I started off on a laptop with a second or third gen i7 and mobile graphics card. Suffered from slowdown when a lot of users on screen.
Moved to a desktop with a first gen i5, stuck some more ram in, SSD and GTX970 from the members market, output to a 32” TV with HDMI.
How do you find the FPS with your desktop setup? I've had a couple of ANT dropouts and also riding inside now means I'm pushing medium 1080p on an external 38" display of my 'good enough' laptop and it has started to get a bit choppy (previously 720p on 21" crappy TV). It does look fantastic though!
I've checked out Zwiftanalyser looking at my ANT signal drops and have an easy fix for that (powered USB hub attached to frame) but it's also made me look at framerates - average at 720p is around 20-25fps, average at 1080p is around 10-15fps. Not really good enough. That's with my i5 4200M (dual core 2.5ghtz which tends to run at 1.6-2.0), 4gb RAM and geforce 740M 2gb on an SSD. Unsure if the slowdown is RAM, CPU or GPU. Thinking it's GPU. My old desktop would be better spec if I rebuilt it (quad core 2.4ghtz, 6gb RAM & AMD 7970 3gb & SSD).
Roadie. Did another WBR race today and included in the results this time! 16th in B after a hard race, we had a group of 3 going hard dangling 8 seconds off the front of a larger group. Got within 4 seconds and I managed to jump over with 5km to go, two followed me and we pulled away from the chasers, rather sprint for 12th from a group of 5 and come 16th than a group of 20!
Good work and sounds like a good finish & result! I've been abusing myself in B races too and starting to feel like some similar results are on the horizon, to actually make some progress feels fantastic!
Probably if my turbo wasn't a road machine...
Ah, doh! Considering more Indoor/Zwifting?
The bike doesn’t seem to change gear very well. Not sure if I should take it to a shop for a service. The rear shifter seems to work ok but the front is pretty ropey.
Unless you know how to index & service yourself then a LBS visit is probably best. Replaced my bar tape on the weekend along with rebuilding my RD and reindexing, silky smooth now! Makes a huge difference to the trainers overall noise!
Evans Cycles 20% of Tacx Trainers
Not in the market myself as my Kickr is doing just fine but as the cold weather will eventually begin to pass...(please gawwwwd) those waiting/wanting to upgrade might benefit.
No idea how these prices compare elsewhere. DYOR.
Prices seem to be around £50-100 more than you can find online, obviously being able to use BC discount for a further 10% off would be ideal but think Evans' only accept that (or pricematch it) on RRP, not sale items?
For comparison Vortex's are £350 other places, £399 there. Flux's are £600 elsewhere, £699 there.
I also really need to get a phone holder as was holding my phone which meant I was sat more upright than I should be.
I've got the
Cycleops sweat thong which has a carrier, it works well if you don't need to look at the phone much (generally use mine for food, tv remote & pebble). I've also got a Quadlock which is fantastic! Well recommended, just
crazy high prices if you buy the specific case...
Much cheaper to buy a universal and a cheapy £3 phone case to glue it to (I actually bought my samsung S5 case new, but my mount second hand with a broken iphone case)
The Mad March ride today was postponed because of the weather so the organisers setup a Zwift event on the 'Three Sisters' course. Around 220 riders entered and it was also my first event on Zwift. I was impressed with the way Zwift handles the joining and loging process - pretty slick !
Results below : I got 23rd, averaging around 270w for 1hr 28mins (3.4 w/kg). Although, there were some dodgy rider weights and trainer setups ahead of me.
Great ride & results mate, well done! I wonder if any nutters actually went outside and rode the route... Wouldn't have been too bad on the main roads as imagine they'd be similar to here.
Bigger more powerful riders don’t get enough credit on the flat I think. Too easy to roll in a huge bunch at silly speed.
Actually the opposite, much easier to retain speed being a bigger rider on the flats. The little light guys are the ones who struggle, even on some of the hilly rides. Absolute power is key on Zwift until you do any of the long climbs. There's times now at 75kg and holding 3.5w/kg in groups isn't enough and I start to drift, the heavier guys pushing 3w/kg seemingly having an easier time.
Mate has recommended doing the short FTP test first and then doing the four week FTP builder as being a good place to start. Thoughts?
Good if you don't already have much foundation and riding volume. Certainly start with an FTP test but if you have no experience of riding hard for 15-20 minutes then well worth doing a couple of sessions prior to the test to work out pacing. It hurts, regardless!
Most of the 'builder' programs have quite a lot of volume and base work in them, for me already having that volume (commuting & weekend club rides) I found specific SST & power work more beneficial. I was also racing which gave me much of the top end intervals and threshold efforts (which most of the plans don't get to until week 2-3). Started plans a couple of times but the early parts of each where just 'junk' miles and a waste of time alongside my other riding.
