Octane to unveil mystery machine at IHRSA

The suspense is simply killing the SNEWS team. Octane, which is well known for its elliptical machines, is launching a new product the night before IHRSA officially opens, but remains silent on the details. That hasn’t stopped the company from gabbing to us about its invitation-only launch party for the new elliptical-type product.

“We are extremely excited about this product,” said Ryan Simat, Octane’s vice president of sales. “I’m very confident this will be biggest and best IHRSA in the history of Octane. We have some very unique and innovative products we’re going to launch.”

This product the company is introducing has been in development for more than two years, and IHRSA was the best venue for a launch, Simat said. Plus, at the party the company plans to discuss how the product will continue the story of high-quality elliptical machines on which the company has staked its reputation.

“This is the big coming out party of the product,” Simat said. “It’s a totally new modality, a new way to exercise in cardio, and the timing is great. We can make it a big explosive unveiling as we head into the trade show.”

Though SNEWS doesn’t know quite what to expect, there could be new technological advances in consoles as we’ve seen at the past few fitness trade shows, such as the incorporation of a personal training or education element, as SNEWS previously reported. Or maybe, like SportsArt, Octane could be thinking of including a system whereby exercisers produce watts of power to put back into the grid as we previously reported in this story. Who knows?

Simat did say it would be a “new modality” in exercise and the last time somebody said something like that to SNEWS was when we reported on the Helix machine, which lets exercisers workout with a side-to-side, circular motion versus the front-to-back elliptical we’re used to.

Though Simat and Octane’s, marketing manager, Tina Nibbe didn’t drop many hints, they did say they’ve been giving sneak peaks of the product to club owners and retailers for a few months now and the feedback has been positive. Check out this teaser video to get a few glimpses of parts of the product.

They also revealed that, for now, the product will only be available as a commercial unit but said some of the retailers who have gotten a sneak peak of it have inquired about a few for their stores.

If you haven’t received one of the 200 invitations that went out recently, don’t fret. Simat said Octane’s booth (#2233) would be open to visitors all days of the trade shows to come by and test the product. Octane will be offering classes on the product.

But he’s going to keep the mystery alive until then. He said: “It’s a new dimension in elliptical training and I’ll leave it at that. You’ll have to see to see it at the show.”

–Ana Trujillo