is perfect for rowers who want a lot of immersive training content. The Ergatta Rower is a WaterRower with an added smart display. The Ergatta Rower is a unique combo of style and performance. The training platform blends a fun and competitive atmosphere to appeal to athletes regardless of their training motivation.
The frame is one of the standout features on the Ergatta Rower. The frame is sustainably sourced cherrywood. There are other wood options available if you choose a WaterRower and upgrade to the Ergatta package. The wood does not require too much extra maintenance. Simply, wipe down the Ergatta Rower after each workout.
The Ergatta uses a WaterFlywheel. It has two paddle-like blades to push the water as you row. The generated noise is pleasant. If you like the ocean wave noises, you might actually enjoy the sound the Ergatta Rower makes.
The Ergatta has a flattened, oval-shaped handle. The handle is on the firmer side, but I did not find it uncomfortable. It might not be the best handle for users new to rowing.
The Ergatta uses a belt drive. The handle is connected to the strap, which creates smooth rowing strokes. The tension is lost at the finish, so the recovery phase is a bit more active compared to a rower like the AssaultRower Elite.
The Ergatta uses dual rails. They are wooden, but the edge that the seat slides along is covered with metal for increased durability. The dual rail system is easy to adjust to and was just as smooth to glide along as a single monorail.
The seat is firm, but it is molded. Like the handle, it may not be the most comfortable for beginners, but I did not experience any soreness or discomfort while rowing. The Ergatta seat height is very low. The rower sits on the ground on rubber feet, which raise the seat to a height of only twelve inches. I strongly recommend users with mobility concerns opt for the Rise Bundle. This bundle provides legs to raise the Ergatta Rower by eight inches. I was not able to test this option for stability, but I believe the height will be a lot more comfortable for many users.
The foot stretchers are some of the most spacious ones I have used. The wooden foot area is about 16 ½” x 4 ½”, while the foot stretchers allow you to take up as much or as little of the space as you need. The adjustment is a little trickier than on other rowers. It can be hard to get a precise placement; it took me a couple of tries. Fortunately, if you are the only user on your rower, you won’t have to deal with this difficulty often.
The Ergatta Rower can be stored horizontally or vertically. The frame is very light, so it is easy to maneuver. There are two wheels at the front of the rower for moving it around. One person can easily move it, so you can store it and use it almost anywhere you like. The Ergatta is quite visually pleasing, so you may not have to move it far! It takes up very little room when stored upright and does not need to be secured against a wall.
The Ergatta Rower’s resistance is set by your effort level. Row harder or faster for a more intense workout. However, you can also change the amount of resistance created by the water by putting more or less water in the reservoir. Unless you want to change the water level, you do not need to change the water. To keep it fresh, Ergatta recommends adding a purification tablet to the water every six months. These tablets are free for Ergatta owners for life.
Ergatta recommends rowers are filled to the level 17 marker indicated by the sticker on the side of the tank. There are also indications for the maximum fill level. The Ergatta rower comes with a siphon for transferring water easily into the tank. You don’t have to worry about pouring water directly into the hole at the top of the rower.
The Ergatta Rower’s features center around its 17-inch screen and premium content. The rower itself is a WaterRower brand machine, but Ergatta has outfitted the traditional wooden water rower to take it to the next level. The smart features make rowing on the Ergatta exciting and effective. The Ergatta is a nice break away from the traditional black and gray rower look without compromising on any features.
The Ergatta Rower has a 17-inch HD touchscreen display. It's easy to navigate, and the content updates often. If you are having trouble loading content after an update, you might need to turn the screen off and back on. Outside of updates, the screen does not lag and loads very quickly. The graphics are clear and crisp. The size should be good for most users to view and navigate. The tricky thing about rower screens is that bigger is not always better. You are moving close and far away from the screen repeatedly, so a screen that is too large or close can be uncomfortable. The Ergatta’s screen size is perfect.
The speakers are rear-facing, so the noise is a little muffled compared to front-facing speakers. Of course, the rear-facing speakers create a cleaner aesthetic for the Ergatta Rower, but at the cost of sound quality.
The Ergatta Rower is Bluetooth. You can connect a heart rate monitor, headphones, or an Apple Watch. Making the connection is easy and allows you to train quietly. The Ergatta has up-to-date music stations, so you don’t want to miss out on listening to some tunes to help you get in the zone.
Looking at the Ergatta Rower with no idea what kind of content it provides, my first impression was one of elegance, class, and refinement. The gentle whooshing of the water was a nice change from my more recent testing of air and magnetic resistance rowers. Yet, I found myself having a completely different experience than imagined. The Ergatta transported me to a colorful world where I strove to crush my rivals. I always intend to leisurely row, so I can spend a long time rowing for each session I test a product. Of course, I like to test a rowing machine’s limits, but in a controlled manner. Instead, I was competing in the Ergatta’s games against other users, gasping for breath at the end of every interval.
The Ergatta Rower felt like it shouldn’t be able to keep up with my intense competition. Surely something as refined as this wooden rower would not tolerate my inelegant rowing. Wrong. It held up. The Ergatta is designed for rowing of all kinds. Its water resistance provides a pleasant and more natural rowing feel. The Ergatta effectively balances appearance and performance.
After training on the Ergatta Rower, I did have a few concerns about the limitations of its design. First, its lightweight construction doesn’t seem as sturdy as heavier steel options. It is less forgiving of bad form or an unlevel surface. Second, it may be more susceptible to damage than a steel rower. If you have a dog that could chew the rower or kids who might want to draw on it, the Ergatta’s nice aesthetics could easily be ruined. That’s not to say that users with young children or pets shouldn’t use the Ergatta Rower, but it is worth considering for some users. I have moved a lot in my life, so I would be wary of scratching the wood or cracking the water tank during a move.
Now, back to why you should want the Ergatta Rower. I, overall, loved my experience on the Ergatta. I appreciate how easy it is to transport and set up. The onscreen content is so much fun, and I would be proud to display it in my home. Most importantly, I got a killer workout. For me, it is always a good sign when I am motivated by a piece of equipment to push harder than I initially intended. It means it is an effective motivator. The Ergatta Rower can’t force you to work out, but it poses a convincing argument!
The Ergatta Rower is essentially a retrofitted WaterRower, so it really needs to shine when it comes to content to steer you away from just the WaterRower. It does just that. Ergatta’s content is great. Its graphics are sleek and visually appealing. The training doesn’t try to be a remixed edition of Peloton that so many other brands are creating. Instead, Ergatta skips the instructor-led classes and offers gamified training programs.
The games taught me a lot about rowing that I didn’t learn from trainer-led classes. One of my favorite games on the Ergatta, Pulse, offered a separate stroke per minute and power targets while in Hybrid mode. This mode is challenging and skill-based. It was not only fun; it helped me improve my rowing technique. Ergatta excels at combining games with performance. The games help you learn control over your power output and your stroke rate. You aren’t always rewarded for training the hardest but the most precisely.
Some of the games are competitive, allowing you to train against other Ergatta members. Ergatta does a good job of leveling the playing field between rowers of different abilities or grouping you with members from your own training class. Thus, the competition doesn’t feel so competitive that it will scare some users off. It is pure fun regardless of Ergatta’s use of the word ‘rivals’ to describe other members of its service. I never felt intimidated, only pushed to reach new goals.
For users not sure about the gaming experience or wanting more variety, Ergatta also has Scenic Rowing options. The graphics are not as good as those found on the NordicTrack or Hydrow Rowers. Yet, it is nice that Ergatta offers a variety. Users can also ‘Just Row’ with a basic workout metric screen or create custom interval workouts.
The Ergatta Rower can be used without content. The rower is mainly designed to support Ergatta’s membership platform. Fortunately, Ergatta does offer a few features for non-members, like continued access to the music stations, the Strava integration, workout data storage, and Bluetooth connectivity. I appreciate Ergatta’s willingness to allow users to use some touchscreen features, unlike many other brands on the market. However, for users considering Ergatta, I think the membership experience is truly worth it.
The Ergatta Rower is as visually pleasing as it is effective at delivering a workout. The Ergatta Rower feels like the perfect response to the rugged steel constructions popular in the rowing community. The Ergatta Rower’s content is fun, gamified, and improves your skills. Athletes looking for a quiet machine with good content that won’t be an eyesore will love the Ergatta Rower. The low seat and close pedals create a more realistic rowing experience. Ergatta upgrades the WaterRower in the best way, taking everything you could love about the rowing machine and adding great content to match.
