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I gave zwift a go last night, I was a quite disappointed, I don't think it is a patch on traineroad and sufferfest, I guess it would be fine to just go and batter yourself for a time, but lacked any decent targeting or structure.
I think the workout mode it a pretty good replacement to TrainerRoad, granted TR has more and its has structured plans but Zwift has all the basic plans covered so you could just pick something similar.
IMO TR is expensive in comparison to Zwift
You can run TR whilst Zwifting as long as you pair up properly. The workout list is growing all the time and is customisable so pretty versatile.
I think the best thing about Zwift is that it's somewhere to go on your bike. Sounds trite but with even a smidgen of imagination, you sort of fool yourself into forgetting you are in the pain cave.
"I'll just ride another ten minutes" or "I'll listen to one more track" cannot compare to "I'll just race this maniac up the KOM one more time!" 😀
Once sweat proof VR headsets come out, I think I'll sell my outdoor bikes 😀
I've quite happily used a dumb trainer and garmin speed/cadence/hr sensor for the past 18 months or so. I upgraded the pc pretty quickly but only because we had some parts knocking around and my son does that kind of thing. Its now an 8 core processor and £150 graphics card that can max out the settings.
Recently bought one of those £200/£180 trainers from Halfords and its very good, I'm not sure you get more or less of a workout but the experince is more immersive.
Also both dumb and smart trainer gave me very similar power results, there isnt a strain gauge in either so no reason either should be more accurate.
If your new to it I would do an event, start with something like the sub 2 or 2.5 Tuesday nights.
it really does. Not only do they wear out faster. They lose all grip and spray molten shredded rubber all over the wall. You may not be bothered, or notice. But 15 quid for a trainer tyre is well worth it.I doubt it wears out that much quicker...
Or a trainer wheel.
ghostlymachine - MemberI doubt it wears out that much quicker...
it really does. Not only do they wear out faster. They lose all grip and spray molten shredded rubber all over the wall. You may not be bothered, or notice. But 15 quid for a trainer tyre is well worth it.Or a trainer wheel.
Probably depends on a ton of factors, but I've used a turbo trainer on & off for 5 years or so & never used a trainer tyre....
Never had 'molten shredded rubber all over the wall'.....this sounds to me like a result of the roller tension not being high enough & the tyre slipping on the roller generating excessive heat. I will concede that this may be due to my puny legs not putting enough power through the system to cause this to be an issue, but my first port of call if I saw this happening would be to look carefully at the set-up & see if anything needed tightening up.
Regarding wear - it's hard to quantify. I am not entirely clear on the mechanism that would cause a tyre to wear more quickly when rolling on a smooth roller compared to a rough, lumpy surface.
If I really get into this Zwift thing, then I might use a second wheel with a turbo tyre on, but to anyone thinking of starting with it, I wouldn't say that a turbo tyre was an absolute must.....
I've got one fitted, but only because a neighbour brought one over the other day to give me.... But don't need a spare wheel as i've no intention of riding outdoors on it.
If I sprint hard I can get wheel spin and a burning smell from my tyre but I can't sustain that sort of effort (800W+) for long so it's never really been an issue.
I really struggle on the sprint aspect, i'm not sure if it's this particular turbo power delivery, the riding position stopping me getting out of the saddle easily etc or something else..
I can put out 270w consistently for most of my ride.... i can put 300w out for a 10 mins sustained effort... but i can't get over 500w for a sprint for sure !
it really does. Not only do they wear out faster. They lose all grip and spray molten shredded rubber all over the wall.
Never had that. May be an issue with softer compound racing tyres (i've also heard of them heating up and blowing the tube), but usually just stick an old partly squared off training tyre (Rubino, Krylion etc) on there and i've never had any sign of one disintegrating.
Spare cheap wheel for the turbo is of course invaluable.
Regarding wear - it's hard to quantify. I am not entirely clear on the mechanism that would cause a tyre to wear more quickly when rolling on a smooth roller compared to a rough, lumpy surface.
They definitely do wear faster, mainly I think because they get hotter and probably slip more. I've got a dumb turbo and use an old road wheel+tyre on it, and the tyre is very smooth now, a lot smoother than the similarly aged tyre I use for proper riding. Not had any molten rubber up the walls, though!
but i can't get over 500w for a sprint for sure !
they don't call me thunder thighs for no reason.
they don't call me thunder thighs for no reason.
I've got thighs like Griepel. Honestly... it's part of being a big lad... i struggle to get jeans that fit. But i dunno, i just struggle with getting a sprint going.
It doesn't really suit my riding style either.
How realistic is the racing based on W/Kg?
Is it your W/Kg at FTP that it looks at for categories?
If it is, looking at zwift, I'd be in their A cat based on my W/Kg, but I actually race in 4th Cat in real life as I've been doing flat circuit races against bigger people, whos advantage lies on the flat rather than the hills like mine.
Is it a similar thing on zwift or does having a high W/Kg stand you well on the flat there too?
Ok so to complete the questions of the noobs! whats the recommended hr monitor for use with the t2240? am I right in assuming it connects to the software rather than the turbo?
eeek that's hard to answer.
I'm on there at 96kg, so in the larger side of things and from what i can gather from my times/mates, i flat speed better than i climb. I'm not sure which aspect of it is the reason, whether it's my actual watts or my w/kg, but i personally think when i'm powering at 2.7w/kg on the flat i seem to go better than other riders putting out roughly the same power... but i don't think there's much in it.
You Zwift W/Kg is configured on a 20 min effort, 95% of that effort. But obviously a true FTP is in at 60mins.
Your overal ride is taken into account though, so if it's say a 1 hour ride, it's your overall power, at 95% gives your catagory.
Recently a lot of people were caught out as the race was short, <40 mins, so their relative power figure was better... Although some were just crazy as they put in 4.2w/kg in a <2.49w/kg race... so they were DQ'd.
With the racing it's a quick start, settles down and goes around about the expected w/kg then. Although i've only raced D's, i know lads who race C/B and it's a similar sort of thing.
Hopefully that helps a bit... but easiest way is to give it a try in a race and see what happens, work out where you are from there.
I think if you're moved up from a catagory due to power, e.g D > C then you race back in D, you're auto banned from results... But i can't see why you couldn't try an A race and drop to B for personal preference as long as your power figures didn't put you in A etc.
The course will play a factor for you though i think, plenty of races are on the flat courses... Which suit me better. Although the London Loop does take in Box Hill which gives me a struggle in the races.
alexxx - MemberOk so to complete the questions of the noobs! whats the recommended hr monitor for use with the t2240? am I right in assuming it connects to the software rather than the turbo
HR Monitor talks to your ANT+ dongle.
I'm on there at 96kg, so in the larger side of things and from what i can gather from my times/mates, i flat speed better than i climb. I'm not sure which aspect of it is the reason, whether it's my actual watts or my w/kg, but i personally think when i'm powering at 2.7w/kg on the flat i seem to go better than other riders putting out roughly the same power.
Flat is where as a bigger guy you have all the advantage - raw power is everything on the flat.
To match your power at 2.7W/kg i'd have to be putting out 4.5W/kg.....
However, come to a climb, and to match my ~220W FTP you'd need to put out 370W!
Speed for W/kg is the same regardless of terrain, your weight is already accounted for in the. alculation. The difference you experience is drafting.
Anyone heard of a confirmed date for zwift releasing to ios devices? My laptop has rubbish integrated intel hd graphics which doesnt work, not prepared to buy a new laptop just for zwifting.
Weekst - was it you who ordered the cheap chinese speed/cadence sensor?
Interesting reading, thanks
Weekst - was it you who ordered the cheap chinese speed/cadence sensor?
yes, still waiting for it... 12 days.
blader1611 - MemberAnyone heard of a confirmed date for zwift releasing to ios devices? My laptop has rubbish integrated intel hd graphics which doesnt work,
Just wondering whether you've tried it to see if it will run, or whetehr you are just going by the numbers on the website?
My laptop doesn't match the min requirement for graphics (mine has got Integrated HD3000 and the min spec is Integrated HD 4000) but it runs fine.
I did wonder if it might keel over when more riders were on the screen, but I was on it last night and there were loads of riders around at one point & it coped fine.
The Zwift algorithm accounts for terrain so w/CDA based on your size and height are what count on the flats and w/kg take over on the hills.
My laptop doesn't match the min requirement for graphics (mine has got Integrated HD3000 and the min spec is Integrated HD 4000) but it runs fine.
I did wonder if it might keel over when more riders were on the screen, but I was on it last night and there were loads of riders around at one point & it coped fine.
My laptop also below min spec but works fine. In the resolution section I only get the option of the two lowest settings which look fine to me.
@mrjmt I find the category classifications a little bit misleading. They are based on 95% of your 20 minute power / weight in KG.
This means the relationship between your calculated FTP as above and your actual hour power can decide if you have a fair race or not.
My stamina isn't great, so I tend to drift into B cat territory for the short races and everyone gets all uppity that I'm sandbagging but in races closer to an hour or longer then I'm firmly mid-C cat.
The organisers have invested a lot of time effort and money into Zwiftpower.com so stick with the cats almost in an attempt to justify it but I think either no categories, a TT qualifier or a points based system would all be 'better' in many ways.
Ordered it all! dammit! I need to get fit for my trip to NZ in February so it seems the best way to get the legs spinning!
Is there a STW group on there now?
There's a Strava one. I don't think Zwift does groups... but if you add people from Strava into Zwift and they're riding, they then come up at the top of your list and you can select 'ride with'....
Nice thanks for the info - I'll get on it next week
After a lot of searching using various software and intel identification utility to identify my exact model, it transpires that not even intel had the answer. I tried zwift anyway as i read that even below min spec it runs but zwift told me that my intel hd 2900 graphics was prehistoric and old biffers like me should return to using brass rubbings for graphical displays!
Well its an acer icore i3-380 with 4gb ram and hd display thats less than 5 years old. But at least i now know which graphics its using so thats my silver lining.
You can drop your Zwift ride log file into this page and it will analysis your systems performance.
Ooooh might try that later.....
Quick question for those with smart trainers
What happens if you are running a candance + speed sensor already
Will take the speed from the trainer or the sensor on the wheel ?
Will take the speed from the trainer or the sensor on the wheel ?
You would pair the trainer with Zwift as a smart trainer so it would use this as the power source. You could additionally pair s/c sensor as just a cadence sensor so Zwifty knows your cadence too.
hi, can someone please spec me stuff to get into zwift cheaply in very laymans term (like..posting links)
what?
Smart turbo? = Tacx Flow T2240
ANT+? =
Heart Rate Monitor? =
Road Bike? = Cheapest I can get my hand in Decathlon near me.
my laptop to use is fast enough in terms of processor and graphics.cheers
Apologies if I've missed the answer to this but isn't racing on a trainer that doesnt automatically adjust the power to suit the terrain alomst like cheating?
For example, I have an Elite Volano trainer...if I was to race at my w/kg it would put me in a B race (I think). When the race came to a climb (Box Hill for example), surely I could just keep pedalling at the same power as I was on the flat and therefor not fatigue as quickly or slow as I might if I was climbing it on an ergo trainer???
If that makes sense????
it adjusts your speed in zwift for the slope.
On a hill the same power will result in a slower speed.
you do get to keep the same cadence which smart trainers users can only do by dropping gears(as per real life) I do better on a smart trainer as I hit it a bit harder when the resistance is applied.
it adjusts your speed in zwift for the slope.
I get that but then wouldnt those that still pedalled at a constant power on a non ergo be fresher at the top of the climb as oppose to those who climbed at that true power and speed??
What I have.....
Smart turbo? = Tacx Flow T2240 yes from Halfords with a BC discount.
ANT+? = from amazon with a usb extension cable c £15 from memory
Heart Rate Monitor? = Garmin already have a few.
Road Bike? = Cheapest I can get my hand in Decathlon near me. Whatever you like but I think its important to have at least a semi dedicated bike or you just wont bother with the faff.
You could use a winter bike in the summer and summer bike in the winter.
A cadence sensor is also useful as you'll soon get to know whats optimal, usually 80 to 90 rpm.
@gaz, no, in that mode the motor brake just simulates a hill, it doesn't make you produce more power.
So on a smart turbo you are pedalling along at 200w at 90rpm, then the hill kicks in, so you are still doing 200w, but now at 60rpm - unless you change down a couple of gears, then you are back to 90rpm again.
On a [u]non[/u] smart turbo, you are still pedalling 200w at 90rpm, you just don't have to change gear.
The only difference is a few gear changes and 'feel' Gaz. The power you can put out at a given cadence will stay the same regardless (and with a good spread of gears, there's no reason why you can't maintain the same cadence).
There's also a reality slider that lets you choose what percentage of grade you want adding. I ride at about 25% reality as any higher and I would need to keep changing chainring- whereas I can stay in the big ring at 25% and just shift +/- a few cogs at the back.
Apologies if I've missed the answer to this but isn't racing on a trainer that doesnt automatically adjust the power to suit the terrain alomst like cheating?
The trainer's just adjusting the resistance.
You're still right though, if you sit there at your optimum cadence in a high gear at the resistance you find most comfortable when making good power, you'll generally perceive it to be easier. A smart trainer would increase resistance resulting in a lower wheel speed and less inertia so making the same power feel different (might be easier, might be harder, depends on the rider.) Also if you're having to change gear a lot as the resistance varies, you're typically having to make a lot of little accelerations, this can be more fatiguing.
ok I did the ftp test on it this evening, but I can't see where my ftp figures are stored or adjusted?