Team BKool CycleChat

[Randyberlin]

What time did you get randy?i struggled this week with 32.32

Sadly 37:14.

 

[Randyberlin]

You, Bob and Tommy from your Alpe d'Huez trip ?
You certainly know how to blend in with the locals

Post of the day! Coffee spit.

 

[BILL S]

@BILL S I just did stage 1 again and set a realistic time, 16 seconds slower than you. I've tried but it seems you can't delete an activity and last week's had me stuck at 319w for the majority of the ride. Is there anyway you can discount it from the league so that today's becomes the recorded ride for this stage. If not I'll sit for 1:04 just before crossing the line on Thursday to even things out!

Don't worry about it Keith. We all get too much fairy dust at some point, so just consider that it was your turn to get the advantage on stage 1. AAAC obviously got far more fairy dust than you did anyway, although he does always give me a good kicking on the hills so his time is probably about right. I think next time it'll be back to flat stages again so there's at least a chance of beating AAAC using sly and underhand tactics.

 

[shimceltic]

Sadly 37:14.

It was tough!

 

[keithaitch]

Don't worry about it Keith. We all get too much fairy dust at some point, so just consider that it was your turn to get the advantage on stage 1. AAAC obviously got far more fairy dust than you did anyway, although he does always give me a good kicking on the hills so his time is probably about right. I think next time it'll be back to flat stages again so there's at least a chance of beating AAAC using sly and underhand tactics.

Sly and underhand I like!

 

[bobinski]

You, Bob and Tommy from your Alpe d'Huez trip ?
You certainly know how to blend in with the locals

 

[AAAC 76C]

View attachment 437125
No I mean the young guy when you’re picking ghosts. It’s ftom the 70s.

Edit.

is this you?

Its Alg Engers. UK Time Trial King of yesteryear (in my youth).

 

[Del C]

Going to post this on both the Bkool and Zwift threads, as it may be interesting and I'd be interested in the thoughts of others who've ridden both Zwift and the new Bkool Sim.

So, I tried out the new Bkool simulator with my Tacx Neo today and here's my thoughts.

Good points

1. Sim found the Neo and my HRM quickly and with no trouble at all
2. Graphics are fine but can't really see much change from old Sim
3. Ride was very smooth. Gradient transitions were good and the control of the Neo felt very good.
4. My power figures at the end were pretty close to my recent rides on Zwift

All in all, I think Bkool have done a good job in developing an upgraded Sim that works well with the Neo

Bad points

1. I had to load 19 ghosts to get any sense of a race. To be fair that's the nature of Bkool and I used to be happy with that, but its hard to go back to after riding on Zwift
2. I came last! I also won the race because I loaded a ghost of myself on a Bkool Pro, who won again.......... 6 minutes ahead of me on the Neo!
3. All the other riders were also on Bkool Pros. I'm riding stronger now than when I set my 'winning' time on a Bkool Pro and my real life rides back this up. Despite this, and despite the fact that the new Sim felt good, I couldn't stay with the Bkool Pro ghosts.
4. There had to a silly Bkool glitch! Twice during the ride, the Sim went into some sort of background mode. The graphics disappeared and my screen just said MacBook (6)! I had to get off the bike and touch the track pad, at which point the graphics returned. My avatar was still moving, so clearly the Sim hadn't stopped. I've never had that happen with the old Bkool Sim or Zwift and I've run both on the same MacBook.

So, in summary, if you just look at the development of the new Sim, Bkool have done a good job (apart from the graphics issue). If I was riding by myself, with no history on Bkool, I'd be happy with it and the power readings suggest that for the Neo its pretty close to Zwift.

The problem is that I want to ride with others and I do have a Bkool history on a Bkool Pro. I'm afraid that riding against Bkool Pro users, I'm just not competitive on a Neo, not even with my Bkool Pro self.

I'm glad I tried out the new Sim. I enjoyed my time on Bkool, but I won't renew after the 3 month special offer ends and I doubt that I'll ride it again, which is a shame. I'd sort of hoped that I could mainly ride on Zwift but do the occasional ride or league on Bkool, but it clearly isn't going to work as I'm committed to riding on the Neo.

 

[AAAC 76C]

Going to post this on both the Bkool and Zwift threads, as it may be interesting and I'd be interested in the thoughts of others who've ridden both Zwift and the new Bkool Sim.

So, I tried out the new Bkool simulator with my Tacx Neo today and here's my thoughts.

Good points

1. Sim found the Neo and my HRM quickly and with no trouble at all
2. Graphics are fine but can't really see much change from old Sim
3. Ride was very smooth. Gradient transitions were good and the control of the Neo felt very good.
4. My power figures at the end were pretty close to my recent rides on Zwift

All in all, I think Bkool have done a good job in developing an upgraded Sim that works well with the Neo

Bad points

1. I had to load 19 ghosts to get any sense of a race. To be fair that's the nature of Bkool and I used to be happy with that, but its hard to go back to after riding on Zwift
2. I came last! I also won the race because I loaded a ghost of myself on a Bkool Pro, who won again.......... 6 minutes ahead of me on the Neo!
3. All the other riders were also on Bkool Pros. I'm riding stronger now than when I set my 'winning' time on a Bkool Pro and my real life rides back this up. Despite this, and despite the fact that the new Sim felt good, I couldn't stay with the Bkool Pro ghosts.
4. There had to a silly Bkool glitch! Twice during the ride, the Sim went into some sort of background mode. The graphics disappeared and my screen just said MacBook (6)! I had to get off the bike and touch the track pad, at which point the graphics returned. My avatar was still moving, so clearly the Sim hadn't stopped. I've never had that happen with the old Bkool Sim or Zwift and I've run both on the same MacBook.

So, in summary, if you just look at the development of the new Sim, Bkool have done a good job (apart from the graphics issue). If I was riding by myself, with no history on Bkool, I'd be happy with it and the power readings suggest that for the Neo its pretty close to Zwift.

The problem is that I want to ride with others and I do have a Bkool history on a Bkool Pro. I'm afraid that riding against Bkool Pro users, I'm just not competitive on a Neo, not even with my Bkool Pro self.

I'm glad I tried out the new Sim. I enjoyed my time on Bkool, but I won't renew after the 3 month special offer ends and I doubt that I'll ride it again, which is a shame. I'd sort of hoped that I could mainly ride on Zwift but do the occasional ride or league on Bkool, but it clearly isn't going to work as I'm committed to riding on the Neo.

Sad to see you leave

 

[AAAC 76C]

Sly and underhand I like!

Fairy dust I like!

 

[Del C]

Sad to see you leave

Thanks.

I had genuinely wanted to be able to ride on Bkool again.

 

[gbrown]

How many are now riding non bkool trainers, must be quite a lot?

It seems that bkool still has some advantages over zwift and riding on a non-bkool trainer is realistic and a pleasant experience, all that is missing is the competitive element. It must be possible to get together non-bkool riders for competition, and perhaps to penalize any bkool trainer users who want to join in, possibly by increasing weight or something similar?

If the bkool users have a separate power meter, does that now level the performances?

Since Zwift can get the trainers to perform closer to each other it must be possible for bkool to do the same. I suspect they don't want to affect the majority of their users and give large differences from their historic rides!

Geoff (thinking of buying a Neo as it's miserable outside!)

 

[Aleman]

I now use power readings from Vector 3 Pedals and leave the Sim (whichever one it is) to control the trainers resistance. I've lost a lot of power over the summer due to injury and illness which doesn't help in comparison with historical rides. Power reporting is obviously much improved, but I feel that in the BSim the max resistance applied is significantly reduced, almost as if you are in some weird Erg Mode.

 

[Bored Man]

I now use power readings from Vector 3 Pedals and leave the Sim (whichever one it is) to control the trainers resistance. I've lost a lot of power over the summer due to injury and illness which doesn't help in comparison with historical rides. Power reporting is obviously much improved, but I feel that in the BSim the max resistance applied is significantly reduced, almost as if you are in some weird Erg Mode.

So, with your own power meter type thing, you don’t see increases in incline resistance? I probably don’t notice much difference above 12% without a power meter type device.

@gbrown - your suggestion could work as would running it like a handicap race but, and its only a small but.. BKOOL fairy dust.. it’s a bugger

 

[Aleman]

I do see an increase, up to about 7-8% but then seems to stop increasing, or even worse when it increases and I put the power down then effort drops back down to around 90% of FTP, as if it's in erg mode