Indoor cycling craze 'Flies' into Philly
A new fitness sensation is about to make its debut in the area. Flywheel Sports, an indoor cycling facility, will open its flagship Philadelphia location in Rittenhouse Square.
Indoor cycling craze ‘Flies’ into Philly
Robert Senior, Sports Doc blog Editor
A new fitness sensation is about to make its debut in the area. Flywheel Sports, an indoor cycling facility, will open its flagship Philadelphia location in Rittenhouse Square.
The grand opening takes place Sunday, but preview rides are going on throughout the weekend at the Rittenhouse Square location and sold out days ago. Philly.com’s own Kelly O’Shea was fortunate enough to secure a spot in a preview ride, and shared her thoughts on the experience.
Background
Since opening their doors in New York in 2010, Flywheel Sports has seen rapid expansion. The brand-new Philadelphia location marks their 21st facility nationwide—growth that co-founder and creative director Ruth Zukerman attributes to a customer-friendly approach and proprietary technology.
“We can now see exactly where resistance should be when we’re riding,” says Zukerman. “It’s no longer ‘half-a-turn to the right.’”
Instead, Flywheel’s system allows riders to determine their ideal level of resistance and the precise number of RPMs to optimize their fitness experience. The results don’t lie—Zukerman shared tales of dramatic weight loss and empowerment among devoted class attendees.
“That’s what really set this experience apart—the instructor would say ‘your torque should be at 18 and I want you to hit 75 RPMs for this push,'” adds O’Shea. “It’s nice to know exactly how hard they’re looking for you to push yourself.”
The second aspect of the Flywheel method that sets the company apart is attention and dedication to the consumer experience. A few highlights of a class at Flywheel:
Stadium Seating. “This allows every rider an unobstructed view of the instructor throughout the class,” says Zukerman. Gone is the need to battle for ‘front-row seating’ before every session.
State-of-the-Art sound system. Excellent acoustics in each studio is a point of emphasis at Flywheel, as is the presence of an in-house DJ who plays an eclectic mix of music throughout the class—often created by the instructor.
“This might sound kind of trivial, but the music selection can really make or break a class,” says O’Shea. “It’s always exciting when the music keeps you pumped up the whole time and this class definitely had that.”
TorqBoards. Flat screens above the instructor display each participant’s performance level throughout the session, allowing for in-class competition between friends and peers that pushes your workout to the next level. Additionally, instructors run races where they instruct everyone to go all-out for 30 seconds, followed by attendees jockeying for first place with the standings displayed on the torqueboards.
What’s more, once the class is finished Flywheel clients can return home, log onto their accounts and see how today’s performance measures up against yesterday’s, last week’s or even last month’s. “We track your performance over time, which really allows you to set goals for yourself and follow your progress over time,” says Alana Radmin, vice president of public relations.
Sessions run for approximately 45-60 minutes, and riders attends anywhere from 2-6 sessions per week. “It’s an incredible stress reliever—and everybody needs that,” says Zukerman.
In the three years since starting the company, Zukerman has been inundated with requests to open facilities from all areas. A second Philadelphia-area location is slated for opening this spring in Bryn Mawr. Zukerman attributes Flywheel’s success to her business partners and a dedication to providing a fitness experience that she calls addicting.
“My partners had the idea for this technology, and helped me learn how to incorporate it into my method,” she recalls. “For the first time, a person can measure how hard you’re working—or how hard you aren’t working.”
Another way this is accomplished is by keeping things fresh and throwing in ‘surprise’ elements to each class. “I’ve never done a spin class with an upper body element before,” relates O’Shea. “I thought that was a great way to break up the class. At first it seemed like a short rest—but then your arms are burning while your legs are still spinning!”
Classes at Flywheel are $25 each, but 5, 10, or 20-packs of class sessions are available and may be more effective from both a fitness and financial standpoint.
“We have an excellent group of instructors already on board in Philadelphia,” added Radmin. “It’s a great opportunity for our whole company to come together and make a big splash around the opening.”
For more information, visit www.flywheelsports.com/philadelphia
the preview class was great... but it's soo expensive to maintain the kind of schedule that would have a real impact on fitness.— meghanleigh- Wow, I saw them doing this at a Knoxville YMCA about seven years ago. Glad we're catching up! :)— BigDipper
- $25 for one session on a stationary bike? And I have to be assaulted by thumping house music while doing so? No thank you.— p-diddy
- When you join a gym they have the same spin classes for a fraction of the cost. Why should fitness become such a financial burden.....$25 a session, really??— counselormom
- If you're a member of LA fitness, they have spinning classes for free— jukesgalore
- If you're a member of LA fitness, they have spinning classes for free— jukesgalore
- Body Cycle Studio has been spinning at 19th and Chestnut for TWO years!This is a rehashed press release from a NYC biz with a well connected PR department. Spin local with Russel at Body Cycle for a lot less than $25 per session. Seriously, this post is not reporting its advertising!— classof87
- or you can just bike the Schuylkill trail for free. Techno i-pod playlist optional.— Salmon P. Chase
- I stick to my tae bo and yoga..I don't feel like getting yelled at on a bicycle that doesn't move!— WayOutWest
- Suckers
— jibberjab - $25 is just way to much...all gyms offer spin classes with music (??) for far less......but the "in crowd" of young folks with more money than brains will flock to this fad thing and in 3 months (warm weather) the serious riders will be outside and the fad will wane.....remember serious riders or gym rats do not need someone to hold their hand or coach them.....they read, google and sweat and let those with no focus, no brains and too much cash do this "in" thing...— nuggett
- it will certainly remove excess weight from your wallet.— ekw555
- Not one of the people doing it, are in need of it.— Bobphxville
- That's a *really* informative website. How much did they pay for this publicity???— bluehaha
- even 3x a week is $360 a month...unsustainable. Especially when you could spend $70 at a great club and get spinning plus a traditional gym.— johnnycola
- It's addictive and you'll lose weight.— donnow1
- This "article" read like nothing more than one long advertisement. And $25 a class? Who does this -- people with more money than brains?— Jen D
Philly is only 15 years behind the "spinning" fad. Only thing the city is progressively advanced in is major crime....compliments of Ramsey.— dogman5- Cycling "Craze"??? I don't consider 21 locations spread around this entire country a "craze". How much is this company paying to have Philly.com promote its product with artificially inflated enthusiasm?
And while it's not great weather to cycle in Philly year-round, it is certainly a lot nicer to get the miles in while riding along the Schuylkill or through other parts of Fairmount Park.— Tatt2 - buy a bike and ride it.— uandwhosearmy
- Another fade. just go outside and ride,run or fast walk.— MWW-54
- Go outside, get some fresh air, ride your bike or walk. You'll save a ton of money.— RamarOfTheJungle
- It's spinning! Freeeeeee at most gyms and without the hype.— PotterPete
- Body Cycle does the same thing for less, taught by real racers, even a world champ...and posters complaining that this is not news but an add, this is a Blog, that means non-journalists write it, which means it is not news, just info for you. People need to remember blogs are not news.— mikenphilly
- Nothing but high priced NYC marketing hype. Consider the following:
1. RPMs and Torque levels: Big deal, old news. Virtually all modern spinning bikes display this information and at Body Cycle, the state of the art Keiser bikes display not only rpms, calibrated numeric resistance levels consistent across all the bikes and heart rate but also calibrated wattage which, unlike “torque”, is the standard in cycling training for measuring rider output.
2. Upper body movements and exercises added to the ride – Is so “old school” dating back more than 20 years to Mad Dogg Spinning and Johnny G, the founders of indoor cycling developed and marketed to the fitness market. It also detracts from body ergonomics and good form which can put a rider at risk for injuries during high intensity cycling efforts. And if you reduce the intensity to do upper body exercises, then that’s just a waste of the limited time in a 45 minute cycling class. You want calisthenics, get off the bike to do them.
3. The Display Board – Yeah, just what the typical indoor fitness cyclist or rider new to the sport wants, to have their metrics on display for the whole class to see so that there is pressure to push harder than what the rider is ready for or so that the rider can feel self conscious about their performance. The beauty of indoor group cycling classes is the ability to control your own ride for your own needs and desires while benefiting from the camaraderie and energy of those around you. You want competition, go to races and compete in real rides in the real world, instead of promoting a poser mentality based on upstaging your classmates in a fitness class.
— michaelnkat
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