With the cycling zone concept continuing to grow across the fitness industry, Places for People seized the opportunity to take the initiative one step further. To stand out, Places for People worked with Wattbike to introduce the most immersive zone in the country. John Oxley, Places for People’s chief operating officer, explains more.

What is the Wattbike Cycling Zone and where is it?
The Wattbike Cycling Zone is a studio cycling space at the very front of the Rotherham Leisure Complex. It has traditional spin bikes and we have now added eight Wattbikes with accompanying immersive and engaging artwork. You can’t miss it.

Why did you choose Wattbike and why Rotherham?
Well at Rotherham we had a particularly large cycling studio which we’d converted from an indoor climbing facility.

We wanted to expand the programme of indoor cycling to appeal to a much broader range of customers with a variety of different fitness levels and experience, and bring in different groups. Wattbike has that appeal.

Do you have a particular type of ‘member’ that the Rotherham zone is aimed at?
It can vary. Someone who's into general fitness, but is target orientated. Those who might have a particular sports conditioning focus. And then there's obviously the people interested in cycling.

Tell us a little about the Places for People target market?
We say that our fitness proposition is for people who want to get fit, people who want to get fitter and for those who are training for competition. Those are our three target markets whose needs are varied and therefore our choice of equipment has to be considered. The Wattbike fit’s in to all of those categories perfectly so it’s a great partnership.

When did the zone launch and what response did it get?
The zone was installed July and the response has been terrific. It was also helped by a great launch event that we did in conjunction with the Wattbike team. It also included the former professional cyclist, Wattbike ambassador and local cycling legend, Dean Downing.

Are there any further plans to install more Wattbike zones in other sites?
Absolutely. Of course, we first want to make the Rotherham zone a success, but we've already identified a further two or three opportunities where we can develop more Wattbike zones, either in gyms or in studios.

Rotherham has a big cycling fraternity, do you think a city needs this to have a zone or will it fit anywhere?

I think the zone can go anywhere; obviously it helps if there is an established cycling fraternity which provides easier access to the market. But it’s not a necessity. Not at all.

Cycling zones are becoming fully immersive to satisfy the growing cycling population and Wattbike have every solution covered having created over 40 immersive zones in the UK.

If you want to stand out from the crowd contact Wattbike now.