ӀTheyҀve been one of the greatest social events of my year,Ԁ Ms. Rosuck, 19, said of the spin classes, which she calls Ӏa party on a bike.Ԁ Ms. Rosuck, who says that she arrives 15 minutes early to hang out and that most students do the same, added, ӀItҀs nice because itҀs a place to go where people are concerned about having a healthy mind and body rather than just drinking all the time.Ԁ Cyc, which promotes itself as the place to have Ӏa social active life,Ԁ is hardly the first boutique fitness company to tout its festive atmosphere. But the brand, which opened studios last fall in Austin and at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the first to explicitly target college students, a demographic more traditionally associated with sleeping through a class than sweating through one. Three more studios are scheduled to open in the next nine months, including one near New York University, said CycҀs chief executive, Stephen Nitkin. Mr. Nitkin, a founder of Marquis Jet, a private jet access card company (since acquired by Warren BuffettҀs NetJets), said students today are more health conscious and sophisticated, and may have parents who spin. The moment that inspired Mr. Nitkin to start Cyc is telling: when an influx of college students on winter break in 2011 locked him and his friends out of their favorite Manhattan spin classes. Still, Jared Shrode, 31, who rides his bike in Austin, said he was surprised by the student turnout, especially in the early morning. In January, when Cyc ran a two-week Ӏ10,000-calorie challengeԀ that required participants to attend near-daily classes at 7 a.m. in Austin and 8 a.m. in Madison, the company sold out of slots. Sixty percent of AustinҀs challenge riders were students; 100 percent of MadisonҀs were, according to company figures. Mr. Shrode, who works in sales for a technology company, said: ӀNobody I knew in college got up in the morning and tried to work off a hangover like some of these guys do. Paying for exercise was something I never considered. WeҀd just go and play basketball.Ԁ Classes for students cost some $17 each, not exactly budget friendly. ӀThatҀs almost three six-packs of beer,Ԁ said Alexander Kowalsky, 22, who opted for spin classes at WisconsinҀs free campus gyms. But Mr. Kowalsky, who graduated last month (and, for the record, is not a big drinker), said he could understand the companyҀs appeal to wealthy students who donҀt want to wait to use equipment at peak times. All the Cyc student customers interviewed said their parents paid for their cycling habit. Prices will be about $18 for students in Manhattan; similar classes at other studios (most of which donҀt offer student discounts in New York City) cost about $30. In the land of cheap beer and free T-shirts, it seems students will pay (or ask their parents to pay) for a hard-core workout, and instructors perceived as toughest are the most popular, Mr. Nitkin said. There is no exercise equivalent of an easy A; all of CycҀs classes are intense, he said. Keoni Hudoba, an opera singer turned fitness expert (he shrank himself from 327 pounds to 180), created the 45-minute session that features a wider range of arm moves than is found at most cycling studios. Riders use hand-held beanbag weights for more than half of the roughly 15 songs, compared with the standard one, two or three songs. ӀWeҀre not about burning candles, weҀre about burning calories,Ԁ Mr. Nitkin said. Grapefruit-scented candles are a hallmark of the popular SoulCycle chain. A SoulCycle spokeswoman declined to comment.
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