Broken bikes in spin class
 

Maybe I'm just getting cranky....

I go to the spin classes at our local gym on week nights after work. I like variety so I do those a couple of days a week, do other cardio on other days, and the weight room on other days.

I like to arrive 15 minutes early to allow plenty of time to make all the necessary bike adjustments and do a good warm-up. I arrived last night and went straight to the bike I usually ride, and found the seat was broken. I took the bike next to it --- seat broken. Moved up a row, made all the adjustments except for raising the bars, and found they were wobbly (stripped threads)? Not feeling good about that, so I moved to the next bike ---- same problem!!! By now, it was 6:00 and my warm-up time was over. None of these bikes had a sign on them to suggest anything was not working.

A 5th bike was still missing a seat and turned backwards, just like it was when I was there last Wednesday. On that night, the room was completely full and every functional bike was taken. A few people walked in late suited up in their spin clothes and cleats, and couldn't find an available bike. If all the broken bikes were fixed, they could have ridden those.

After trying 4 bikes and none of them were suitable to ride, I left the class. I went to the front desk and politely reported that there are *at least* 4 broken bikes in the spin room and suggested that their mechanic go through the entire room and check each bike.

This gym is actually a fitness center "club" and charges more than regular gyms. Several members of our bike group belong. The atmosphere is like a community center, and we love it there. I hate to complain about things, but I wanted to bring this to their attention.

Am I expecting too much? I don't expect all equipment to be in 100% perfect working order 100% of the time --- I know things break and need servicing. Perhaps they have new bikes or parts on order to replace these, but no one I spoke to seemed to know anything about that.

You have every right to complain, you are paying for the equipment to be safe and funtional. I spin at the YMCA, I'm sure I pay a lot less than you, but the bike, while not the newest, are kept in pretty good working order. No one should ever be closed out of a class because of multiple broke bikes.

You can see that. I spin at the Y. Lately things have been pretty good since they got the new bikes. But spin bikes require periodic maintenance. There though, it was the practice to remove nonfunctional bikes into a sort of morgue section where they would hopefully receive attention.

Yen, you have every right to assume that the equipment will be functional and safe to use at your class. I would make it a point to speak to one of the facilities managers regrading the length of time and number of units that are out of service. Telling the instructor or front desk person may not be getting the message on to the right staff members.

I was a parks and recreation director for a number of years and oversaw a larger community recreation center that operated on it’s own revenues and without operating funds from the city. We knew how important it was to keep our members vs. the expense and time of getting new members. Staying ahead of maintenance issues on equipment was of the upmost importance in customer satisfaction. The equipment needs to be fixed or maintained to be used anyway, why would a competent manager put off the effort at the expense of losing a customer?

Our fitness centre has 15 bikes. All work and are in good condition except one. It is always one so why?

And the classes all have 15 participants because that is the number of bikes they have.

I have had that bike once and like you- left the class. Pointless crippling myself on a training session.

Dude, you're in So Cal, it's July, and you're inside in a spin class?

I don't get it.

John--some parts of So Cal are VERY hot this time of year. If I'm not home by 9AM I am suffering. Don't know if that is the OPs issue, but it might be mine :-)

word

Two seat failures, two bar failures. Sounds to me like they could have fixed two of those pretty quickly at only the cost of the others being extra-broken.

That's true. And I dislike riding in traffic after work around 6 pm, especially after dark. I go to the gym for other reasons, and the spin classes give me a better, more focused workout than I would get alone after work.

Jen (not 'Dude') :-)

Same reason I ride my Ciocc on my wind trainer after work rather than risk getting hit by an unfocused driver.

He called Yen a DUDE. Guffauw.

Yen is a babe.

The club should be concerned about the liability issue of broken people from broken bikes.

Our Rec Center instructors always check the bikes. Any one that is bad goes to the "morgue" section where it is fixed.

Given that there are some 25 spin classes during the week, the bikes get a lot of use - but they are in good repair. Your gym is way off base.

I suspect that the broken bikes were not reported. Last night I was just getting warmed up on an eliptical machine when the repair guy told me he needed to work on it so I moved to another machine. No problem... there may have been a safety issue to fix. Anyway, I asked him if he knew about the bikes in the spin room, and he said no!! I said that someone really needs to check out the whole room, bike by bike. He seemed very on-the-ball and showed an attitude of concern.

This is not a chain gym --- it is a "community club" fitness center that also has tennis courts, swimming pools, and many different activities. We love it there. I suspect that management or whomever has the authority to repair the bikes just does not know about them. The instructors arrive a few minutes before each class starts. My husband thinks each instructor should arrive early enough to check each bike, but I don't know enough about that business to say that.

You should let the management know.

We have Keiser spin bikes with magnetic resistance at our fitness center. They've been there a year and seem to hold up pretty well. It's rare that one is out of service. I'm off the road bike due to a couple of crashes and related issues for a while and really appreciate the ability to get in a good workout.

Our center is currently doing a program where the spin class rides simulate each stage of the Tour. You get assigned to teams, and each team tries to see how many classes they can ride over the three weeks. LOTS of women in the classes, and a room with about 40 bikes has about 20-30 in use each class. They probably have about 25 classes a week too.