Flywheel Is Closing Its Bryn Mawr Location and Everyone Is Sad
The popular spinning chain will have just one studio in the Philly area — in Center City — after August 29th.
Spin studio Flywheel Sports is closing its Bryn Mawr location after August 29th. / Photograph courtesy of Flywheel Sports
For a while, it seemed like spinning studios were following the trend of cheesesteak joints in Philly: There would always be room for more. Indoor cyclists were hungry for different shades of the boutique style — metrics-focused and competitive, chill and rhythmic, full-body with the addition of seemingly light hand weights that murdered your triceps. And the communities always felt a little bit different anyway. Even if you all pedaled to the same EDM jams, there’s a specific type of person who goes to SoulCycle versus Revel Ride versus the Wall. The ubiquity of cycling studios meant you could find your distinct tribe — or rather, your very own peloton.
And then the closings started coming. First came Body Cycle Studio, a longtime mainstay of Philly’s indoor cycling scene, in June 2018, when it couldn’t compete with the glitzy nightclub vibe of the corporate studios. This spring, Frazer’s Revive Studio, shut down. Now, even the juggernauts are falling: On Wednesday night, Flywheel Sports announced it would hold its last class at its Bryn Mawr location on August 29th.
Riders and instructors alike weighed in on Instagram about Flywheel Sports’ Bryn Mawr location closing.
Amandah Povilitus, a Flywheel instructor at both the Bryn Mawr and Center City locations of the spin studio, shared a few memories of the Main Line studio on her Insta story.
Stephanie McCaulley, the co-owner of CycleBar North Wales and a rider at Flywheel Bryn Mawr, wrote in a direct message on Instagram, “The instructors are one of a kind and deliver (the best playlists and) the most athletic ride around. The torque boards are great and they push you but it’s the instructors who do the best job at guiding you through the workout and focusing on YOUR BEST! There is no other workout like it. I’ll miss the studio, staff and amazing rides but I will definitely make time to visit the Center City location because Flywheel can’t be duplicated!”
Flywheel’s press team didn’t respond to inquiries about why the location was shuttering before this story was published, so we can only wring our hands, send tearful emojis, and wonder how the mighty began to fall. Maybe Flywheel, too, is caving to the competition. At-home Peloton bikes have certainly created some tension in the market as more riders turn to a more convenient, less costly way to sweat. A January Vox story noted that Flywheel classes were “heavily discounted on ClassPass” for months, perhaps a sign that the sessions weren’t at the capacity execs had expected. It didn’t help that a “restructuring” took place last year and that Flywheel CEO Ruth Zukerman announced at the end of December she’d be leaving the company.
Of course, all of this is speculation. It sounds like even the Bryn Mawr instructors don’t know what this will mean for them yet. At least the Main Line Flywheel fam still has a few weeks to get their last rides in. Then it looks like it’s off to Focus Fitness Main Line if they want to spin in Bryn Mawr or heading to Ardmore to sweat at SoulCycle or Fuel Cycle Fitness. Or they could trek all the way to Center City if they just can’t replicate their Flywheel experience elsewhere. But we feel you: It’s just not the same.
