Concept2 Accessories Worth Buying

A Concept2 is the least needy machine in this category. It arrives assembled apart from the legs, it runs on two D cell batteries, it needs no mains power and no subscription, and the maintenance schedule is a rag and a few drops of oil. So the first honest thing to say about Concept2 accessories is that you do not need any of them to row well.

The second honest thing is that Concept2 has an unusually deep parts catalog and sells a lot of it cheaper than the Amazon shelf does — which matters, because this site makes money from Amazon links and would rather tell you that than quietly point you at the dearer option. Where Concept2 makes the part, buy the part from Concept2. Where a third party does the job better or Concept2 does not make it at all, that is where a link here earns its place. Below is every item worth considering, sorted by whether it fixes a real problem.

The one most owners actually want: a seat pad

The RowErg seat is a hard contoured plate, and the single most common reason people quietly stop rowing is not boredom or injury — it is that their sit-bones give out before the workout does. A pad fixes it outright, and it is the cheapest intervention on this page.

There are two sensible ways to buy one. Concept2 makes a Deluxe Seat Pad for its own rowers, listed on its US product page at $12.00 when we read it on 20 October 2026, described as neoprene and synthetic rubber with no adhesive, so it lifts off and goes back on freely. For most people that is the right purchase and it is not ours to sell. The case for the thicker aftermarket pads is depth: a memory-foam pad cut to the Concept2 seat shape, with straps, gives you noticeably more cushioning for longer steady rows. If your complaint is a numb backside at the thirty-minute mark rather than general hardness, that is the version to buy. Either way, buy one shaped for the seat, not a generic cushion that slides. The full fix for an uncomfortable rowing seat is here, including the technique changes that cost nothing.

A device holder, if you do not already have one

Concept2 fits a device holder behind the PM5 on current RowErgs, so check the machine before you buy anything: there may already be a shelf for your phone. If there is not — an older Model D or Model E, or a machine whose holder went missing — there are two routes. Concept2 sells a RowErg Device Holder Retrofit Kit, listed at $25.00 on its own product page on 20 October 2026, and names device-holder retrofits for most of its ergs and monitors. That is the cheapest fix and it is a factory part.

The aftermarket version is worth it for one specific reason: tablet width. Third-party clamp holders take a full-size tablet rather than a phone, which matters if you follow classes or watch something to get through a long row. The one we link below is explicit in its own listing that it fits the PM5 only, and not a PM3 or PM4 — read that carefully, because which monitor you own changes several of these answers.

A mat, for the floor and the room below

Concept2 publishes a recommended footprint of 9 ft by 4 ft for the RowErg, and the machine is 96 inches long in use with a 57 lb frame moving on four feet. A dense mat does three jobs under that: it keeps sweat and foot pressure off a hard floor, it stops the feet creeping on tile or sinking into carpet, and it takes the edge off the low rumble that travels downward. Air resistance is the loud kind of resistance, and a mat does nothing for airborne fan noise — but structure-borne thump is the part a downstairs neighbor actually notices.

This is one where we deliberately do not name a product. Mats are sized to a footprint, a 96-inch erg wants a different mat from a 70-inch compact rower, and a plain dense rubber mat does the same job as one sold at triple the price with a logo on it. Whether you need one at all is argued here, and the carpet case has its own complications.

Chain oil, which is the entire maintenance routine

The RowErg is a chain-drive machine, and keeping the chain lightly oiled is most of what owning one asks of you. The method is unglamorous: a few drops of light machine oil on a rag, worked along the links, excess wiped off. A bottle costs less than a coffee and lasts years. Concept2 publishes its own maintenance schedule and sells chain oil directly; check your manual before improvising, because the maker specifies what to use. Chain care, step by step, is here, and the full Concept2 maintenance routine is here. Belt-drive machines need none of this, which is worth knowing if you are still choosing.

A heart-rate strap, if you train by intensity

Worth it only if you actually use the number. A PM5 does “ANT+ and Bluetooth Smart wireless heart rate monitoring with compatible equipment,” in Concept2’s words, which means a modern dual-band chest strap pairs with it directly and shows your heart rate on the machine’s own screen. A chest strap reads the fast changes rowing produces more reliably than a wrist sensor, and if you already own a watch, start there before spending anything.

The monitor generation matters here more than anywhere else on this page. Concept2 states that a PM3 is only “compatible with Polar heart rate equipment when Concept2 heart rate receiver and cable in use” — a wired receiver, sold separately, for one brand of belt. A PM4 adds Garmin, Suunto and ANT SPORT belts but still needs the receiver for Polar. If you own an older machine, confirm the monitor before you buy a strap. How to actually train in zones on a rower is the page that makes a strap worth owning.

The retrofits that change what the machine is

This is the category that makes Concept2 unusual, and none of it is on Amazon — these are factory parts, ordered from Concept2, and we have no financial interest in telling you about them.

The PM5 Retrofit Kit. Concept2 says the PM5 is “retrofittable to all older Concept2 Indoor Rowers and SkiErgs.” Part 1818 for a Model D, E or Dynamic was listed at $160.00 on 20 October 2026 and ships as the monitor plus two D cell batteries; Model C, B and A machines take bundles that include the right mounting hardware. This is the single most transformative part in the catalog, because Concept2’s free ErgData app is “compatible with the PM5 only” — so the retrofit is the only way to get an older machine onto a phone.

The Tall Legs Retrofit Kit. Concept2 names this for the Model C, Model D and RowErg, and says it raises the seat six inches, to 20 inches. That one change is the difference between a rower you stand up from and one you push yourself up off the floor from, which is why we treat it as an accessibility part rather than a comfort part. If you are buying new and already know your knees and hips are the reason you are rowing, the machines with a higher factory seat are ranked here.

Foot straps and handles. Concept2 publishes replacement foot straps in 24-inch and 30-inch lengths for earlier machines and notes that the buckle was revamped in 2023. It also lists handle retrofit kits for the Model A and for the Model B and C, and an Indoor Rower Handle with Grips that replaces the wooden handle on a Model A, B or C. For a used machine of that vintage, these are the parts that make it feel current. Setting the straps correctly is free and fixes more than a new strap does.

The tractor seat. Concept2 lists a tractor seat that fits all its rowers, and says plainly that it is not sold on the website and must be ordered by phone. We mention it because people search for a wider seat and never find this. The same is true of a Tall Seat Post Assembly and the low-seat parts: phone orders only.

What to skip

Rowing gloves are the classic first purchase and almost never the right one. New rowers blister because they over-grip and twist the wrist to feather a handle that does not need feathering; loosen the hook grip, let the legs drive, and the hands settle down on their own. Tape is the better stopgap for a single hot spot because it adds no bulk. The grip and blister guide starts with the free fixes.

A cover is the other one we will not link. For an indoor machine in a heated room it does nothing a dusting does not, and this site has said so since the main accessories guide was written — linking something we tell you to skip would make every other link here worth less. The one exception is a machine living somewhere genuinely damp or unheated, and even then Concept2’s own position is that an indoor rower should not be stored outdoors; the cold-garage page covers that properly.

Also skip, unless you have a specific reason: slides. Concept2 sells them in pairs for Model A–E rowers and they are genuinely useful to crews simulating a boat’s dynamic feel, but they cost several hundred dollars, take up more floor, and do nothing for general fitness. If dynamic rowing is what you are after, Concept2 builds the Dynamic Indoor Rower for exactly that job, and what full-motion rowing actually changes is the explainer.

The honest shortlist

A seat pad for almost everyone. A mat if you are on a hard floor or above another room. Chain oil, because the machine asks for it. A heart-rate strap if you train by zones. A device holder if yours did not come with one. Everything else waits until a real problem asks for it — which, on a Concept2, it mostly does not.