A Super Cycle Workout, No Bike Lanes Necessary

The renaissance of indoor cycling has hit Park Slope.

Fifth Avenue is now home to Cycle Bar, the latest souped-up spinning studio in New York. But don’t expect an easy workout – here, the cycling better mimics riding on the open road.

The studio, which opened in December, joins the ranks of Manhattan’s Flywheel and Soul Cycle, boutique cycling spots that offer wildly popular, modern spinning classes complete with high tech bikes, clip on shoes and loud motivational music.

The new fangled classes have caught on with 20- and 30-somethings looking for an intense full body workout; classes also include arm work with weights while riding. The spinning courses are also popular with more experienced cyclists seeking an off-season, high-powered indoor group rides. 

But Cycle Bar stands out from pack with its wide variety of classes—45, 60 and 90-minute offerings. The workout spot hired outdoor cycling experts to teach its more targeted courses and the studio also employs competitive cyclists and ironmen, intense athletes who have completed long-distance triathlons comprised of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a marathon.

Slopers Nurit Dallimore, originally from Israel, and Lisa Craig, from Vancouver, opened Cycle Bar late last year after noticing a need for more options for residents looking to get in good a cardio workout in the neighborhood.

“The area has a lot of Pilates and yoga studios, but not much in the way of cardio other than the big gyms,” said Craig, a self-professed cycling junkie. “We both really enjoy riding – indoors and out,” she said about herself and Dallimore. “We have been active in sports all our lives.”

So Craig bid adieu to her job as an investment banker in leveraged finance and Dallimore left architecture to open up the new studio, on Fifth Avenue between First and Garfield streets. The two are dedicated to making their clients feel at ease— each knows all of their customers by name and often join in on the classes.

The 45-minute cycling class starts with riders getting fit for their own cycling shoes—if they haven’t brought their own from home—and clipping-in to the high-end Schwinn bike pedals. Instructors ensure riders are positioned correctly on their seat, make adjustments if needed, and then dim the lights and then pump up energetic pop and rock for the ride. A combination of sprints, hills, and jumps ensues, with some shoulder, bicep and triceps work also mixed in. Each bike is stocked with a set of free weights.

But Craig and Dallimore don’t subscribe to one major component of some of the other modern spinning studios: a big electronic board at the front of the class that tracks riders’ progress against each other. Dallimore said that rides should be a personal experience; she didn’t want to introduce a competitive element into their classes.

So far business at the studio has been brisk. Cycle Bar has offered several special deals to draw in clients—a LivingSocial coupon, and the latest, a “Feel Good February Special,” a 10 ride series for $200, or $20 a class. Typically, a 10 ride series is $250. An individual class is $27 for the 45- and 60-minute courses. The 90-minute class goes for $30 and all classes are held seven days a week.

“Business has been very good,” Craig said. “ Our clients like the fact that there is no membership fee, and we provide very high quality service and premium quality instruction.”

Most recently, the studio has started to offer TRX suspension training in addition to the spinning classes. TRX is a method of training that uses body weight, gravity and a special strap suspended from the ceiling developed by Navy Seals.

“It’s a perfect complement to cycling,” Craig said.