Concept2, More Than Equipment

Peter and Dick Dreissigacker testing an oar shaft using the bread truck they drove from California to Vermont.

For many rowers, the name Concept2 is simply part of the landscape. 

You’ve seen it at the starting line. You’ve trained on it in the early morning quiet. You may have raced on it, tested yourself on it, or found your fitness because of it. 

But our story did not begin in a factory. It began in a barn in Vermont. 

Two Brothers and an Idea
In 1976, brothers Dick and Peter Dreissigacker were training for a spot on the US Olympic Team for the Montreal Games. They were rowers who loved the sport deeply and believed that the oars could be better. 

At the time, racing oars were made of wood, and they were heavy. Dick and Peter believed there was a better way. Could they be lighter? Could they be faster? Working in their kitchen with carbon fiber and fiberglass, they began testing composite designs. Early blades were shaped by hand and cured in a home oven. Progress came through trial and error. Over time, they developed a lightweight and durable composite oar that weighed about five pounds, reduced unnecessary load on the athlete, and delivered a cleaner, more efficient connection through the water. 

From the start, the goal was not simply to make something new, but to make something better and stand behind it. This curiosity led to doing things differently than expected.  

They called their company Concept2, a name rooted in an idea that already shaped how they worked. 

The name dates back to 1974, when Dick and Peter were students working on a school project to design a better backpack. The process was simple and disciplined: define the problem, generate as many solutions as possible, evaluate them carefully, and choose the best one. Of all the concepts considered, it was the second one, concept #2, that proved to be the strongest solution. “Concept 2” became our shorthand for how we think about problem solving. The first, obvious idea is seldom the best solution. Real innovation comes from exploring widely, testing rigorously, and deciding with intention. This problem solving and decision-making process is part of our DNA at Concept2. It’s why we create category-defining products and why we’re comfortable making decisions that do not always follow the norm. 

The name reflects something essential about who we are. We believe in iteration. We believe in improving what exists. We believe there is always a better way. 

It’s a mindset we still carry today. Test it, improve it, and never assume the first answer is the right one. That second concept became the foundation for everything that followed. 

Why Vermont
The brothers, along with Bari Lane, an accomplished rower in her own right, did not choose Vermont because it was a rowing hub. They chose it because it felt right. 

In the mid-1970s, Dick, Peter and Bari left California and drove across the country looking for a place to build a life. They wanted mountains. They wanted to ski. They wanted to garden. They wanted space to think and work. They had childhood memories of skiing Mt. Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak, in Stowe, Vermont. They decided to settle in Morrisville, a small town in the foothills of Mt. Mansfield and on the outskirts of Stowe. Vermont offered space to build both a life and a company. 

Those values still guide us.

Dick Dreissigacker working on an early SkiErg prototype in 1982. 

From Oars to Ergs
Innovation did not stop with oars. 

In 1981, Vermont winters posed another problem to solve: how to row when the water was frozen and how to keep their staff busy and working during the off-season? Peter and Dick decided to create a winter training device for rowers. Peter nailed his old bicycle to the floor of the barn and pulled on the free end of the chain—the RowErg was born. It allowed athletes to train seriously off the water. It also opened the door for people who had never stepped into a shell to experience rowing. Over time, the RowErg became the gold standard around the world. 

In 1991, we introduced the asymmetrical hatchet blade. By the 1992 Olympic Games, most crews were using it. The shape looked different because it was different. It moved more water. It rewarded a powerful connection and disrupted the rowing market.  

In 2009, we turned our attention to Nordic skiing. Nordic skiers needed a way to build strength and endurance year-round, regardless of weather or access to trails. The SkiErg was developed to meet that need. Snow is not required. Experience is not required. The athlete’s work on the SkiErg speaks for itself. 

The common thread through all of it is the same. Listen to athletes. Build thoughtfully. Improve continuously.  

Four Founders, One Shared Commitment
Concept2 was never just two brothers in a barn. In 1976, the company was founded by Dick, Pete and Bari. In 1983, Judy Geer, an Olympic and National Team rower, became the fourth Founder and started working at Concept2. Bari married Pete and Judy married Dick. Together, the four built something far bigger than equipment. 

Bari organized the business in the early days. She handled customer service, sales, accounting, human resources, and shipping. If you called Concept2 in those years, you were likely speaking with Bari. 

Taking care of customers was never a department. It was part of the foundation. 

Judy, with her elite rowing and coaching experience at Dartmouth, and armed with a master’s degree in engineering, brought both athletic and technical depth. She understood the intensity of racing and the discipline of training. She brought that understanding into product development and into the way we speak to our community. 

The four Founders shared a belief that still defines us; performance matters, but people matter more. 

Building Community, Not Just Equipment 
As indoor rowing grew, so did something else—community. 

What began as a small winter gathering in Boston evolved into the C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints, drawing athletes from around the world. The effort is individual, but the experience is shared. Lungs burn. Legs shake. Competitors collapse at the finish, then reach out to the person beside them. Respect is earned together. 

Today, Concept2 users train and compete in boathouses, gyms, arenas, schools, and homes across the globe. Some are Olympians refining their edge. Some are discovering indoor training for the first time. They train on RowErgs, SkiErgs, BikeErgs and StrengthErgs. If you use our products, you belong. 

That belief shapes how we design products, how we support our customers and how we show up every day. 

Our employees coach youth sports, serve on local boards, volunteer with fire and rescue squads, and support organizations that strengthen our communities. We also work to make rowing more accessible so more people can experience the sport that shaped us. 

We build equipment. But more importantly, we build and support the community around it. 

Bari Dreissigacker, Peter Dreissigacker, Dick Dreissigacker and Judy Geer at the signing of the Perpetual Purpose Trust. 

The Perpetual Purpose Trust
On January 1, 2025, the Founders transferred 100 percent of Concept2’s ownership to the Concept2 Perpetual Purpose Trust. 

This step ensures that Concept2 will never be sold off to outside owners and will remain true to its Mission. Profits are reinvested into the business and used to fulfill the designated purpose of the Trust. They do not flow to individual shareholders. 

It ensures that the value created here will continue to serve the community that made it possible. The vision that began in a barn 50 years ago now lives on in the hands of our employees. The Trust carries forward the same Mission that has guided us from the beginning... 

“We strive to design, manufacture, sell and support unique products of the highest quality and value for the benefit of the Concept2 community: our customers, employees, suppliers and neighbors.” 

Still Testing, Still Learning
We are engineers. We are athletes. We are neighbors. We are problem solvers. 

We believe in hard effort. We believe in fair play. We believe in making things that work and standing behind them. 

As Concept2 celebrates 50 years, we look ahead with the same curiosity and grit that shaped our first oars. Our purpose remains clear in the way we work each day: to support our global community with innovative, high-quality products that stand the test of time. 

And it continues, stroke by stroke, innovation by innovation. 

Curious about how two brothers in a Vermont barn started a company that would change rowing and indoor training forever? Listen to Dick and Pete on How I Built This with Guy Raz and learn the story behind the Concept2 Indoor Rower.