Claire Roces of Mt. Lebanon leans over on her exercise bike, furiously pedaling and pumping while a nearby disc jockey plays energetic tunes with rhythms that guide her movements.

Bill Bara stands at his DJ station in the front of the room at Club Cycle in Dormont, scratching a vinyl record while he plays a mix of peppy songs, with snippets of classics from Whitney Houston, Adele and Survivor. Meanwhile, Roces and 19 other spinning cyclists — arranged in five packed rows of four bikes — race on the stationary bikes to keep up with the rhythm, watch matching music videos and make sweating fun.

“Cycling can be really hard, and it's a really good workout,” says Roces, 43, who has been coming to this class four times a week since September. Having a DJ entertain “distracts you from the boredom of exercising.”

Club Cycle — which Bara and his fiance, fitness instructor Stacie Adams, both of Mt. Washington, opened in October 2013 — offers these classes several times every day — including holidays, and the classes sell out. The business has grown so much that it is moving to a larger location in nearby Castle Shannon, which will open Feb. 1 with 3,500 square feet and 48 spinning cycles, plus other fitness features to accommodate the 2,300-plus members. People come from as far away as Westmoreland County and West Virginia to attend Club Cycle classes.

“It is going to be a game-changer in the industry,” says Bara, 33, who knows of no other American studio that does spinning classes with a live DJ.

“We combined both of our passions into one,” says Adams, 28. She loves the workouts, and her fiance loves the deejaying.

Although spinning classes typically play music, Bara says the experience is much more personal and choreographed with someone manipulating the tempo and beat of the music, and playing it right there with the exercisers, who see their actual and target RPMs displayed on a screen by the DJ.

“Everybody's doing this together,” Bara says. “It becomes, like, this spiritual vibe and energy.”

A main appeal of spinning in Club Cycle's style is that it brings fun into fitness, which often feels like a chore, Bara says.

Carrie Parrilla, 45, of Mt. Lebanon says that the music and the videos make the workout experience fun. For Parrilla, who has arthritis in both knees, Spinning also “is the only thing that doesn't hurt.” Walking and running both hurt her, but the spinning class doesn't.

Adams, a former nurse, says she hopes Club Cycle's program starts a national trend. First, though, the company hopes to expand locally, and add four other locations: in the northern, eastern and western suburbs, along with Downtown, starting with a northern location, probably next winter.

A first class, either 45 minutes or an hour long, costs $10; after that, rates vary.

Details: 412-726-6641 or clubcycleonline.com

Kellie B. Gormly is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. She can be reached at kgormly@tribweb.com or 412-320-7824.

---

Copyright ©2026— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---