Aviron Rowing Machine Guide: Impact vs Strong vs Hydrow, and What Used Ones Sell For

A used Aviron rowing machine trades between about $700 and $2,275 on our platform, with the middle of the market sitting right around $1,375 against a median retail of roughly $2,220. That is close to 40 percent off, which is a steeper drop than Hydrow takes and a much steeper drop than a Concept2 takes. The reason is not build quality. It is that an Aviron rowing machine is a games console with a rowing handle attached, and the resale market prices software risk.

I help people buy and sell this equipment for a living, and rowers are the category where buyers get the model names wrong most often. Aviron sells an Impact, a Strong, and a Victory, and only two of those are rowers. So here is the whole picture: what separates the models, whether the machine does anything without a membership, how it stacks up against Hydrow and Concept2, what used ones actually sell for, and the five things to check before you hand over money.

What an Aviron Rowing Machine Actually Is

An Aviron rowing machine is a dual-resistance rower built around a 22 inch touchscreen that runs games, races, and streaming apps rather than coached classes.

That framing matters more than any spec. Hydrow is a rowing studio. Concept2 is a competition tool. Aviron is entertainment, and it is unapologetic about it. The screen runs games where you row to shoot things, competitive multiplayer races, and in many cases streaming apps on the console. The goal is to make you forget you are rowing, and for people who have bounced off rowing before, it works.

Resistance is a hybrid of air and magnetic on the current machines, which means the flywheel gives you the responsive feel of air resistance while the magnetic brake lets the software change the load mid-workout. That is the trick that makes the games possible. A game can make a sprint physically harder in real time.

Aviron Impact vs Strong: The Real Differences

The Impact Series is the original air-forward rower. The Strong Series is the newer, quieter, more compact one.

The Impact Series, sold as the ISR1, is the machine most people picture: a big exposed flywheel cage at the front, a 22 inch screen on a post, and a long aluminum rail. It is the louder of the two because air resistance is inherently loud. It has the highest weight capacity in the lineup, which matters for larger users, and it feels the most like a traditional air rower under the hands.

The Strong Series came later and leans harder on magnetic resistance. It is noticeably quieter, it has a smaller footprint, and it is built to stand on its end for storage. Same 22 inch screen. If the rower lives in an apartment or shares a room with a sleeping child, the Strong is the one.

Here is a real-world wrinkle worth knowing before you shop. Our own Aviron listings describe the Strong Series as magnetic, as air, and as hybrid, sometimes in the same week. Sellers are not lying. The machine genuinely uses both, and the marketing language changed across production years. Do not use a listing's resistance description to identify the model. Use the shape of the flywheel housing and ask for the serial number.

And one clarification that saves people days of research: the Aviron Victory is a treadmill, not a rowing machine. Aviron makes a motorized incline treadmill called the Victory and a gaming treadmill called the VICA, both running the same entertainment software on the same style of screen. The only two rowers are Impact and Strong. If a listing says Victory and shows a flywheel, the seller has the model name wrong, and that is a good prompt to ask for more photos.

Does an Aviron Rowing Machine Work Without the Subscription?

Partly, and this is the single most important question to answer before you buy used.

Aviron's membership is what turns on the games, the multiplayer races, and the coached video content. That is the entire reason the machine exists. Without it, expectations should be low: you are buying a hybrid-resistance rower with an expensive screen on it.

Do not take the seller's word for what works logged out. Test it. Ask them to sign out of their account while you are standing there, then row for two minutes and watch the screen. If you still get stroke rate, split time, distance and calories, you have a usable basic rower. If the screen gates you at a login wall, you are buying a membership whether you planned to or not, and that should come off the price.

The related trap is account linking. Make sure the previous owner factory-resets the console and unlinks their account before the machine leaves their house. A rower still bound to a stranger's login is a support ticket you did not sign up for, and it is the number one avoidable headache in connected fitness resale. Every machine that moves through us gets checked and reset during pickup, which is a large part of why we send drivers instead of letting two strangers meet in a driveway. Here is how that works.

Aviron vs Hydrow vs Concept2: Which Rower Should You Buy?

Buy the Aviron if you need to be entertained, the Hydrow if you want to be coached, and the Concept2 if you want to train.

That is the whole decision in one line, but the details matter, so here they are side by side.

	Aviron (Impact / Strong)	Hydrow	Concept2 RowErg
Resistance	Air plus magnetic hybrid	Electromagnetic drag	Air
Screen	22 inch touchscreen	22 inch touchscreen	PM5 monitor, no screen
Content style	Games, races, streaming apps	Filmed on-water rowing, coached	None, just data
Subscription	Required for the good stuff	Required for the good stuff	None, ever
Noise	Loud on Impact, quiet on Strong	Very quiet	Loud
Storage	Strong stands upright	Stands upright	Separates into two pieces
Typical used price	$1,112 to $1,550	$1,062 to $1,497	$900 to $1,318
Middle of the used market	$1,375	$1,285	$1,050

A few things jump out of that table. Concept2 barely depreciates, giving up only around 10 percent off retail on our platform, because the machine is effectively immortal and every gym on earth wants one. Aviron gives up close to 40 percent, the most of the three. Hydrow sits in the middle at roughly a third off.

So the used Aviron is the best value of the three in pure dollars-off terms, and the used Concept2 is the worst value if you are buying but the best asset if you already own one. For a deeper look at the durability case, our Concept2 buying guide covers why those hold value the way they do, and the Hydrow guide does the same on the studio side.

What Used Aviron Rowing Machines Sell For

Expect to pay $1,100 to $1,550 for a clean used Aviron rowing machine, with the full observed range running $700 to $2,275.

The Strong Series and the Impact Series land in almost the same place used, both clustering around $1,375 to $1,430 in the middle. Age and screen condition move the price far more than which model it is. A 2024 Strong in like-new condition and a 2020 Impact in good condition can sit $600 apart.

The $700 to $900 end is where the best deals live and where the risk lives. Those are usually sellers who stopped paying the membership and want the thing out of the spare room, so the machine is often barely used. Confirm the screen powers on and holds a wifi connection before you commit, because a dead console turns an Aviron into a very heavy rower with a blank rectangle on it.

One of our customers bought a rower for a teenage son, hit a snag on delivery, and we sorted it at no charge. That is the part a classifieds listing cannot offer you, and on a $1,400 machine with a computer bolted to it, it is worth something.

What to Inspect, and How Much Space It Needs

Five checks, in order of how much they cost you if you skip them.

1. Boot the screen and connect it to wifi. Not just power on. Watch it actually reach the home screen and join a network. A console that boots but will not connect is the most expensive failure on this machine.
2. Confirm the account is unlinked. Ask for a factory reset in front of you. Get it done before the machine moves, not after.
3. Row hard for two minutes and listen. Seat rollers should be silent on the rail. A grinding or gritty sound means worn rollers, which is cheap to fix but should come off the price.
4. Run a hand down the rail. You are feeling for dents, burrs, and corrosion. A dinged rail chews through rollers and never really goes away.
5. Check the strap where it meets the handle. Fraying at that junction is the classic wear point on any rower. Also cycle the magnetic resistance through its full range and feel that the load actually changes.

Then row on it properly. Not thirty seconds. Give it several honest minutes at a real stroke rate, because a fault in the resistance system will not show up at a gentle pace. Every machine that goes out on our trucks gets inspected first, and buyers get 60 minutes with it at delivery before any money changes hands.

On space: an Aviron rowing machine needs roughly 7 feet of floor length in use, and the Strong Series stores vertically against a wall. Rowers are long, and that is the constraint nobody plans for. You need the rail length plus room behind you to slide back plus clearance for the handle at the catch, so a 7 by 3 foot rectangle is a realistic minimum. Check ceiling height too if you plan to stand it on end. The Impact does not store as neatly as the Strong, so if storage is a hard requirement that alone should pick your model. If floor space is genuinely tight, a Concept2 is the honest answer since it separates into two pieces, and our wider rowing machine buying guide covers footprints in full.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is an Aviron rowing machine worth it?

Yes, if you have failed to stick with rowing before. The games are not a gimmick for the right person; they are the only reason some people log 40 sessions instead of four. If you are already a consistent rower who just wants clean data, you are paying for software you will ignore, and a Concept2 does that job for less.

What is the difference between the Aviron Impact and the Aviron Strong?

The Impact is the original air-forward rower with the big exposed flywheel, the highest weight capacity, and the most noise. The Strong is newer, leans on magnetic resistance, runs much quieter, takes less space, and stands upright for storage. Both use the same 22 inch screen and the same software.

How much does a used Aviron rowing machine cost?

Most sell between $1,112 and $1,550, with the middle of the market around $1,375. We have seen them go as low as $700 for older units from sellers who let the membership lapse, and as high as $2,275 for a current-year Strong in new condition.

Is Aviron better than Hydrow?

They are built for different people. Aviron wins on entertainment and on resistance feel under load. Hydrow wins on quietness, on production quality, and on coached instruction that will actually improve your stroke. Used, they cost within about $100 of each other, so choose on content style rather than price.

Do Aviron rowers hold their value?

Less well than the alternatives. Used Avirons sell at roughly 40 percent off retail on our platform, against about a third off for Hydrow and around 10 percent off for Concept2. That makes an Aviron a strong buy and a weaker sell, so if you are the one listing yours, price it honestly and it moves fast.

Buying or Selling a Rower

If you have a rower parked in a spare bedroom that you have not touched since the membership renewed, it is worth more than you think and it is not hard to turn into cash. You list it, our drivers come and get it, and you get paid. One seller described their unused machine as an expensive paperweight they wanted out of the house, which is exactly the situation this is built for. See what comparable machines are going for on our rowing machine pages before you set a number.

Buying is where the real advantage sits though. Rowers are heavy, awkward, and lose a third to a half of their value in the first couple of years while the mechanical parts stay fine for a decade. Every machine gets inspected before it goes on a truck, drivers deliver and set it up, and you get an hour to row on it before you pay. Start with the Hydrow and rowing machine listings and compare them against the numbers above.