In June 2019, SoulCycle partnered with SiriusXM and Pandora to launch a 24-hour SoulCycle music channel featuring the music heard in SoulCycle studios. In October 2018, Whelan announced that SoulCycle would begin operations in the United Kingdom, with a studio slated to open in London the following year. In February 2018, the company launched SoulActivate, an on-the-bike class that incorporates high-intensity interval training (HIIT). In February 2018, the studio permanently closed after a class action lawsuit by local residents due to noise pollution. The studio incorporated elements of yoga and strength training. In October 2017, the company diversified by opening its first non-cycling-based studio, SoulAnnex, in Manhattan's Flatiron District. Following its success in the Canadian market, the company opened a second studio in Toronto and another in Vancouver. In March 2017, SoulCycle opened its first studio outside of the United States on King Street West in Toronto. In 2017, SoulCycle introduced its Next Generation Bike, which featured an aluminum frame, a carbon fiber belt, and electromagnetic resistance. Securities and Exchange Commission the IPO was cancelled citing "market conditions." In July 2015, SoulCycle filed to raise $100 million in an initial public offering at a valuation of around $900 million. As of 2016, Equinox owned 97% of the company.
In 2016, Rice and Cutler stepped down from their roles as co-chief creative officers and sold their shares to Equinox for $90 million. In 2015, Melanie Whelan was promoted from chief operating officer to chief executive officer. In 2012, SoulCycle had Villency design a custom bike with a "split seat" model, designed to be more comfortable. The studios originally featured a stationary Schwinn Bicycle Company bike with a chain drive typically used in the bigger gyms. In 2011, The Related Companies's Equinox Group acquired a majority stake in SoulCycle. In 2009, Zukerman left SoulCycle and, in 2010, with Jay Galuzzo and David Seldin, she founded Flywheel Sports, a competitor to SoulCycle. SoulCycle opened its first studio in 2006 on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, and later expanded to several other locations in Manhattan. In 2006, she introduced her clients Elizabeth Cutler, a real estate agent, and Julie Rice, a talent manager for Benny Medina's Handprint Entertainment, to each other over lunch, where the three women decided to start the brand that would become SoulCycle. Ruth Zukerman began teaching spin classes in Manhattan in 1996. ( November 2021) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy. This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience.