The best New York City spin studios: Awesome instructors, top DJs and luxury workouts

Check out these immersive spin classes in the Big Apple
Feel the beat at NYC's best spin studios

New York City is the ultimate workout location, home to well over 1,500 boutique studios across its five boroughs. Whether you're a resident or visitor, there's no better place to explore new classes and get a sweat on – especially when it comes to spin.

Forget the tiny cycling room tucked away in a dingy gym, these studios have everything you could ask for, whether that's live DJs, luxe showering facilities or inspiring instructors to get you going.

Why spin?

If you think of spin and imagine a super buff Action Man lookalike PT screaming at you and turning up your resistance as you pour sweat from every pore, think again. The modern spin class is about empowering its participants and helping you smash your goals, whether those are to train for a triathlon or sportive, rehab an injury or simply shake off your stress from the week.

We've found the best spinning studios in locations across the city for you to train at. Get ready to smash those RPMs, feel your legs burn and send that heart rate through the roof.

Swerve Fitness

If you love to get competitive, Swerve is the dream studio for you. Launched by a group of former college athletes, every class is split into three teams, each of which has a cumulative score shown on screen at the front of the room.

The bikes have display monitors showing metrics including your speed, gear and Swerve score (a combination of your gear and RPM) so you can get a solid idea of how much your fitness is improving. The flashing, nightclub-style lights will help you get thoroughly in the zone as you plough your way through sprints, hills and upper body exercises with the support of your team.

If there's one thing the US does well, it's creating a sense of camaraderie within a class, and the team aesthetic at Swerve is the absolute perfect way to experience this.

Price: $34 per class

Locations: Midtown, Flat Iron and Upper East Side

Aqua Studio

Based in stylish Tribeca, Aqua Studio is the only location in New York City to offer aqua spinning – which is, if you were wondering, exactly what it says on the tin. Their salt water pool is lined with spin bikes, with the water providing natural resistance as you cycle under the surface – water is 1,000 times denser than air, which gives you an idea of how that might feel.

What with being underwater and all, cleats aren't going to work here – Aqua Studio provides water shoes for you to rent for $2, which protect your feet and provide grip when you strap yourself into the pedals.

With aqua spinning originally designed by physios for injured athletes, this is a brilliant place to go if you're rehabbing an injury. There are four class types on offer: INTVL, an interval class designed to boost your aerobic and anaerobic fitness; PWR, which keeps you in the tempo zone to improve strength; Restore, which aims to relieve stress and blends spin with stretching and yoga; and Blend, which combines the three.

Outside the pool, Aqua Studio offers stretching, toning and meditation classes, plus a luxe changing and showering area to leave you feeling totally chilled.

Price: $42 per class ($35 for your first one)

Location: Tribeca

Peloton Live

Best spin studios in New York City

Unless you've been on the moon (or just off the internet) for the last year or so, you'll have heard of Peloton – the ultra-high-end home spinning experience which streams classes direct to your very glam Peloton bike. Those classes have got to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is the Peloton Live studio in Chelsea, New York City.

You book in and sweat as you would any other spin class, with the whole experience being streamed live to Peloton users across the world.

The carbon steel studio bikes are a super smooth ride, each with a monitor displaying your cadence, resistance and power output – a dream for data nerds. There's also a vast array of classes on offer, ranging from music genre themed rides like country, hip hop and 60s rock to goal-based sessions.

Try the Power Zone rides to push your speed and endurance to the max, the HRZ rides to challenge your aerobic capacity or the Intervals and Arms rides for a full-body sweat. Certain classes are even accompanied by a live DJ for the ultimate in party workout vibes.

Price: $32 per class

Location: Chelsea

Ice Cycle

When you rock up to Ice and realise it's a CrossFit box, don't panic – you're still in the right place. Ice Cycle mixes CrossFit with spinning, using the infamous/dreaded assault bike to provide your cycling sections. If that sounds ridiculously intense, you're about right.

This isn't one for the faint-hearted, but it's a brilliant choice if you're looking for a powerful HIIT workout that will challenge you as much as any WOD (if not more). The class features sprints and steady intervals on the assault bike, blended with kettlebells, med balls and bodyweight moves to give your aerobic system a beasting.

This might not be something you can fit into training on a regular basis, but for a once-weekly blast or a replacement for a track session or intervals, or if you just want an all-encompassing mind and body challenge, it doesn't get much better than Ice Cycle.

Price: $35 per class

Location: Upper East Side

Crank NYC

If you love a choreographed class, Crank is the studio for you. Lasting 45 or 60 minutes, the Crank signature classes blend rhythm riding with intervals of speed or power to ramp up your heart rate and get you sweaty.

With dipped lights and candles, Crank is all about losing yourself in the music and inclusive community – music genres vary depending on the instructor but expect sharp choreo and big beats. Each class incorporates a track with hand weights so you can feel your upper body burn as well as your lungs (and maybe give your quads a bit of a break).

With unlimited rides for just $139 a month, Crank is brilliant value – worth checking out if you're local.

Price: $23 per class

Locations: Upper East Side and Long Island City

Cyc

Best spin studios in New York City

For a high energy class to challenge your whole body but without any choreo, Cyc is the one for you. With three studios in NYC, plus more in Wisconsin and Massachusetts, Cyc offers plenty of 45-minute workouts throughout the day.

The classes, led by their Cycologists (instructors), feature sprints, hill climbs and jogs interspersed with two or three upper body tracks per class. Their upper body moves aren't just the classic bicep curls or tricep extensions – they're based around sporting movements, taking inspiration from volleyball, swimming and boxing to really push you out your comfort zone.

There are also multiple themed classes a week, such as the Beyonce ride, Queens of Pop and Early 2000s. The Hell's Kitchen location even has a Glam & Go hairstyling bar on-site, so you can leave looking fresh and stylish.

Price: $22 per class

Locations: Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and Upper East Side

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