O2 Fitness – North Chatham

They have this bullshit now where they won’t just give you the WIFI password, they make you sign on to this stupid Time Warner public site like you’re some rando in an airport.

I’ve been a member of this O2 since it was Millenium Fitness. Previously I taught aerobics in several of the old Spa Health Clubs and Metrosport in Durham so I know a thing or two about gyms and this is one of the best around. Yes, occasionally some of the equipment doesn’t work but you’ll find that everywhere. The space is attractive with lots of windows, a pool is a nice bonus, and the dressing room is always clean.
I want to give a particular shout out to Holly Smith, one of the great trainers.

I’ve been a member of this facility since it was first built, before it was purchased by O2 Fitness. The machines are always in top shape, they do a good job of keeping the facility clean and the instructors are top-​notch. There is a pool, hot tub and steam room which makes this o2 better than some of the others in the area. The staff are friendly and always willing to change the channel on the TV for me when I’m killing it on the treadmill. There are some reviews on here telling you to not go here and hit up the Carrboro location instead, but I think the Carrboro location is nasty. I go to that one every now and again. The water pressure there is terrible (you better hope someone doesn’t flush while you’re in the shower!) whereas you get the real-​deal Silkwood shower at North Chatham.

I am in for the classes. The instructors and Les Mills programs are really good. I was pleased to find the Les Mills classes when I relocated form NJ, as I had become a real fan. I don’t shower there or use the pool, so I can’t comment on those. I am quite happy and it suits all my needs.

Attractive, clean gym with lots of space and different kinds of machines. All of the classes are excellent and the instructors are enthisiastic and well-​prepared. I have been to others in a variety of places, and this is top-​notch.

I love O2 Fitness, specifically the North Chatham and Falconbridge locations. The gyms are never too crowded and the equipment is well-​maintained. The staff is all very friendly and helpful to me when I have questions about group classes or how to use the machines. The North Chatham is a little lacking in cycle classes compared to the other locations, but overall I think that the gym is a great for its price and quality. I would definitely recommend O2 to my friends!

Great gym in my opinion! The staff are always so friendly and willing to help if needed. I try to go 3 or 4 times a week and usually go early evening to avoid the crowds. The equipment selection is great and the fact that have a lap pool with no kids and hot tub and steam room is awesome. My favorite gym for sure.

The A/​C is no longer broken so I will upgrade. The cardio and weight machines area is nice enough.
However, there’s this really disgusting area between the lockers and the showers which totally put me off of using the locker room for changing. Also the lockers are really crappy and have this weird mis-​shapen shape to them.

Seats of equipment ripped, parts missing. Gym is not kept clean. Dingy. Bathrooms not clean. Used bait-​and-​switch on me to get me to sign a contract. Not up to standards of other gyms I’ve belonged to.

This is a great gym. I am a bit of a critic having worked in, or been member of, plenty of gyms. When I am not working I spend the majority of my time at O2, so I know it well. I know when its crowded, I know when its dirty, I know when they play the bad music, I know when the managers are there, I know which classes to take, I know who doesn’t rerack the weights (i’m looking at you high-​school baseball player)
Its the perfect middle of the road gym. It isn’t expensive, so don’t bi*** about towel service or an occassional broken piece of equipment, they offer plenty of classes (yes I would like a class scheduled around my life too, but i’m not the center of the leg warmer universe), it has some of the latest and greatest –TRX, trainers for athletic performance, boot camp– and the good standbys are there –flat screens and individual tuners, plenty of DBs, hot tub and pool (there is a large geriatric clientele due to location, they need aqua services and the staircase in pool). Everyone is nice, you’ll meet some new people, there’s no hassle parking and check in, efficient locker rooms, its plenty clean or will be addressed if you ask.
I would give it five stars but I am reserving that for the perfect gym (probably located in LA and the Kardashians take up the ellipticals, leaving me with the jacobs ladder or concept2… perfect)

i joined o2 when they had their first location at southern village. kept with them when the moved within another building. they opted to move to cole park plaza and that is when o2 became a gym. before it was as though i was working out at a hotel. now the facility is great… a pool, private rooms, a dark cardio room. i have trained with different trainers as well. i started with shawn. he’s very good at training. i quit for a while mainly to do my own thing. then opted to start up again. thought i would shake it up and try one of their newer trainers allen. he gave me an assessment and i felt pretty good about being able to keep up. then at my first real training i realized he knew his business. it was the most challenging workout i have ever had. completely organized and well balanced. i have since upped my workouts with him to twice a week. i have noticed a definite transformation in my workouts and endurance. since training with allen my spin classes with curtis have become great rides (curtis is one of the best spin instructors in the area, i highly recommend him as well!).
overall, it’s a great gym. i live downtown chapel hill and many times, i am questioned why i don’t go to the wellness center. honestly, i don’t want to drive through campus with students walking in to the street while texting. and now since i have such great workout incentives, it’s worth the additional 5 minutes to the gym.

I was a memebr here when it was Millenium fitness and was pretty excited when I heard O2 was taking over only to be slightly let down. The staff is great, they have alot of trainers and have made some headway into getting the equipment up to par.
Disappointments —
— Only 6 RPM classes period and only two after 9Am in the morning. If you work, you need to find something else to do.
— They clean the locker rooms at the lunch hour. This was a great time to get in, break up the day for many people. Now there is hair and dust being blown everywhere. The floors are soaking with detergent and bleach, the mats are pulled up ect. You would think they could fine a better time for this. That said, I have no complaint with the cleanliness.
As far as some of the previous comments, yes the hot tub has a «dirty» appearance, but if you are from Chatham county your tub looks the same way. I believe it is more the minerals in the water here than actual dirt.
Do not rule this place out, as it seems they are really trying. The really only other option in town is Kinetix, but this is much more convenient with many more locations throughout the state for me.
This is more of an update — Now another afternoon yoga class has been canceled leaving only one regular class.

This O2 fitness location seems to be an old rec center or neighborhood club that was renovated to be a gym. It has new equipment, a lot of bikes for spin classes, a couple of side rooms for other types of classes, and all the requisite things you’d want in a gym.
They have a cardio «platform» that overlooks the lifting machines and free weight areas, and a little grass turf area that you can do your ab workouts in.
We tried this place out because it has an indoor heated pool. It has three lanes, and not a lot of room for people trying to swim. There’s actually an underwater staircase in the way of half of one of the lanes, which is kind of annoying. Luckily, its not very crowded, so getting a swim in isn’t too hard to do.
While I was getting my swim in, I noticed that the markers above the pool are rather old and falling apart. Its kind of a contrast to the rest of the gym, where they’ve replaced most of the old with new.
Now, for the actual turn offs. The steam room was non-​functional, and the whirlpool was green. Then, you go in to the locker room to take a shower… and it isn’t the cleanest place you’ll ever be in.
In short, it looks like they’re trying — but it still needs a lot of work.

This is the «newest» of the OS Fitness centers opened in Cole Park Plaza in Chatham County, which they opened at the same time they closed the OS2 Fitness center in Southern Village.
What a disappointment!
On the plus side, they have lots of room for free weights and weight machines of various sorts. And the new facility has a pool.
But MOST of the people, including me, who walk in the door want to log some time on the cardio machines and then get a shower. The weight areas get relatively little use given the amount of floor space allocated to them while the more popular cardio area is given relatively little floor space.
But the real problem is that on any given day, at least half of the 8 tread mills will have out of order signs. Today 5 out of the 8 tread mill machines were not working. The whole time I was there, there was never an opening for the 3 working machines.
The situation is slightly better with the elliptical cross trainers. There are more of them and they are generally working.
The other annoyance for me is that the mens showers seem perpetually out of soap.
The O2 Fitness center they used to have in southern village was so much better, at least from a cardio work out perspective. And I’ve been to the O2 Fitness Center at Farrington which is great for cardio fitness. Plenty of machines in service at all times.
I’m sticking with them for a while longer on the assumption that they will bring their new center up to the same standards as the Southern Village and Farrington centers. But if my membership was up for renewal right now, I would not renew. I’d go somewhere else.
UPDATE: The Chatham facility now has signs up about getting a bunch of new cardio machines within the next 30 days. So that’s a good sign that they acknowledge the problem. But I’m sticking to my guns on two stars until I see the improvements actually happen.
Update: I received an e-​mail today from O2Fitness indicating that the new equipment has arrived! I haven’t personally seen it cause i was slack and did not go in t0o do my cardio workout the past couple of days. But I’m going in on Saturday to check it out. In any case, I’m upgrading them to 3 stars from 2 stars based on the fact that they now have a reasonable amount of working cardio equipment.
Update: I’ve been there recently and they do indeed have a lot more working equipment installed and I hear there is a cardio dark room, not sue what that’s about, but I’m interested in it. A semidark quiet room where I can exercise and just listen to my music/​podcasts actually sounds like a good thing to me. So I’ll have to go check it out. But I’ve been going to the Farrington O2 Fitness mostly these days. But it’s good to hear they are working on improving the chattham o2 fitness too.