Peloton introduces new rowing machine, Peloton Row

Peloton has added a new machine to its lineup of at-home exercise equipment. The Peloton Row is a rowing machine designed to give you a low-impact, full-body workout that utilizes 86 percent of your muscles.

The Row is available for pre-order as of Sept. 20, and the machine is scheduled to begin shipping in December of this year. It costs $3,195 including delivery and set-up.

This type of machine has been rumored to be coming from Peloton for years — and that's about how long it took to get it developed, too. Ben McCallum, a senior product manager for Peloton, told Mashable the rowing machine felt like a natural step for Peloton’s audience.

What to expect from Peloton Row

The Row features Peloton’s signature swivel screen chock-full of rowing routines and the rest of the Peloton app library. Row owners can take classes from fan-favorite instructors Matt Wilpers and Adrian Williams, plus new instructors Ash Pryor, Alex Karwoski, and Katie Wang.

Design-wise, the Peloton Row has a wide, comfortable seat that you’d actually want to sit in for a 45-minute class, and features a soft, cloth resistance band that keeps noise to a minimum. The handlebar is ergonomically designed to keep your form on point, and it stores neatly on the machine. The device is quite long, but it stores vertically and has a pretty small footprint in that position.

The handlebar has its own storage spot within easy reach. Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable

Row features classes from instructors such as Matt Wilpers and Adrian Williams. Credit: Miller Kern / Mashable

The feature that really sold me on the Peloton Row is its Form Assist, which is basically a calibration specific to your body. When setting up your profile on the rower, you’ll do a few rows while sensors in the flywheel, handlebar, and seat track your body’s movements and position on the machine. During workouts, there’s a little figure of a person that moves with you as you row and will highlight parts of your body in red if you’re doing the motions wrong. This is a really cool feature for beginners because rowing is not as intuitive as running or riding a bike, and if your form is wrong, you won’t be getting a good workout.

As of now, Row members can take class formats such as instructed row and row bootcamp, or opt for free rowing or scenic rowing. Guided scenic rowing and live classes are set to come early next year.

Should you buy the Peloton Row?

At $3,195, the Peloton Row falls in between the price point of the Peloton bike and treadmill. There are other rowing machine options that are much cheaper than the Peloton Row, but what makes the Row unique is that swivel screen with access to tons of workouts, a sleek and comfortable design, and Form Assist. 

The Row does provide a low-impact workout that targets your entire body, so it has a good bang for your buck value. If you’re tight on space, this could be a good machine to choose for your home gym.

It is interesting that Peloton is releasing a new product after a kind of rough run in the news lately, with layoffs, the former CEO stepping down and later departing the board, and scaled down production of its bikes. Granted, the Row had been in the works well before all of that happened. We’ll see if it’s enough to bring Peloton back up to its early pandemic-level popularity, though.