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In Manhattan’s grueling war of the spinning studios, SoulCycle may have finally lost its stamina.
The trendy indoor-cycling chain — whose star-studded clientele has included Chelsea Clinton, Brooke Shields, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes — is in talks to be acquired by upscale gym giant Equinox, The Post has learned.
Details couldn’t be determined at press time, but sources said Equinox, which is owned by real estate behemoth Related Cos., is negotiating to shell out between $15 million and $25 million for the chain, with plans to rebrand its own in-house spinning studios under the SoulCycle name.
Reps for Equinox and SoulCycle didn’t respond to requests for comment. Sources said the acquisition may signal that SoulCycle has had trouble keeping pace with fast-growing archrival Flywheel Sports.
In January, Flywheel — whose regulars have included Ivanka Trump, Jimmy Fallon and Katie Couric — snatched up a third spinning chain, Ride The Zone, whose spots in the Upper East Side and the Hamptons attracted celebs like Alec Baldwin and Jon Bon Jovi.
That’s despite the fact that SoulCycle had been wooing Ride The Zone for weeks, sources said.
The SoulCycle-Flywheel rivalry is personal, as the latter was founded a little more than a year ago by former SoulCycle instructor Ruth Zukerman, who moved on following a bitter dispute with SoulCycle owners Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, according to sources.
While SoulCycle has been packing its upper-crust clientele into its cramped, candle-lit cycling studios since 2006, Flywheel has been luring away users with its more spacious studios and high-tech bikes that can track clients’ progress.