Greg Waters back in the biz, launches Waters Fitness with indoor cycles

Though the fitness industry is still trying to shake off the doldrums, Greg Waters is ready to dive back in with a new fitness equipment company.

A year since he left Vision Fitness after its parent Johnson Health Tech NA consolidated its three brands under one management team, Waters has now launched his new company called, appropriately, Waters Fitness. Its first products will be two indoor cycles – one for the light commercial/home market and one for the club segment.

“When I left Vision I missed the business and the people I worked with, so to go back into fitness was natural,” Waters told SNEWS®. “It’s fun. It’s a welcome change. I enjoy starting up a new company. It’s a blast building a brand again.”

Although he began exploring his opportunities in the spring and summer, he is just now debuting the company: His director of sales, Marty Linthicum, also formerly of Vision, came on this month; his website (www.watersfitness.com) will be filled with content and product by mid-November; and the product will be available about November 1.

Waters said after he decided to get back into the fitness arena, he went to Asia to hone down his product choices, looking for a niche piece he thought would do well, with a focus on the specialty retail market.

“When I reviewed (the offerings), I felt there was an opening there,” he said of the indoor cycling segment.

The Tsunami Sport, for the vertical or high-end home market will list for $1,099, while the Tsunami Pro (photo, right) will have a list of $1,299.

“What’s special about these is the value,” he said. For the money and the features they have, “they’re above anything on the market.”

He named quick-release handlebars and seat posts for easy adjustments, metal (not plastic) sweat hoods over the flywheel, a metal chain guard, and a 50-pound flywheel for smoother riding.

Right now, the company offers only two products, but he said he’s keeping his options open as they look for other niches that may have potential.

Ironically, Waters came from a bike industry. He started at Trek in 1988, working on Trek Fitness there when it launched in about 1994, then left Trek to start Vision in 1996. He also trains for triathlons, using an indoor cycle himself about four times a week, he said.

“Maybe,” he said, “this is a natural.”

–Therese Iknoian