Zwift Chat

[alex_cycles]

Race this evening. Flat coastal race. Dropped with about 6km to go, pace a little too much for me (someone was calling that the front were rotating at over 4 w/kg, but as I was so far back I have no idea if that's true or not).
89 / 150 on the road, 66 / 98 in ZP. Masses of riders in front of me had much lower ZRS scores, many in the 1nn and 2nn range.
My ZRS dropped from 335 to 334 - a whole 1 drop
'nuff said haha

Oh that's nothing. When we were young we had to get up before we went to bed...

On Sunday I got dropped at 57 minutes (~44km), came 39th of about 70 and got ZERO change (it was -1 until the rest finished behind me).

And you tell that to kids these days - and they won't believe you.

 

[Whorty]

Oh that's nothing. When we were young we had to get up before we went to bed...

On Sunday I got dropped at 57 minutes (~44km), came 39th of about 70 and got ZERO change (it was -1 until the rest finished behind me).

And you tell that to kids these days - and they won't believe you.

Don't think I could last a race that long at the moment. 30 mins was all these young legs could stand today

 

[alex_cycles]

Don't think I could last a race that long at the moment. 30 mins was all these young legs could stand today

Yeah I can't say I do them for fun, but the idea is to try and increase my endurance. I was in a pen that was up to 550 though and I'm 540. So based on that I would have expected to do better. But it was 2 laps of Douce, so pretty flat and there were plenty of people who didn't belong in that pen which kept the pace high.

 

[ColinJ]

I am very tempted to get into Zwift/Rouvy. Most of what I would like to know is probably already covered throughout this thread but it is WAY too long to wade through so I will probably grill y'all in a separate thread unless you can point me to a suitable beginner's thread...?

 

[CXRAndy]

I am very tempted to get into Zwift/Rouvy. Most of what I would like to know is probably already covered throughout this thread but it is WAY too long to wade through so I will probably grill y'all in a separate thread unless you can point me to a suitable beginner's thread...?

Just keep it here and ask away.

We dont bite- Promise

 

[steverob]

Would this be of any use?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAO677Zrtjk

 

[mjd1988]

I am very tempted to get into Zwift/Rouvy. Most of what I would like to know is probably already covered throughout this thread but it is WAY too long to wade through so I will probably grill y'all in a separate thread unless you can point me to a suitable beginner's thread...?

Welcome; this website is a good resource https://zwiftinsider.com/category/getting-started/

 

[ColinJ]

Zwiftinsider looks well worth exploring. And I also just found Zwift forums...

On that GCN video the presenter said that a speed sensor on a dumb trainer gives Zwift a good idea what power you are generating. I can't see how that is true because it has no way of knowing what resistance you are pedalling against!?

I had thinking of buying a Wahoo Kickr Core but then spotted the JetBlack Victory, which looks great. Only trouble is that they have sold out of the first batch so I might have to wait 3 months to get hold of one!

I currently only have a dumb trainer. I am thinking of putting up with that over the winter and waiting for a Victory. But that would mean buying (a) sensor(s) for the bike to be able to use Zwift in the meantime...

The bike I want to use is an old singlespeed so virtual shifting on a Zwift Cog would be ideal for me. The only drawback with that is that it currently would not work properly with Rouvy, which I am also tempted by.

So... Questions!

Q1. Kickr now or Victory in 3 months time... What do you reckon?

Q2. Is it possible to just follow a Zwift ride or race without taking part? I would like to have a look to see how well my old Android tablet and old laptop cope with the Zwift experience. If neither work well enough then...

Q3... How about an Apple TV 4k box? I have an old 40" HDTV that I could use with one of those.

Q4. Do any of you use rocker plates? They make sense to me because working out on a rigid turbo setup feels uncomfortable and unnatural to me. They seem very expensive for what they are though so I was thinking about a DIY version. I just saw one which sat the trainer on tennis balls and actually looked quite effective!



Has anybody tried something like that, and if so, what did you think?

I am sure that I will think of other questions later!

 

[Peter Salt]

Zwiftinsider looks well worth exploring. And I also just found Zwift forums...

On that GCN video the presenter said that a speed sensor on a dumb trainer gives Zwift a good idea what power you are generating. I can't see how that is true because it has no way of knowing what resistance you are pedalling against!?

I had thinking of buying a Wahoo Kickr Core but then spotted the JetBlack Victory, which looks great. Only trouble is that they have sold out of the first batch so I might have to wait 3 months to get hold of one!

I currently only have a dumb trainer. I am thinking of putting up with that over the winter and waiting for a Victory. But that would mean buying (a) sensor(s) for the bike to be able to use Zwift in the meantime...

The bike I want to use is an old singlespeed so virtual shifting on a Zwift Cog would be ideal for me. The only drawback with that is that it currently would not work properly with Rouvy, which I am also tempted by.

So... Questions!

Q1. Kickr now or Victory in 3 months time... What do you reckon?

Q2. Is it possible to just follow a Zwift ride or race without taking part? I would like to have a look to see how well my old Android tablet and old laptop cope with the Zwift experience. If neither work well enough then...

Q3... How about an Apple TV 4k box? I have an old 40" HDTV that I could use with one of those.

Q4. Do any of you use rocker plates? They make sense to me because working out on a rigid turbo setup feels uncomfortable and unnatural to me. They seem very expensive for what they are though so I was thinking about a DIY version. I just saw one which sat the trainer on tennis balls and actually looked quite effective!



Has anybody tried something like that, and if so, what did you think?

I am sure that I will think of other questions later!

Why not get a used trainer to see if you like it?

You can have a free ride, group ride at any pace, race with different categories. They got the non-competitive and competitive ends covered.

And where would you put a TV of this size? Looking up will be very uncomfortable. But yeah, technically you can use it on anything, from a smartphone to a TV. Don't use Apple myself but some here do. I heard people say the remote it crap.

I think one or two people here have a rocker plate. Not sure if they add anything.

Don't invest too much. I bought a used trainer 3 years ago and run it on a budget laptop with an extra screen from Cash Converters.

 

[ColinJ]

Why not get a used trainer to see if you like it?

I suppose if one were cheap enough it might be worth doing that but a lot of the Kickr Cores on eBay seem to be going for too near the new price unless faulty.

You can have a free ride, group ride at any pace, race with different categories. They got the non-competitive and competitive ends covered.

I was thinking more in terms of just seeing if my laptop or tablet could cope with the graphics rather than what it felt like riding. I don't have any way of connecting my dumb trainer to Zwift at the mo' but I'd like to follow the other riders round and see how the tech coped. If the laptop worked well I might end up dedicating it to this task and upgrading to a newer one for general use. (The old machine is starting to show its age now.)

And where would you put a TV of this size? Looking up will be very uncomfortable.

I think I can make enough space in the corner of my bedroom to squeeze the TV in between the radiator and the adjacent wall. I agree about looking up... I hate the way that people mount TVs high up on chimney breasts above mantelpieces. I get a stiff neck in minutes trying to watch them. I would mount my turbo TV on the wall so I was looking down towards it.

But yeah, technically you can use it on anything, from a smartphone to a TV. Don't use Apple myself but some here do. I heard people say the remote it crap.

I definitely wouldn't want to be looking at a small phone screen for long!

Don't invest too much. I bought a used trainer 3 years ago and run it on a budget laptop with an extra screen from Cash Converters.

I think £399 for a new Victory trainer sounds like a pretty good price. Just a pity about the delay in getting one.

My laptop is probably better than your old budget one, so maybe it would be ok for Zwifting. I could start off using it and see how I got on. If it were powerful enough but I wanted a bigger screen then I always could plug its HDMI output into the TV.

 

[CXRAndy]

Zwiftinsider looks well worth exploring. And I also just found Zwift forums...

On that GCN video the presenter said that a speed sensor on a dumb trainer gives Zwift a good idea what power you are generating. I can't see how that is true because it has no way of knowing what resistance you are pedalling against!?

I had thinking of buying a Wahoo Kickr Core but then spotted the JetBlack Victory, which looks great. Only trouble is that they have sold out of the first batch so I might have to wait 3 months to get hold of one!

I currently only have a dumb trainer. I am thinking of putting up with that over the winter and waiting for a Victory. But that would mean buying (a) sensor(s) for the bike to be able to use Zwift in the meantime...

The bike I want to use is an old singlespeed so virtual shifting on a Zwift Cog would be ideal for me. The only drawback with that is that it currently would not work properly with Rouvy, which I am also tempted by.

So... Questions!

Q1. Kickr now or Victory in 3 months time... What do you reckon?

Q2. Is it possible to just follow a Zwift ride or race without taking part? I would like to have a look to see how well my old Android tablet and old laptop cope with the Zwift experience. If neither work well enough then...

Q3... How about an Apple TV 4k box? I have an old 40" HDTV that I could use with one of those.

Q4. Do any of you use rocker plates? They make sense to me because working out on a rigid turbo setup feels uncomfortable and unnatural to me. They seem very expensive for what they are though so I was thinking about a DIY version. I just saw one which sat the trainer on tennis balls and actually looked quite effective!



Has anybody tried something like that, and if so, what did you think?

I am sure that I will think of other questions later!

Q1 There isnt a great deal of difference in pricing- if you want to get into indoor riding quickly get the core with hand shifters from Zwift- especially if you're using single speed bike With shifters, makes the Core cheaper than Jetblack https://uk.zwift.com/collections/al...ift-one-and-zwift-play?variant=46738918801648

Q2 There is a minimum spec for Zwift to work well on devices see here https://support.zwift.com/en_us/supported-devices-to-run-zwift-H1Cj9QbeB
Better experience with decent PC and large screen.

Note TV is mounted low down so as not to crick neck-important for long ride comfort

This is our family setup, mainly for me and the wife, she likes to watch movies whilst riding on Rouvy, the riding is secondary

Q3 Apple 4k box work well, you lose a little functionality, but they do work well- I have a few relatives that use Apple tv box

Q4 Yes I use a full rocker plate-made my own many years ago. They really add to a natural feel of riding, especially useful on longer indoor sessions. Started with half board then made a full length see thread
https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/turbo-rocker-board.232667/

 

[Legs]

One thing to consider is, with the Zwift Cog, aren’t you locking yourself into the Zwift ecosystem? I don’t think that its smartness can be controlled by other platforms…. And by committing to Zwift, you’re committing to their subscription….

 

[CXRAndy]

One thing to consider is, with the Zwift Cog, aren’t you locking yourself into the Zwift ecosystem? I don’t think that its smartness can be controlled by other platforms…. And by committing to Zwift, you’re committing to their subscription….

The Wahoo Kickr Core is backwards compatible, you can put a standard cassette on and use other platforms

 

[alex_cycles]

This is our family setup, mainly for me and the wife, she likes to watch movies whilst riding on Rouvy, the riding is secondary

View attachment 754492

I was looking at your setup and thinking "need more fans", then I saw the one in the middle

 

[13 rider]

@ColinJ I run zwift via apple TV box onto and old TV extremely ease to set up and simple to use and a cost effective way of getting started ,yes the remote is a bit of a pain but upgrades on zwift have made it easier