Mitchell Orfuss: I bought a Concept 2 Model C for a New York City apartment in July 2001, when my wife and kids were away for a month vacationing in upstate New York, making it a fait accompli upon their return. It straddles two rooms, the living room and the TV room, when not in use so is a bit of an eyesore to everyone but me (I almost never dismantle it). I hop on for a workout every night for a modest 6 to 8,000 metres, usually while watching a terrific sports video or a less-than-terrific TV drama, either of which I'd be doing anyway, so it's the kind of multi-tasking that allows me to feel that rowing doesn't take time out of my day. My 12-year-old son, unprovoked, now uses the Rower about once a week - his most recent conquest was breaking 2-minute pace for a few strokes, which is about as well as his father can do for short bursts. You'll not find me competing, even in my age group, at the World IRC (though I was there as a spectator last year)!After each workout I swab down the slide with a paper towel sprayed with Windex, which keeps the thing behaving absolutely like new. This takes all of about 40 seconds. And once a week, with my son's help, I lube the chain. (Occasionally, I hesitate to admit, with a toothbrush to clean inside the chain.) Every so often I tighten some of the screws. My Indoor Rower, after 800 workouts, is still for all intents and purposes a brand-new piece of exercise equipment, which is too bad since now I desperately want an excuse to buy the new Model D and can't bring myself to do so. Yet. Even though I gave up my expensive gym membership when I bought the Concept 2, effectively making it free. Can anyone give me a good reason to go ahead and buy a D anyway?Here's a tip freely shared that the Concept 2 people may prefer that I'd kept to myself: at the end of each workout I take a plastic see-through dry-cleaning bag and surround the flywheel cage with it. Much less expensive than the official protective cover, and keeps the flywheel interior dust-free. Thank you, Concept 2, for a spectacular machine and workout.