20 truths about indoor training from a mountain biker

Back in the day both me and Robbo ran various social events on Zwift, these were awesome beyond words (His race series more than my socials for sure). We did the socials in different ways, some days would be a fast group and a slower group, some days would be sprint segments, some days would be climbs etc... But always with riders trying to help others. This is different to a Herd etc because you'd know all the names from here and you'd want to help your virtual mates out... In the sprints there was the self-kudos of beating people you know from here.

I love zwift, especially in winter and i'll be Zwifting later today for sure.. but i still use it for racing in summer. I've done nearly 700 races since Zwiftpower came about.

1 If you are tired and busy, you are still tired and busy

5 You can give up whenever you want

My tip is to link these two, it can be hard to know if you are really physically tired or just a bit mentally burnt out by life, if its the later then a bit of exercise will likely help. So always start your session, and if you really don't feel like it after 10 mins stop and go do something more relaxing. I find 9 times out of 10 when I do that I do what I had hoped to or more, where as if I don't even start a session I am more likely to regret it. I have never regreted realising I just don't have the energy if I have given it 10 mins.

21 There's a whole range of options that aren't Zwift.

When I first started on the indoor cycling journey I also came to the conclusion that Zwift was ideal for doing those short, intense rides that I find hard to replicate  in the outdoors. Traffic, undulations, junctions etc all interrupt the intensity. This last Winter I came to the realisation that long Zone 2 sessions are actually better done indoors. That's from the POV of weather, daylight and road/trail conditions.

22. You can use this time to visit places that might inspire you to bigger things on the trail, or to go places that you may not have thought about.

I'm currently using Tacx Premium (@scotroutes point above) and working my way through their Giro d'Italia tour after having seen Corsica and Sardinia in the couple of weeks previously. It's like having a mini-holiday and helps, in a really small way, with the effort and suffering.

But I agree with all of the things you wrote in the article Hannah, especially about bringing a towel and not being cold. My trainer is in th unheated part of the house here (currently a balmy 0c, was -16 the other day) and I still train with the door to the hall open and a fan on because it's warm during training.

5 You can give up whenever you want

I see that as a negative.

If I can drag myself outside and onto the bike, the odds of bailing out are very slim, usually because I've committed to a loop and the bail out is almost as bad as the route.  So 95% of the time I'll make it.

Zwift (or MyWhoosh) I've got on countless times and all enthusiasm has been sapped by the time I'm logged on, everything connected and grinding up the first incline. On the road at least I'm now 5 miles from home and however crap I was feeling I'm now committed to at least burning calories even if I don't power up the hills,

it’s a fairly quick process to get going – much easier than finding time to head out for a ride, or to a gym etc.

I disagree.  It's no quicker to dig out summer kit and head out to the shed than it is to put on winter kit and head out the same door on a real bike.  It's just a different set of shoes/shorts/top/gloves etc.  Any time saved getting layered up is offset by not spending time waiting for Zwift updates to download, companion app to connect, all the sensors to talk to each other, etc.

The gym I'd agree with, but I'd question the sanity of anyone who goes to the gym to do cardio for any longer than necessary to warmup.

You can use this time to visit places that might inspire you to bigger things on the trail, or to go places that you may not have thought about.

This is absolutely true. I've been riding virtual Mallorca (also using Tacx) and, as a result, I'm heading across there for real in April. Corsica looks great too.

not spending time waiting for Zwift updates to download, companion app to connect, all the sensors to talk to each other,

It doesn't have to be like that though.

 Any time saved getting layered up is offset by not spending time waiting for Zwift updates to download, companion app to connect, all the sensors to talk to each other, etc.

23. Whatever software you use, fire it up at least 15 minutes before you need it. If you fire it up 2 minutes before your race, it will invariably want to update itself first.

24. Turn the step ladder round and you can fit the wheel under it, and center the screen. You'll need to find somewhere else for the water bottle, though.

25. Hang a towel over the handlebars unless you want to destroy them with your sweat.

weeksyFull Member
Back in the day both me and Robbo ran various social events on Zwift, these were awesome beyond words (His race series more than my socials for sure). We did the socials in different ways, some days would be a fast group and a slower group, some days would be sprint segments, some days would be climbs etc… But always with riders trying to help others. This is different to a Herd etc because you’d know all the names from here and you’d want to help your virtual mates out… In the sprints there was the self-kudos of beating people you know from here.

I love zwift, especially in winter and i’ll be Zwifting later today for sure.. but i still use it for racing in summer. I’ve done nearly 700 races since Zwiftpower came about.

Would be great if this sort of thing happened again as without the social aspect I find it all a bit boring. I've refused to pay the higher cost of Zwift but I'm surprised that the bit I miss most is the social aspect where would join a local cycling clubs group. A STW one on zwift may encourage me to resubscribe - or if it could be done on a different platform?

26. It's noisy, and when the bearings fail in the wahoo, it's really noisy. Then whilst waiting to send it off (again) switch to rollers for even more noise. Best thing to do is sack off all this faff and get outside and hit some winter trails and enjoy riding, not exercising.

It doesn’t have to be like that though.

I agree, MyWhoosh is marginally less frustrating in this regard.  Tacx does look tempting for the reasons you suggested too.

Whatever software you use, fire it up at least 15 minutes before you need it. If you fire it up 2 minutes before your race, it will invariably want to update itself first.

Depends how I've left it, most of the time I like to leave the laptop in the shed with everything setup and ready to go, but as you say this then guarantees it'll need an update whilst I sit there in the cold.

If the laptops in the house then you have to boot it up without connecting sensors, and it's adding layers of faff which goes against the whole point of it being time efficient to do <1h workouts if you have to start them 15min early.

Some days you get to jump on and everything just works.  Other days you're sat there in a 0C shed in shorts cursing technology and thinking you could have already been 5 miles up the road and warmed up by now.

I'd agree with most of that I'll add one tip in regard to 10:

10. Don’t bring spectacles
Expect to sweat so much that your glasses fall off. But, you will want to be able to see, especially if racing. You particularly need to be able to read power outputs, so if you need contacts to do that, put them in. Or, take the risk that you’ll need to sling your glasses to somewhere safe during a final sprint effort.

I need glasses to look at monitors and I don't do contacts so the answer (for me) is...  a sweat band!

Yep I'm in my Garage just wearing a pair of bibs and a sweat band round my head, it's a very niche look. But for a couple of quid off amazon an elasticated loop of towelling round your head is well worth having, the sweat bands act as a substitute for the helmet pads, a fan addresses airflow, my glasses don't fog or fall off.

I disagree.  It’s no quicker to dig out summer kit and head out to the shed than it is to put on winter kit and head out the same door on a real bike.  It’s just a different set of shoes/shorts/top/gloves etc.

I find it really irritating when people smugly announce that you would be better off going for a outdoor ride. Of course it would, we all know that. But we also know (for all the reasons that Hannah listed) that you get more cardio per minute of turbo than you do for an outdoor ride. I did a 40 min session on Rouvy last night and that included 35mins or relatively intense exercise. I was showered and re-engaged with family time just 10mins after session ended.

There are loads of reasons why people are time poor or tied to the house. Not everyone has great riding near their house or expensive night riding lights. Some people don't have space to easily wash bikes or they might be scared of the dark! Loads of people have childcare responsibilities or other good family reasons why they need to stay in the house in the evening. Not everyone like riding is crap weather. Please don't be patronising and tell people they are better off riding outside, most people will do this if they can, or if they want to.

It doesn’t have to be like that though.

I found Zwift to be very much like that and I was confused by the multiple different apps. I now use Rouvy and find it much better, much simpler and much more reliable.

I think one "truth" that's worth pointing out is that, if you're serious about your fitness and particularly racing, it's easy to look at everyone else training indoors and think "I have to do this to compete against them, even though I don't want to" but that's not the case.

Riding indoors isn't for me. I've done a Peloton ride and used to turbo train - I enjoyed the Peloton but nowhere near as much as riding outdoors, in nature, in fresh air. Being outside takes more time and is a less efficient way to train but so long as you're aware of that, you can adapt rather than being consigned to your shed. At the Puffer at the weekend, I and all my male team mates set lap times in the top 15 riders. We won mixed quad and were third quad overall. Only one of us rides indoors, and even then he's only done it twice in the last two months. You can still compete against people riding indoors by riding only outdoors. So if you don't like it, don't worry.

Yep I’m in my Garage just wearing a pair of bibs and a sweat band round my head

this is me also!! 🙂

It’s no quicker to dig out summer kit and head out to the shed than it is to put on winter kit and head out the same door on a real bike.

It's winter! I'm Zwifting a lot. There's no "digging out". I know exactly where my kit is. Also, I'm using an Apple TV which doesn't seem to be plagued with some of these issues that affect others!

We tried a smart trainer when K was recovering from a bad injury.

As Hannah says, you're really not using a bike on the trainer that youre using outside that season.  Too dirty to be in the house.  The faff of swapping bikes on a trainer for two people is also considerable. We quickly bought a second had Wattbike - that or the Zwift bike take less space, can easily be swapped between riders (though we have two seat towers so we can use our own saddle) and are clean.

I expected it to quickly become a clothes rail but this is our third winter and we're still regularly using it.  This morning was dry and a bit warmer so rode outdoors but the last few weeks it's been all watt bike  as my lungs couldn't take the cold.  Likewise 30 minutes at the end of the day after dark.

We've switched to Rouvy (which has a 2 user plan for the price of 1 on Zwift).   You get a feel for the TSS scores of the workouts after a bit.  If I'm feeling really low energy for some reason theres always the option of dialling down the power a little bit rather than giving up.

Good enough fans makes a bit difference to the sweat issue - I've got a pair of Vacmaster fans now (and a towel)

I just have a spin bike that you'll find in a gym.

It's good enough for zone two & interval sessions. I'm not interested in being on a bike indoors for more than an hour.

Things I've found that indoor training is great for...

no bike clean up after, I'd be showering anyway.

Putting training in the diary means I do it doesn't matter if it's raining windy or too cold.

I can train 3-4 times a week, even in the summer I can't get out for a ride that often.

First post on here in years as I bumped into Zilog on a Zwift start line at the weekend.

For me the social/team aspect keeps me riding on Zwift. I don't train, I only do group rides and races, ZP says 635 races.

There are many teams out there that organise themselves via Discord, which is advert free and very usable, they run a few events a week and participate in larger events like the ZRL (season 2 starts tonight), and chase races. These often include 'points' races that are not first over the line, making them much more tactical, and the cherry on top is the 5v5 ladder races that take part mostly midweek.

I still ride outside, but 1 hour zwift session is usually all I have time for mid week.

Lots of teams around - I'm over here
https://www.rhinoracing.club/joinus

I disagree. It’s no quicker to dig out summer kit and head out to the shed than it is to put on winter kit and head out the same door on a real bike. It’s just a different set of shoes/shorts/top/gloves etc. Any time saved getting layered up is offset by not spending time waiting for Zwift updates to download, companion app to connect, all the sensors to talk to each other, etc.

The gym I’d agree with, but I’d question the sanity of anyone who goes to the gym to do cardio for any longer than necessary to warmup.

Nah, the Faff to get all my crap together for a winter ride is substantially more than chucking on some bibs (under shorts and a hoody and tramping out to the Garage in Crocs. Zwift updates aren't that frequent or big and all the sensors just seem to pick up automatically, I tend to be on the bike turning my legs over while it boots up anyway (bike and PC typically left set up during winter).

Winter weekday evenings in the Garage are way less challenging than muddy night rides, certainly not more fun, but you can't have it all. Weekends I get more time to faff about pre/post ride this time of year.

The other thing I've yet to try is pairing my Garmin with the smart trainer and letting that drive a session, apparently I can make an ERG driven session out of the data from an old ride(?) or download a session from Garmin(?), plonk it on the bars and just go (could just stick Netflix/YT/iPlayer on the Monitor then I suppose). I'm thinking I'll cancel the Zwift Sub in March/April and maybe pick it up again in October, but maybe I cancel it a bit earlier if I can get about the same benefits from a simple session driven off of my Garmin. need to give that a go I think.

There is/was an STW club.

Sweat corroded bars are horrific.

27.  You'll either like it or you won't!  No matter the setup.

Linking in to some of the comments above, you either have the head for indoor riding or you don't.  All the stuff about better outdoors is hiding so many things on purpose.  Cleaning, time efficiency, control of conditions, safety, variety (sounds odd I know).

I have started Zwifting again recently as a way to get legs turning easily and hopefully consistently.  I will actually be avoiding the "puddles of sweat" efforts and intervals as indoors they just give me a stinking headache, but I need to get things moving and this is a nice easy way to set a steady controlled pace/session whilst I gain some base fitness back.  I had to have this conversation with myself a few years back, am I an indoor rider or not and luckily I am.

28. Wear summer fingerless gloves.  Bare hands the handlebars feel disgusting and they're handy for wiping sweat quickly.

It’s just a different set of shoes/shorts/top/gloves etc

All that gear, compared to a bra, bibs and socks. And then unlocking bike from pile of bikes, checking tyre pressures, possibly lubing chain, fitting lights, getting to the trails, washing the bike off, drying the chain, locking bike back into pile, putting all filthy clothes into the washing machine, hanging helmets and shoes to dry... Plus possibly fixing something you broke or making an adjustment. And all that assuming you haven't had to leave a set of instructions for the kids before you go out, or stopped on the ride to answer an emergency Facetime query about whether such and such a bowl goes in the microwave, or paused to herd a sheep off the road into a field... Or indeed, that you can leave the house and aren't needed to stay present because there are teenagers and boyfriends around, or whatever.

I think we live in different worlds!

First post on here in years as I bumped into Zilog on a Zwift start line at the weekend.

For me the social/team aspect keeps me riding on Zwift. I don’t train, I only do group rides and races, ZP says 635 races.

There are many teams out there that organise themselves via Discord, which is advert free and very usable, they run a few events a week and participate in larger events like the ZRL (season 2 starts tonight), and chase races. These often include ‘points’ races that are not first over the line, making them much more tactical, and the cherry on top is the 5v5 ladder races that take part mostly midweek.

I still ride outside, but 1 hour zwift session is usually all I have time for mid week.

Lots of teams around – I’m over here
https://www.rhinoracing.club/joinus
/blockquote>
maybe we should have an STW sub-group on Rhino 🙂 I'm definitely up for some somewhat-organised racing with people I "know"

 

3. You’ll want a spare 90 minutes for more variety

if i get a spare 90mins i`ll go for a proper ride thanks!

if i get a spare 90mins i`ll go for a proper ride thanks!

Minus the 30 minutes of faff, is it really worth it for an hour spent dodging range rovers in the dark/wet/cold?  🙂

I'll take ~80 of those 90mins on a trainer cheers...

What are we up to, 28?

Enjoy picking out the right music! Searching for workout tunes has introduced me to whole new genres of music. I actively look forward to that moment 45 minutes into a threshold workout when the DJ drops that one particularly euphoric party tune, all hell breaks loose!

Oh and +1 for it's not all about Zwift, you'll get a more effective workout from properly executed intervals than you will out of a Zwift race, and they don't require expensive setups, apps or logins. Still rocking a £70 Kinetics Road Machine here.

i do think having everything setup ready to go makes it so much easier.  We have an integral garage and I have a Wattbike permanently set up in there, with a Vacmaster fan, remote controlled from the bars.  I run Zwift on an iPad that takes a couple of seconds to pop into the tribar mount, Zwift Companion on my iPhone on a Place of Things bar mount, and Spotify on Air pods.

Indoor riding kit sits in a separate cubby hole to other kit, so no rumaging around, bibs, socks, thin SS top, fingerless gloves, Garmin HR chest strap on, wander downstairs, fill up water bottle, open kitchen door to garage to  Wattbike, switch it on, pop the Apple devices into the mounts and by the time I have turned up the boa straps on my shoes everything is fired up and ready to start a Zwift ride.

Oh and +1 for it’s not all about Zwift, you’ll get a more effective workout from properly executed intervals than you will out of a Zwift race, and they don’t require expensive setups, apps or logins.

But guess that's also down to what you will make yourself do or what makes it slightly more appealing so you'll do it.

I used to do Robbo's STW races and I would bury myself to finish bottom 20% of the group. Would be a lake of sweat under the trainer after a race even with two big fans going. I'd also be far more likely to do zwift sessions during the week to try to improve for the races. Much harder for me to motivate myself when it's just races against people I don't know.

What's that blue gravel bike with the Lauf forks? I kinda like it...

But guess that’s also down to what you will make yourself do or what makes it slightly more appealing so you’ll do it.

yep. For me, specifically, it is all about Zwift - the racing, and the community events that attract 1000+ riders.

I appreciate there are some weirdos people who are happy just to sit indoors on a bike on their own watching a number on a screen, that's not for me though 🙂

@ossify It's the Lauf Seigla https://singletrackworld.com/gritcx/2022/04/lauf-seigla-reviewed-in-iceland-and-the-uk/

if i get a spare 90mins i`ll go for a proper ride thanks!

It's -7 and icy AF outside right now. Two days ago I had 30kt winds, -10c and blizzarding snow. The road bike on a trainer allowed me to do a 60 minute ride around Rome instead of putting me in temperatures that would make a ride a chore and conditions that would possibly mess me up.

I mean, I've done the year round commute by bike in cold down to about -20, I don't need to prove I _can_ go out, but the trainer means I can kill 1000+ Kcal in 60-90 minutes riding and then have a shower and eat something without risking frostbite. Right now, it's all about killing calories and keeping cardio up when the darkness stops me going out on the roads.

I would love a proper turbo trainer set-up.
A mix of cost, space and set-up means it's not really an option - or at least it'd be a very much compromised option. 🙁

Echo the comments about "a proper outdoors ride". Yeah, it's raining, sleeting, busy roads, dark at 4pm, it's near impossible to do proper structured training like specific zones or sprints or recovery in traffic and over mixed/hilly terrain and I'd need to clean the bike, wash a whole load of winter kit...

Shall we get the STW rides up and running again?
I'm happy to introduce a few workouts group rides....

DrP

Part of me wants to have the head for indoor riding ... But I just have zero motivation for it.

For me, riding is about escape, being outside, feeling the weather, smelling the smells, going on a journey. That's what pulls me to ride my bike.

I'm fortunate in having a good variety of road, gravel, MTB riding from the door though, and 5 different bikes to choose from, 3 of which in particular are set up for riding at this time of year (mudguards, 2 Singlespeed options). Also fortunate in having relatively flexible working arrangements, kids slightly older and less reliant, and a partner to tag-team with. So, Personally, I'll always choose outdoors over indoors.

But, totally get that other people are wired differently (the fitness/training aspect comes higher up the list of priorities) and/or that their lives are more time-crunched or less flexible, than I am fortunate to have.

For me, riding is about escape, being outside, feeling the weather, smelling the smells, going on a journey. That’s what pulls me to ride my bike.

It was only through reading the Zwift forum that I came to realise that some folk only ride indoors. For me, I prefer to be outdoors but the indoor training I do is to build (well, at my age, try to maintain) a level of fitness that allows me to go further/faster outdoors. I should really try to find more riding buddies that aren't 15-20 years my junior 🙂

Although outdoor rides are what I enjoy most, I think riding a static bike is a necessary evil if you want to keep a decent level of fitness over the winter.

I have an old gym spin bike set up under a pergola in a corner of the garden opposite the bird feeders, have a Wi-Fi signal and use the GCN training videos on YouTube. I can just about endure an hours workout and being outside helps my motivation. I only use it when the weather is too bad to get out on the road but appreciate not having to clean the bike after every ride.

It was only through reading the Zwift forum that I came to realise that some folk only ride indoors.

Yeah, that is ridiculous.

Out of interest, last night I tried running the trainer from my Garmin. 45mins based on my commuting route, with a podcast on. Don't I could do more than an hour of that.

Indoors - bike -

put ipad on the wattbike, turn it on, open app. turn on and possition fans

if the OH jhas been on it most recently, adjust saddle and bars

Outdoors (winter evening) - bike -

bike out, wheel on, check tyres, check shifting, garmin on (this alone takes longer than the ipad bluetooth etc indoors), find (from where they have been charging) and attach 3 lights

if OH has been out most recently will have to get out her bike and mine, manouver hers back in.

clothes - indoor

cycling undershorts, whatever socks im already wearing, shoes whcih live next to the turbo. shorts and socks all that need washing

clothes - outdoor

shirt, jacket, undershorts, trousers, socks suitable for temp, shoes. this time of year, gloves, all possibly bar the jacket will need washing, and I only have a few pairs of trousers so there starts to be a need for laundry scheduling if I'm going out mulitple times a week. (No tumble drier). shoes might need a wipe down.

ride end - indoor

shoes off, fans off, bike off. wipe down the sweat. shower.

ride end - outdoor

depending how bad it is outside, bike might need a wash and chain attention when I return (despite putoline). hosepipe was frozen last week.

faff with shed with frozen fingers in the dark. remember to remove all lights for charging, bottle so it doesnt freeze up

undress outer layer in the kitchen, then hoover the floor. if its been really bad, get them upstairs for a soak without dropping on the carpet.

remaining clothes off, shower

-----

I consider 1.5 hours to be the minimum outdoor ride I'd bother with. Of which 1:15 could be called proper riding*, not negotiating the local bike paths and minor roads. Thats at least 2 hours total with the above described faff.

Last night I did a 0.5 hour zwift. probably 40 minutes all in.

*as I have the trainer, for me, outdoors riding is purely for "fun". If I didnt, this would be the time, on at least some rides, I would be able to dedicate to training, including warm up, cool down.

It was only through reading the Zwift forum that I came to realise that some folk only ride indoors.

in one of the early organised competitons (as in, Cat A, cash prize level of competition) , seem to recall (details fuzzy, may be embellished)  there a bit of a witchhunt on a guy that the web was sure was cheating, as he was a ghost, no record of him ever entering a real life bike race or tri. He'd just appeared as a cat A online racer one day.

they thought there was no way the guy had got that fit and that good at racing in the few years zwift racing had existed, so he should have had a history outdoors.

then someone found him - olympic rower.

I met someone once who was an indoors-only cyclist. He said his brain focused too much on the dangerous bits of bike riding for him to enjoy it (which is fair enough, I think he lives somewhere fairly built up and busy). He described zwift as a video game with a really expensive controller, but the only video game that makes your body work better. More power to him, I say.

I'm also just going to add my voice to the 'not necessarily zwift' folk. I've tried it numerous times and for various reasons it just didn't do it for me. Give me the TrainerRoad blue graph of doom and some trashy superhero stuff to watch on my laptop though and I'll happily sweat away for an hour or so.

Are you really going to buy that old bike a new mech and chain (and saddle, and grips, and bottom bracket…)?

Think you answered that when you mention keeping it on for winter. Why not?

Honestly surprised there isn't a handlebar VESA mount out there for a monitor.

The 'some people only ride indoors' thing reminds me a bit of people I used to talk to at climbing walls who didn't climb outdoors. For me indoor climbing and indoor riding are fundamentally about being better adapted to enjoy doing the same stuff outdoors in the real world. I'm not immune to the slightly perverse charms of turning myself inside out on the turbo - I like it, I'm wired that way - but it's not the same as riding outdoors and people who think it will be are in for disappointment.

Also, 'Flex feels wrong'...

Actually the right level of movement using a rocker plate and a front-wheel turntable-type block, makes things feel more 'natural' than the bike being rigidly fixed in place and also introduces an element of movement in the saddle/butt interface which helps a lot with comfort. If your saddle or position are wrong, a long turbo session will find it out quickly.

Also, a big fan is a must, particularly on warmer days, Plus a secondary fan or two pointed at your head and back help. You churn out three watts in heat for every watt you make in power, so you get hot quickly and your power output drops off correspondingly. You can sort of make a virtue of this with deliberate heat adaptation training, but I'd rather be outside when it's warm and dry anyway.

Amusingly, in the recent cold snap, my hands were getting cold enough that I started wearing long-fingered gloves indoors. Never thought I'd do that, but my turbo is in an outhouse and it does get proper cold.

Winter outdoors

https://flic.kr/p/2qFobed

Winter indoors

https://flic.kr/p/2krdPuL

The "indoors only" thing seems strange to (us) cyclists but then look at all the folk going to gyms doing weights - do you think they are all lifting heavy loads outside as part of their job/lifestyle?

i ruddy love Zwift. Its taken me from being last to the top of a climb with my buddies to the first.

I've lost 15kg in weight and become much fitter. Which allows me to ride harder for longer in the real world. Do things like the SDW in a day etc etc.

I appreciate its not for everyone. And it goes without saying that riding in the real world is preferable. But on a grim winters evening, i'd rather be zwifitng than either getting cake in mud or sitting on my backside.

And the STW race series that was put on was superb. Everyone involved, everyone flogging themselves!

Zwift for the win, as the youths used to say!

28, you still need to clean or wipe down the bike, my sweat ate the anodising and some of the actual cup from my hope BB 🙁 It's not just the bars that can corrode.

Zwifting is great in the rubbish (cold) weather as I feel ready for cycling outdoors when weather permits without destroying many parts of my aging body in the cold.

The ‘some people only ride indoors’ thing reminds me a bit of people I used to talk to at climbing walls who didn’t climb outdoors. For me indoor climbing and indoor riding are fundamentally about being better adapted to enjoy doing the same stuff outdoors in the real world. I’m not immune to the slightly perverse charms of turning myself inside out on the turbo – I like it, I’m wired that way – but it’s not the same as riding outdoors and people who think it will be are in for disappointment.

Interesting - I was, pre-covid a fairly keen (certainly not good!) indoor climber.

Never climbed outdoors, never really had an interest in doing so. Plus I'm in the south so would have been a weekend trip at a minimum!

Saw it as fun exercise and "socialising" in its own right.

If you aren't and dont want to be a cyclist, but want to lose weight or get fit for your sunday league football or something, I guess it makes sense as low impact but useful cardio.