Is Sunny Health & Fitness’s Obsidian Surge The Best Water Rower Under $500? [A Review]

Sunny Wellness & Health and fitness’s Obsidian Rise Water Rowing Device offers a considerably more cost effective option for those looking to profit of a water rower without needing to obtain a bank loan.

Exaggeration aside, water rowers can be rather costly. But at roughly half the cost of many, the Obsidian Rise is surprisingly competent and also need to be adequate for beginner to modest degree rowers.

Emphasizes of this design include a durable steel structure, a heart price suitable monitor, and also a solid service warranty.

Yet is the Obsidian Rise the most effective water rower for under $500?

If you ask me (as well as if you read this, I’m presuming you are), I would say yes. But do not take my word for it, have a look on your own.

This review will certainly take you on an up close and also individual excursion of whatever this rower needs to supply.

We’re speaking specs, functions, and also every little thing in between. After reading this post, you’ll recognize whatever you need to in order to figure out whether or not this is the best rower for your house health club.

Allow’s get started.

SUNNY HEALTH & FITNESS OBSIDIAN SURGE 500 WATER ROWING MACHINE – SF-RW5713 , BLACK

I have actually been researching and also evaluating Sunny Health and wellness & Physical Fitness (SHF) for a couple of years now as well as they continue to astonish me. They really have actually grasped the art of developing affordable workout equipment that works far better than you would certainly expect (for the rate).

They provide a bit of whatever fitness related with the majority of their items dropping well under $1000.

I’m specifically fond of their spin bikes since they often tend to have much heavier flywheels than the competitors.

The Obsidian Rise (great name incidentally) is among 2 water rowers SHF currently offers. With a price of regarding $400, it’s one of one of the most budget pleasant water rowers you’re going to discover.

P.S.- Obsidian is an igneous rock that creates when lava strikes water and also cools quickly, creating a smooth textured volcanic glass. It’s usually black (admission- I needed to Google this).

Resistance

The Obsidian Surge is a water rower, indicating it utilizes a flywheel immersed in a tank of water to create the resistance for you to paddle against.

This rower has 16 follower blades connected to the flywheel. Every single time you draw the handle, the flywheel spins. Your resistance is the outcome of these follower blades pressing via the water.

This makes a great deal of sense for a rowing maker due to the fact that this is what happens when you paddle an oar on a watercraft. This is why water rowers supply one of the most realistic sensation of rowing a watercraft on water.

Similar to rowing a real watercraft, the more difficult you draw, the more resistance you obtain.

This is one of the greatest advantages of a water rowing machine- unlimited resistance. The only limit is you. Rowing gradually will offer less resistance, pull harder as well as you get even more.

That claimed, you can additionally readjust the water level of the container to adjust total resistance supplied. The Obsidian Surge has 6 various fill levels, with 1 being the least resistance and also 6 being one of the most.

Regardless of how much water is in the tank, you can still draw harder for more resistance, but having even more water in the container will certainly supply more total resistance.

Customers primarily agree that the rowing performance is very smooth as well as liquid. As a water rower, you do obtain a few of the “swishing” sound from the water moving in the container, yet most discover that audio relaxing. For a quiet rower, you may wish to consider magnetic designs.

Overall, the water resistance system on the Obsidian functions as intended, offering a comfortable feel with each stroke.

Frame

Rowing equipment frameworks need to be strong enough to hold your weight securely. They also need to be stable during usage so that you don’t feel the structure shaking or tottering.

The best way to obtain an unbiased suggestion regarding exactly how secure the structure is to consider the machine’s weight ability. Greater limitations indicate more powerful, a lot more durable frameworks.

The Obsidian Surge comes with a light weight steel framework that can safely hold customers evaluating approximately 300 pound.

This is an impressive weight capability for a rower in a cost variety where it’s not unusual to see 250– 265 lb limits. There are a lot of water rowers that cost 2x as much that use an identical weight capability (like the Newport Challenge AR).

This rower also makes use of a belt drive, which prevails for water rowers. Belt drives are a little quieter than chain drives, yet chain drives normally hold up a little bit longer. However unless you’re an affordable rower, you shouldn’t have any problems with the belt breaking down.

The sweat resistant handlebar supplies a comfy grip as well as the non-slip foot pedals are bigger and a lot more durable than you ‘d expect from a spending plan rower (even a great deal of a lot more expensive rowers are a little lacking in the foot pedal department).

The large heel cups fit shoes of all sizes as well as the velcro straps make them very easy to adjust. These pedals do relocate during usage- the concept is that allowing your ankle joint flex as well as expand some will maintain it in an extra comfy position throughout your workouts.

This may aid a little if your ankle joints are especially limited or tight, however I really choose my foot pedals to be fixed.

The seat is padded as well as contoured for convenience. This is something all rowing makers state and also I presume it helps a little. Deliberately though, most rower seats are rather uneasy. This seat doesn’t seem to be anymore or much less comfortable than the remainder.

This rower doesn’t fold, but it can be kept vertically when not being used. You do not even need to take the water out of the storage tank.

Overall, the Obsidian Rise ratings highly with an impressive 300 pound weight limit and also big foot pedals. The rest of the elements are attractive standard by rowing device standards.

Monitor

Many house rowers in this rate range have little LCD displays for a screen. They do nothing greater than screen time, distance, strokes, as well as possibly calories.

There’s absolutely nothing incorrect with this, since after all, there are factors budget plan makers cost much less.

That stated, the display on the Obsidian is more advanced than most in this rate range.

The R2 Meter is geared up to track all the conventional data you would certainly like a rower to track: overall time, 500m time, strokes per minute (spm), total strokes, calories, ambient temperature, and also heart rate (yes, this rower is heart rate monitor compatible, but one isn’t provided).

The R2 has a number of surprising attributes too though, like a race attribute that permits you to race the meter based on the pace you establish it at. You identify how quick it takes the meter to finish the race and then you have to beat that time.

You can likewise do workouts based on preset ranges or times.

An additional great attribute is the “healing” setting, that measures how long it takes your heart rate to recoup after a workout (heart rate monitor essential obviously). This is an excellent way to gauge your health and fitness in addition to your progress with time.

The R2 is pretty huge and you should not have any problems reviewing the outcomes throughout your workouts either. You can see all of the exercise metrics at the same time on the same screen (no scrolling required).

Generally, SHF did an excellent job on the screen, really innovative for a budget device.

Assembly

Getting the Obsidian Surge assembled shouldn’t be that tough. A lot of users agree it’s very manageable as a one male or woman work.

The assembly manual is rather easy to follow. There are images and created instructions for each step (there’s only 6 incidentally) and they’re all rather detailed.

It would certainly be nice if the photos were a little larger, it would make it a little less complicated to inform what goes where. General though, I do not assume most individuals will certainly have too much trouble on this one.

Some folks had concerns with screws not fitting in holes and also things not lining up appropriately. These are instances for client service. Speaking of service, the majority of individuals that had to speak to SHF were pleased with them.

Overall, assembly should not be an issue. Lots of people ought to have the ability to finish the job on their own without specialist support.

Warranty

The SHF Obsidian Rise Water Rowing Equipment features the adhering to service warranty:

• 3 year frame
• 180 day parts

3 years on the structure is fair thinking about the cost. Even the most pricey, highest-end rowers seldom include frame warranties longer than 5 years.

It would certainly be nice to see a much longer ensure on components. Years are constantly preferred to days or months, however 6 months for a $400 rower isn’t that poor.

In general, I believe SHF is supplying a suitable guarantee on this rower.

Final Thoughts

There aren’t many real water rowers that set you back less than $500. At roughly $400, I assume the SHF Obsidian Surge is a terrific deal- this rowing machine has specifications that can compete with rowers that actually cost 2x as much.

Specifically, I like the 300 pound weight capacity that indicates a solid structure as well as the advanced R2 display that will make your workouts extra delightful. The smooth rowing activity is a plus as well.

I additionally believe SHF uses a quite reasonable service warranty on this rower.

On the whole, if you’re searching for a spending plan pleasant water rower, I think the Obsidian Rise is the most effective option presently offered (it also made my listing for best rowers of the year). It’s likewise easily among the best water rowers around. Certainly a smart buy.