If you are lucky enough to visit an in-person cycling class at Peloton New York, you are in for a treat! It is truly a magical experience. But it is very hard to get one of those classes, so here are some tips and tricks and a write-up of my experience. [March 2023 update: I was also able to visit Peloton London and the booking tips and tricks are the same so I’m combining it into one below.]

Key things to know to successfully book a ride:

• Classes become available to book 6 weeks in advance at 9am PT / 12noon ET on Mondays; you are added to a virtual queue (this applies for both New York and London studio bookings–see screenshot below)
• You must have at least one class pass ($35/class for New York) purchased (or £25.00/class for London) already in your account to complete the booking–I suggest you do this in advance (like the day before) because the classes sell out very fast
• You must also have at least one class pass purchased already in your account to sign up for the waitlist, which can be risky if you don’t live in the area because the class credit expires in 12 months and you don’t get a refund if you don’t get off the waitlist

If you log in to book right at 9am PT / 12noon ET, you will most likely be able to get a spot on the day you are in town, except if you are trying to book a class with Cody Rigsby. I tried to get a Cody Rigsby 5:30pm Friday evening class when I logged on to the website at 9:20am PT (I had the time wrong, and thought the classes were released at 9:30am PT,) and his class was full immediately and the waitlist was also full immediately. The Peloton website’s frontend couldn’t even update quickly enough to change the “Waitlist” button to a grayed out “Sold Out” button, so every time I tried to waitlist myself, it would show a backend server error. When I called in to customer service, they said “I think half the country is trying to book Cody’s class…” and when you watch his live classes, you do realize that people have flown in from all over the U.S. when he does his live shoutouts of the in-studio participants. People wear “xoxo, Cody” shirts that they purchased for that ride. So you need to be very lucky and fast to get a class with Cody and I’m going to have to try again the next time I’m going to New York. I was able to get into Alex Toussaint’s cycling class though which was full by about 11am PT (2 hours after they became available for purchase.)

🗽 New York Studio Review

The Peloton NYC headquarters at 370 10th Ave, New York, NY 10001 is massive. You’ll want to enter on the 10th Ave side for classes, not the plaza side, which is only for retail shoppers. The Peloton studio is probably the cleanest and most beautiful fitness studio I have ever been to, and might be even nicer than Equinox. When you show up, you are greeted at the check-in desk and then a concierge is assigned to you and walks you around to give you the tour of the studio. Here is a video of that experience.

After Class Meet & Greet and Photo Opportunity

They are really efficient about the photo opportunity and have a designated photographer who takes your pictures and emails it out to you the same day. For yoga, your photos are taken inside the yoga studio and for cycling, it’s taken near the big Peloton “P” logo. The instructors are all extremely friendly and try to get to know you (to the extent they can), by asking you questions in the short duration that you interact with them.

Amenities Review

You have everything you could possibly need provided inside the studio: Lockers, MALIN + GOETZ, shampoo, body wash, lotion, sweat towels for practice and big towels for showering, really nice sweaty clothes bags, cleaned yoga mats, and they even let you borrow the cycling shoes for free. They are clearly not trying to make money off of the in-studio experience, and make their money off of the streaming experience.

Kristin McGee’s 30-minute In Studio Yoga EDM Flow

The playlist is quite fun and high energy in this yoga flow and it has a good combination of stretching and strength. Compared to other “normal” yoga classes I have been to, this definitely felt more “tense” in that it was very clear exactly how much time was left in class and you didn’t want to do something that might make a commotion. If I was a local, I would do the in studio yoga flows to experience it and see what it’s like to be on the other side, because it doesn’t “feel” as much like a yoga class as it feels like a film production where you are an extra. Also, my favorite part about yoga in person are the hands on adjustments, which of course, you will not get in a Peloton in studio class. But I’m really glad I did try it out and it was fun to hear from my friends back home who did the class and saw me in the video, and Kristin was so sweet to give me two shoutouts: “Flew all the way from San Francisco to nail flying pigeon”. If you want a spot in the front where you are more likely to show up on camera, you should get in line about 25 minutes before the class starts, and be the first one to enter the room.

Alex Toussaint’s 45-minute In Studio Club Bangers Ride

The in studio Peloton cycling experience is absolutely incredible. I have been to SoulCycle Classes and even with the best teachers, (like when I went in West Hollywood, the class also sold out in seconds, and celebrities were in class with me,) SoulCycle just does not compare to the level of energy in a Peloton in studio class. 90% of people have flown in from somewhere else to attend this class, and they are all rabid fans of the instructor (see this video). In addition, the handful of Peloton instructors are putting on a show first and foremost, so they are just in another league altogether; there is no comparison to SoulCycle instructors–they are just so much better. And I’m not hating on SoulCycle, I enjoy SoulCycle and biked with SoulCycle for years before I touched a Peloton, but this is my honest opinion. The space itself is gorgeous, they use the basic Peloton bikes with a smaller screen so you can still high five people in the class and those taking the class live (although the in studio stats are 30 seconds ahead of the live stream stats, so you can’t compare your stats to the live stream.) I was curious how they were going to do the music in studio since the sound quality on the live stream is so high. Unlike SoulCycle, where they blast the music and I have to wear earplugs so my ears aren’t ringing after class, they put the volume of the music at an energizing level, but it’s kept low enough that the video production can still mix the sound appropriately for the livestream. If I was local, I would definitely come in person to the in studio cycling classes as much as I can. It’s the same cost as SoulCycle, but shoes are free to use, and the studio space is spacious (unlikely a lot of SoulCycles, which have cramped changing rooms.) If you want to show up on camera, you should line up 45 minutes before class in front of studio 1 so that you can be in the front row or near the mirror in the second row. They assign you a bike number when you book your class, but that bike number is ignored and your bike assignment is based on “first-come, first-served” when you are in line. You do have to check into class 45-minutes before hand, so it’s more of a time commitment than a SoulCycle class, where you can show up a few minutes before the class starts.

Here are the number of spots for each class in the New York studios (courtesy of PeloBuddy):

• Cycling studio: 38 Bikes
• Tread studio: 16 Treads
• Strength studio: 8 mats
• Yoga studio: 6 mats (not 7 as it says on PeloBuddy, but maybe they are counting the instructor’s mat?)

🇬🇧 London Studio Review

Peloton London is located on the most adorable street in Covent Garden: 11 Floral St, London WC2E 9DH, United Kingdom. This is the cleanest, nicest fitness studio you will visit in London. Similar to Peloton New York, they don’t make money off of their in studio classes, so it’s very reasonably priced at £25.00/class and they take care to make sure you have a fantastic experience, because it’s all about making sure members feel great so they spread the word. If you are a Peloton addict, this studio is also cool because you can see how the production is made (this isn’t visible in the New York studio.)

Amenities Review

Peloton has the nicest and cleanest studios of any fitness studio I have ever been to (it’s even nicer than the Equinox.) At this location, they have gender neutral areas and private showers and changing stalls, instead of a “Mens” and a “Womens” area. They have Malin+Goetz shower products, unlimited towels, and free cycling shoe rentals.

After Class Meet & Greet and Photo Opportunity

I did a cycling class with Mila Lazar who teaches in German and in English (all the German classes are filmed out of the London studios.) Her class wasn’t full, as she isn’t one of the more famous instructors, but she is SO nice because she isn’t constantly mobbed by fans. For example, she offered me a hug, and because I was right in front of her in the studio, she noticed me and complimented me on the amount of energy I had in the class. In Peloton New York, for example, the more famous instructors are accompanied by security and you aren’t supposed to hug them.

I would definitely visit Peloton London again, although it only offers cycling and treadmill classes (there aren’t any live yoga or strength classes filmed at this location.) But if I just wanted a good workout, this is the nicest studio and being live with the high energy crowd pushes me to go harder than I would in a regular cycling class.

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