Step aside, Soul Cycle: IMAX is testing an immersive cycling concept

Group cycling studios like Soul Cycle are a huge workout trend, but IMAX wants to take it to the big screen. And we’re talking big screen.

In fact, it wants to take you pedaling through the solar system and across the coasts of Hawaii, all from the vantage point of a studio bike seat.

The large-format film company, which has 1,061 IMAX theaters in 67 countries, announced on Monday it will be opening a studio in the DUMBO neighborhood of Brooklyn later this month called IMAXShift. Unlike similar group-cycling exercise concepts, however, this one is built around the traditional IMAX experience you'd get when seeing, say, a new blockbuster film.

Instructors will teach a spinning-style class amid IMAX's high-tech projection and sound technology. The company says images will appear on screen in the front of the room to “immerse riders in a full sensory workout experience,” according to the company in a press release. The IMAXShift video above highlights more of what to expect.  

Classes, which can fit about 50 riders, will be about 45 minutes in length and cost $34 for each ride -- similar to other cycling studios in Manhattan.  Multi-class packages will be offered at a slight discount. 

Although the concept will first come to Brooklyn, IMAX says -- if successful -- it plans to license the studio for expansion, similar to its movie theater franchise model. Brooklyn was chosen for its first studio due to the surrounding demographic of artists and early adopters, the company said.

IMAXShift, which will open to the public starting April 28, is taking reservations now via imaxshift.com.

Bonus: Under Armour’s Gemini 2 sneakers are fitness trackers for your feet

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