The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

booyaka;30479222 said:
not touched the slider - 100% set. FTP for me was 240W.

I'm using a cheap Hline ANT USB-m Adapter - worked from day 1 with TR/zwift/sufferfest etc.
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240W FTP with your power levels being similar to mine is making me think that: although my FTP was showing as 235 when I exited the app, the session was done at the 250 I'd set it as before. Bloomin thing! I'll try setting FTP back to 270 and riding at 90% on the slider next (I'm not going to stand a chance hitting all of the ToS at 100%, but I may stand a chance of completing it at 80/90%)! :)

Mine's only a cheap Sunnto but is several years old. Could still be the GSC10, although it would be strange for them to exclude one of the most popular Garmin 'legacy' style (magnets) sensors.
Kimi;30479446 said:
I've been scanning mate but don't really know what I'm looking for spec wise. On one hand it would be good to have a dedicated system, but on the other I could just buy a decent laptop. My current one keeps over heating and is about 7 yrs old
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My previous ancient Dell was running Vista, sold it for £300 (had a legit copy of MS Office 2007 on it) and this one only cost me £350 without an OS (I had a spare OEM copy of Windows 7 which thankfully allowed me to 'free upgrade' to W10).

I struggled to find 'minimum specs' of Zwift when I looked back then, but this thread now suggests a Dual core i-series with 4gb RAM as a minimum with on-chip/embedded GPU as ok. I'd suggest getting one with a secondary card as that's what the bottleneck would be (and RAM is an easy/cheap upgrade in comparison should it be needed).

After reading 'Core 2 Duo' I'm quite tempted to revive my old Q6600 as a dedicated Zwifting rig, but don't think I've got an old GPU for it...
 
I've been running Zwift on an iPad but my Microserver will be taking over duties soon. It's only running an i3-3220 and a passive Radeon HD6450 but should run it at 720p OK. The iPad tends to chug along when there are a few riders on screen or dust.
 
So I've decided as I'm using Zwift more and more, I need to move away from the dumb trainer.

Any advice on what to go for?
I'd prefer a direct drive really.
I like the Wahoo KICKR, but thats just too pricey. Can't justify spending more than 500-600 tops!

Cheers guys and gals.
 
Spring & Summer are round the corner so you might find a bargain but shouldn't think it'll get too much use before you end up back out on the road.
 
BennyC;30480907 said:
Spring & Summer are round the corner so you might find a bargain but shouldn't think it'll get too much use before you end up back out on the road.
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I know, but I work from home and use the trainer all year round at lunchtimes.
By the time you actually get ready to go out I only have half an hour, at a push, the trainer is a convenient commodity :)
 
That's fair enough. I use mine 4 times a week over the winter and much less so during the fairer months unless time crunched, where I can't replicate the structure I need outdoors or if weather deems it so.

I think the Tacx Flux is a DD in that price range. Not sure how that ugly as sin Elite one is priced :p The majority of DD's will be closer to 4 figures than you'd probably like.

Depends whether accuracy or inertia are more important to you?
 
Cheers BennyC.

I wanted to go DD as the 3 I have tried have all had major tyre slippage issues when really pushing at high speeds, even with a trainer specific tyre, its put me off them tbh.

Thinking about it they have all been A frame type, rather than the sort that use the weight on them, maybe I need to have a rethink.
 
booyaka;30478703 said:
I've used app lots recently and use a same trainer as you (Vortex Smart) - same issue - doesn't detect the GSC10 on the bike but I think it uses the power/wheel rotation speed etc to estimate the cadence. (something like that anyway) - I'm not that fussed as it's killing me at the moment as it is!!

Doesn't seem to show the GSC10 in the app menu when searching either. Might have a proper look around after I (hopefully) finish the ToS.
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Don't think I've used the Sufferfest app with the GSC10 - think I'd moved to the "new" sensors that mount on the crank and rear hub.

The SF support team have been very good the couple of times I've e-mailed with problems and they seem to get fixes out pretty quickly.

Ticked off Angels for the ToS tonight. Really not looking forwarding to the pasting that will be Sat + Sun!
 
Raptor;30481083 said:
Cheers BennyC.

I wanted to go DD as the 3 I have tried have all had major tyre slippage issues when really pushing at high speeds, even with a trainer specific tyre, its put me off them tbh.

Thinking about it they have all been A frame type, rather than the sort that use the weight on them, maybe I need to have a rethink.
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I used to get the odd bit of slip on my old CycleOps Mag regardless of tyre but on the Vortex Smart, which is also an A frame I've not had any issues.

Can't help but think the trainers which use bodyweight wouldn't be much good if you get out the saddle for a hard sprint and shift your weight forward but I've not used or come across one myself.

If you don't need the reduction in noise or real power accuracy I'd probably be inclined to either get the best feeling (inertia) trainer or a perfectly capable trainer and then a second hand PM :)
 
Raptor;30480880 said:
Any advice on what to go for?
I'd prefer a direct drive really.
I like the Wahoo KICKR, but thats just too pricey. Can't justify spending more than 500-600 tops!
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You don't find a Direct Drive for that price this time of year unless it's second hand/unknown seller.

I love my Tacx Vortex Smart. Unbeatable in the sub £300 category! :cool:

I'll only replace it when a KICKR/Neo option is <£500. I really considered the SNAP but couldn't justify it enough over a deal on the Vortex (over £100 cheaper!).
Raptor;30481083 said:
I wanted to go DD as the 3 I have tried have all had major tyre slippage issues when really pushing at high speeds, even with a trainer specific tyre, its put me off them tbh.

Thinking about it they have all been A frame type, rather than the sort that use the weight on them, maybe I need to have a rethink.
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I get slippage on my Vortex, at least as much as on my previous KK Road Machine. I was overtightening that to reduce slippage and all I was doing was making my data inconsistent (FTP test results 180W-315W), as I had no way to calibrate it. With the Vortex having a spin-down calibration it's eliminated much of the overtightening I was doing previously, giving me consistent data (FTP of 270W). But it has tyre slippage, there's no way for the calibration spindown to complete within the 'acceptable' range on the Tacx app with the tyre tight enough to eliminate slippage when doing intervals. Can only conclude every on-wheel trainer will slip, unless overtightened (uncalibrated). I've used two different turbo tyres and various road tyres.

TLDR; wattagebazooka = slippage.

Although ERG mode removes much of the 'power loss' through slipping doing intervals, I can hit sprint power levels (500W+) much better with the Vortex than the Road Machine (which was calculated/virtual power using the InRide).
BennyC;30480048 said:
You might find this useful:

https://zwiftalizer.com/benchmarks
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Good find! Going to Benchmark mine later! :)
 
Good work. I seem to recall Revolver x2 not being too bad last year if you stick to the app powers so I'm not so worried about Saturday. Friday's 2x20 and Sunday look very unappealing though. Wondering if I should double up tonight and take tomorrow off in preparation...
 
One More Solo;30483249 said:
Good work. I seem to recall Revolver x2 not being too bad last year if you stick to the app powers so I'm not so worried about Saturday. Friday's 2x20 and Sunday look very unappealing though. Wondering if I should double up tonight and take tomorrow off in preparation...
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Yeah - I've a day in hand but not sure I want to skip anything as I'll struggle to get going again....saying that 2 hours on Friday morning then a 2 hour drive in the afternoon to meet a client doesn't fill me with joy!:(

Do I have you on Strava ?? No sure who is who?
 
One More Solo;30483249 said:
Good work. I seem to recall Revolver x2 not being too bad last year if you stick to the app powers so I'm not so worried about Saturday. Friday's 2x20 and Sunday look very unappealing though. Wondering if I should double up tonight and take tomorrow off in preparation...
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HHNF is brutal at 100%.

I'm using the sufferfest app this year having used trainer road previously - one thing I noticed is that for several videos including 9 hammers the sufferfest app is tougher and has a slightly different power profile
 
9 Hammers and TINT down. 9 Hammers I just about held on at 100%, TINT was not so good. Not helped by the fact it isn't a great video IMO. Initial plan is day off tomorrow and then do the final 3 stages as well as possible.
 
One More Solo;30484993 said:
9 Hammers and TINT down. 9 Hammers I just about held on at 100%, TINT was not so good. Not helped by the fact it isn't a great video IMO. Initial plan is day off tomorrow and then do the final 3 stages as well as possible.
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I could feel a bit of fatigue in my legs for Nine Hammers last night and expect TINT to be tough tonight. Mind you, I don't think I've ridden 9 days out of 10. Even during marathon training I wasn't running that often.
 
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