Horizon Oxford 2 CS Air Rower

Author's product rating:   

Durability	Excellent
Comfort	Excellent
Value for money	Excellent

Advantages:	All the functionality of a much more expensive machine at half the price
Disadvantages:	Same as any air rower, a touch noisy

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

In the interest of balance, I thought I would write a review about another rowing machine I have used during my many hours training people in the gym, namely the Horizon Fitness Oxford II CS Rower. My first review was on the impeccable but expensive concept II rower, the benchmark for all rowing machines. The concept II comes in at over £1000 and is really pitched at the advanced/elite rower. However the Oxford II CS costs in the region of £400 making it a more affordable option, but is it any good? Logan investigates.

PHYSIOLOGY

Perhaps the biggest misconception of rowing is the fact that people believe it is an upper body sport. Infact most of the power in rowing is dominated by the lower limbs (quads and hamstrings) to generate the power in the stroke. Rowing infact is the perfect balance between the lower body extension in combination with the upper body pull, this is what makes a successful and power rowing stroke. In many ways, this misconception of it being an upper body sport is infact the advantage of rowing as it is the perfect balance between an upper body AND lower body workout, and in my opinion makes it one of the best exercises to participate in for the home gym user. Here's why.....

To perform the action of rowing, the following muscles are triggered.

UPPER BODY

Chest (pectorals)
Shoulders (Deltoid)
Arms (bicep, triceps and forearms)
Back (trapezoids and lats)

MIDDLE BODY

Core (both abdominals, oblique’s and lower back are worked out)

LOWER BODY

Thighs (quadriceps)
Hamstrings
Calfs (gastrocnemious)

The ability to work out a number of different muscles within the one exercise, really makes rowing stand out above other pieces of home gym equipment. But its not just the muscles that it works, its the ability to train those muscles in a number of different ways. A rowing machine can be used for strength training, toning, fat burning and muscular and aerobic endurance. This really encompasses every aspect of training for ever type of user.

FUNCTIONALITY OF THE OXFORD II CS

Console: 1 window LCD.

The console on this rower is actually a bone of contention. I found it quite difficult to see the dimly lit statistics whilst I was in the rowing seat. Granted this is generally a problem for all rowers, I was just hoping Horizon could buck the trend. They didn’t. Nevertheless, The Console was easy to use and navigate. Be warned you need two AA batteries to power this console.

Feedback: Time, heart rate, distance, calories, strokes, counter (per minute).

I think this is why I like rowing most of all. The consoles are pretty much standard so you know the types of variables you are dealing with before you use the machine. I often get lost in the maze of options and programmes on other bits of kit, but this has the standard distance, time and strokes (these are the three main ones). Of course it also provides you with heart rate (I’m always sceptical, please buy a polar heart rate monitor!) and calories, which again is a prediction not an absolute measurement.

Heart Rate Feedback: Polar chip receiver.

Many machines are starting to incorporate this. Basically, if you are using an autonomous Polar heart rate monitor, then the rower has an inbuilt chip that can receive a signal from it. This will not only provide you with a much more accurate reading of your heart rate, but also let you incorporate any heart rate training regime’s you may follow. An excellent addition to the kit.

Resistance: Air.

There are three different types of rowers you can get for your money. Air, Water or magnetic. Here is a little breakdown of each………..

AIR: An air rower like the one in this review has its resistance provided by the wind it creates. The flywheel contains fan blades which when turned (by you pulling) cut through the air. Generally the level of resistance can be altered externally by the user. The most popular air rower is the concept II rower. The advantage of the air rower is that it is an extremely smooth and lifelike action, however they can be a touch noisy

WATER: A water rower is designed to emulate what it would be like to actually row on the water, therefore water is used to create the resistance. The advantages are an extremely smooth action with virtually no noise. However they are at present extremely expensive!

MAGNETIC: Magnetic rowers use a magnetic breaking system to control the resistance (Much like those found on exercise bikes). This creates a smooth and noise free action but in my opinion is the furthest away from recreating the actual feel of rowing. This tends to be reflected in the price, making them a bit cheaper.

The Oxford II CS rower is an air resistance rower and uses the same basic principles as the concept II rower. However firstly I will mention, whilst the action is extremely good, it is not a patch on the concept II, perhaps this is the telling difference in price (Its half the price of the concept II)!

Interestingly it has one major difference to many other rowers. Instead of manually controlling the level of resistance you want to row at, it works on the principal the harder you pull, the harder the resistance (Its adjusts automatically). Now some may disagree with me and say this is a master stroke as this is much more representative of actual rowing. For me it made for a frustratingly uneven row and I found it much harder to get into a comfortable rhythm. Perhaps its because I was so used to using the concept II, but I didn’t get on with it.

Seat: Comfort seat on aluminium guide rail.

A seat’s a seat right? Actually this is the easiest bit to get right that many companies get wrong! Many a time I’ve been rowing away when suddenly my butt comes flying off of the seat because its slippy! Happily I can confirm that this seat offered no such problems and my butt stayed exactly where it was supposed to! The seat was also refreshingly comfortable.

Frame: Heavy gauge steel frame.

Another important aspect of the rower. Is it stable. Essentially what your looking for is to ensure that there is no bend or flexion in the frame. You also don’t want any lateral movement from the seat. This rower passed all those tests with ease and had the feel equal to much more expensive pieces of kit.

Maximum User Weight: 350 lbs / 25 stone / 159 Kgs.

Well that’s me covered. This is actually an excellent range, so if you are that bit heavier, the majority of people should be fine to use the kit.

Size L/W/H (in use): 250 x 50 x 102cm
Size L/W/H (folded): 112 x 50 x 165cm

Now this is a major plus but also a possible negative to the machine. This is an extremely long piece of kit. Infact I think it’s the longest frame I have come across! Excellent if you are tall, which from my experience most top rowers are. This really is a positive. One of my old clients who is 6ft.9inch struggled to find a rower, purely because of his height. This machine was ideal (although I did make him buy a concept II!!!!).

Product Weight: 34Kgs.

This is surprisingly light for such a stable rower. You can also fold the machine away which is handy

WARRANTY AND COMPANY

(From the horizon website)

“Horizon Fitness provides commercial-quality home exercise equipment. Our complete line of treadmills, elliptical trainers, exercise bikes and functional strength training home gyms is designed to deliver the comfort, control and convenience you need to achieve the goals of your fitness program. So you can truly experience the benefits of using exercise equipment“.

I have always been impressed with Horizon as a company. They are a good quality manufacturer who tend to make equipment with the look and feel of much more expensive machines at a more reasonable price. I have also been impressed with them with any customer service issues I have had all be it these have been minimal.

Most notably, they offer superb warranty with lifetime on the frame AND action, plus 3 years on parts and labour. This is head and shoulders above its rivals.

PRICE

This machine has recently taken a slash in price which is good news. Here are the best prices I could find for you:

fitnesssuperstore.co.uk £399
powerhouse fitness.co.uk £399
Fitnessmegastore.co.uk £399

All been reduced from £699 which was the original asking price.

CONCLUSION

The Oxford II CS rower by Horizon is not comparable to the Concept II. Its action has nowhere near the same quality and feel. However for half the price, it is my top tip for a home rower. It does everything it is asked to do well. Its sturdy and reliable and has a smooth rowing action. It provides you with all the functional variables you need (time, distance etc) and comes in at a reasonable £399. It comes from a company with a fast growing reputation for good equipment AND offers an exceptional warranty package. My top tip for a mid-range, home rower.

Hope that helps.

Kind Regards,

Logan