Over the past month or so we're published multiple posts related to the accuracy and consistency of the indoor cycles in our studios. Gene Nacey chronicled his experiments toward finding a method of handicapping his cycles, in the hope of addressing the differences in wattage he is seeing between bikes and my series on the results from our survey both pointed to the same conclusion; Indoor Cycle manufactures have work to do to ensure a level of consistency that will give both Instructors and participants the confidence we need to really use power as a training tool in our classes.
Last week at IHRSA, Amy and I had the chance to sit down with Keiser founder Dennis Keiser, before he formally announced that his engineering team had secured the first European EN-ISO 20957-1 accreditation for an Indoor Cycle that displays power – the new Keiser M3i.
The Keiser M3 group fitness cycle has been the first product of its kind to receive prestigious EN-ISO 20957-1 recognition for the accuracy of its power display.
“This is a big step. Our industry needs to validate the numbers that our users are seeing,” said Keiser founder and President Dennis Keiser. “This gives our customers a level of comfort at what they are seeing in our display.” The accuracy certification represents the first time that TUV Product Services, a European safety organization, has tested for accuracy in a data reporting system on an indoor group exercise cycle. To achieve EN-ISO 20957-1 recognition, TUV requires a group fitness cycle consistently perform within plus or minus 10% of accuracy. “To be the first in our industry to receive this is a great achievement and an honor,” expressed Keiser Vice President-Europe Alastair Watson. “It is important to everyone at Keiser that our customers know they are getting the best bike in the industry and the most accurate reporting system as this designation confirms.” Keiser has been the undisputed industry leader, the first to employ magnetic resistance, introduce power, and now the first to receive accuracy certification. “It’s very easy for someone to talk about the accuracy of power but this test is very difficult. To achieve what we have is significant,” explained Dennis Keiser. “We have been the leader and intend to remain the leader in indoor group cycling.”
Dennis explained to us that the primary focus of EN-ISO 20957-1 (ISO is the International Organization for Standardization) is safety. Passing is required to sell new fitness equipment in many European countries. The certification of any power displayed is a sub-category of EN-ISO 20957-1 that's been initiated to bring more consistency to our industry – something Dennis expressed is long overdue and I completely agree.
Now while a +-10% accuracy may not sound all that impressive in these days of super accurate (and expensive) bicycle power meters, that's the maximum allowable variation from any randomly sampled production M3i. To achieve that level of accuracy, while making allowances for production tolerances, Keiser's engineers designed the M3i to have single digit accuracy.
Upgrade for older Keiser M3s
So why would this be important to a club or studio who own the older versions of the Keiser M3? My understanding is that Keiser will be offering retrofit kits for older M3's. By replacing the console, a small circuit board near the magnet carrier and the magnet carrier you'll be able to bring your M3s up to this new certification's level of accuracy. Included with the kit will be the new power console that incorporates BLE Bluetooth Low Energy which will easily pair with an iPhone/Android phone + work with the new Keiser GX group exercise projection system for on-screen power and heart rate display in class. More about that soon.
Both are supposed to be available later this summer – I'll be posting the details on cost and how to order once it's been finalized.
That's Coach Robin Robinson in the pink jersey at IHRSA
There's talk of a new YouTube Streaming Music service, similar to what many of us enjoy with Spotify & Deezer for delivering our class music. Imagine a service where you could create a playlist of music videos, add them to your portable device and then make them available for off line use 🙂
The alleged on-demand music service would be geared towards mobile use, and offer a free tier that lets you select songs from a large catalog of tracks, in addition to music videos supported by advertisements. A paid version of the service, which will cost $10 per month, will reportedly remove ads and offer the ability to save music offline on your device.
Word is that YouTube's service will be launched in the first quarter of 2014 – possibly as part of the Google All Access Music service.
I can't wait to see this because I've discovered something…
We've refrained in the past from advocating the use of YouTube music videos here at ICI/PRO in the past. My understanding was that the terms and conditions used by YouTube expressly prohibit playing their videos in a commercial setting.
Now I'm not an attorney, but it appears that this is another misconception from those “They Say” people. I just spent an hour researching this and can't find anywhere where YouTube prohibits the commercial use of their videos.
What is (has always been) prohibited is the playing of copyrighted music (audio only or music video) in a commercial setting = your club or studio, unless you're paying the appropriate fees to the music licensing authority where you're located.
Actually projecting the videos off your iPhone using this new service will of course create some new technical hurdles for many of us Instructors and studio owners. When YouTube's new service gets more real, I have an audio & video technology expert standing by to help us integrate this new video option into our classes.
If you're getting bored with your old Indoor Cycling DVDs and want to avoid the aggressive crowds at the mall, these two companies are offering special discounts this weekend. You can shop from the safety of your own home.
epicPLANET.tv is offering a 25% discount on all their titles through Dec 1st- use coupon code EPIC13 here. Epic RACE Day is awesome if you don't own it yet 🙂
Cycling Fusion has a bunch of deals you can access between Friday 11/29 morning and Sunday 12/2 night. Discounts include 20%-25% off individual DVDs and boxed sets + free shipping on orders over $100.00. No coupon code required. Just visit Cyclingfusion.com between Black Friday and Monday Dec 12th.
I woke up to this note from Allen Jones, the executive producer of the Epic Rides series of Indoor Cycling Class Videos and DVDs.
Hi John,
I just wanted to give you heads up on our newest epicRIDES release, Epic Amelia Island AND a special Epic Affiliate Coupon Code for a 20% discount on this title for one week (ending 9/15/13) that you can share with your followers.
COUPON CODE: amelia
Here are the details:
Epic Amelia Island
Join three avid cyclist riding the 62 mile route of the Katie Ride for Life, a major springtime cycling event held in Amelia Island, Florida, north of Jacksonville on the Florida-Georgia border.
With 13-miles of beautiful beaches, abundant native wildlife, and pristine waters, Amelia Island has long been a beloved destination for visitors and locals alike. For the sixth consecutive year, Amelia was voted among Top 10 North American Islands by Conde Nast Traveler's Reader's Choice Awards.
With it's flat terrain and consistent level of intensity, this Epic Amelia Island is an ideal Endurance training ride to build your aerobic base. 

Now, you can preview this route for yourself and get some serious training accomplished at the same time!
And, as an extra incentive, a percentage of the profits from Epic Amelia Island will go to the Katie Ride for Life to further it's mission of organ donor education.
DVD – $29.95, Download – $19.95, Combo Pack – $39.95
Teach to a full house of 50 riders and expect to receive $500.00 for your efforts.This isn't a typo – this outfit is planning to compensate Indoor Cycling Instructors up to $500.00 a class. Teach a regular schedule of 13 packed classes a week and you'll be interviewing stock brokers for ideas where you should invest your $300,000 annual compensation.
Want to work for Peloton Cycling? Check to see if they're hiring here.
To that end, Peloton has borrowed a lot from boutique studios and what riders are addicted to, starting with the charismatic instructor. “Instructors who can command an audience and have great fitness knowledge are arguably like actors, they should be paid as such. We’re tripling what the going rate is to work at a studio,” says Foley, adding that with this platform, Peloton teachers will become “global celebrities, capable of reaching thousands of riders at a time, instead of 50.” (We’re expecting defections any second now.) – I'm assuming they're referring to defections from SoulCycle & Flywheel – John
Peloton's goal here, as I see it, is to recruit the very best 10 Instructors… not just the 10 best Instructors in New York, but the 10 best Instructors from anywhere on the planet. $300k should be enough of an incentive to motivate just about anyone to pack their bags, move to a new gig and start teaching in the Big Apple.
How can they afford to pay Instructors so much?
The financial “Holy Grail” for Peloton is delivering on-demand classes to home users riding their new Peloton Indoor Cycles. This bike looks very cool/well designed and they recently raised over $300,000 using Kick Starter to fund the design and early production.
Created by John Foley, the former president of Barnes & Noble eCommerce, Peloton has built a sexy at-home bike that won’t look out of place in your high-design living room. It comes with a 22-inch tablet-like, touch-screen monitor that allows you to ride along with live classes at Peloton’s 50-bike studio in New York City (opening in Chelsea in the fall), or stream one on-demand.
So your potential class size is limited only by the number of those new cycles they sell.
I'm dying to learn more about all of this; the new Indoor Cycle, the technology, their plans for the Peloton Studio… everything. I'm working on getting a representative on the Podcast ASAP.
RAAM begins in Oceanside, CA and travels 3,000 miles, 170,000 feet of elevation change and the the film crew from epicPLANET.tv will be filming the riders all the way to the end in Annapolis, MD!
For this year's event starting in mid-June, epicPLANET.tv has embedded it's film crew with Team Break the Cycle from Bentonville, Arkansas. This four-person team is riding in support of the Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter, a private, non-profit organization that provides 24-hour emergency residential care to children who are victims of family violence, neglect and physical and sexual abuse. So far, they've raised over $200,000. WOW!
Team cyclists, Mike Brady, Chip Gibbons, Randy Johnson, and Lori O'Connor will be riding around the clock for approximately seven days supported by a team of 14 dedicated volunteers led by Crew Chief Mark Burson. It's a cyclists dream come true!
Team Break the Cycle
EpicPlanet's producer, Allen Jones, is planning to create short videos from RAMM that we will be displaying here to track their progress.
Later this fall epicPLANET plans to produce a number of Indoor Cycling videos & DVDs that chronicle Team Break the Cycle's journey across the USA. I can't wait to show them to my classes, especially the parts where they climb across the Rocky Mountains 🙂
