Of all the places I have tried so far, this was the most intimidating. On their website, the trainers and clients look like American Ninja Warriors. The bikes are all equipped with performance-tracking metrics so you are painfully aware of how well, or not so well, you stack up against your classmates. A drop-in class will run you $28 and an unlimited monthly membership comes with a whopping $220/month price tag. I knew I wasn’t going to fit in with this clientele. But, the first class is free and the whole point of this self-discovery fitness journey was to push myself. Flywheel has helpful bios for all of their instructors that list things like their hometown, guilty pleasure, class vibe and playlists. Denver’s instructors are pretty diverse with two men and one black woman rounding out the small staff of seven. I saw the black woman was from East Orange, NJ and knew it was fate. I redeemed the free class and made sure to opt out of the TorqBoard, large screens that display personal Power Scores (with coded names) and race coundowns. When you sign up you have to select a bike. I picked one three rows back from the instructor and all the way to the right side, 36 (I wouldn’t recommend this bike, see more later).
I took a 5:30pm class and the studio was really hectic with turnover. There’s no reception desk at this location but I knew from signing up that the class came with a complimentary shoe rental, placed on a wall labeled with your bike number, so I was wandering around aimlessly trying to find them. I must have looked as confused as I felt because eventually a nice woman with a tablet said “Hi! Is this your first time?“ obviously lol. She grabbed my shoes from the bucket on the wall and walked me over to an area full of free lockers. I have wide feet so I sized accordingly and I’m pretty sure they were too big.
The “stadium” is cool and club like down to the lighting. The bikes are arranged on varying platform heights with plenty of room in between. There were a few people in the room helping first-timers like me get their bike setup, when in doubt look for the ipads. By now, I’m thinking the staff could benefit from some uniforms or at least a Flywheel t-shirt. The bikes aren’t well labeled so I wouldn’t have been able to find mine without their help. I knew classes were kept dark so I didn’t think twice when I wore capri leggings with unshaven legs. Unfortunately, I had no idea how to “clip in” so a pretty blonde spent a few minutes at eye level with my fuzzy legs (sorry girl!). She helped me adjust the seat height and handlebars. Your preferred settings are saved and for every other class your bike will be setup just for you before the start of class (how luxurious). The bottle holders are pretty much horizontal so make sure you bring a water bottle with a tight lid (another major fail for me). Each bike is equipped with a mini tablet that provides readings of your torque, RPM, current, and overall Power Score. It felt super state of the art, like I could have been training with the Broncos. I had a good side view of the instructor but almost no view of the Torqboard. Maybe that’s for the best if you get distracted by competition but I really wanted to experience everything so I wish I had selected a different bike. If you’re on the bike selection page I’d suggest one on the left hand side at least 2 rows from the front.
The music was a fun upbeat mix; I was happy to finally hear some hip-hop even though it was more of the club/EDM versions of the songs. Things progressed quickly and it was difficult to hear the instructor so I was pretty lost for the first few minutes, just keep pedaling. There are no personal corrections, the instructor stays on their pedestal at the front of class but you eventually get the hang of it. The instructor calls out goal ranges (Torque 18-25, 90-120 RPM) and positions (“up in third”, get off your butt, and “saddle”, sit down and power through). It is like interval training, you push hard and then recover. Towards the end we incorporated some arm workouts. There are bars that look like shower curtain tension rods cradled at the front of the bike that weigh 2 pounds each, I only grabbed one. You go through a few curls, pulses while mindlessly pedaling at a low torque. I couldn’t figure out how to clip out so I just took the shoes off and left them on the bike. We did some light stretching to close things out. The workout was fun, challenging, motivating.
After the workout you can pull up your Flywheel account to see how you did. I’m loving this feature. While I don’t plan to partake in the intense real-time competitions, I would love to monitor my own personal progress and set individual goals. My Power Score was 242 and here’s a snapshot of my personal stats:
I have no idea how these measure up against others and I don’t really care. Do you see that 20 miles?! I had no idea I could ride 20 miles simulating sprints, surges, and hill climbs all in 45 minutes. I’m proud of that!
Recommendations: Method 45 (the beginner/all-level class here, make sure you take a Method class before trying the others)
Notes: Your first class is free if you sign up on their site; ClassPass Credits: range from 7-9 and not all classes are available through the app; Cycling shoes, towels and locker rental are all complimentary; 45 min
What to Wear/Bring: Water
Inclusive Fitness Denver 