1. How did you come up with the idea of BECYCLE?

I spent 12 years living abroad, mostly in London and Sydney. When I moved to Berlin in 2012, I was missing a place to workout at. At first I did a lot of Crossfit at My Leo, because it’s got a great community, perfect for making friends in a new city. However, I quickly noticed my muscles bulking up too much and I longed for getting back into a good routine of regular cardio exercise combined with some strength training using your own body weight. I started running and training for the Berlin marathon, but soon missed working out in a group to good music. On my way to Burning Man in 2014, I checked out SoulCycle & FlyWheel in LA and thought this is it.

2. How did you get the idea off the ground?

A good friend connected me to my founding business partner, Viola, who had the same idea to bring boutique fitness to Germany. We spent over a year researching the boutique fitness industry in the states and UK before signing the lease for our first property. Shortly after opening, we unfortunately had to part ways and I embarked on the craziest year of my life, running the studio partly on my own, and later with the help of a great team.

3. What makes BECYCLE so special?

We didn’t just want to build another cycling studio, but rather to create a place that fulfilled all needs. The REFINE Studio helps you to relax and elongate your muscles, the perfect alternative to an intense RIDE class. Healthy food, thanks to our partner “My Goodness”, is served in our spacious lounge area, and a great retail space is stocked with niche athleisure brands to complete our offering.

4. Why the hashtag “rideyourrhythm”?

Our instructors have been taught to teach riding to the rhythm. Everything that happens during a ride is synced to the music. We believe in not just using the power of music to get you to work out to the max, but also working with the RPMs & Watts. This helps us in working harder each time and making our workout the most effective. We don’t believe that “dancing on the bike” like SoulCycle does it, is an effective workout. It merely occupies your mind and is unsafe. Hence, you’ll notice a lot of similarities here to what is taught at FlyWheel.

5. What are the future plans?

We would love to bring BECYCLE to every big city in Europe. We are looking for a healthy growth that doesn’t jeopardise our service offering. Looking across the pond has shown us how important a good location and a great team is. It takes time, but we believe in the power of our community to help us get there!

Interview by Megan Lillick

5 Questions for the Founder