The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

Soldato
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I don't think I got an email after completing stage 7? Did you guys? It's listed on ZwiftPower, so I know I didn't imagine it :p

Last year I lost at least one stage but it was re-instated. This year Stage 5 disappeared but I'm not sure if deleting an activity can do this so I completed another short & long just in case.

Yesterday on completing Stage 7 I received an email saying thank you for signing up for this years event but not that I'd unlocked the kit!

Search for Tour De Zwift online and login to see if all stages are ticked at the top of the screen. In the app click on the Tour banner to do the same.
 
Soldato
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I've done them all.
Didn't get an email nor anything to confirm as such... But got the unlocked horrible jersey when I went on the game on Saturday to confirm my massive achievement.
 
Soldato
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One stage to go. A whole 10 people in my race and I got spat within about a minute when my front derailleur wouldn't shift up whilst they smashed it away at 8w/kg for the first climb.
 

dod

dod

Soldato
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Inverness
what's the benefit of using the Zwift Companion app? I usually just follow a training programme or do a free ride on whatever of the courses are available.
 
Soldato
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Rode Stage 6 (Richmond) last night. Considering I've always scoffed at Richmond and not raced on it for a long time I really enjoyed it! Maybe the graphics and stuff they've worked on just made it enough difference for me to enjoy it more than I remember. Climbs where brutal, but equally I felt strong on them, so maybe they didn't feel as hard as previously?! I remember 23rd Street (Libby is the first one I think?) being utterly brutal, but even with fairly big efforts on Libby the second didn't really hurt too much more, although I was able to chase on there well due to the steep gradient (I have the power!) I did find people closed me quickly and came over me at the top! :o

https://www.strava.com/activities/3088948334
https://www.zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=331916

Low numbers on the catchup for me last night, less than 100 starters. But several chatting and working together made it enjoyable. Made the front group but 6 of them smashing it with 4w/kg surges was too rich for me. I eased and did some good work with the chase group, which got utterly oblitterated the first time up the climbs. I chased a Polish guys wheel off the front but he was too strong. Eased to diminished chase. Things strung out a couple of times and stronger group behind I eased to join. Several minutes rest as they caught the previous group. Climbs again smashed the group to bits, I was chasing a couple of wheels again off the front with 3 of us coming together for final climb (Governor). Dropped 1 guy but couldn't hold the wheel of the other (Stevie) who'd been very strong every climb, I eased up and just managed gap to chaser. No point hurting myself as want to ride a couple of times this week.

Seem to have found some good form the last week or so, really want to use it for these catch up stages (still need 4 & 7). But also don't want to utterly ruin myself as I really want to ride at least NY again due to the trainer issues (and I'd late joined it). Would be good to ride others too if I have the time!

Anyhow I missed stage 6 so will catch that up next week with hopefully doing the race ride and trying not to get blown away up the 3 hills
FYI: Hills for me where 4w/kg efforts and I found I was distancing/dropping multiple riders doing them, but the 3rd hill I really had to be switched on for to hold wheels/stop gaps.

So just ride anywhere as normal and hit join event a minute before the event. The only annoyance here is that you end up with 2x rides in Strava/TP. One of which being warmup and then one being the event but this is the only way really to capture all your data properly.
This. to be fair what I generally do (if I have time) is a 5-6 or even a 10 minute warm up free riding, then the actual time in the pen is more of a cooldown/recovery ready for the start. If I'm low on time I'll generally get the legs spinning and try to warm up while Zwift is loading, I can usually have enough effort to get the HR into Z4 out of breath, a kick/interval or two, then back down to settle within a couple of minutes, then I'll use the usual Zwift 4-5w/kg out of the pen to get 'in the zone' and see what my legs are like before settling into whatever pace. As I always start strongly I try to take some of that sting/power out of my legs otherwise I'll bury myself too early and then be playing chase/catchup for the rest of the ride.

I probably shouldn't admit to this, but I'm level 10 and only just realised I can buy gear... :confused: :cool: :eek: As I think back, I do remember looking through the different brands products before when I first installed Zwift, but that was very early on when I didn't have any drops anyway. Since then I literally just jump on and ride.
You'll generally get the 'best' bikes through level unlocks anyway. Drops for me have generally been spent on wheels.

They are though man that's what's even more wrong with this platform and any seriousness attached to it. The prize for 1st in the pro am races these past few weeks is thousands of dollars and there has already been winners DQ for out of this world data. It's a total shambles.
Yup, but equally it's drawing lots of interest and riders in. It's not perfect but the momentum it's gathering give leagues like URL and Pro-am (or even CVR previously) the footing and riders they need to push the platform forwards. That forwards is being steered towards serious competition, the only way they can achieve that is with development and evolution which take time (but Zwift are very slow!).

You guys are crazy - bike bling is always fun to buy!
Seconded. Tron bling FTW! I carefully manage my sock collection so I can pair to my wheel colour.

One stage to go. A whole 10 people in my race and I got spat within about a minute when my front derailleur wouldn't shift up whilst they smashed it away at 8w/kg for the first climb.
Sounds pretty normal! Zwift group rides 'It's not a race' are exactly the same as the big & popular UK Sportives in that way. :rolleyes:
 
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Soldato
Joined
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Hereford
what's the benefit of using the Zwift Companion app? I usually just follow a training programme or do a free ride on whatever of the courses are available.
Gives you a heads up, for me racing I use it to look at gaps of the riders around me as although it's a little delayed from onscreen (which is laggy anyway!) I can see more riders & scroll on there so I can tell how big groups are and who's the strongest. For group rides I'll generally use it for keeping an eye on people off the back (as I'm generally sweeping/keeping) or fliers off the front. Or chatting. I'm always chatting as Zwift is such a social thing for me (I'm one of those annoying people!).

For you doing training programmes it'll give you more information than your HUD, along with buttons you can skip sections, pause the programme and even adjust the 'FTP' in small amounts so you can tailor/tweak efforts in the programme. Useful if you start off strong yet need to lower intervals to avoid blowing up/going too hard/need lower power for recovery. You can do it 'on the fly' rather than having to quit and restart the activity, it's also for that sesson only, doesn't adjust your actual FTP.

For free ride it's less useful, more an easier way to chat when riding (bar mounted Quadlock ftw). You can also use it to join events when you're already riding - even if in another event. Also useful to give Ride-on's to friends who're riding other courses/worlds/events.
 
Soldato
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4,525
Looking for some recommendations guys, as to which turbo trainers are most highly regarded these days.

Since I last owned a turbo trainer, direct drive seems to have become a lot more popular - are these considerably quieter than the old "tyre on roller" style turbos? Silent/quiet/vibration-less operation is of paramount importance for me this time around, as the setup will be in a spare bedroom, with a neighbour below who I'd rather not disturb too much!

Smart trainers seem to be the in thing now too, with power meters built in to the turbos - is Zwift the best piece of training software to make the most of these smart trainers?

My budget is circa £500 for a decent trainer, what would you recommend? Worth mentioning I'm rather heavy at around 105kg, with power to match.
 
Soldato
Joined
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3,067
Looking for some recommendations guys, as to which turbo trainers are most highly regarded these days.

Since I last owned a turbo trainer, direct drive seems to have become a lot more popular - are these considerably quieter than the old "tyre on roller" style turbos? Silent/quiet/vibration-less operation is of paramount importance for me this time around, as the setup will be in a spare bedroom, with a neighbour below who I'd rather not disturb too much!

Smart trainers seem to be the in thing now too, with power meters built in to the turbos - is Zwift the best piece of training software to make the most of these smart trainers?

My budget is circa £500 for a decent trainer, what would you recommend? Worth mentioning I'm rather heavy at around 105kg, with power to match.

Direct drive smart trainer is the only thing worth spending money on now if you want to use things like Zwift or TrainerRoad.

I have a 2nd gen Wahoo Kickr for 4 years and it is still great to this day. some of the best money I ever spent in my life as the use I have had from it is crazy. I didn't think it was particularly loud but my friend just got the new Kickr Core. He lives in an upstairs flat so he had to get something as quiet as possible and it's ridiculous how quiet they are now to even smart trainers of 3-4 years ago.

So my recommendation would be a Kickr Core. It ticks all the boxes of what you want in terms of direct drive, power output, fully controllable in Zwift and it is very quiet. I am bias to Wahoo because it's what I have and I cannot say a bad word about Wahoo. Their head units and heart rate monitors are almost becoming the norm more so than Garmin as well so as a company they are doing something right!

I know plenty of people with TacX Neo and a few now with the Tacx Flux 2. Again, all nothing but good words said over years of use and nobody I know with them would say they wish they'd bought a Wahoo. The Neo 2 will be out of your price range but I would recommend the Flux 2 to you also. Maybe shop around and see if you can get Kickr Core or Flux 2 on a good deal somewhere over the next little while. Just get the one that has the biggest reduction, I honestly believe their is bugger all in in it between them for vast majority of folks.

Edit there is also the Flux S now which is the cheapest of the 3 I am speaking of here. From what I read the Core has the better ride feel and better ERG workings than the TacX offerings but that Flux S is sure tempting at £500ish.
 
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Soldato
Joined
27 Feb 2003
Posts
7,171
Location
Shropshire
Looking for some recommendations guys, as to which turbo trainers are most highly regarded these days.

Since I last owned a turbo trainer, direct drive seems to have become a lot more popular - are these considerably quieter than the old "tyre on roller" style turbos? Silent/quiet/vibration-less operation is of paramount importance for me this time around, as the setup will be in a spare bedroom, with a neighbour below who I'd rather not disturb too much!

Smart trainers seem to be the in thing now too, with power meters built in to the turbos - is Zwift the best piece of training software to make the most of these smart trainers?

My budget is circa £500 for a decent trainer, what would you recommend? Worth mentioning I'm rather heavy at around 105kg, with power to match.

Have a read of DC Rainmakers Buyers Guide and associated individual reviews:

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/the-smart-trainer-recommendations-guide-winter-2019-2020.html

The Elite Suito is certainly worth considering:

DC Rainmaker said:
All in, I think the Suito is this year’s best value for a trainer, especially if you aren’t really sure what you need or want. Sure, the Wahoo CORE has more inertia and thus slightly better road-feel. But the Elite Suito will basically save you $150 once you factor in the cassette cost. Oh, and the Suito does also include a 30-day free Zwift trial, which is oddly hard to get otherwise (Zwift themselves only offers 20 kilometer free trials, for realz). So again, if you don’t really know what you want, it’s an ideal option to play the field.

Currently going for around £550 from Tredz (https://www.tredz.co.uk/.Elite-Suito-Smart-Turbo-Trainer_218027.htm).

As for software, Zwift (and similar reality type products) work if you want to ride in a virtual world. If you want to focus on structured workouts, then look at TrainerRoad or Sufferfest. TrainerRoad just provides the workout, so you can provide the content from Prime, Netflix etc. Sufferfest goes with pro-racing footage and tongue-in-cheek story lines. You can opt for workout only if you want to watch your own content.

That said, if I do a hard session on Sufferfest there's no way I could watch something on Prime and concentrate on the plot - I'd have to watch it again to fill in the gaps as at times I'm too busy chewing the stem.
 
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Soldato
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Hereford
Since I last owned a turbo trainer, direct drive seems to have become a lot more popular - are these considerably quieter than the old "tyre on roller" style turbos? Silent/quiet/vibration-less operation is of paramount importance for me this time around, as the setup will be in a spare bedroom, with a neighbour below who I'd rather not disturb too much!
It's worth having a conversation with said Neighbour about you putting an 'indoor bike trainer' in the bedroom above. I assume you're on good terms with them, so just ask can they let you know ASAP if the noise bothers them, you could probably return a trainer to place of purchase within 30 days so could be fairly free to try various... But I would recommend the KICKR Core. Just everything about it is exactly what you need - One of the most accurate, consistent and quiestest trainers there is.

I know plenty of people with TacX Neo and a few now with the Tacx Flux 2. Again, all nothing but good words said over years of use and nobody I know with them would say they wish they'd bought a Wahoo. The Neo 2 will be out of your price range but I would recommend the Flux 2 to you also. Maybe shop around and see if you can get Kickr Core or Flux 2 on a good deal somewhere over the next little while. Just get the one that has the biggest reduction, I honestly believe their is bugger all in in it between them for vast majority of folks.

Edit there is also the Flux S now which is the cheapest of the 3 I am speaking of here. From what I read the Core has the better ride feel and better ERG workings than the TacX offerings but that Flux S is sure tempting at £500ish.
I'm a Flux V1 owner and wish I'd held out to buy the KICKR Core. Equally I probably would've got sick of the on-wheel even more, ridden less and been far more fustrated without the flux... Mine has served me well, got it in a fantastic deal, but equally I feel the extra expense of the Core is worth it compared to the Flux 2/S.

Thanks, I just use the ipad on a mount and it will do some of that stuff but not all. I'll give it a try to see what it's like :)
If you've a Zwift sub anyway it costs nothing to try it out on mobile/tablet/etc! You don't have to bar mount it to see what its like/now useful etc. Just use something to hold the phone within reach of the bars - a shelf, a measuring jug or even a watering can... :)
 
Associate
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I'm new to Zwift, heard of it but never understood it until now. I have a turbo trainer but it's easily 6+ years old (Elite, unsure of model) and I'm guessing that it's not compatible so I'm looking for a new one. Ideally, with this being new, I don't want to spend big money, so looking around the sub £50 range for one (I know I'll need speed sensor and Ant+ or bluetooth adapter too). What are the cheapest I can look at?
 
Soldato
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Shropshire
I'm new to Zwift, heard of it but never understood it until now. I have a turbo trainer but it's easily 6+ years old (Elite, unsure of model) and I'm guessing that it's not compatible so I'm looking for a new one. Ideally, with this being new, I don't want to spend big money, so looking around the sub £50 range for one (I know I'll need speed sensor and Ant+ or bluetooth adapter too). What are the cheapest I can look at?

£50 isn't going to be much use IMHO. The cheapest smart trainer looks to be a Tacx Vortex which is around £200 new - there's one on eBay for £110 used. There are some Kinetic Road Machines on eBay starting at £50 but they aren't smart trainers.

Have a read of this article to see what you get for your money:

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/the-smart-trainer-recommendations-guide-winter-2019-2020.html
 
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Thanks @#Chri5# for the info. For now, I'm just looking at standard (classic as zwift calls them) turbo trainers rather than smart ones.

The turbo trainer I have is an elite valore mag speed which looks to be compatible with swift although I'm not sure what the difference between an valore mag speed alu and valore mag speed gel is. This is mine:

IMG-20200213-222540.jpg

Pair it with this sensor (plus an ant+ receiver) and I should be ok I think?

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-speed-and-cadence-sensor/
 
Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
8,420
Location
Hereford
I'm new to Zwift, heard of it but never understood it until now. I have a turbo trainer but it's easily 6+ years old (Elite, unsure of model) and I'm guessing that it's not compatible so I'm looking for a new one. Ideally, with this being new, I don't want to spend big money, so looking around the sub £50 range for one (I know I'll need speed sensor and Ant+ or bluetooth adapter too). What are the cheapest I can look at?
As mentioned, you won't get anything worth having for £50. If you're happy with the 'classic' trainer route then there's no reason not to use the one you have. No point buying a new one.

Thanks @#Chri5# for the info. For now, I'm just looking at standard (classic as zwift calls them) turbo trainers rather than smart ones.

The turbo trainer I have is an elite valore mag speed which looks to be compatible with swift although I'm not sure what the difference between an valore mag speed alu and valore mag speed gel is. This is mine:

IMG-20200213-222540.jpg

Pair it with this sensor (plus an ant+ receiver) and I should be ok I think?

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/lifeline-speed-and-cadence-sensor/
Difference between those is probably the resistance type (although you'd have to do research to confirm). The Mag will use magnets to 'slow' the flywheel. The Gel will have a gel within the unit which provides the reistance. Although the fact it's got a variable speed it probably also has magnets. Gel is meant to 'feel' better but at that age and that type of trainer they are worlds away from the 'feel' you get from a modern trainer and direct drive.

You're right with that sensor, that with an ant+ dongle to a windows laptop or ipad are your best bets to get riding. Spend your £50 on clothing or accessories to make it more 'enjoyable'. Or even save it for a future turbo upgrade if you really enjoy it and get into it. You could even call that your Zwift sub for a few months, rather than just riding the trial period/distance and then feeling you need to make a decision. Basically - get started and see if you like it. If you do you'll soon want to upgrade and benefit more from it. The more upgrades you make the more fun it really is!
 
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