Indoor Cycling: There’s Now An App For That!
Technology has finally trickled into the world of indoor cycling and it’s a pretty exciting time to be involved in the movement.
To be honest, it’s not really a trickle anymore. 2015 felt more like a flood of hot new bikes from not only the commercial fitness equipment manufacturers, but the broader cycling industry who are looking to capitalise on their extensive cycling manufacturing experience and reputation. And why not!?! In the end, competition has a habit of raising the bar and the real winners are gym owners, instructors and members.
At the Perth Fitness Expo I was able to get a closer look at four technology-laden indoor bikes; Wattbike, Stages Cycling SC3, Keiser M3i and the Matrix IC7. All of these bikes look really different on the surface and each have taken a different path on included features too. Collectively, they all have one commonality – Apps. Each bike can pair with an App to show stats on your phone as you pedal.
The Keiser M3i syncing with the GOIND App
Looking at the recent bikes, it is not hard to see how much outdoor cycling and technology have influenced the indoor bikes. Apps, bluetooth connectivity, power meters, group fitness visual displays (for heart rate and cycling data), are very exciting possibilities for gym member engagement.
Indoor cycling historically has been geared toward group fitness. Generally, as cardio equipment goes, indoor bikes are on the cheaper end of the scale, cheap to run and simple to maintain. And thanks to their small foot print (and wheels), can be manoeuvred and stored more readily than their counterparts. As a piece of fitness equipment, indoor cycles have given instructors the freedom to be creative and gym operators a virtual night club licence, with cycle studios adorning strobe lighting, blacked out rooms, loud doof-doof music, some even employ DJ’s!
But technology could be the catalyst to switch the focus away from a ‘show’, delivering a profoundly unique exercise experience that is personalised and measured, ideally resulting in a win/win for club owners and members.
So what does cycling technology really mean to club owners, instructors and gym members?
For Club Owners
Group fitness has always represented a wonderful opportunity to form a true bond with gym members, turning them into loyal customers, resulting in a solid membership retention strategy. Nothing new.
However, the new era of indoor bikes offer club owners a high engagement option for the cardio floor. I have been an advocate for class bikes on the gym floor for a long time. In my case, the idea started when a few of the gym staff were training for a triathlon. We put a Star Trac V-Bike out on the cardio floor so that we could see the tv during long monotonous rides. Within a week, the staff found it challenging to get time on the bike, as gym members were also using it! A short time later, I had a small fleet of no fuss (and no console), Star Trac V-bikes on the cardio floor. That was more than a decade ago.
The bikes of 2015 are true stand alone cardio pieces and the associated Apps align with the take-home-feedback ethos that members get on the smart consoles of cardio equipment as well as their smart sports watches and phones. I think that the capability to capture workout data on indoor bikes is exciting and will help gain new fans. Additionally class bikes on the gym floor are an unitimitadting way to introduce members to cycling and may lead to class participation.
For Class Instructors
Technology is helping group fitness on the broader scale to offer a unique exercise experience. A great example of this is the the MYZONE Group Display (below), which is pretty simple to set up and will display individual class member stats live!
In the cycling studio, I used to get off my bike and feel the heat generated by the fly wheel to see if class participants were working at their full potential. By harnessing technology such as the Ant+ signal to display the bikes stats, instructors now have a new bag of motivational goodness to engerize their classes, (whilst keeping their hands clean).
I interviewed Guy Arrowsmith of Gym Care (Life Fitness distributor in Western Australia) who told us about Keiser’s group fitness projection system, the Keiser GX for Keiser’s M3i and specifically what it offers in the class setting.
“… you are able to project all bikes in the room up on a screen behind the instructor. And the instructor has a small remote which is able to scroll through different settings… so that everyone in the room is up on that screen. … So you are riding team Vs team! (It can also)… separate the really strong riders… and divide riders into even teams, so it (becomes) a really even race”.
For Gym Members:
Technology is helping neutralise the need for a cycling class light and sound ‘show’ by delivering immediate feedback via Apps etc and improving the cycling experience by making it more personalised and measured.
One bike I am particularly impressed with, is the Matrix IC7 with Coach By Color system. After an initial on-bike FTW (Functional Threshold Wattage) test, the bike issues you with a score which becomes the basis of your effort via colored zones. I really like the concept of a screen that changes colour depending on what zone you are in. In a class setting the color is also visible to the instructor! Check out the full demo/interview here.
Whether the detail of the data is studied by individuals is irrelevant. What this breed of bikes offer is meaningful, immediate feedback, that can help the individual or an instructor/PT refine training sessions and potentially improve goal outcomes.
Will technology help push indoor cycling back up the fitness trend list?
Yes. That is my prediction for 2016 and beyond. With bootcamp out the back door and wearables hitting the top spot of ACSM’s fitness trends for 2016, the humble indoor cycle has suddenly moved away from being just hunks of spinning metal, to refined technology-loaded legitimate cardio machines, worthy of general gym floor space!
I can see indoor cycling making a comeback up the trend ladder. Can you?
Til next time,
Nate
Head Barista
Fitness Equipment Cafe
Guest Blogger: Nate Effeney from Fitness Equipment Cafe. Fitness Equipment Cafe’s mission is to be the: #1 source of independent fitness equipment expertise – globally.