I purchased the KayakPro Dragon Boat Ergometer in March 2021. It arrived to my home in Canada less than 2 weeks from when I purchased it. The shipping and duties/taxes added an extra $400 USD to the price.
The assembly instructions were straightforward, and assembly took me ~4 hours. I highly recommend using a socket wrench instead of the small wrenches provided in the box. It also came with console instructions and extra ropes/bungees.
I've used KayakPro ergs in the past, and a big difference between the current model and past iterations is that the adjustment of the foot brace. On older models this is done with a strap, which was prone to loosening. On the current model, this is replaced with a much sleeker clip mechanism that is much more user friendly. It's nice for my home gym, but I imagine that anyone sharing paddle ergs will appreciate not losing time to adjusting the foot brace.
There is a screw that can lock the erg to the left or to the right, but I removed this screw to allow for side-switching. This is actually pretty good for paddling too because the requirement to keep the arm from slamming on each stroke ensures an early and efficient catch. Basically, if you start pulling before your paddle is "buried" you'll create a thump.
The resistance on the brand new bungees is still quite strong, so one difficulty I had was being able to calibrate the erg to the correct drag for my team's testing protocols. This can be mitigated by covering some of the vents on the fly wheel, which I did with some old cam straps and a pillowcase. Kayakpro also sells flywheel covers for the DM-1 machines for ~$40. I'm sure that as the bungee gets more worn in the flywheel cover will become less necessary.
Using the DM-1 is easy and straightforward, and has really helped me prepare for the on-water season. This is also the erg that is used for Canada's national team testing, so I feel better prepared for the next cycle knowing I can practice at home. During Covid, this has been well worth the investment, I only wish I had purchased it sooner. This really is the Cadillac of dragon boat ergs, and if you are able to I highly recommend taking the plunge and making the purchase.
The team at KayakPro is also very responsive to questions and requests, and I know that when I have questions I can send them a quick email to get them sorted. Awesome customer service experience!
The erg does take up a lot of space in my not-so-big house, so I am going to purchase a rowing erg wall-mount and see if that works out for DM-1 (fingers crossed!). It does also get dusty quickly, so I keep a little duster close by.
If you're seriously into dragon boat and can afford the purchase, I highly recommend the DM-1!
