Pure Gym Manchester Urban Exchange

Great if you know what you are doing and the facilities are great.
Gets ridiculously busy in peak periods though, and it can be a real pain trying to find the right weights as no-​one seems to bother putting weights back.
Can’t comment on the changing facilities as I live round the corner so I get ready and shower afterwards at home.
I do like the split level structure though, the upstairs area is like an express workout zone where I can just blitz through my workout when I’m in a rush.

My local gym, very well located for Manchester and very cheap to join too! The gym is really big, spread across two floors so even in its busy periods you can always find space and equipment. I always find the other members to be really friendly too, even creating their own mini circuits for you to join in!

I’ve tried a few of the Puregym locations, and while still a solid place to work out, this one has an overall «meh» sort of feel. The main issue here is how frequently the gym equipment is run down, broken, or missing pieces. While this cropped up periodically at other Puregyms, I’ll see the same equipment sat out of order for a week straight before it’s fixed, compared to a day or two at other places.
Some weight machines are missing small adjustment weights (e.g. you can adjust in 15-​pound intervals, but the smaller 5-​pound adjustments are missing so you have to go take them off other machines). Can’t say I’ve ever seen this problem at the other locations.
That being said, this gym is very large and there’s a ton of equipment to keep you going even if your planned workout has to be updated. There’s a large studio and a big cycling room filled with good bikes. It’s usually pretty busy which I’m sure contributes to the missing weights, run down equipment, and sometimes disorganised appearance of communal things (for example, barbells being all mixed and out of order), but that’s not really the fault of staff.
Overall a good place to work out and well worth the price at just over £20 per month, but I wish they’d buy some replacement adjustment weights and find a way to have fellow gym rats keep the place organised.

I have to say coming here has not been quite as intimidating as I thought it would be. They also seem good value considering the cost of gyms around Manchester with the added benefit of not being tied into a contract, and also you can often find vouchers online so you can get a discount.
I arrived and immediately felt out of my depth, first gym experience, but thankfully the staff are nice, and one showed my bits of equipment and gave me some targets to work to to start with. You can get padlocks at the gym, but if you remember take one with you, and remember to take a water bottle.
I will probably update this once i have been a few more times, as writing a review on your first visit somewhere always seems a little unfair.

I joined this gym as it was cheap and offers contract free membership and is conveniently located within a 5 minute walk from Piccadilly train station.
I generally visit the gym for Cardio and some weight lifting (nothing to extreme) and this gym excels itself with the amount of equipment available although it does become very busy between 5 – 7 with the after work rush. The downside is you often find yourself waiting for equipment and the free weights area is absolutely chocca.
It’s a no frills gym and offers showers, toilets and lockers. Theres plenty of parking and offers ²⁴⁄₇ access for those night owls out there.

Basic gym but a bargain price
This chain of gyms is no frills with only machines and a few classes. They reflect that in the price though, it’s only £19.99 per month with contract. This one is a decent size and at 17:30 was moderately busy but spaces in all the classes and lots of free machines.
There are no proper staff, just some personal trainers about. Towels, water, protein shakes and padlock are available via vending machines if you want them. There are sun beds too. You can go down and sign up via the machines just inside. They are a bit giddy to use but do the job. Once you have registered and given your bank details you receive a code via text message and can use it to gain entry to the gym and changing rooms.
There is no wifi so bring a playlist already downloaded if you want to work out to your own music. Plenty of water fountains around so you can rehydrate. Everyone seems friendly (I got trapped inside and couldn’t work out how to use my code to exit but lots of people came to help me out). For the price I’m really happy with this gym.

I’ve been attending this gym for about 3 years now and really love it. There are a wide range of classes with friendly instructors doing Circuit Training, Tabata, weightlifting, keep fit, kettle bells and cycling among others. Membership doesn’t involve being tied into a contract and it currently £19.99 per month for new members.

Great cheap gym, best for the price it offers. Good central location. The fitness classes are the best! Can fit them into a lunchtime and they work out at just £1 each if you do one every work lunchtime!

Ah, the Sainsbury’s Basics of the gym world. No frills, no thrills, just machines. Whether places like this work for you depends entirely on what you’d want or expect from your workout experience. Now, as a stranger to gyms (I have a lucky metabolism but I assume the fitness levels of someone thrice my age), it was going to take a lot to drag me into a gym when I’m happy enough walking several miles or engaging in a few yoga stretches at home. Well, that lot that it took was Chris M, who had us at Pure Gym at 7.30 this morning. He means business when it comes to getting fit for our upcoming nuptials.
Firstly, you can’t knock it for its strategic planning. Urban Exchange is as basic ad necessity-​driven as Pure Gym itself, with a car park, Aldi, Go Outdoors and the M&S outlet. Plus the outdoorsy folk’ll who shop at Go Outdoors will love it. Opening up a gym that’s open 24/​7, yes, ²⁴⁄₇ in that particular spot so that folks who work unsociable hours can go there too? Pure Gym, you Einsteins, you. This is a gym even nocturnal cab drivers, bartenders and community managers (I’m not saying anything) can use. And it’s next to so many residential buildings that they had a customer base right away.
Your enjoyment of Pure Gym will depend entirely what you’re looking to get from your experience. When I hear about gyms that make me want to go to one, it usually involves my Estonian friend telling me she did a spinning class (I actually had to Google that, I’m such a FAIL when it comes to exercise) followed by a shower, sunbed and a nice bowl of porridge with honey and banana in the café. You don’t get any of that from Pure Gym. There are classes, mostly two quid a time, but no food aside from vending machine proteiny things, no sauna, no swimming pool. It’s showers, changing rooms, lockers and machines. The one thing you can invest in is personal training sessions with the staff — otherwise they simply pretend you’re not there. This can work to your benefit or your detriment, for example if your keycode isn’t working.
As a basic gym, Pure is functional. It’s never crowded and it does what it says on the tin. And it looks like I’m not quitting while my fiancé’s helping to kick my ass. Don’t worry, I’m kicking his too.

I wasn’t quite certain how I felt about joining a gym that is in the basement and has no windows, but considering the low cost I couldn’t resist! I was surprised at how well they designed this gym, as it doesn’t feel like you are in the basement. It’s very well let. There are perhaps a few too many elliptical machines, but I figure there must be a reason they have that many. It’s also well cared for, considering it is a 24 hour gym.
I haven’t had much interaction with the staff, as they don’t seem to make much conversation with gym members unless they have a need. There are plenty of dumbbells, but they could use to add some more lifting bars and plates. I’ve been different times of the day as well (10am, noon, 4pm), and it’s never been overly crowded.