New Cycles, New Classes, and More

We now offer several types of cycling classes: Cycle Tone (cycling with weights), HIIT Cycle, Cycle 30 (express), Cycle Complete (hour-long cycle with a dedicated recovery ride and stretch built-in), Bike Stretch, and of course, our classic 45 minutes Cycle classes.

Theresa Christensen

If you’ve been in the cycle room lately, you may have noticed that something is different. That’s because we recently added eight new bikes! I’m really excited about these bikes. We have been using “Coach by Color” technology since 2015; it was revolutionary then and is still considered the best among many IC professionals. If you aren’t familiar, the bikes in our cycle room use colored lights to reflect the amount of power generated by the rider. This makes it much easier to gauge how hard you are and should be working in each class. Before Coach by Color, you had to rely on the instructor to tell you how hard to push, typically on a scale of 1 to 10 – a subjective rating that made it difficult to tell if you were working to the best of your ability.

Our IC7 bikes use a power meter that tells the rider how many watts of power they are generating in real-time. Once you’ve estimated your threshold (aka “100% effort”), the bike’s computer will break that down into percentages or “zones” so that you can see exactly how hard you are working. These zones are at the core of the Coach by Color system.

“Watt’s” Different?

While it might be difficult to tell the difference between the “old” bikes and the “new” bikes at first glance, there are a few differences. The most noticeable change would be the name on the side of the bike. The new bikes say “Life Fitness” rather than “Matrix.” The monitor is a bit different, too. On the new bikes, you’ll need to choose “power mode” when you first begin pedaling. You’ll then be asked your fitness level, which will most likely be medium to high, depending on the rider. From there, you can enter the FTW (Functional Threshold Wattage) that you’ve been using riding on the old bikes or choose the FTP (Functional Threshold Power) that the new bike generates based on your weight and fitness level. One of the things that I like about this part of the set-up is that the new bikes no longer ask for your age.

Once you begin riding, you’ll discover a nice smooth pedal stroke and the sturdiness that we’ve always loved in our Matrix cycles. You may notice a few small changes on the screen too. For example, you’ll now find your FTW % or “Watts %” in the lower left corner. You’ll also see a “Zone” box in the lower right corner, showing your color zones or Power Zones. Depending on the zone number, the screen will then light up white (zone 1), blue (zone 2), green (zone 3), yellow (zone 4), or red (zones 5, 6, and 7). When you hit zone 6 (121-150% FTW), you’ll notice a little ring of fire in the lower right corner of the screen. When you hit zone 7 (150%+), your whole screen will light up into a flaming vortex! I love it. I find it extremely motivating to push myself higher into that red.

More x 8

The biggest change – by far – is that we are now at a class capacity of 32 bikes! That’s two more than before the covid pandemic struck in 2020. FI’s Cycle department is continuing to move forward. We now offer several types of cycling classes: Cycle Tone (cycling with weights), HIIT Cycle, Cycle 30 (express), Cycle Complete (hour-long cycle with a dedicated recovery ride and stretch built-in), Bike Stretch, and of course, our classic 45 minutes Cycle classes.

Be on the lookout for more evening classes as we expand our schedule this Fall.

If you haven’t been in the cycle room lately, there is no better time than now! Go ahead and try out the new bikes. I think you will be very pleased!