Reports Of Cybex's Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated!

An Emotional Attachment To An Iconic Brand.

With no fanfare, no fuss - no real attention of any kind, today marked another step towards the Cybex brand moving towards a very different future and away from what it has represented to many in the past. Today was the last day to place orders for Cybex Plate Loaded, free weights and VR1 Selectorised strength before production is discontinued. 

Life Fitness continues to reduce their product portfolio following the Cybex acquisition in 2016. The Cybex cardio range has already changed platform and reduced from three lines to two and the Cybex Big Iron range ceased production in 2018. From the Life Fitness perspective, it makes complete commercial sense as it would be nigh impossible to have one sales team articulate to customers the benefits and features of such a huge portfolio – 6 lines of cardio, 6 lines of selectorised strength etc 

For me, the Cybex brand represented more than just a job. Ethics and efficacy were words drilled into the staff and repeated across the company daily. Cybex built equipment based upon biomechanics (the action of forces on the body) and outcomes. Form over function. To quote a less than PC remark from the Cybex owner at the time of launching the Total Body Arc Trainer – “She’s ugly, but she cooks good!” Cybex made some truly great products. The Arc Trainer, Bravo Functional Trainer and Eagle Line are true category leaders even today. If you care about the way in which the members in your club train in order to achieve their outcomes, you need to look at these products.

Cybex would design equipment that provided the user with the best possible outcome and then educate staff to deliver effective training. Customers would attend free monthly REPs accredited training to learn how to provide their club members with a better training experience. Staff and members would buy-in and be motivated to deliver on their goals.

In the UK, Since the early 1990’s, Cybex was an ever present. Chains such as Fitness First and Livingwell at their heights, filled their clubs with Cybex strength recognising it as the best in the marketplace. In the mid 2000’s and early 2010’s virtually every corporate workplace of the major brands such as Allen & Overy, Bupa, Credit Suisse, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, O2, RBS, Yell.com et al were all wall-to-wall Cybex. Sadly, this is no longer the case and the last remaining clubs are being traded out for other brands with Cybex competing for unique product space with mainly the Sparc.

It may be that I am being nostalgic. Cybex was also very strong at building customer relationships. I still speak to lots of my former customers today and I know other former employees do too. Cybex was always very keen as a brand to stay true to its core values and beliefs – to remain authentic. Remaining authentic could also been seen as becoming stagnant. Cybex was always slow to adapt to market trends, only adopting features such as embedded TV’s after all its competitors had done so. Companies keep their brand evolving by hiring brilliant, constantly dissatisfied talent and listening to the market. I can’t honestly say that was a strong Cybex trait. What I can say, hand on heart, is that I miss Cybex in its former guise and what it represented in the marketplace. I am sure I am not alone. It will be of great interest to see what Life Fitness do with this brand in the future.