Spin Classes in London: Rhythm, Performance or Immersive?

“Spin class” is one label covering at least three completely different workouts. There's the nightclub-on-a-bike rhythm ride, the data-driven performance session beloved of road cyclists, and the newer screen-led immersive formats. People who say they hate spin have usually just been in the wrong room.

At Rumble we run all three formats under the Re.Cycle name at Rumble Dalston, our East London studio. Here's how they differ, who each one suits, and how to choose your first ride.

Why indoor cycling earns its place

Spin is the most accessible serious cardio in the gym. It's low-impact — knees and ankles get a day off from pounding. It's self-scaling — the resistance lever means a beginner and a racer can ride side by side. And it's genuinely hard in the way only interval cardio is. For anyone balancing it with strength work or HIIT circuits, it slots in as the high-output, low-damage cardio day.

Type 1: the rhythm ride — Re.Cycle

Rhythm spinning is the one you've seen on Instagram: lights down, music up, the whole room riding to the beat. Choreography on the bike — position changes, tempo surges, the occasional weights track — turns the class into something closer to a party than a workout, which is exactly why it works: 45 minutes disappear.

Choose it if: you're motivated by music and atmosphere, you want cardio that doesn't feel like cardio, or you're new to spin and want the most fun possible entry point. Every Re.Cycle rhythm ride is built around one-of-a-kind playlists — the same class never plays twice.

Type 2: the performance ride — Re.Cycle Performance

Performance cycling strips out the choreography and trains you like an athlete: structured intervals, measurable effort, progressive overload. It's the format for testing endurance and strength on the bike — and for anyone who wants numbers rather than vibes. Want the numbers explained first? Our own guide to Performance Spin breaks down FTP — Functional Threshold Power, the benchmark every session is built around — and what a data-driven ride actually feels like.

Choose it if: you're a road or gravel cyclist keeping fitness through the week (or the winter), you're training for an event, or you simply like seeing measurable progress. Riders who take performance classes twice a week tend to feel it within a month — on hills especially.

Type 3: the immersive ride — Re.Cycle Immersive

Immersive cycling is the newest of the three: screen-led rides where the visuals set the workout. Sessions range from HIIT-style ride rushes to rhythm rides and metric-based races — gamified enough to make you forget you're doing intervals, structured enough that you're definitely doing intervals.

Because immersive rides are screen-led, they run right through the day — not just when an instructor is on the mic. In practice that means there's a ride available pretty much whenever you want to train: pick a slot, clip in, and the full studio experience — screen, sound system, lighting — is yours, on your schedule.

There's effectively a class running whenever you are — before work, at lunch or into the evening, the room is ready.

Choose it if: you like variety and a bit of competition, you find instructor-led classes intimidating, or your diary never fits a fixed timetable and you want a guided ride on your own schedule.

Where to ride: Rumble Dalston

All three Re.Cycle formats — rhythm, performance and immersive — run at Rumble Dalston, on the ground floor of Labyrinth Tower in Dalston Square, E8 3GP, two minutes from Dalston Junction Overground. The bikes share the building with the Re.HIIT circuit, Reformer Pilates, yoga and the Re.Fuel cafe — so your cardio day and your strength day live under one roof.

Work in the West End? Rumble Fitzrovia doesn't run spin — it's dedicated to the Re.HIIT circuit and personal training, with a new class starting every 10 minutes.

Your first spin class: the practical bits

Spin vs the rest of your training

Cycling is mostly lower-body and lungs. To round it out: the Re.HIIT circuit covers full-body strength-conditioning, Re.Sculpt hits the core and posture muscles riding tends to neglect, and Reformer Pilates is the best mobility-strength insurance a cyclist can buy.

Cost and booking

Ride pay-as-you-go or go unlimited — see current memberships for the full list:

• Pay-as-you-go: a single class is £25, a 10-pack is £199 — and the Discover offer gets you 3 classes for £45.
• 2nd Studio Unlimited, £159/month: unlimited Re.HIIT circuits plus unlimited Re.Cycle as your second studio — all three ride formats, immersive included.
• All Unlimited, £199/month: every class and circuit, anywhere, anytime.

Evening rhythm rides are the busiest classes we run, so book ahead for those.

Bottom line: don't ask “should I try spin?” — ask which of the three rides fits you, then try that one. Book your first Re.Cycle class and find out which rider you are.