I bet you didn’t know there was a World Techno Day, did you?
As indoor cycling instructors, we understand the profound impact that music can have on our classes. It serves as the driving force behind every pedal stroke, helping our riders find motivation, rhythm, and a sense of purpose on their fitness journey. With World Techno Day just around the corner on December 9, it’s the perfect excuse to dim the lights, turn up the beats, and take your riders on a rhythm-driven journey that celebrates electronic musicâs hypnotic pulse.
đ What is Techno?
Techno, born in Detroit in the 1980s, is a form of electronic dance music (EDM) built around a steady 4/4 beat, layered percussion, and synthetic, evolving textures. Itâs less about lyrics and more about rhythm, energy, and flowâmaking it a perfect match for indoor cycling.
While December 9 is officially World Techno Day, this post isnât strictly about techno. In the cycling studio, we draw from a broad family of electronic musicâhouse, club, trance, and techno alikeâbecause these tracks share tempos that are perfect for climbs and offer a variety of moods and energy structures. A ride made up of only âpureâ techno might feel monotonous, so weâre expanding our musical bucket to include familiar and usable tracks across these genres, giving instructors flexibility to craft dynamic, engaging climbs that their riders will love.
Many of these artists donât just create original tracksâthey remix songs from artists across genres, giving them a fresh electronic twist. If you love a familiar pop, rock, or even classical song but are tired of the overplayed version, a remix can give it new energy and rhythm that works beautifully for climbs. World Techno Day is a perfect time to explore these reimagined tracks and add them to your cycling playlist.
Most tracks in this family sit around 120â135 bpm, translating roughly to 60â67 rpm on the bikeâideal for climbs. What changes is how you use the energy, structure, and mood of each song:
- Aggressive climbs: Driving, minimal, or industrial techno that pushes sustained power.
- Focused, introspective climbs: Deep melodic techno or darker trance that encourages steady rhythm and concentration.
- Building climbs: Trance or melodic house tracks that evolve slowly to a peak.
- Dynamic, ebb-and-flow climbs: Tracks with vocal sections, breaks, or energy waves, perfect for alternating seated and standing efforts.
đ” Popular Subgenres and Recognizable Artists
Techno Today: Masterclass’s Techno Music Guide describes today’s techno in this manner:
Today’s ravers dance to a wide array of electronic music. The same nightclub could mix techno into a playlist that includes dubstep, EDM, Chicago house, and breakbeat hardcore. As such, today’s techno music is slotted in among genres that influenced it and genres that grew from it. Techno spawned many subgenres including minimal techno, ambient techno, hardcore techno, industrial techno, intelligent dance music (IDM), Detroit techno, trance, deep techno, and tech house. From these subgenres came offshoots like acid house, rave, electronica, and EDM.
đ€ Detroit Techno â Mechanical, hypnotic, and soulful.
Artists: Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson
âïž Minimal Techno â Stripped-down, hypnotic, perfect for controlled climbs.
Artists: Richie Hawtin (Plastikman), Robert Hood, HI-LO
đ Melodic Techno â Emotional, cinematic, and evolving, this style is my personal favorite for the cycling studio because it works beautifully for introspective climbs. The layered melodies and evolving textures create a sense of movement and progression that keeps riders engaged throughout the ride.
Artists: Tale of Us, ARTBAT, Anyma, Mind Against
đ Tech House â Groove-oriented, rhythmic climbs with a more approachable feel.
Artists: Carl Cox, Fisher, Green Velvet, Chris Lake
đ Trance / Trance-Techno Hybrids â Soaring builds, euphoric peaks.
Artists: Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Darude, ATB, Sash!, Dimitri Vegas
đ€ Club / Eurodance / Big Room â Familiar, high-energy, vocal-driven tracks.
Artists: David Guetta, Basshunter, 3LAU, Cascada, Scooter, HARDWELL
For World Techno Day, weâre celebrating the entire electronic familyâfrom hypnotic techno to melodic trance, rhythmic house, and high-energy club tracks. All tempos are climb-friendly; what changes is the rideâs mood, energy, and how you structure the effort.
Many historians credit Detroitâs Juan Atkins with the very first techno song, âNo UFOsâ (1985), a groundbreaking track that laid the foundation for electronic music as we know it today.
Letâs explore a selection of classic and contemporary electronic tracks that work beautifully in the studio. Some are more traditional techno, while others lean toward melodic, trance-inspired, or club-focused soundsâbut all share rhythms and tempos that make them ideal for indoor cycling, especially for climbs. With most falling in the 120â135 bpm range, these tracks provide a cadence that naturally supports seated or standing climbs, allowing instructors to build intensity in sync with the music. Each track highlights a different way electronic music can drive a ride, whether through hypnotic repetition, soaring melodies, or pulsing energy.
Alive (Anyma Remix), RĂFĂS DU SOL, Anyma, 5:11, 125 bpm
A blend of RĂFĂS DU SOLâs calming vocals and Anymaâs melodic trance production. Introspective and evolving, with a break at 2:18â3:15 that can be used as a mini reset before the beat drops again. Great for gradually increasing resistance and guiding riders through a focused climb.
Saga, Kevin de Vries, Y Do I, 5:36, 125 bpm
A melodic techno piece featuring lush, orchestral strings that give the track a cinematic, sweeping feel while a driving beat keeps riders engaged. The evolving layers maintain momentum, making it ideal for introspective or steadily building climbs.
All That Matters, Kölsch, ARTBAT, 8:50, 125 bpm
A melodic techno track with emotional, cinematic, and evolving qualities, perfect for introspective climbs. The track features a nearly 2-minute break at 4:24â6:33, offering a natural pause or standing moment before the beat returns, while the melodic layers keep the ride engaging and immersive.
FĂŒr Ever, Alo Wisa, 4:06, 126 bpm
This track blends melodic techno with Beethovenâs famous piano motifs, merging classical elegance and a driving electronic beat. The intertwining of piano passages and evolving synth layers creates a sense of motion and emotional depth, with natural rises and pauses that give the climb a dynamic, expressive character.
Don’t You Worry Child, Swedish House Mafia, 6:43, 128 bpm
A melodic house track with familiar, uplifting vocals and a driving beat. Like many songs in this genre, it has natural ebbs and flows in energy, creating built-in intervals within the track. The verses provide a slightly lighter feel for recovery or seated work, while the choruses build to more powerful, standing sectionsâmaking it engaging and motivating for riders.
Give It to Me, Adriatique, Notre Dame, Timbaland, Nelly Furtado, 2:42, 122 bpm
A dance-techno remix that transforms the original pop vocals into a driving, electronic rhythm. The combination of Timbaland and Nelly Furtadoâs familiar voices with Adriatiqueâs dynamic production give it a playful, energetic feel, making it perfect for short, high-intensity efforts or building momentum within a ride.
Born Slippy, Underworld, 5:21, 140 bpm
“Born Slippy” became famous from the movie Trainspotting in 1995. It fused together the sounds of techno, electro, drum & bass, dub, and trance, incorporating all the strengths of the UK scene. Its hard-hitting beat has secured “Born Slippy” as a classic, echoing through the basements of many a student house and in the streets on a summerâs day. (From Technomood, Technos 20 Most Influential Tracks of All Time.)
Wake Me Up, Avicii, 4:07, 124 bpm
As described in the “Techno Today” segment above, many sub-genres of electronic music emerged from the original techno. This track is a perfect example of genre-bending by creative DJs. Avicii (nĂ© Tim Bergling in Sweden in 1989) was one of the most creative and influential producers of all time. “Wake Me Up” is a fusion of traditional house music and bluegrass and reached #1 in charts in over 60 countries. The world lost a musical genius when he tragically passed away in 2018.
Sandstorm, Darude, 7:23, 136 bpm
“Sandstorm” is a track that you either love or you hateâthere doesn’t seem to be anything in between. In fact, this song can be a running joke on some of the indoor cycling forums on Facebook, a battle between the lovers and haters of it! But no matter on which side you fall, one thing is for sure: this anthem of indoor cycling studios around the world is imbued with infectious energy and upbeat tempo, making it an excellent choice for an intense cycling segment at 68 rpm. (For the record, I’m a lover of this trackâthat energy and building anticipation is too amazing to ignoreâalthough I do not use it often. I plan on pulling it out again on World Techno Day!)
The long version gives a perfect amount of recovery in the middle. At 3:42, as the beat drops away, you ask your riders to ease up and gather their energy for the next big effort. The beat starts building back at 4:00 but doesn’t take off at full tilt until 5:00, when you can slam on the resistance, stand up, and drive hard. The 20 seconds prior to that moment help to build excitement and anticipation in such a way that you can feel the adrenaline in the body surging, chomping at the bit, ready to rise out of the saddle. There is a shorter version of this song that is 3:46; the “recovery” in this version is at 1:26 and is just over a minute long.
A Treasure Trove of Electronic Tracks for Your Cycling Classes
Based on everything Iâve learned about techno and its hybrid siblings while researching this post, Iâve curated a bucket playlist Iâm calling TECHNO AND TRANCE-TECHNO HYBRIDS. Currently it has over 110 songs (and growing) and includes everything weâve described above, plus many more from the most usable sub-genres of electronic music for the indoor cycling studio. ICA members can find that playlist below.
But thatâs just the beginning! Iâve been curating cycling-friendly songs on Spotify for over a decade. In this post of song resources, youâll find 10 bucket playlists organized by tempo and genre, ranging from 55â69 rpm, 70â79 rpm, all the way up to 100+ rpm. There are thousands of songs already categorized for you, making it easy to find tracks for specific cadences. I also separate electronic music into its own playlists, while all other genresâpop, rock, indie, hip-hop, etc.âlive in another, so you can quickly find what fits your profile.
Of those 10 playlists, two focus on electronic genres in the 110â160 bpm range, ideal for rides with cadences of 80 rpm and below. I say âelectronicâ rather than âtechnoâ because these playlists include every sub-genre, not just techno. Together, these two bucket playlists now comprise over 1,350 high-energy tracks ready for the cycling studio.
Access to these bucket playlists is one of the perks of being an ICA member. You get thousands of songs at your fingertipsâtracks that would take hundreds of hours to curate and categorize, but Iâve done that work for you! Even if you donât teach with Spotify, you can still benefit: create a free account and âfollowâ ICA playlists, or simply browse the tracks and pull them into your preferred music source.
World Techno Dayâor any day of the yearâis your chance to show riders how rhythm, structure, and energy can make every climb feel uniqueâeven when the tempo is perfect for pedaling. And donât forget: remixes are a goldmineâfamiliar songs with an electronic twist can inject fresh energy into every ride.
đȘ© Turn up the bpm, tune into the beat, and let the music move your legs!