I love to cycle, obviously. And I’ve done a lot of it right in the great outdoors, as this website alone will attest. But sometimes I also enjoy riding indoors. There’s lot of reasons to ride indoors; bad weather is one obvious issue, but also things like be able to get in a consistent workout, or just enjoying the music or camraderie. I ride indoors in my house on Zwift, but sometimes I want to get out there and spin, and that’s when I go to Cyclebar. I’ve tried a lot of different spin classes; Soulcycle, for example, or a local business here in Oakland, as well as my gym. But I keep coming back to Cyclebar for a few simple reasons, the first of which is data. It’s funny to me that in 2025, most spin classes don’t let you track even simple things like how many calories you’re burning, much less data that I want as a cyclist like my current RPMs or my output watts (which is how much energy you’re expending). These are really basic stats that you would think anyone would want to know. Some places, like Soulcycle, do this on purpose because they feel that it takes people out of the “flow” and also might intimidate beginners, and I guess I see their point, but that’s not the kind of class I want to be in. A lot of places just have really old or crusty equipment. And some places have the right equipment and don’t mind if you use it but don’t have the training or maintenance to do things like keep the batteries in the head units charged.
Cyclebar, however, incorporates it as part of their vision and mission. Admittedly, different classes use it to different extents, but no matter which of their classes you take, you always have at least access to that data, even if it isn’t part of the class. So for a numbers fan like myself, I can do things like push myself a little farther each time, or monitor my own RPM. Typically I watch for a few things, but most importantly my watts, and my overall total distance. Those are the ones I care about the most.
I don’t click with every instructor and every class, but the other thing I like about Cyclebar is that they are willing to leave you alone. Of course it’s a group class, but they aren’t pushy. Some places I’ve been will get right up into your face with some Richard Simmons-y tactics that I think are motivating but are just a huge turnoff for me. I need the freedom to ignore the instructor’s suggestions if it isn’t working for me; that’s true both in yoga and in spin, and Cyclebar - at least my location - lets me do that.
And they generally have pretty good taste in music, and it’s clean, etc.,etc. Also they’re right next to Slice House pizza. :)
So yeah, shout out to Cyclebar Castro Valley!
