Sandton Gym recieved the new bikes in October. 75% of the spinners thought there was nothing wrong with the bikes - these are the guys that do not put much effort into their spinning, they just want a cardio workout, which they could get in the Cardio sectio of the gym , where these bikes actually belong. The other 25% staged a walkout to find other gyms. A couple of members sent emails to the club manager as well as to National. here was there their reply "Response from my National: I can assure you that we have done extensive research on this bike, we do not take product decisions lightly and all products go through comprehensive research and piloting. The Tomahawk bike was no exception and we were 100% comfortable to place this bike in our facilities to the benefit of our member base. It is certainly not a cheaper option and is backed by one of the biggest manufacturers worldwide in Johnson healthtech/Matrix. A couple of points to note... The belt driven option is not inferior to the chain option, the belt is made of Kevlar and in this composition and structure does not stretch, we have this product in a mass of clubs at the moment, andincidently,matrix utilise this belt system with all of their strength machines as well with no slipping or breakage to date. The only comments have been the difference in "feel" as you alluded to from a rougher chain mechanism to a smoother belt option. Many of our older upright bikes across our estate are still chain driven, we have only introduced a belt driven system in the last 3 years, please note that the composition of this upright stationery cycle belt vs the tomahawk bike is different. Ultimately we are working to provide a safe, effective, innovative and welcoming environment for our member base, and do this through top products and offerings." This was not good enough 2 members posted on Hello Peter "1. The new spinning bikes are awful? Virgin Active has brought in a new brand of bike (technogym was used for years) without it appears any consultation, testing and perhaps having instructors test them out. They have absolutely no feel similar to a road or mountain bike (warranted it is a spinning bike with a weighted wheel), and in my view are the type of bike you would want on your normal training floor for a normal cardio workout as opposed to a spinning and interval training session. Please look into this further and listen to what your members & instructors are saying. The attitude that has been received by some of the floor staff, that us the clients (that pay their salaries), must just get used to the new bikes since it is not going to change is unacceptable." "2. Sandton gets a rollout of new spinning bikes , this is fantastic and what we have been waiting for. Joy quickly turns to shock when the bikes start causing injuries. The average spinner would not know the difference between one spinning bike and the next , but about 25% of a class would. , they just do not have the reaction of a decent spinning bike. Well when members and some spinning instructors started complaining, the issue got passed around between regional to head office and back again, nobody will admit that the bike choice was not good for effective spinning technique. Instructors started cancelling their classes at Sandton , which was very inconvenient as they were some of the best that Virgin Active had to offer. Dedicated spinners now travel to other gyms sometimes out of the way to get a spin on a decent bike , but not always a decent instructor. Did anyone consult the spinning instructors before these bikes where purchased., I think not ! these bikes have the feel of a bike that should sit in cardio section of the gym, not the spinning studio. " Well to cut a long story short - by perservering Sandton is getting new spinning bikes - whether they are on par with the original Star Trac bikes remains to seen , but at this point anything is better than those belt driven Tomohawk bikes.
