Flywheel Santa Monica is officially opening 5/8/17, but this weekend they are offering free classes! For more information and to sign up, head over to their blog.

Class: Fly 45

Location: Santa Monica

Work-out: Indoor cycling/spin

Difficulty: 4.5

Next day soreness: 3.5

Duration: 45

Sweat Level: Sweaty

Parking: Metered street parking, validated lot

Amenities: Towels, showers, filtered water fountain, lockers, free shoe rentals, mints, hair ties, ear plugs

Requirements for class: socks

So this was actually my very first Flywheel class. My friend Cassie had actually previously reviewed one of the other locations, but due to how far the studios were from me, I never got around to trying Flywheel until now. I did the Fly 45 with Victor Self, which is the signature class, and WOW was it hard! Afterwards, I learned that Victor is one of the tougher instructors (which made me feel a little better), but still, I was trailing way behind for most of the class.

First, the fact that each bike had its own screen which showed you your Torq level, your RPM (revolutions per minute), your distance and your power really made you feel accountable. The instructor gave guidelines for you to be at certain levels (such as mid 80s RPM at Torq 20) and I was definitely cruising at 60 feeling like my legs were going to fall off. It really puts in perspective how hard you should be working and how you compare. Ultimately though, you know your body best and Victor gave the advice that when choosing between torque and RPM, always maintain RPM and lower the torque to keep up with the class. If you’re in a competitive spirit, you can opt to have your stats displayed on the “torq board” which shows the 10 highest performing riders (broken down by male and female) in the class. My friend Becca crushed it and was #1 in the female category and #5 in the overall category. Go girl!

What I really appreciated was that Flywheel took service to the next level. When you sign up for an account, you choose what shoe size you are, and once you get to the studio, your spin shoes are already in a little cubby with your bike number. Furthermore, after class, your account updates with the stats from the class you just took including your min and max torque levels, your speed, distance, calories burned and total power. Super useful and definitely something that’ll keep you going back.

If you’re looking for a spin class to challenge you and push you to your limits (without the ability to really slack), this is it! This location will also be on ClassPass once it’s officially open. Free classes all weekend until the official opening on Monday 5/8/17, so now’s your chance to try it out!