Row & Recover

Updated as deals go live

Black Friday & Cyber Monday Rowing Machine Deals 2026

Black Friday is 27 November 2026 and Cyber Monday is 30 November. This page is the honest version of a deals post: what has discounted in past years, what has not, whether waiting is worth it for the machine you want, and today's live price on each of our picks. When deals go live, they will be listed here.

By Stephen V.An enthusiast who reads the manuals and does the math. Not a coach, not a lab.Last verified July 24, 2026.

We earn a commission if you buy through the links on this page, at no cost to you. It has no effect on what we recommend or the order we recommend it in — we say “skip this one” on machines that pay us the same as the ones we like. How we’re funded.

Most Black Friday deal pages are written in August, filled with placeholder percentages, and never corrected. This one is written differently. It exists now, in September, because the useful questions about a Black Friday rowing machine purchase can be answered before a single deal is announced: which brands have a track record of discounting, which have a track record of not, and whether the discount you are hoping for is large enough to be worth two months without the machine.

What this page will and will not do.It will not invent a deal. Every discount mentioned below is one a named publisher reported in a past year, with the source listed at the bottom, and every price on this page is live from Amazon as of the date printed under each button, not typed in by us. When deals go live in November they will be added here, in a dated section, and the buttons will show the struck-through list price automatically whenever Amazon reports one. Until then, the buttons show today’s price, which is the only honest number there is.

The dates

Thanksgiving falls on 26 November 2026, so Black Friday is Friday 27 November and Cyber Monday is Monday 30 November. The calendar is the only prediction on this page. For reference, Amazon’s own 2025 event ran from 20 November through 1 December, nearly two weeks, and the rowing-specific sales that publishers reported in 2025 started earlier still: Hydrow’s pre-Black Friday pricing was live by 7 November. If the pattern holds, the deals window opens in the first half of November, not on the Friday.

What historically discounts, and what does not

Reading the Black Friday and Cyber Monday coverage from Garage Gym Reviews, Treadmill Review Guru and Coach across 2023 and 2025, the category splits cleanly into two groups.

The connected, direct-to-consumer brands discount, and by a lot. Hydrow was reported at up to $1,150 in savings plus free gifts for Cyber Monday 2025, with $150 off the Wave and $500 off the Origin from early November. Ergatta was reported at up to $800 off. NordicTrack rowers were reported at up to $800 off, and its smart machines at up to $1,300. Aviron was reported at up to 34% off, with the Strong Series at 26%. Echelon was reported at $1,000 off the Row-S. Peloton was reported at up to $300 off Row+ bundles. These are the machines whose business is the membership; the hardware is the thing they can afford to cut.

Concept2 does not.Concept2 sells the RowErg at one published price and offers only a volume rate for five or more machines to one address. Garage Gym Reviews’ coupon page, updated in June 2026, says plainly that the company does not offer discount codes and does not typically run sitewide sales at any time of year; Coach wrote in November 2023 that the RowErg is “almost never discounted” and noted that a Hydrow Wave with a $450 Cyber Monday discount was still nearly $500 more than the undiscounted Concept2. Third-party retailers occasionally move the price, but nobody can tell you in advance that one will.

The budget field is a different animal.Sunny Health & Fitness ran a sitewide sale in 2025, reported at up to 65% off across its range with a $50 cut on the Obsidian Surge. MERACH and YOSUDA are not tracked by the deal publishers at all, but they do not need to be: Amazon marks budget magnetic and water rowers down against a list price through much of the year, and our live buttons show that strike-through whenever it exists. The November event tends to add lightning deals on top rather than create discounts from nothing.

WaterRower is the honest blank. We could not find a verified, dated record of the Natural or the Club being discounted for Black Friday in any of the sources we read. That is not the same as saying it never happens, and it is not a prediction that it will. It is a gap, and we would rather show you the gap than fill it.

The short answer

Quick picks

Ranked on published specification, buyer fit and what each machine costs to keep over five years. Select a row to jump to the full write-up. We have not rowed on these machines — here is exactly what we do instead.

#MachineBest forPrice
1
Concept2 RowErg

Concept2 RowErg

The machine every other rowing machine is measured against, and the only one here with no subscription, a 500 lb user limit and a five-year frame warranty at under a thousand dollars.

Best overall
$990.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

2
MERACH Q1S

MERACH Q1S

The budget rower that publishes the numbers the others hide: 350 lb capacity, users to 6 ft 7 in, 65 inches long, 58.9 lb — all stated on the listing.

Best budget
$189.99 · Check price on Amazon

$199.995% off

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

3
Sunny Health & Fitness Smart Dual-Rail Rower

Sunny Health & Fitness Smart Dual-Rail Rower

A 50-inch rail, 16 magnetic levels and a published 300 lb capacity, with covered dual rails that keep the running noise down.

Best under $500
$359.98 · Check price on Amazon

$399.9910% off

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

4
YOSUDA Foldable Wooden Water Rower

YOSUDA Foldable Wooden Water Rower

Beech wood, a 22-liter tank, a 400 lb capacity and a 180-degree fold — the most capable machine here for anyone who wants a wooden rower in a flat.

Best water rower value
$299.99 · Check price on Amazon

$339.9912% off

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

5
Hydrow Wave

Hydrow Wave

The narrowest serious connected rower at 19 inches wide, and the one whose five-year cost is dominated by the membership rather than the machine.

Best connected
$1,995.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

6
WaterRower Natural (Ash)

WaterRower Natural (Ash)

Hand-built in Rhode Island from sustainably sourced ash, stores on end in about two square feet, and has no subscription attached to it at all.

Best wooden
$1,729.99 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

In detail

Every pick, and what is wrong with it

Each machine below gets the same four things: what it does well, what it does not, the five-year cost of owning it, and the case for buying something else instead.

Concept2 RowErg rowing machine

1. Best overall

Concept2 RowErg

The machine every other rowing machine is measured against, and the only one here with no subscription, a 500 lb user limit and a five-year frame warranty at under a thousand dollars.

Black Friday track record: Almost never discounted by Concept2 itself, which publishes one price and a volume rate for five or more machines. The publishers we read for 2023 and 2025 both reported no Concept2 sale. Waiting for November is a bet on a third-party retailer, not on the maker.

Five years of ownership: $990 — all of it the machine, none of it a subscription. See the full table

Floor space: about 9.0 ft by 4.0 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 36 sq ft.

What is good

  • 500 lb published user capacity — the highest figure any manufacturer on this page prints
  • No subscription, ever. The PM5 records everything on its own and ErgData is free
  • Separates into two pieces in seconds for storage; front and rear sections stand upright
  • Five-year frame warranty, and a parts supply chain that still serves machines from the 1990s

What is not

  • 96 inches long in use, and Concept2 recommends a 9 ft x 4 ft footprint — it is not an apartment-corner machine
  • Air resistance is the loudest kind. Concept2 publishes no decibel figure and neither do we
  • The 14-inch seat is low; getting up off it is a real consideration if your knees are the reason you are rowing

Skip this one if: Skip it if your floor space is under 9 feet in one direction, or if you share a wall with someone who sleeps early — this is the loud one.

$990.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

MERACH Q1S rowing machine

2. Best budget

MERACH Q1S

The budget rower that publishes the numbers the others hide: 350 lb capacity, users to 6 ft 7 in, 65 inches long, 58.9 lb — all stated on the listing.

Black Friday track record: Budget magnetic rowers on Amazon carry list-price markdowns through much of the year rather than one November event. If the button below shows a struck-through list price today, that is the discount; a bigger one in November is not something anyone can promise.

Five years of ownership: $190 — all of it the machine, none of it a subscription. See the full table

Floor space: about 6.4 ft by 3.6 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 23 sq ft.

What is good

  • 350 lb capacity and 6 ft 7 in maximum user height, both published — unusual candour at this price
  • Dual slide rail is more stable than the single rail most budget machines use
  • 16 magnetic levels and no subscription of any kind

What is not

  • 65 inches of rail is short if you are near the 6 ft 7 in ceiling — the limit and the comfortable limit are different numbers
  • Magnetic resistance does not build with stroke rate the way air does; hard efforts feel capped
  • 1-year manufacturer warranty

Skip this one if: Skip it if you plan to train intervals seriously — magnetic resistance at this price runs out of top end.

$189.99 · Check price on Amazon

$199.995% off

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

Sunny Health & Fitness Smart Dual-Rail Rower rowing machine

3. Best under $500

Sunny Health & Fitness Smart Dual-Rail Rower

A 50-inch rail, 16 magnetic levels and a published 300 lb capacity, with covered dual rails that keep the running noise down.

Black Friday track record: Sunny Health & Fitness ran a sitewide Cyber Monday sale in 2025 per Garage Gym Reviews, with a $50 cut reported on the Obsidian Surge water rower. Sunny machines are also routinely marked down on Amazon between events.

Five years of ownership: $360 — all of it the machine, none of it a subscription. See the full table

Floor space: about 7.6 ft by 3.6 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 28 sq ft.

What is good

  • 50-inch rail — long enough for a full leg drive on most adults
  • Dual rails with protective coverings; the covers are doing acoustic work, not just cosmetic
  • 300 lb capacity published, and the SunnyFit app is free

What is not

  • 36.4 inches tall in use
  • 68 lb
  • 300 lb ceiling is lower than the MERACH Q1S at a higher price

Skip this one if: Skip it if you need more than 300 lb of capacity — the rail is excellent but the frame rating is the binding constraint.

$359.98 · Check price on Amazon

$399.9910% off

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

YOSUDA Foldable Wooden Water Rower rowing machine

4. Best water rower value

YOSUDA Foldable Wooden Water Rower

Beech wood, a 22-liter tank, a 400 lb capacity and a 180-degree fold — the most capable machine here for anyone who wants a wooden rower in a flat.

Black Friday track record: Not tracked by the deal publishers we read, which cover the big direct-to-consumer brands. Watch the live button here instead - the strike-through appears whenever Amazon reports a list-price discount.

Five years of ownership: $300 — all of it the machine, none of it a subscription. See the full table

Floor space: about 7.2 ft by 3.3 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 24 sq ft.

What is good

  • 400 lb published capacity and users up to 6 ft 6 in, both stated on the listing
  • Folds 180 degrees and rolls, so the stored footprint is genuinely small
  • 30 mm FSC-certified beech, not veneer over particle board

What is not

  • 55 lb is light for a wooden rower, which is a comment on the frame as much as a convenience
  • The dedicated monitor is basic next to an S4 or a PM5
  • 1-year parts warranty

Skip this one if: Skip it if you want the WaterRower's heft and finish — this is a different price and it shows in the hardware.

$299.99 · Check price on Amazon

$339.9912% off

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

Hydrow Wave rowing machine

5. Best connected

Hydrow Wave

The narrowest serious connected rower at 19 inches wide, and the one whose five-year cost is dominated by the membership rather than the machine.

Black Friday track record: The most reliably discounted machine on this list. Hydrow ran a pre-Black Friday sale from early November 2025 with $150 off the Wave and $500 off the Origin, and a $450 Cyber Monday cut on the Wave was reported in 2023. The $50 monthly membership has not been part of any of those sales.

Five years of ownership: $4,995 — $1,995 for the machine and $3,000 in subscription, so 60% of what you spend is the membership. See the full table

Floor space: about 7.7 ft by 3.6 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 27 sq ft.

What is good

  • 19 inches wide and 80 long — it genuinely fits rooms that a Concept2 does not
  • Electromagnetic resistance is near-silent compared with any air rower
  • Stores upright, which is the difference between owning one in a flat and not

What is not

  • The membership is the product. At $50/month it adds $3,000 over five years — more than most rowers on this page cost outright
  • 1-year manufacturer warranty against Concept2's five on the frame
  • Hydrow does not publish a user weight limit for the Wave on this listing

Skip this one if: Skip it if you will not use classes. Without the membership you are left with a heavy magnetic rower and a dark screen.

$1,995.00 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

WaterRower Natural (Ash) rowing machine

6. Best wooden

WaterRower Natural (Ash)

Hand-built in Rhode Island from sustainably sourced ash, stores on end in about two square feet, and has no subscription attached to it at all.

Black Friday track record: We could not find a verified record of WaterRower discounting the Natural for Black Friday in the publishers we read, so we are not going to claim one. Treat this as a machine to buy when the live price suits you, not one to wait on.

Five years of ownership: $1,730 — all of it the machine, none of it a subscription. See the full table

Floor space: about 7.8 ft by 3.8 ft once you allow for handle travel and elbow room — roughly 30 sq ft.

What is good

  • Stands on end when you are done — the stored footprint is roughly 22 by 20 inches
  • Wood absorbs vibration in a way steel does not; the sound is water, not a fan
  • No subscription. The S4 monitor is self-contained and always has been

What is not

  • 103.5 lb filled with water, which is what you are moving when you stand it up
  • WaterRower does not publish a user weight limit on this listing
  • Water needs topping up and occasional purification tablets — a small but real running cost

Skip this one if: Skip it if you want split times and watts to compare against other rowers — the S4 is a fine monitor but the Concept2 PM5 is the sport's common language.

$1,729.99 · Check price on Amazon

Price as of September 14, 2026. #ad How we’re funded

How to choose

What actually decides this

Buy now or wait for November, by kind of machine

A Concept2 RowErg: buy it when you want it. There is no discount track record to wait for, the maker publishes a single price, and every week of waiting is a week of not rowing. If a third-party retailer happens to cut the price in November, that is luck, not a plan. The one exception is a reader who has already decided on the Tall Legs model and is not in a hurry: the same logic applies, but the cost of waiting is lower because you were going to wait anyway.

A connected rower: wait, but read the five-year number first. Hydrow, NordicTrack, Echelon and Aviron have a consistent record of November cuts in the hundreds of dollars. If you want one of these, November is the rational time to buy it. Then look at the card below: a $150 or even a $500 cut on the machine changes the five-year cost far less than the headline suggests, because the membership is the larger part of that number and no reported sale has touched it. A discount on the hardware is real; it is just smaller than it looks in the context of what you are actually signing up for. The full five-year table puts every machine on the same footing.

A budget magnetic or water rower: buy on the strike-through, not the date. These machines are discounted against list price often enough that the sensible signal is the button, not the calendar. When the live price on this page shows a struck-through figure and a percentage, that is a real markdown reported by Amazon today. Waiting for a hypothetically larger one in November saves tens of dollars at most, on a machine where the whole purchase is a few hundred.

A WaterRower: decide on the price you can see. With no verified discount history we can point to, there is no evidence that waiting buys you anything. If the live price suits you, that is the decision.

Accessories: whenever. A chest strap, a foam roller, a mat or a bottle of chain oil costs too little for timing to matter. The under-$50 gift guide has the six we already recommend, with live prices.

How to read a rowing machine deal when they arrive

Three habits will protect you in the last week of November. First, check the discount against the price the machine was actually selling for in October, not the list price the retailer prints beside it; our buttons carry a dated price on every visit, so you can come back and compare. Second, for any machine with a screen, add the membership to the sale price before comparing it to a machine without one; the Concept2 at full price has beaten the discounted Hydrow Wave on that arithmetic in every year we have a record for. Third, on a bundle, price the items you would have bought anyway and ignore the rest. A free mat you needed is worth a mat; three free gifts you did not want are worth nothing.

What will appear here in November

A dated section at the top of this page listing each reported deal on a machine we cover, with the source, the date we saw it, and the live price beside it. Deals on machines we do not cover will not be listed, because we would have nothing honest to say about them. Deals on direct-to-consumer machines we cannot link (the Peloton Row, the Ergatta, the Rogue Echo) will be noted for completeness and earn us nothing, exactly as those machines do on the rest of the site.

Straight answers

Questions people actually ask

When is Black Friday 2026?

Friday 27 November 2026, the day after Thanksgiving. Cyber Monday is Monday 30 November 2026. Amazon's 2025 event ran from 20 November through 1 December, and Hydrow's pre-Black Friday rowing sale was live by 7 November 2025, so the realistic deals window opens in the first half of November.

Does the Concept2 RowErg go on sale for Black Friday?

Not from Concept2. The company publishes one price and only a volume rate for five or more machines, and Garage Gym Reviews' coupon page, updated June 2026, says it does not offer discount codes or sitewide sales at any time of year. Coach described it in 2023 as almost never discounted. A third-party retailer occasionally moves the price, but that is not something anyone can promise in advance.

Which rowing machines are most likely to be discounted?

The connected, direct-to-consumer brands: Hydrow, NordicTrack, Echelon, Aviron and Ergatta all had November cuts in the hundreds of dollars reported by publishers in 2025, and Hydrow in 2023 as well. Sunny Health & Fitness ran a sitewide sale in 2025. Budget MERACH and YOSUDA machines are marked down on Amazon through much of the year rather than in one event.

Should I wait for Black Friday to buy a rowing machine?

For a connected rower, yes - the discount history is consistent, though remember the membership has not been part of any reported sale, so the five-year cost moves less than the headline. For a Concept2, no - there is nothing to wait for. For a budget machine, buy when the live price shows a struck-through list price; the November gain is small in absolute terms.

Are the prices on this page Black Friday prices?

They are today's live Amazon prices, refreshed daily with the date printed under each button, and they expire automatically if the feed stops. When a Black Friday deal is reported on a machine we cover it will be added to a dated section on this page with its source. We do not invent deals, discounts or price predictions.

The honest part

What we did not do

We have not rowed on these machines. We do not own them, there is no test lab here, and nobody writing this holds a coaching certification. Every ranking on this page is an argument from published specification and buyer fit, not from a stopwatch.

What we did do is read each manufacturer’s own published figures, record the ones they decline to publish, compute the floor space and the five-year cost, and date all of it. The full method is here so you can check our working or disagree with it.

Show your working

Sources

Keep going

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