Spin Cycle

The Spin Cycle is an obstacle first introduced as the fourth obstacle on American Ninja Warrior 7 in Venice Beach, and it returned on American Ninja Warrior 8 in Atlanta, once again as the fourth obstacle.

It consisted of three spinning metal hoops, in which competitors must use their upper body and momentum to traverse from one hoop to the other. Since the hoops were tilted, the competitors' body weight caused each hoop to rotate.

Some competitors who didn't make a transition from one hoop to the other on their first opportunity, later lost their momentum and ended up stuck at the lowest point of the cycle, which put them out of reach of the next hoop or landing platform.

During Venice Beach finals, four competitors fell here, including Travis Brewer and Johnnie Ho, who completed the obstacle during Venice Beach qualifiers. During Atlanta finals, three competitors fell here.

Roulette Row
A variation of the Spin Cycle called Roulette Row appeared as the fifth obstacle in Stage Two on American Ninja Warrior 7, replacing the Metal Spin from the past three American Ninja Warrior seasons. It was replaced by the Double Wedge in the next season.

The obstacle was very similar to the original Spin Cycle, but with a few key differences. Instead of three small hoops, there were only two extended hoops, both were much larger than the original ones. Competitors had to jump from a trampoline, grab the first hoop, transition to the second, and ride the hoop to the platform, using mostly their momentum. Much like the original, the hoops rotated through the force of the competitors' bodies.

The obstacle was proven very tricky, as many competitors either struggled to make the much larger transition between hoops, didn't commit to a release, and ended up stuck at the lowest point of the cycle or had trouble stopping their bodies from naturally twisting on the hoop. It took out top competitors like Flip Rodriguez, Brian Arnold, Lance Pekus, Jamie Rahn, Mike Bernardo, JJ Woods, Karson Voiles, Brian Wilczewski, Dan Yager, and Daniel Gil. It also took out two competitors during USA vs. The World 2: Stefano Ghisolfi from Team Europe and Kawaguchi Tomohiro from Team Japan, both of whom failed to hang on to the second hoop after transitioning.

Competitors' Success Rate

 * All results based on the NBC broadcast and external information found

Spin Your Wheels
After a three-season hiatus, a variation of the Roulette Row called Spin Your Wheels appeared as the second obstacle in Stage One on American Ninja Warrior 11, replacing the Propeller Bar from the past four American Ninja Warrior seasons.

The obstacle featured two hoops that were angled steeper (20 degrees on the first hoop and 45 degrees on the second hoop) and slightly larger in size, making it similar to the Giant Cycle. The landing platform was made much smaller and steeper than the one used for the Propeller Bar.

During its first appearance on American Ninja Warrior 11, a total of eleven competitors failed this obstacle, including Brett Sims, Brian Kretsch, Michelle Warnky, Brian Burkhardt, Jessica Clayton, Garrett Lam, Matt Dolce, David Moonen, and Jody Freeman. Some competitors failed while making the transition from one hoop to another, while others failed to stick the dismount to the landing platform. During USA vs. The World 6, it eliminated Steffi Noppinger from Team Europe and Cam D'Silva from Team Australia.

On American Ninja Warrior 13, the obstacle was replaced by the Swinging Blades.

Competitors' Success Rate

 * All results based on the NBC broadcast and external information found

Ninja Warrior UK
The Spin Cycle appeared as the fifth obstacle in Heat 1 on Ninja Warrior UK 2 (called Spinning Hoops), and as the second obstacle during the finals' Stage 2 on Ninja Warrior UK 3 and Ninja Warrior UK 4.

Australian Ninja Warrior
The Spin Cycle (called Basket Toss) appeared as the second obstacle in Stage Two on Australian Ninja Warrior, with the number of hoops was reduced from three to two. This version was also used again on Australian Ninja Warrior 3, as the fifth obstacle in Semifinal 1; and on Australian Ninja Warrior 4, as the fifth obstacle in Heat 4

Another version of Basket Toss appeared as the fourth obstacle in Heat 2, Heat 4, and Heat 5 on Australian Ninja Warrior 2. This time, the obstacle was made the same as the one used on American Ninja Warrior with three hoops. This version also appeared on Australian Ninja Warrior 5 as the seventh obstacle in Semifinal 2.

SASUKE Vietnam
On SASUKE Vietnam 4, the Roulette Row (called locally Chiếc Nón Diệu Kỳ) appeared as the third obstacle in Stage 2, replacing Half Pipe Attack from past three SASUKE Vietnam seasons. However, there was a rope between the hoops, meaning after the competitors grabbed the first hoop, they could reach the rope and swing it to the second hoop.

Despite the obstacle seeming easier than the one used on American Ninja Warrior 7, there were several competitors who failed on it while jumping from the springboard to grab the first hoop (including Nguyễn Phước Huynh, who was one of the three competitors who achieved kanzenseiha on SASUKE Vietnam 2).

On SASUKE Vietnam 5, the Roulette Row was moved to the second obstacle in Stage 1 (1A and 1B). This time, there were two ropes placed in the middle of the hoops. Despite that change, the obstacle still caused havoc, as many competitors either failed while jumping from the springboard to reach the first hoop or got hung up on the ropes, eventually lost their grip and fell.

Ninja Warrior Poland
Spin Cycle appeared in Ninja Warrior Poland as the fifth obstacle in Heat 2 and Heat 6.

Trivia

 * Roulette Row (Chiếc Nón Diệu Kỳ) on SASUKE Vietnam 4 was named after Chiếc Nón Kỳ Diệu, the Vietnamese version of American game show, Wheel of Fortune. The show itself was broadcast on VTV3 for fifteen years from 2001 to 2016.