Fresh off the split between Mad Dogg Athletics and Core Health & Fitness – Star Trac, I received this press release promoting their new (?) lineup of Indoor Cycles…
Core Health & Fitness To Introduce New Indoor Group Cycles
VANCOUVER, WA. September 29, 2015 — Core Health & Fitness, an industry leader in the manufacture
and distribution of commercial fitness products, announced today plans to introduce three new indoor
cycling bikes. The bikes will be marketed under Core Health & Fitness’s Star Trac brand and will debut
this Fall as the Studio 7â„¢, Studio 5â„¢ and Studio 3â„¢.
“Our new bikes are a winning combination of features and price points that customers will love”, said
Dustin Grosz, President of Core Health & Fitness. “We have been the number one seller of group cycle
bikes for over a decade and have over fifteen years of experience in engineering, design, manufacturing
and distribution of indoor cycling bikes. The design of our new line of bikes draws on that wealth of
experience and reputation for producing the highest quality indoor cycling bikes, while answering our
customers’ requests for a newly designed, more flexible and more affordable offering in the indoor
cycling space. The new bikes have a superior look and feel and are offered at a more attractive price
point than Star Trac’s prior product offerings in this space,” Grosz added.
Jeff Dilts, Vice President of Product Management and Innovation at Core Health & Fitness said,
“Although the bikes will vary in regards to frame and drivetrain, all three will utilize the popular perimeter weighted flywheel and a direct pressure brake system.
The top-of-the-line Star Trac Studio 7â„¢ will feature an aluminum frame, a field-tested Poly V belt and ship with pedals featuring both toe cages and SPD clips.
The Star Trac Studio 5â„¢ will have these same popular features, but will do so on the steel
frame structure. Both bikes incorporate the Star Trac patent pending, durable Morse Taper design that
delivers unmatched performance, safety and durability”.
The Star Trac Studio 3â„¢ launches with a steel frame, a traditional chain drive and direct pressure brake
system.
“The Star Trac Studio Series indoor cycling bikes provide a perfect complement to our Schwinn AC
series”, added Grosz. “No matter what frame, drivetrain, brake or console system a club wants, we’ve
got a bike that fits the need.”
I've requested pictures and will be posting them as soon as I receive them. Based on these very basic descriptions, (and no mention of Power) I'm going out on a limb and guessing that these will be rebranded versions of the Star Trac Indoor Cycles that you're already familiar with. Studios who are interested in magnetic resistance and power indication will probably be steered toward the Schwinn AC line by the Core Health & Fitness sales reps.
Hey – I just got an email explaining that Spivi has added a FTP (Functional Threshold Power) Test to their display training system. I can't begin to tell you how beneficial these short threshold/best efforts are for engaging participants in your power based classes. That's why I describe these as a Best Practice for anyone teaching with power.
Like PIQ, Spivi offers the option for riders to manually add their FTP / PTP wattage into a user profile. Another option is to enable the Fitness Test option where you can select an 8 or 20 minute FTP test that will record each riders average watts for the period and then add either 90% (8 minute) or 95% (20 minute) of it to their user profile.
To start the FTP tests wizard, press the left analog stick once, just like if it was a button. Now select the requested test from the menu and press the “Start” button to start.
Don't forget to Instruct the group how to ride and what to do during the test. The FTP test lasts as long as the progress bar on the bottom right side of the screens appears.
There's a lot of pressure on clubs and studios to upgrade to the latest technology… those basic, conventional bikes just don't cut it when there's a new competitor down the street.
So what does a struggling fitness studio do to come up with the cash (two grand or more per cycle) for a room full of the latest from Schwinn, Star Trac, Keiser or FreeMotion?
How about running an online fundraising campaign to raise the money? Could that ever work?
We will know next month when Ypsi Studio closes their indiegogo campaign on September 21st. They're running what they call SchWinning at Ypsi Studio. Owner Julia Collins is hoping to raise enough money to upgrade to new Schwinn AC Performance Indoor Cycles for her Ypsilanti, Michigan studio.
With clients looking to stay on track with the most up to date exercise equipment, Ypsi Studio owner Julia Collins has launched a Indiegogo campaign to help raise the money needed to upgrade the indoor-cycling bikes the studio is currently using.
“I’m a small-business person and I’ve been in this business for 10 years. Gradually over those 10 years I’ve expanded from a tiny one room place to a place with two floors and different classes and several employees,” Collins said. “Every time I was making profits, I was putting it right back into the business.”
However, those profits are not enough to upgrade the equipment for her customers.
Collins is hoping to raise $25,000 so the studio can purchase 13 new indoor-cycling bikes. Currently the studio has several bikes they’re using that are in good condition, but they’re nearly 10 years old.
According to the campaign website the bikes the studio is looking to purchase are comparable to bikes offered in other fitness studios in the area. They will not only allow the user to exercise, but also monitor RPM, calories burned, heart rate and how long you've been riding.
Didn't the author leave out the most important part? Power!
Good luck with this Julia! I've made a note to follow up with the results of her campaign. You can learn more and pledge your support here.
How cool is this? I hadn't experienced an Indoor Cycling studio that offered reserved seats before. It had me feeling like a VIP when Amy and I visited CB Cyclebarn, Karen Casler's studio last month.
The website system she uses integrates her Mindbody account with the class rider data collected by Performance IQ. I thought you might like to see the string of conformation and followup emails the system creates automatically.
First let's reserve a spot in the class. I didn't think to take a screen shot at the time so I'm showing tomorrow's schedule.
Better hurry and sign up now for Jen's 7 am class! There's only 2 spots left.
Next you select your bike – just like picking a seat on an airplane or at a concert. The image is for Bart's 11:00 am class. Note how you can pick a bike that has your type of pedals.
Once you've completed your purchase you receive a conformation email – all this happens automatically.
Having a confirmed seat, in a sold out class, is awesome.
A friendly reminder is appreciated by scatter brains like me.
After the class I checked my email and saw all of my performance data. I wasn't wearing a heart rate strap in this class. If I had that data would show as well.
Receiving this information had me wanting to return to see if I could improve my average.
Amy and I were very impressed by this system and feel it will really get your participants excited about training with power on a consistent schedule! The website integration system is offered by LiveEdit and will work with these Indoor Cycles with power; FreeMotion S11.9, Spinner® Blade Ion and the Schwinn AC Performance.
Disclosure – Amy recently joined LiveEdit as a representative, specializing in helping new Indoor Cycling Studios. She would enjoy answering your questions. Amy.Macgowan@getliveedit.com or feel free to call her 320-685-0183
To start the FTP tests wizard, press the left analog stick once, just like if it was a button. Now select the requested test from the menu and press the “Start” button to start.
