Concept2 Model D vs Model E

The Concept2 Model D and Model E are the same rowing machine sold at two seat heights. In 2021 Concept2 renamed them: the Model D became the RowErg and the Model E became the RowErg with Tall Legs. If you are reading old reviews that still use the letters, translate them as you go — D is the standard machine, E is the tall one. The engineering underneath is identical. The only real differences are the seat height and, because of the taller legs, the weight and the stored footprint. Everything else — flywheel, monitor, rail length, capacity, warranty, subscription — is the same on both.

The specifications that differ

Three rows move. Everything else is a straight copy. That is unusual for a comparison, and it means the choice is genuinely simple: it comes down to how high you want the seat.

The seat-height decision is the whole thing

The standard machine seats you 14 inches off the floor. The tall-legs version seats you 20 inches off the floor. Six inches does not sound like much until you connect it to a specific movement: standing up at the end of a session.

A 14-inch seat is lower than most chairs. Getting off it means pushing up from a deep position, which asks a lot of the knees and hips — the exact joints many people are rowing to protect in the first place. A 20-inch seat is close to the height of a dining chair or a standard toilet seat. From there you stand rather than climb. For an older rower, anyone with stiff or arthritic knees and hips, anyone rehabbing a joint, or anyone who simply finds the floor a long way down, that difference decides whether the machine gets used or becomes a coat rack.

It matters at the start of the session too. Lowering yourself onto a 20-inch seat under control is easier and safer than dropping onto a 14-inch one, and it is easier to transfer across from a wheelchair or a walker. This is why we point most seniors and anyone with knee or hip limitations at the tall-legs model even though it costs more — the six inches buys independence, not performance.

The weight and storage cost of taller legs

The taller legs are not free. Concept2 publishes 68 lb for the RowErg with Tall Legs against 57 lb for the standard machine — 11 lb more to lift when you separate the two sections for storage. The stored footprint also grows, from 25 x 33 x 54 inches to 27 x 47 x 54 inches, so the tall version takes a little more room in the closet or against the wall. Both machines still break into two pieces the same way; the tall one is just a bit heavier and bulkier to handle.

If you move your rower daily and you have no trouble getting off a low seat, the extra weight and footprint are a reason to stay with the standard machine. If getting up is the hard part of your day, the extra 11 lb is a fair trade for a seat you can actually stand off.

Everything else really is identical

Both machines use the same air flywheel and adjustable damper, so they row exactly the same and feel exactly the same on the drive. Both are 96 inches long and 24 inches wide, so they need the same floor space in use — Concept2 recommends roughly a 9 ft by 4 ft area for either. Both carry the PM5 performance monitor, which records every stroke on its own, pairs over Bluetooth and ANT+, and produces a 500m split that means the same thing in every gym and online league in the world. Both publish a 500 lb user capacity, the highest figure of any rower we cover. Both carry a five-year frame and two-year parts warranty. And crucially, neither has a subscription— no monthly fee, ever, on either seat height.

So you are not trading performance, connectivity, capacity or ongoing cost for the taller seat. You are trading only weight and a slightly bigger stored size.

Who should buy which

Buy the standard machine (Model D / RowErg) if you can get up from a low seat without thinking about it, you want the lightest and most compact version to move and store, and you would rather put the savings elsewhere. It is the default for most healthy adults.

Buy the tall-legs machine (Model E / RowErg with Tall Legs) if standing up from a low position is hard or painful, if you are buying for an older parent, if you have knee or hip arthritis, if you are rehabbing a joint, or if you are simply tall and the higher seat is more comfortable to load and unload. The rowing is identical; you are paying for a seat you can get off unaided.

There is no wrong answer here, only the right seat height for your body. If you are on the fence and the joints are the reason you are shopping for a rower at all, err toward the taller seat — it is the cheaper mistake.

What each costs

Live pricing is more than 48 hours old, so this table is not rendering. We would rather show you nothing than show you last week’s arithmetic. Why prices expire here.

Neither has a subscription, so these are just the machine prices over five years. The tall-legs version costs meaningfully more for one dimensional change — the higher seat — which is worth it only if you need the height.