While some indoor cycling studios have shoe baskets that allow you to wear tennis shoes, you don't really get the full experience (or the most out of your exercise) until you clip in. For this class, we'd highly suggest making sure you have a pair of cycling-specific cleats — either rentals or your own. Now, what to choose?
We've talked to Spin and cycling instructors about their thoughts on shoe rentals, and the overall consensus is that it's pretty sanitary and even instructors themselves use rental shoes. An anonymous instructor told us that their studio staff sprays the shoes with Lysol after every class and washes them about once a week.
Rentals will run you anywhere from $2 to $3, depending on the studio (unless you're at Flywheel, in which case, they're free). Let's just say you're at a studio with $3 rentals: a decent pair of cycling shoes, on average, will run about $80. This means you'd have to go about 27 times to make the purchase even out.
Our suggestion: If you're new to indoor cycling and aren't sure if you like it, rentals are a safe option before dropping nearly $100.
