NEED TO KNOW
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The fitness company SoulCycle was founded in 2006
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The new documentary Spin Wars looks at the history of the fitness empire and the intense fandom it inspires
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Spin Wars will be available to rent on Dec. 22
A new documentary is looking at the underbelly of cycling fitness empires SoulCycle, Flywheel Sports and Peloton.
In a trailer exclusively shared with PEOPLE, SoulCycle co-founder Ruth Zukerman recalls the moment she learned she was no longer going to be an owner of the company she helped start.
“I sat down and they said that I would no longer be an owner of this business,” Zukerman recalls in the trailer. “And I said, ‘I guess I have to call a lawyer,’ and I walked out.”
Zukerman launched the indoor cycling studio with two partners in 2006 Following her departure from the company in 2009, she went on to become a co-founder of Flywheel Sports
“Soul Cycle was everything,” comedian Heather McMahan, who used to work at the front desk at a location in West Hollywood, says. “It was kind of like, you had just orgasmed.”
A recent post on thefilm’s Instagram page shows a carousel of screenshots showcasing some famous SoulCycle fans, including Khloé Kardashian, Lena Dunham and Lady Gaga.
“Having the opportunity to explore the roots and pioneers of spinning has been such a fun ride!,” Spin Wars director Philip Byron tells PEOPLE. “SoulCycle and other boutique fitness brands became such a defining part of life for so many of us in the 2010s. Our mission was to capture the spirit of that era — the nostalgia, the music, the characters, the drama and the humor.”
Speaking about the different cycling options out there, Katie Couric says in the trailer: “People were either diehard Flywheel or diehard SoulCycle…. It was sort of like the Sharks and the Jets.” She later adds, “SoulCycle, Flywheel, Peloton — it’s a huge business story. It also represents a lifestyle.”
A voiceover notes, “SoulCycle’s coded as something spiritual,” while comedian Mary Beth Barone admits, “I’ve absolutely cried in class,” and a tearful McMahan says, “I need to be a better person to my entire family.”
“SoulCycle was described as a cult,” one commenter says, with a voiceover adding, “It quickly became very cult-like.” Words like “complete-addict psychopath,” “drank the Kool-Aid” and “bats— crazy” are tossed off by different users to describe the behavior it inspired.
Later in the trailer, there’s mention of “sexual misconduct,” money-grabbing, fat shaming, racism, police and even an occurrence of putting “a used tampon in another rider’s purse.”
“I went from calling it spin-agogue to thinking it should be burned to the f—ing ground,” Kargman concludes.
“One of the biggest surprises was discovering just how little has been documented about women like Ruth Zukerman and Marion Roaman,” Byron says. (Peloton co-founder Roaman is also interviewed in the doc.) “Their influence extends far beyond indoor cycling. It’s truly remarkable.”
Spin Wars will be available to rent on Dec. 22.
Read the original article on People
