Nestled in the heart of The Cheshire Golden Triangle and serving the immediate surrounding areas of Alderley Edge, Hale, Mobberley, Prestbury Wilmslow aswell as Greater Manchester and North Cheshire, Pro Spin Club is the is brainchild of former pro-cycling soigneur - Emma O' Reilly - plus Investor and Entrepreneur - Marc Duschenes.
Identifying a gap in the market for a dedicated indoor spinning and cycle fitness centre, I caught up with Emma O' Reilly over a coffee to understand a little more about the thinking behind Pro Spin Club and what facilities it will have for road cyclists looking to train for specific sportives or multi-day events.
PJ - What was the big idea behind setting Pro Spin Club up? What gap in the market had you seen?
EOR - "It came from a discussion with Marc simply around the lack of a good spinning facility in the area. What started as a conversation quickly turned into an opportunity off we went. What started as a spin studio turned into this concept - Pro Spin Club.
The initial idea was to set up a high quality spinning club, with good bikes and good music, as we felt there was a gap in the market. As we begun to look at potential sites it became obvious that there was a bigger opportunity to create something bigger with a wider audience potential and with values based around the cycling community of yesteryear.
There are so many new cyclists on the road, that many elements of riding like pedalling action, training and cadence are new skills to learn and we wanted to put all of that under one roof. We want to create a community where people could chat and pass on advice, like the old days but also have the latest kit to train with.
Now we're open it's about getting the place busy, then we'll be opening a new dedicated spin destination in Manchester in the Spring."
Pro Spin Club Spinning Studio |
EOR - "We have two key disciplines here - Spinning and Specific Training - and have two top notch coaches here in the club. Ross Sommers (otherwise known as Spin Ross) is a qualified Spin Instructor.
For the training camps, which we run on the Wattbikes, we have Ross Edgar. It was important to me that we had a former cyclist here. Ross (Watt Ross) has competed at the Commonwealth games and is an Olympic Silver medallist aswell as riding for road team IG Sigma Sport in his career.
Why I think this is important is that he won't be asking anyone to do anything he hasn't done or experienced himself."
PJ - Why would somebody attend a spin class rather than do a Wattbike session?
EOR - "It's a great form of exercise, giving a good all round workout. When you have a good spin instructor, you can work on elements of leg strength, cadence and general fitness.
It's also a lot of fun, the lights are down, the music is up and you've got the instructor setting the tempo and instructions, which many people need for motivation for the session.
We're doing different types of classes aimed at different people, whether beginners only wanting a 45 minute class to a more experienced rider who might want 90 minutes to build endurance.
There's something for everybody, regardless of what sport you participate in. A spin session will assist in general strength and fitness."
Pro Spin Spin Studio |
Before you come on a training camp, we conduct a full training test where we identify your heart rate zones and peak power. The training plan will be designed around that and the event you are preparing for.
An example would be The Cheshire Cat sportive which is relatively flat when compared to say The Fred Whitton which has more an emphasis on climbing. The training camp sessions with Ross will ensure you'll be training specifically for it using your own health data and objectives."
Note: If you've entered any of the following events, then Pro Spin Club have a training camp for it.
- The Cheshire Cat
- The Fred Whitton
- The Dragon Ride
- London to Paris
- Maratona dles Dolomites
- La Marmotte
- L'Etape
- Manchester to London
- Manchester 100
PJ - What results would someone expect to see who comes here regularly?
EOR - "If you spun two or three times a week in our spin sessions, you'll get healthier and fitter. If you train using the Wattbikes or attend our training camps you'll see more specific results. I'm a big fan of the idea of 'controlling your variables' - the wattbikes are great for that and when combined with a leading coach, we can specifically prepare riders for events to be their best on the day.
Using Wattbikes we can develop training sessions using Power, which is one of the most accurate ways to train and also track improvements. This is about quality training, not quantity.
We've invested heavily in having the best products, including the spin bikes, within the club to ensure that the people that attend achieve the best possible outcomes.
PJ - How much does it cost to be a member of Pro Spin?
EOR - "Membership starts at ten pounds per month, which you can cancel at any time, and within that you get a spin class or wattbike training session. After that, training camps and additional classes can be purchased. The full price list can be found here.
We'll be having lots of other nights like race nights, as we can hook up all of the wattbikes onto a screen, which many cycle clubs or corporate customers will like if they'd like to hire the club.
When you consider how much cyclists spend on kit like wheels, clothing or equipment upgrades to go faster, investing money into quality training can deliver you significantly greater outcomes in the long term.
Membership Information and Pricing can be found here.
Closing Notes
Having attended a spin class with Ross Sommers - he certainly put us through our paces with lots of climbing, high cadence rev outs and slow-burn leg sets. Having some music on and others around you gives you that extra push you need to go harder. I thought the spin bike quality was very good, far better than my local gym, with a smooth pedalling action.
There is a gap in the market for an indoor training facility with a specialism in cycling. The Pro Spin side of the club caters for that with Ross Edgar, individual training plans and specificity. I'm sure people will travel for access to the advice and latest wattbikes to train on.
The Spinning room is aimed at people of all capability and is more for fitness, rather than specific technique or training. You'll still benefit a lot by it and it's a handy mid week session with a bit more entertainment than grinding miles out on the turbo.
Social Links
Emma O' Reilly on Twitter - here.
Pro Spin Cycle Club on Twitter - here.
Ross Sommers (Spin Instructor) on Twitter - here.
Ross Edgar (Training Camps and Individual Coaching) on Twitter - here.
Pro Spin Club Website: www.prospin.co.uk
Thanks for posting this info. Very helpful and informative indoor cycle training centre.
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