Review by Steve H:

This is an excellent rower, my first. I shopped around before deciding on this one. Assembly was easy, the instructions are very good; each bolt/nut packed and well labelled and all the tools you need are supplied as part of the rower. Great workout, smooth quiet action, variable resistance levels. Smart looking and folds away easily. Great value. I would recommend this rower without hesitation.

Review by dragana:

Bought this machine few weeks ago and got it delivered in 48 hours, even did not ask for express delivery – Amazon works without failure.

Machine is very good, well made, well constructed, nicely designed, works very well and pleasure to use.

Folding is very easy and fits nicely in a corner of a room.

Machine is not for the body builders or professionals, but very good for keeping fit.

Very good value for money – paid £109.

Before this machine, we made the mistake and bought ‘Benny2′ rowing machine from some internet company. We had to return that machine because we could not assemble it, it was way too heavy, rough piece of metal and it was not foldable (poor/false description on the site).

Review by J. Atkinson:

I got this a week ago and firstly would like to warn you that this is not a conventional rowing machine. The quality is not amazing but for the price what do you expect. It works fine but if it was not on offer, would not have bought it..

Review by Mr. J. D. Payne:

Firstly, I must be fair that for the price, this is quite a nice bit of kit, theres just a few annoying things with it that can spoil the experiance.

i) I know this is picky, but the multi-tools you get with this really are a joke. Both of them were just slightly too large for anything. Best use your own tools then. If you leave the tools it come with in the bag/bin, it goes together extremely easily though

ii) The cylinders are a bit hit and miss. You can get VERY good resistance out of them. However, dont be suprised if when they get warm one of them inexplicably becomes less resistant and you have to adjust the setting on it. Ok, its a painless process taking seconds, but it interupts the flow of what you are doing!

I know I am being picky, given the cheap price, and it really is a good bit of kit, espeacially considering the price. However, it misses the five star rating due to the problems listed above. Would certainly have paid a bit more for the cylinder issue to not occur.

Review by Mrs. Barbara A. Lyne:

Just got this little gem and put it together on my own without any problems at all. I’m blonde so that’s saying something.

It’s compact which is great for me I can store it easily under my stairs. The video that comes with it is fab too it demonstrates all the moves. For the money it’s a great little buy and a big saving on gym fees. I enjoy a little bit of jogging so to have this for toning up is great for me.

I haven’t had time to do a video may add that late so watch this space.

Review by Mr. Duncan Ponikwer:

It was very easy to put together and very easy to use. Only one setting for the rowing but a good workout over 15 mins or so

Review by Eddie:

Picked up one of these as a no-impact exercise while healing up from shin splints, and at the end of day one I can’t find much to moan about as a secondary workout.

Position and seating feels comfortable, allowing from a low squat up to knee lock, and puts no significant stress on your ankles or lower legs. My 31″ inside leg length leaves about 3-4″ of spare run at the back of the rail when at full extension. Cable is a little shorter than it could be, not reaching past my sternum with a reasonable lean back (I’m 5’8″), but I guess that’s a matter of rowing style.

Foot supports are a little large to use with size 8 feet without shoes, and lend themselves to trainers with a heel that is flat to the ground at the back. Cheapo pair of squash shoes work fine. Straps have a good strong grip and hold you securely on the return stroke, but don’t let the ends flip round under your feet if you’re not very flexible – they’re velcro’d all the way along and you’ll be wearing the machine to work next day

Feels stable in use, despite the narrow footprint, and is quiet enough to use in a living room without putting subtitles on the TV. No annoying rattles or squeaks.

Resistance settings are via a dial on the cylinder, so you can’t change them mid-workout without taking a break. They aren’t vastly varied, but the cylinder stiffens up a little as it warms during use, and at maximum it’s enough for a bloke to work against if you’re not already a powerhouse (I’m ~11 stone and it ain’t all muscle). 200 strokes got me sweating nicely.

Can’t comment on long term durability, but it doesn’t feel as flimsy as others reviews imply; wheels under the seat are a soft white plastic that doesn’t feel likely to break, frame is pretty thick, as are the bolts. About what you’d expect from a York budget model, really; not outstanding, but not junk either. Will review again if it proves to fall apart rapidly, so if you’re reading this in 6 months and it’s not corrected, must be ok for 3 times a week use

Overall pretty good for the cost, and only loses a star due to the slightly-too-short cable. Still beats those rowers with the big metal levers though!

Review by M. Murray:

I’ve been using this product about 3 times a week since I purchased it 6 weeks ago. I was a bit apprehensive about it since reading other reviews of this and York’s similar product the R501 rower.

I can report no problems with it so far. It’s an ideal size for me (I’m about 5′ 9″), and is highly portable. I keep it in my garage which is cluttered full of stuff but it fits neatly against a wall when I’m not using it. I registered the warranty online and have had no reason to contact York with any problems yet.

Only issues are that when you first use it it’s pretty difficult to get a comfy seating position. The seat feels pretty cheap. After 5 or 6 uses however it seems to get the shape of your backside and becomes comfy and stable enough.

A simple improvement for York to make would be to install a backlight on the display panel but it’s not a big deal for me.

Hope this helps…

Review by simmo71:

I was going to buy this rower from Amazon but at that time it wasn’t in stock. Luckily I found a secondhand one on the Gumtree website, so I didn’t have to assemble it myself. The previous owner said that he had found it easy enough to assemble although care was needed to use the correct bolts in the correct places.

I was a little concerned that the resistance in the rowing action was dependant on my effort – there being no means of mechanically increasing the resistance but I have not found this to be a problem.

The machine monitors the normal functions: stroke, distance, time etc. but has no pulse monitor. I use a chest monitor (Ebay purchase) with the watch part strapped to the handle of the rower.

I am 6’4″ and do not have any problem with the length of the chain on this machine (unlike the previous reviewer). I think that the machine is well made. The seat is comfortable and am looking forward to maintaining a decent level of cardio workout with this apparatus. Several friends and family have used this machine and all of them think that it does the job.

I would advise that some sort of protection is placed under the feet of the machine (I use high density sponge) as the plastic edges can leave deep marks in the carpet.

Review by JD:

I ordered my machine on the basis of forty other reviews i read on another site which all gave this product four or five stars. I ordered on Wednesday and it was delivered on Thursday…fantastic service. 30 minutes to build the rower after following the relatively simple instructions and i was away. The machine is sturdy and the resistance, which adjusts itself according to your speed is perfect for a good home workout. I am a little over 6 foot tall and encountered no problems with reach etc. It represents very good value for money.

Review by A. Williams:

I’ve had this rower for 3.5 weeks now, managed to do over 20,000 strokes at a consistent high intensity and the machine still continues to perform. Ok it’s not as strong as a gym piece of equipment, but I’m 98kg (15.5 stone!) and can push out a 1,000 strokes in 23 minutes but the Tornado manages my weight and power.

Believe me a 1,000 strokes at any rate is tough, which bring me on to my second point – resistance. Again unlike gym equipment there is no settable resistance level – but yet again the Tornado performs. Like most things you only get out what you put in, and if you put in the effort on this rower it will resist you back.

A minor downside, which is compensated for, is the fact that there is no distance counter. Personally I like to know I’ve rowed 4,000m but this is not a function on the trip computer. I am learning to pace myself by the number of strokes per minute that the computer counts and once I got over the distance thing aiming for 1,000+ strokes does the job.

Would I recommend a Tornado Air Rower to a friend – Yes

Am I satisfied with my purchase – Yes

Would I buy another – not for a long time, I think this one will last.

P.s.

Delivery – I was quoted something like 3 weeks – it turned up within a week.

And finally – unlike a previous review – the rower cam well packaged with all the instructions, bolt and tools to do the job. My impression of the packaging and assembly was that it was all much much better than I expected.

Review by lewisda:

I am not normally one for leaving reviews, but as the product is so well made and works fantastically, here goes.

As can be seen in the pictures it looks very similar to a Concept II rower and in all fairness is feels more or less the same sort of build quality in respect to the price. It was easy to build, folds up and has wheels to wheel it away for storage.

The automatic tension level thing is the only slight annoyance, the harder you pull the harder the resistence or the faster you pull etc and I did know this before purchase.

The only minus point is the digital readout as the calorie counter doesnt seem to be accurate at all.

Hope this may help somebody.

Review by C James:

Ordered using express delivery and delivered next day by City Link on a Saturday morning – excellent service!

I can verify a previous review that the four self-tapping screws simply do not fit the holes, but I remedied this problem by drilling out the holes using the next-size-up drill bit, and then the supplied screws fitted just fine.

I am 6’5″ tall with a 35″ inside leg, and this machine is plenty big enough. I can fully extend my legs whilst rowing, and the seat doesn’t touch the safety stop at the back of the slider bar. The machine is sturdy and heavy (36kg) and doesn’t feel like it’s going to break during an intense workout.

I read problems about the computer re-setting when set for a specific workout program, which almost put me off buying it, but you don’t have to set a workout program for it to monitor and display your time, distance, speed (minutes per 500M) and burned calories. It automatically comes on and starts counting as soon as you start rowing.

Overall I’m very happy with my purchase, especially since the Amazon price was over £50 cheaper than on my local High Street!

Review by Mike B:

Everything about this product was great apart from the Computer. It has a fault were, if you set a certain distance or time and start rowing, the computer will reset itself after a few seconds of rowing or minutes, before you have reached the target. This was extremely annoying and so I phoned York and they said they were aware of the fault. If they were aware of it, why is this product still being sold?! They couldn’t give us a exact date when this computer could be fixed and advised us to return the product back. Apart from the computer problem, it was a good machine to use.

Review by The Glovenor:

Having had a go on someones cheap rowing machine a few years ago – it had springs and moved at about 3 knots leaving a gouge in the carpet,I was not too sure what to expect with this product.It went together easily,altough a helper is recommended to hold some of the bits in place while the spanner is applied,it is quiet in use,and just as importantly stays put.You are still in the same place after 30mins rowing as you were when you started.It is a good fit for me at 6 foot 1 and 10 stone with plenty of room for the seat to move during the rowing action and varying the leverage gives genuinely different levels of resistance.I know its not the same thing but…..Steve Redgrave deserved his knighthood if this is how hard rowing is!Obviously at this price it will not compare with pro gym machines but so far I must say mine has proved reliable,good value and strangely addictive.

Review by Bookemdanno:

Easy to follow instructions (always a good start). Took 2 of us about 15 mins to assemble. Product works well, only one complaint – for the more vertically challenged it would be helpful if it had some sort of adjustment on the length – as when I use it I can never row the full length of the bar (too short, me not the machine). If you could adjust it in some way, so it would fit all heights it would be better. Apart from that, everything else is fine.