Store Opening: Recycle Studio

When it comes to spinning, “no pain, no gain” seems to be the operative mantra. But taking a spin class at your gym often means enduring the barks of an instructor channeling a drill-sergeant while migraine-inducing techno pounds from the speakers. Enter Recycle Studio, Boston’s first dedicated indoor cycling facility, now open in the South End. Owner Cate Dwyer offers calorie-torching spin sessions in a space that’s more yoga studio than boot camp – what Daily Candy referred to as a “holistic environment.” The studio is decorated with images of bicycles and cheery fabrics from a New York–based textile company Dwyer used to work for. Even more intriguing, all the classes are taught by candlelight. “We want you to enter this space mentally and feel the mind-body connection,” she explains. “The candlelight transports you so you have a different mentality toward workouts, where you’re able to get into it and push yourself physically.”

Recycle’s team of instructors have teaching styles as varied as their musical tastes, to offer classes that will appeal to any age and level of experience. “One of the girls is really into classic rock, and in my class I play Florence and the Machine, but we’re always 100 percent focused on both proper form and on keeping things really fun,” says Dwyer. “In Boston in general, indoor cycling has been intimidating because it’s geared toward hardcore outdoor riders,” she says. “But it’s evolving so much…. I think it’s shortsighted to say that spinning has to be done in the traditional way.”

Recycle currently holds 10 classes a week and aims to offer an expanded schedule beginning in February. No special gear is required, though frequent riders can get a discount on indoor-cycling shoes at neighboring South End Athletic Company. “Boston is such an active place,” says Dwyer. “It’s so exciting to be able to bring something new to the city.”

Recycle Studio, 643A Tremont St., Boston, 617-775-0282, recycle-studio.com.