The Spin Cycle
Get the most from your group cycling program
By Barb Gormley
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| An easy-going, non-competitive instructor, friendly conversation and the sweet sounds of big band music. If you’re 60-plus, there’s a lot to love about the seniors’ group cycling classes at La Sporthèque de Hull (www.sportheque.com) in Hull, Quebec. | |
| According to general manager Larry Greene, the 50-minute classes are packed with keen members for the same reasons the club’s other more-traditional cycling classes are bursting at the seams: they’re challenging workouts lead by charismatic instructors who play great music and create a fun social atmosphere. |
According to general manager Larry Greene, the 50-minute classes are packed with keen members for the same reasons the club’s other more-traditional cycling classes are bursting at the seams: they’re challenging workouts lead by charismatic instructors who play great music and create a fun social environment.
Indoor cycling is big business at the club. In large part, it’s due to the creative spin that Greene and his team have put on the traditional “athletes-only” model that most other fitness clubs offer.
Think big
“In the first years, we had just serious cyclists and triathletes in Spandex bicycle shorts,” says Greene. That small number of members became hardcore regular participants, but other members were too intimidated to participate. The club, well known for its impressive variety of all-ages programming, soon realized that with all the right elements, cycling classes could be accessible to more than just their fittest members.
Today, along with the seniors classes, La Sporthèque also offers a post-natal cycling class (babies sleep in strollers at the back of the room), youth cycling and even a weight-loss cycling program targeted to club members with weight issues.
This diversification, paired with constant promotion, has helped bump up participation numbers considerably; about 200 of the club’s 5,000 members are involved in cycling classes.
To keep interest levels high, once a month a few classes move from their somewhat isolated location and out onto the club terrace or into the lobby. “Other members see the bikes and say, “Maybe I should try it’”, explains Greene. And the regular participants love the change of scenery.
In terms of revenues, Greene describes cycling as indirectly profitable. “It’s an expensive program to run when you consider the cost of bikes, repairs and instructor fees.” But he attributes a huge surge in their all-inclusive memberships directly to the program. “It’s been a wonderful, wonderful way to get people to join the club with a gold membership. It’s increased our gold membership numbers to over 2,800 when five years ago we had just 2,000.”
Extend your reach
In Vancouver, a whole new clientele discovered Sweat Co. Workout Studios (www.sweatcostudios.com) when it introduced its indoor cycling program nine years ago. “We have more men, professional athletes and people who never thought they could exercise at our studio without taking a choreographed fitness class,” says owner Maureen Wilson. “It’s been a real plus.”
With a successful pilates studio on the same floor, Sweat Co. has had to be creative to run two such diverse programs in close proximity. “We use a headset system rather than blasting music throughout the room,” points out Wilson. “We supply the headset and heart rate monitor. Our students love it.”
While Wilson reports that the program does very well financially, she notes that it does require lots of attention. “Clubs need to have strong policies on sign-up, cancellation and maintenance to keep things running smoothly,” she advises. “If a bike goes down during a class and the class is sold-out, that can be challenging. We have spare bikes off to the side just in case.” Wilson helps manage expenses by handling as many small repairs as she can herself.
Keep it super clean
At Berkeley Gym (www.berkeleygym.com) in Toronto, co-owner Steve Baisley has taken maintenance and repairs completely into his own hands. “Parts and labour for any kind of fitness equipment maintenance are high,” says Baisley who averages one hour per week, but sometimes two consecutive full-days, maintaining his club’s 18 bikes.
Baisley is also fastidious when it comes to cleaning the club’s 18 bikes. He thinks it’s ridiculous to expect members to even wipe them down. “After each class, our staff gives them a thorough cleaning,” he explains. “Members just wipe the parts that their bodies touch, not where the sweat drips. People sweat like crazy in the classes. If you can keep corrosive sweat and salt out of them, you can really extend the life of your equipment.”
Despite the effort and money required to deliver his club’s program and maintain the equipment, Baisley says it’s all worthwhile. “Even if it was a break-even program, we’d still offer it. All of the club owners spin, and we know how beneficial and fun it is. We’d take a hit on it if we had to.”
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