The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

[AndyCr15]

For most indoor riders there are valid reasons why they choose to indoors

Yes, and look at all the reasons you just listed. Weather. Time issues (availability, or being conscious). You can't race outdoor. (Yes, I get that you can't safely race outdoor, but if you could, you probably would over indoor!) Training is easier.

I agree with all this, and is kind of my point.

If it wasn't 'fun' they wouldn't be popular!

I disagree here. You're suggesting they're popular because they're fun. I don't think that's why people have them. I have one. 90% of the time I don't use it because it's 'fun'. I use it for all those reasons you listed above

Like one has to replace the other so they are directly comparable - not the case!

But everything is a choice. It's a Saturday morning, I could sit and read a book, I could head out on the bike, I could go back to bed, I could jump on the indoor trainer. What do you pick and why do you pick it? I'm saying very few people choose 'I'll jump on the indoor bike, because it's fun'

 

[grudas]

Popcorn.gif

 

[Junglist]

If it’s raining and miserable outside riding indoors certainly is much more fun. Infinitely more fun than not riding at all.

I'm very much a fair weather guy and if it wasn't for my dog I probably wouldn't go outside at all when it rains or was cold. Riding outside is pretty hard to beat during the spring, summer and start of autumn but as soon as that temperature drops down and I need to start layering up and worrying about drying my chain etc. Indoors reigns supreme.

 

[AndyCr15]

Agreed, and again, I feel this supports my point. You would ride indoors because it's raining or it's cold, not because it's fun.

**EDIT** I almost feel like you guys actually heard 'riding indoors is silly and pointless, I don't know why it's a thing'. This isn't what I said. I'm a big fan of indoor riding. I bought a Kickr Bike afterall!

 

[Shoeyuk]

I like training indoors on the kickr bike as its quick an convient, i wouldn't say i find zwift fun but then ive never raced on it. I'd like to give racing a go one day but with my schedule i've never found one with lower power profiles as i wouldnt want to enter one to be stone dead last by miles, could see it being fun if your in the mix.

 

[Junglist]

Agreed, and again, I feel this supports my point. You would ride indoors because it's raining or it's cold, not because it's fun.

**EDIT** I almost feel like you guys actually heard 'riding indoors is silly and pointless, I don't know why it's a thing'. This isn't what I said. I'm a big fan of indoor riding. I bought a Kickr Bike afterall!

But I do find Zwift fun? I'll agree that I didn't necessarily find Trainer Road 'fun' and that was more of a means to an end but I find the gamification side of zwift fun. I find it enjoyable working towards unlocks and the challenges. I do hard, relatively speaking anyway, things on Zwift because I find it fun and enjoy the challenge.

If I downloaded a profile of Alpe D'Huez and put it onto my Kickr and had nothing but the feel of the gradient in my legs. I'd find that boring and probably get off the bike before I got to the first hairpin whereas I have a 'good' time doing it on Zwift because I find enjoyment in all the silly things on screen such as my experience bar going up, getting route badges and buying virtual bikes. All meaningless things but it's the part that I always enjoy.

I've only dabbled in a few races and they always seem like a blast fighting with some random bloke over a trivial place in the group. I find Zwift no less fun than I do when I'm playing it with friends than I do playing Battlefield 6 solo or Baldur's Gate 3 with a party of friends.

 

[AndyCr15]

Sure, and I've not said that no-one will find it fun. I even said 10% of the time, I find it fun. I would also point out that my initial response was to grudas not enjoying indoor training. If I was bothered, I would try and make an argument around the actual training isn't fun. Yes, unlocks, rewards etc are but tbh I'd be getting a little silly then.

I would also point out it was a rather tongue-in-cheek comment in the first place, which I still believe to be true on the whole, or people wouldn't be riding outdoors at all

(I need to do a TR session after work and I'm honestly kind of dreading it )

 

[Junglist]

I've got a Join one but luckily it's just an endurance ride. It says it takes a while to learn 'you' but I'm leaning towards paying the £60 for a year of it. Seeing as that's about 3.5 months worth of TR.

I do miss having an actual website to look on though as Join seems to be all mobile based.

 

[grudas]

I've got a Join one but luckily it's just an endurance ride. It says it takes a while to learn 'you' but I'm leaning towards paying the £60 for a year of it. Seeing as that's about 3.5 months worth of TR.

I do miss having an actual website to look on though as Join seems to be all mobile based.

does join.cc take in your real world efforts?

for e.g. I'm testing TR for the next month and I see it takes in my gym workouts, real world rides etc which is quite nice and useful as a training platform.

 

[Junglist]

does join.cc take in your real world efforts?

for e.g. I'm testing TR for the next month and I see it takes in my gym workouts, real world rides etc which is quite nice and useful as a training platform.

It does for cycling and I think running. I don’t believe it looks at workout data though

I think I can share a 30day trial if you wanted to try

 

[#Chri5#]

Back to racing this morning having missed last week due to feeling rough. I'd done the Double Borough route as a very gentle free ride the other day, so smashing the 20% ramps out the subway was as shock to the system. On the first climb over the Brooklyn Bridge a small group went off the front. I was on the limit but managed to stay in the second group. Coming back over the Manhattan Bridge our group caught the front - I just made it on as we reached the top of the climb.

I went flat out up the last ramp out the subway with about 1km to go and half way up, my left foot unclipped Thankfully my cadence was already dropping so I avoided an unscheduled interface between my <ahem> and head tube / stem. Annoying having worked so hard to get back to the front, though I wouldn't have won the sprint.

 

[Vandle]

I did the Double Borough race this morning too. Came 12th out of 99. Winner finished on 25:48, 2nd place on 25:54 and 30th on 25:56! So big bunch sprint at the end.
Pointless burning your matches on the power ramps. Even if you are in the front group, your momentum will take you up without going over 4wkg as they are short enough.

 

[PikeyPriest]

I did the Double Borough race this morning too. Came 12th out of 99. Winner finished on 25:48, 2nd place on 25:54 and 30th on 25:56! So big bunch sprint at the end.
Pointless burning your matches on the power ramps. Even if you are in the front group, your momentum will take you up without going over 4wkg as they are short enough.

I did the race today in the 450-570 group and got third in 25:38. I tried three break always that all failed so maybe could have saved some energy. Racing score up 59 to 553, so new system seems much faster to change.

 

[Invertigo]

Is it worth grabbing something like a Tacx Neo 2T on sale or second hand to replace my ailing old Zwift Hub One - it feels very noisy and seeing as my trainer is upstairs on a suspended wooden floor I'd like to minimise the noise where possible. Seems most reviews have the Neo as being the quietest option of all the current crop?

Aside from that, any suggestions of what sort of matting or similar to put under a setup to reduce the vibration transfer?

 

[Roady]

Yes, and look at all the reasons you just listed. Weather. Time issues (availability, or being conscious). You can't race outdoor. (Yes, I get that you can't safely race outdoor, but if you could, you probably would over indoor!) Training is easier.

I agree with all this, and is kind of my point.

I disagree here. You're suggesting they're popular because they're fun. I don't think that's why people have them. I have one. 90% of the time I don't use it because it's 'fun'. I use it for all those reasons you listed above

But everything is a choice. It's a Saturday morning, I could sit and read a book, I could head out on the bike, I could go back to bed, I could jump on the indoor trainer. What do you pick and why do you pick it? I'm saying very few people choose 'I'll jump on the indoor bike, because it's fun'

I started penning a big complex reply and never posted it, seems to have vanished after a Chrome update! But yeah guess I was just saying 'well I find it fun *most* of the time'!

But consider I don't 'train' as such, nor race outdoors. So the 'fun' of racing on Zwift is my training. I find training boring indoor or outdoor! So 'fun racing' is better than 'boring training'. I'm not saying it's 'more fun than outdoor' for those specific things as I don't do the same things indoor and out, so for me there's not a choice between in or out. One doesn't replace the other.

But certainly the known quantity of a Zwift group ride with usual suspects/timeslot will always be 'fun' due to the social aspect and ease of it. An outdoor solo ride instead will be less fun - certainly this time of year at 7pm doing 1-2 hours in the dark and #weather - so I can easily say Zwift is 'more fun'.

I did the race today in the 450-570 group and got third in 25:38. I tried three break always that all failed so maybe could have saved some energy. Racing score up 59 to 553, so new system seems much faster to change.

Nice bump up, nearly 100 over me but the racing I seem to do most of it doesn't go towards racing score. then the few times it does, I either do well against higher scoring riders and get a massive bump. Or I do badly against them and don't lose much score. Or I do well against lower riders and don't score. Racing Score needs to cover more than ranked races. My vELO is probably more accurate - my power numbers put me low B almost C. My Racing Score of 469 means I'm low B. My vELO of 1491 puts me more Medium B. Which feels more accurate as I'm racing Normal B3 in ZRL (old B2).

Is it worth grabbing something like a Tacx Neo 2T on sale or second hand to replace my ailing old Zwift Hub One - it feels very noisy and seeing as my trainer is upstairs on a suspended wooden floor I'd like to minimise the noise where possible. Seems most reviews have the Neo as being the quietest option of all the current crop?

Aside from that, any suggestions of what sort of matting or similar to put under a setup to reduce the vibration transfer?

Core2 and yeah get a trainer mat as they're made to absorb it. Really if you have 'gym mats' they're the same material? The Neo is more of a 'turbo whine' than a vibration rumble. My KICKRv5 is quieter than Neo OG.

 

[Vandle]

Is it worth grabbing something like a Tacx Neo 2T on sale or second hand to replace my ailing old Zwift Hub One - it feels very noisy and seeing as my trainer is upstairs on a suspended wooden floor I'd like to minimise the noise where possible. Seems most reviews have the Neo as being the quietest option of all the current crop?

Aside from that, any suggestions of what sort of matting or similar to put under a setup to reduce the vibration transfer?

Velo Mat. Custom printed

Velo Mats

Velo Indoor Training Mats

velomats.com

 

[Ironic Namesake]

Still quite happy with Rouvy for daily cycling - although I tend to just search for a random workout to suit how I’m feeling on the day rather than following any kind of structure.

But I’m down 10kg and my resting heart rate is down to the low 40s vs in the 60s before so I guess something is working

I did ramp test lite when I started and that came to 190W FTP, did the full one recently and that came to 240W. Not quite sure what to make of it, because even some workouts marked as easy are a struggle since then, and I need to set it to -10% or so half way to finish

 

[Vandle]

Rnd 2 of WTRL last night, points race on everything bagel. 6 riders in our team. Epic. Been feeling super sharp lately and I thought if I could keep in touch with the lead group up the first climb, I could recover on the way down as the peloton regrouped then I'd have a real chance of a decent finish. Hit the hill from the front, dropped all but two riders, popped the helmet at the top and gapped them on the flat part. 1st across the line. Sat up for a bit and a group of 10 or so regathered, 15 seconds ahead of next pack. Stayed together for the next 20km, got 6th in the sprint. Dropped a few on the last climb and went over 3rd, down to 4 of us downhill into the last sprint. 2nd over the line but fastest through the segment. Two others caught up and someone started the dash for the line with 600m to go. Went from 6th to third at the end. Winner was one of them dropped on the climb and was a second ahead of the pack. Top four inc me got flagged for power violations. Ended with just the winner being DQ'd for being over. I have been on the cusp of cat B for a while now and I've been pushed over (along with the other three) into B although our results from last night still stand. racing score is now 530. Team got 1,151 points and I got 416 of them. 1 more point than the lad who finished 2nd overall, and is obviously now first.

Had some serious fun racing lately as being top of the category so have had a real advantage that isn't quite cheating. Great to see progress and training consistently pay off but going to be hard finishing near the bottom in B now.

 

[UTmaniac]

Used MyWhoosh for a month on our Surface Pro 4, runs and looks better than I recall last winter, but I miss the big field racing and TTs on Zwift... A new £18 sub started!

The UK CTT start their TT series tonight at 1900 GMT (using the TT conveyor belt) on Zwift, uses Category Enforcement pen allocation and league placement based on position in your pen rather than time, bonus points for fastest specified segment in each pen. Nearly 700 signups with just over 7 hours to go until start (~19Km Tempus Fugit, Fuego Flats Reverse segment bonus).

Cycling Time Trials Winter Series Begins November 12, 1000+ Riders Signed Up

Learn all about this popular series kicking off from the national governing body for time trials in England, Scotland, and Wales!

zwiftinsider.com

Signups for tonight's event https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=5188741

I'll be happy if I can manage over 2.3W/Kg tonight, gone are the days of completing Tempus just a shade under 4W/Kg!

 

[Roady]

Rnd 2 of WTRL last night, points race on everything bagel. 6 riders in our team. Epic. Been feeling super sharp lately and I thought if I could keep in touch with the lead group up the first climb, I could recover on the way down as the peloton regrouped then I'd have a real chance of a decent finish. <snip>

Had some serious fun racing lately as being top of the category so have had a real advantage that isn't quite cheating. Great to see progress and training consistently pay off but going to be hard finishing near the bottom in B now.

Great work! Sandbagging is why you found it 'fun' at the top of category!

But you're going well to make the climb selections & have enough to sprint alongside a great finish! Consider getting flagged confirmation of that - see the note from WTRL that they're upholding the zMAP power DQ flags if they caused an upgrade after first removing them... So yeah you're in B now. Find a Dev B team (have several of them in R3R if your club doesn't)

I'm very jealous of the C+D getting Everything Bagel - not just because I love bagels, but you only did the 2 KOM's once with 20km between them! In B we did 2 laps of Rising Empire which meant both climbs each lap with only 3-4km between them! It was brutal

Even the glass ramp early in the lap was a 5.0w/kg+ effort to stay in. Trimmed 5s off my PR up NYC KOM (4.3w/kg avg then doing 5-6w/kg at the top) but was not enough so still dropped soon after, but half of our field was - front group at 20-25 riders after 56 starters & 52 finishers. It was absolutely savage and far harder than I expected for B3 coming home in 30th! My legs where not the best on a course which would normally suit me (longer & attrittional) but my team took the win (R3R Wasp - Cobalt B3) with just great efforts all round with riders coming in 13, 20, 21, 27, 29 & 30th at the finish, without any top10's on segments. So a balanced performance across every part while other teams had a wider spread of points.