What is spin class?

A 'spin bike' is s special type of stationary bike, used in group exercise classes. It's frequently offered in fitness centers and clubs, gyms, and YMCAs, during the winter months. I think they're less popular now that Zwift is available for indoor training;  but maybe not. Zwift lacks the structure of having an instructor telling you when to sprint, recover, stand, etc.

OK.  You have several stationary bikes.  No back wheel, but a big flywheel where your front wheel would be.  Adjustable handlebar and saddle and a nob on the frame above the flywheel.  By tightening the nob you put a brake shoe onto the flywheel, increasing the resistance.  That is a spin bike.  Imagine a room full of lycra clad middle aged men and women, paying to be shouted at by an instructor for half and hour to an hour, where you simulate going up and down hills, with varing cadence and resistance.  A good work out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB69Pwl6GI8

Here is a GCN Youtube workout.

Pottery is, with the wheel is called throwing.  So a pottery class that uses a potters wheel.  Have a look at the Great British Throw Down.  BBC jobbie.

There has been some confusion caused by the two possible meanings of the term 'spining class'. It can mean lessons to learn how to spin (i.e. to use a spinning wheel to process raw cut fleece into a strand of wool). That is of course the long established usage. Recently the term has also got used to mean an exercise class involving static pedalling machines. 

This has sometimes caused misunderstandings when craft centres or gymnasia have advertised 'spining classes' without making it clear which they meant, resulting in people turning up at one sort of spinning class expecting the other kind.

It's an exercise "class", meaning there's a leader to exhort you to greater effort. Pre-covid, spin classes would take place in a big room full of exercise "bikes" and someone would tell you to pedal faster. Now, it all seems to take place on-line at home, with someone on video telling you the same thing. The "class" aspect is supposed to be motivating.

In the cycling world, "spinning" refers to a high cadence - or pedal rpm.  This might be explained better by the late cycling guru Sheldon Brown on this link.  See "Pushing" vs. "Spinning".  https://www.sheldonbrown.com/gears.html

But, on an indoor machine, there are no gears.  Resistance is usually changed by some sort of knob or switch.  The higher the resistance - the more power it takes to keep up the same 'cadence' - pedal rpm.  Spinning , simply put, is cranking on those pedals at a fast rate ALL the time.  

On a REAL (outdoor) bicycle, when a cyclist meets more resistance (such as climbing a hill) they downshift into a lower (easier) gear to maintain the same cadence.  Of course, there are exceptions to everything.  In a pro race, the 2nd place rider would accelerate (or increase their cadence) to overtake & pass the 1st place rider.  They might even upshift a gear & accelerate.  That's work! 💪  

So...as you can see, during winter months with snow and/or ice on the pavement, a Spin Class might help an outdoor cyclist maintain his or her fitness level.  

Spin Class YouTube video on this link...   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfmaQAXQns  

That's what spin class is pretend cyclist. Where as the regular contributors on this forum want real world experiences not make believe ones.