Mets vs. Yankees. Core Fusion vs. Physique57. Now there’s SoulCycle vs. Flywheel.

In the interest of varying my workout, infusing a little cardio into my lifestyle and wanting to try what’s clearly whipped Jenn Falik into INSANE shape, I embarked yesterday morning on my first Flywheel class. It was, in a word, PHENOMENAL.

While its competitor, SoulCycle, was a great class all in all, it wasn’t quite for me. To be fair, I DID take my maiden SoulCycle voyage during NPH (Normal People Hours) and at 7pm, which is late for me. Conversely, I opted for a 9:30am Flywheel class, conveniently less packed and at my peak workout time (I do best between 9am and 1:30pm–any earlier or later and I want to kill myself).

Here are the pros of Flywheel vs. SoulCycle:
Free shoes
Free water (seriously, how fascist is it to make customers pay for both of these things at a $30/$35 class?)
Torqboard, so you can see exactly what your resistance is and how many miles per hour you’re biking
Air-conditioned room (but you’ll still sweat like a beast)

I will note that SoulCycle DOES give free gum and hair elastics, both of which are appreciated. The spinning to the beat is fun in SoulCycle, as is the general clubbiness of the whole experience. But if you’re not INTO clubs, as I’m not, you may prefer Flywheel’s less dramatic approach. At Flywheel, the music’s great, there’s lots of sprints and jumps. While I sweated more than I’m comfortable with (I’m super prissy about that), I burned a ton of calories and had a great time. I left feeling fantastic–to the point where I’m planning to integrate Flywheel into a once-weekly rotation.

Flywheel classes are $30 a session. Sign up here.

And tell me: How are you working out these days? Have you tried Flywheel? SoulCycle? SHARE Horowitz in the comments.