Spin...

[benb]

So the current Spin Fad seems to have hit us.. someone trying to cash in on the Soul Cycle hype...

We just had our gym at work closed for renovation for the month of December.. really put a crimp in my riding and/or off season stuff as our weather was fantastic but I had no real easy way to shower at lunch with the gym closed.

Lo and behold the gym gets reopened and they've shrunk the locker rooms by 40%, shrunk the gym space by about 50%, and they're subletting the remaining space to an outside spin company.

Maybe 25 of the $1200 Schwinn spin bikes.. not a single fan or other evidence of upgraded HVAC, room locked all the time except for during spin classes.. pricing absolutely insane.

Kind of annoying. The rest of us (who already pay) are now crammed into about half the space with roughly the same equipment. I'm glad I like to ride outside. I just went to their open house cause I was there anyway to lift weights.. they're clearly pulling hard for female clientele but they were very cagey about the pricing, weird scene. (I had gotten the pricing in email already through my employer.) It's way outside what I'd pay for an odd class when I can't go ride my trainer or ride outside during the winter. I can't see it lasting if the current spin bubble bursts.

[AngryScientist]

where are you located ben?

in NYC the spin craze is in full effect. pricing is, indeed, out of control here.

[R3awak3n]

where are you located ben?

in NYC the spin craze is in full effect. pricing is, indeed, out of control here.

yea the spin crazy has been here for the past 2 years maybe even longer. There are soul cycles everywhere and a bunch of others.

[benb]

Outside Boston..

It may be they are going to try and pull something with all the companies in the office park and we'll get discounted classes.

The thing is their prices are so high it might still be too expensive, and it's way too expensive AFAICT for our company to end up picking up the tab. We have had Yoga in the office park for a while, and it was affordable enough the company I work for did purchase a company pass for all of us.. super nice. But this new company also does Yoga, they strongly insinuated they're going to displace the existing Yoga studio and if their prices are as high as expected it will mean we won't have corporate sponsored Yoga anymore.

[jmoore]

We have a spin studio at work. I think the bikes are from Keiser. They are not perfect, but they are fine for what I'm doing.

Classes come with our $25/month membership fee. I don't take any official classes but they have no issue with me using a bike whenever I want to. I just wish they'd let me swap out a saddle and the pedals. They said no dice to that.

[MattTuck]

I know a few people that teach spinning classes. It's relationship to cycling is sort of like second cousins... I view it as just another exercise fad, like raquetball in the 80's. Something new will come along and eventually people will migrate away.

As far as I'm concerned, it takes all the best parts about cycling and eliminates them.

[bcroslin]

I'm in central FL where I can walk out my front door and ride every day of the year and yet there's not one but TWO spin studios at the end of my street. The clientele is primarily 30-40 yr old women driving Mercedes or large high-end SUV's. Every morning my street looks like the parking lot of Neiman Marcus on sale day.

[AngryScientist]

spin is just an avenue to high energy structured cardio. it's no different than cardio kickboxing, zumba, etc.

for burning calories - it definitely works. i'll drop in on a class every now and then and go through the motions. i'm a drenched sweaty mess by the end of every session i've done, so that's got to be doing something!

[MattTuck]

spin is just an avenue to high energy structured cardio. it's no different than cardio kickboxing, zumba, etc.

for burning calories - it definitely works. i'll drop in on a class every now and then and go through the motions. i'm a drenched sweaty mess by the end of every session i've done, so that's got to be doing something!



I wonder how attendance would go if the class consisted of 2x20's.... same amount of sweat, I bet :)

[AngryScientist]

it should be noted that my gym spin class is also a good place to....ummmm, sightsee :hello:

[josephr]

it should be noted that my gym spin class is also a good place to....ummmm, sightsee :hello:

maybe I need to get into spin! :beer:

I pay $49/mnth for membership to the YMCA....I get access to the whole facility and includes spin classes, etc. But, I'd rather use my gym time for squats, weight training, and time on the cardio machines during the week, ride on weekends. Maybe would be different if I lived in the snowbelt.

[LJohnny]

I dropped in to a spin class while visiting a friend in LIC, NY, I think it was Crank. It was fine and I enjoyed the class. Extremely loud though, and I am not sure if I could muster that on a regular basis. That was about 9 months ago, and I thought prices were OK, maybe they are up from then.

I go from time to time to spin classes at our gym, they are included on the total fee and they are good for cardio and cal burning. The instructors here do keep the music and mic to reasonably low levels.

[ts0673]

As someone commented, the scenery can be a very nice bonus :)

That said, we have Flywheel here, which is a bastard spinoff (no pun intended) of Soul Cycle. They have made it interesting by gamifying the class and adding power metrics (through a custom metric not watts) which you can opt into being posted during class.

I just do my own thing and follow the cues that mimic cycling - I take out all the funky movements that you'd never do on a bike. I find it a good way to get in an hour at night after work, or when the weather is dreadful. Good way to work up a sweat and more interesting than sitting on a trainer in my attic.

[benb]

I'm not against spin.. just against the prices and lack of perceived value when they've taken away a big amount of real estate in the only gym I can really use on a regular basis.

To be honest most of my use of the gym is just to shower after commuting and/or going for lunch rides.. I do ~3-4 months of weight lifting and such in the off season where the gym is the primary place I workout but even then I am not a fair weather rider so I still get outside like once a week and if I'm lucky maybe 1-2 times on the trainer a week. I was hurt last summer and used it a bit more but that was often to change & shower for running when I wasn't cycling.

If it was included with the gym membership I'd go as a substitute for trainer time.. but not if it means paying 4-5x what the gym costs in the first place. The high intensity programs are not really what I want in the middle of winter either but that's no big deal.

I didn't realize Soul Cycle did classes in the dark with scented candles and all that.. I don't think this place moving into the gym is going that route.

Ironically I worked in the same office park 10+ years ago and went to the same gym. At that time I paid $50/month to use the gym, and spin classes were included, and I did go sometimes in the winter. I started working in the same building last year for a totally different company. The gym at some point got bought out by the real estate company, and is now included in the leases for companies. The weight lifting equipment is all pretty much the same stuff from 10 years ago, but the old spin bike/aerobics/yoga room got turned into more office space. Now they've put this spin class in space where the weights & cardio equipment were, and are converting an office suite to run the yoga & bootcamp classes in... pretty odd progression. The big chain gym in my town costs about $70/month right now and includes spin classes in the price, it's a much nicer gym overall.

[54ny77]

Will the pros adopt Soul Cycle's "Hump the Saddle" technique?

At 1:12....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgdcVoTD70s

[benb]

Hump the saddle is not unique to Soul Cycle... they were telling people to do that at least 10 years ago... sometimes they want bouncing and sometimes they want you to stand and pedal in a way more appropriate to riding a real bike. They gotta do something to make it not seem like riding a bike without going anywhere.

[bcroslin]

it should be noted that my gym spin class is also a good place to....ummmm, sightsee :hello:

hairy dudes in lycra? cuz I love me some hairy dudes in lycra.
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/986180/images/r-JOSH-TAYLOR-SPINNING-TIPS-large570.jpg

[Mikej]

I "scab" or sit in on spin classes and do what I want. Ear buds in to block out that ···· music and no up and jumps or stretching my wrists as a class-

[livingminimal]

Do people wear kits to Spin?

[Ti Designs]

A fast group ride is elitist, you either hang or you don't. Even within the ones who hang there is a ranking based on who wins the sprints or who attacks on the hills. It's tested, there's no hiding, it is what it is. People hate that idea, the term elitist is taken as an insult, and nobody wants to admit that half the population is below average...

Spinning is egalitarian, nobody gets dropped, nobody does any better than anyone else - how long can it be before they start offering spin in gym classes for grade school?

As our view expands - the internet, social media, better communications... society moves away from comparing itself to the rest of the world. It's the difference between big fish, little pond and a fish in the ocean. Someone is always better, in most cases way, way better. This leads to one of three things:

1) cheating. If you don't want to be average, you can always cheat. Lots of data to back that one up...

2) Knowing you suck (it's a relative term). As hard as I work at the things I do, I'm always going to suck at them in the global perspective. That's fine by me, if I didn't see room for improvement, I wouldn't be putting in the effort.

3) Remove the test. I see more and more examples of this, in everything - spinning is just one example.

I think we should have forum meets so we can put our claims, statements and opinions to the test. I want to know just how fast a 1200 watt sprint really is. More to the point, I want to go on a ride with BBDave with camera equipment, and see just how much I suck as a photographer.

[ghcs]

spin classes are free with membership at my gym. I have found a couple of class leaders I don't mind who play bearable music - one even seems to be adjusting to my musical tendencies.

I do it two or three times a week in the winter, once a week when the weather is nice. Don't really follow their instructions with regards to cadence too much.

It's cardio, and it's not brutal on my knees like a treadmill.

[roguedog]

Like with many group classes, I think you have to choose your instructor and if they fit your style and your goals.

If you're there just to get in cardio and do aerobic exercise then you'd get one type of instructor. I've tried to find instructors that actually ride or mimic a ride. It's just my thing. I don't go for the other stuff. Hell I'd be afraid of killing myself whilst doing things other than what is strictly what one'd do on a real bike, tbh.

[benb]

A fast group ride is elitist, you either hang or you don't. Even within the ones who hang there is a ranking based on who wins the sprints or who attacks on the hills. It's tested, there's no hiding, it is what it is. People hate that idea, the term elitist is taken as an insult, and nobody wants to admit that half the population is below average...

Spinning is egalitarian, nobody gets dropped, nobody does any better than anyone else - how long can it be before they start offering spin in gym classes for grade school?



You're right a group ride is elitist based on skill but it's not in terms of $$, everyone loves the story of the guy who shows up on a ratty cheap bike and does well. Cycling is amazing in that the equipment is clearly elitist but doesn't really matter all that much in terms of actual performance and there is almost no financial barrier to access. You could say the same thing about golf and probably stuff like skiing and snowboarding too except for that fact that those are "pay to play" sports for the most part and the true elitism is not in the equipment but access to the field of play.

Spin class might be egalitarian in terms of skill and/or no one is measured against anyone else but the subset of spinning taking place in these new "boutique fitness" and "aspirational lifestyle fitness" chains are definitely elitist in terms of the financial cost of access.

[Ti Designs]

You're right a group ride is elitist based on skill but it's not in terms of $$

That's the difference between elitist and pretentious. The elitist at some point must pass the test (or fail and continue to work on it - getting to elite status takes time and an understanding that you're never really there) Pretentious is just dressing the part.

Most people who do spin classes aren't that pretentious. I'm sure there are some who show up in full team kits and tell people they're pro riders (I can think of a few), but for the most part, people want an activity where they're not judged by how well they do. There's a bike race going on, yet it's not competitive (try dropping the guy behind you in a spin class some time...)

It's hard to fault the spin movement when you realize how many people are more active because of it. I like the sense of accomplishment I get when I get better on the bike, but that's just me. Not everybody is like me, and we're all pretty happy about that.

[bshell]

that has to be one of the most ridiculous exercise related things i've seen. even with slender chicks...that ····· was unbearable.

[firerescuefin]

That's the difference between elitist and pretentious. The elitist at some point must pass the test (or fail and continue to work on it - getting to elite status takes time and an understanding that you're never really there) Pretentious is just dressing the part.

Most people who do spin classes aren't that pretentious. I'm sure there are some who show up in full team kits and tell people they're pro riders (I can think of a few), but for the most part, people want an activity where they're not judged by how well they do. There's a bike race going on, yet it's not competitive (try dropping the guy behind you in a spin class some time...)

It's hard to fault the spin movement when you realize how many people are more active because of it. I like the sense of accomplishment I get when I get better on the bike, but that's just me. Not everybody is like me, and we're all pretty happy about that.


This ^

I'm fortunate to belong to a gym with 1 great instructor and 2 good ones. As a dad of 3, nice to be able to get my @ss kicked in a spin class 2-3 times per week without putting too much thought into it (following the prescribed workout)...That being said, instructor/music (how they motivate you) are the biggest factors to me.