I must hop onto TPV soon though to try some of the new features.
I did an 80 minute free ride on TPV this evening.
I think that it must have updated itself because the scenery looks a lot nicer than the last time I used it.
The gaming controller is way better to use than the awful Apple TV remote. I haven't worked out exactly what controls do what yet though and so accidentally started following other riders at one point instead of watching what I was doing!
Only after I finished did I spot that virtual gearing can be adjusted (number of gears and default gear); the settings were scrolled off the screen. I found the default set-up used in the session way over-geared for my chainring/sprocket combination. At one point I was doing 200+ W on a minor slope with trainer difficulty reduced significantly and with a cadence of only 60 rpm. Steeper slopes were so hard that in the lowest virtual gear I had to reduce difficulty to 20% and even then my cadence was painfully slow. I have increased the number of gears now and made the default gear mid-range instead of near the low end. Fingers crossed that the hills will be more manageable next time or I will have to reduce difficulty to about 10% or put a bigger sprocket on the bike (and lengthen the chain).
I suffered less with numbness than on previous rides, but it did still eventually become an issue. I felt it developing after about 50 minutes and was feeling increasingly uncomfortable after that. I have made another saddle adjustment now. I'll see how I get on next time.
The game controller is mounted slightly too close to me so my knees nudged it a couple of times when getting out of the saddle. I might have to use a different mount to move it nearer to the handlebar.
The other problem I had was with the fan remote control which did nothing so I had to dismount and turn the fan on directly. I'm wondering if I had accidentally left something on top of the control and flattened its battery. I'll try to sort that out before the next session but I can always turn the fan on before I mount the bike.
The only other issue was that riding out of the saddle felt a bit odd. That might be because the turbo is sitting on tennis ball rocker feet... I'll probably get used to it.
All in all though, a pleasing session!
I will try my simulated Cragg Vale climb next time. I am extremely familiar with what the real climb feels like, having done it hundreds of times over the past 35 years. It will be fascinating to see how closely the TPV/Victory trainer combination mimics it***.
*** The real climb usually features cross-headwinds for the exposed second half. I will check the TPV suggestions list to see if anyone has suggested user-definable wind... PS They
had! I have added my ideas to that discussion.
