Havng moved into the new place about 3 months ago, I’ve finally gotten round to sorting the garage out (always the last priority eh!)
I feel super privileged that i’ve moevd from a tine 2 bed flat, where my turbo was set up in the tiny kitchen, into a larger house (bringing 2 families together…4 kids in all!).
The new house has a fantastic garage -space for my bikes AND a proper turbo/zwift area!

I’ve spent a bit of time laying it out, fitting a 40″ screen and soundbar, and FINALLY sorting out my fan arrangement; 2 vacmaster fans in the DIY cabinet, and a screwfix 18″ one mounted up high…

I REALLY like woodwork/DIY, so it was a pleasure to play around with the tracksaw and router to make the fan stand…

Getting back into Zwift and fitness; having gone from an FTP of 312, over the summer months with moving, boozing, and such, I’ve dropped it down to 280 now and panning of working with that in order to get back to fitness.
Once i’ve tidies the rest of the garage, i’ll get a free weights section next to the turbo, and likely fit ANOTHER wall mounted rotary fan!

Without further ado…the pain cave!:

And some more detailed pics of the DIY fan stand..

Will Rob get another winter STW racing league going???

Show and share where you get all sweaty, eh!!!

DrP

I’ve just bought the vacmaster fan after a couple of years using a standard 18″ fan like you have mounted up high. How does two work with the remote? Do they both recognise one remote or are the coded? Should probably have just bought 2 of the ones without remote and got a smart plug.

Pain Cave is a purely abstract notion. It’s not an actual room in your house.

Never packed mine away this summer, although it has had very little use. Maybe twice a month average and usually just a gentle group ride to try and kickstart the habit again.

Getting back into Zwift and fitness; having gone from an FTP of 312, over the summer months with moving, boozing, and such, I’ve dropped it down to 280 now and panning of working with that in order to get back to fitness.

Did a FTP test two weeks ago and thanks to very little riding this summer, and what riding I did tending to be uplift days, my figure has gone down from 220 to 160. Add in my weight going from 82 to 86kg and my W/KG figure must be one of the lowest possible 🤣

Will Rob get another winter STW racing league going???

Hope so, need the encouragement to get on the turbo and bring up the rear of the pack! Planning to relocate my setup in front of the TV (that hasn’t been switched on for months!) this time, more room for fans than by the computer.

So far I’m happy using one 18″ fan. It’s at my side, on the floor, aimed at my body rather than my head but it’s beside an open door to the garden so cooling air is plentiful. It’s on a Smart plug, controlled by Google Assistant.

I’m thinking about a wall mounted fan above the TV too but not yet convinced of the need for it.

How does two work with the remote? Do they both recognise one remote or are the coded?

I don’t know, because I:

just bought 2 of the ones without remote and got a smart plug.

!!!!!

DrP

ooh @sctoroutes – thats a lovely set up! Though, TBH, I’d burn up with just one fan… I could actually do with more!!

DrP

Nice idea on the fan rack, with them at different levels you’ll get air to your face and your body. I’m guessing you’re running them off smart plugs (@hexhamstu they’re the non remote ones, the cardio version is black).

Mine with makeshift fan placement 🤣

Unfortunately I don’t have the room for a permanent set up, it’s a hassle putting it into place every time I want to train (and putting it all away again) but it’s the best I can do at the moment.

@scotroutes – daaaamn, that is a pretty sweet setup.

@DrP – very nice. I wish i had the tools/patience/skill to construct such things.

I am almost looking forward to a Zwift season or two again.

Was looking to sell all my kit soon as bored of turbo training. May set it up in the living room for one last try first. Hopefully, being in such a conspicuous place shall spur me on to use it.

Mine still gets used a few times a week. Trying to get back into it now, including more racing on courses that don’t suit me.

I’ve now done 542 Zwift races.

My setup is so basic though

I’ve done one proper race, my 2nd is tonight (going to try and commit to doing the new Zracing series). Oh and I’m in B cat… 🤣🥵😬

I need workouts in the calendar or else I get lazy and find excuses to not ride – TrainerRoad is helping massively with that.

@tallpau1
I’ve doing the “4 week FTP booster” workouts..

All are 50-60 minutes so far..a bit less involving than “build me up”..

Wanna play??

DrP

That’s the one with workouts 7 days a week, isn’t it? 🤣

I would, but it’d mess with my TR plan, just coming to the end of base phase 1 (week 6 of 6), base phase 2 starting next week, after a ramp test to see how much I’ve gained/lost. It’s been mostly sweet spot with weekend over/unders and endurance 90 min workouts, yuk! The next phase adds in V02 max workouts…

That’s the one with workouts 7 days a week, isn’t it?

Yeah… but i’m just doing 2-3 a week (if i can)..so it’ll span more than 4 weeks!!

Also…going to race the Z-racing even on wed at 1710…

DrP

How does two work with the remote? Do they both recognise one remote or are the coded?

You pair the fan with the remote, so you can have 2 fans controlled by the same remote which is what I have. One of the fans is also on an Alexa voice controlled plug so I can easily only have only one fan running. For easier sessions or during warmup \ cooldown 2 CLEVA fans is too much even on the lowest setting.

Sometimes 2 fans is too much even on the lowest setting.

I remember saying that I don’t see me needing more than level 2 with a single fan when I got my first vacmaster. I’m basically on level 3 on 2 fans now, unless it’s a zone 2/recovery ride 🤣

Anyone else got one of the 18″ screwfix fans?

I’m wondering if it’s possible to hack the electronics to halve the speed as level 3 is pointless and slowing down level 1 to make it quieter in winter when the full headwind effect isn’t needed would be nice. I’m guessing it’ll either be something hackable like different resistors with each switch, or else switching on/off coils on the motor.

I’ve done the opposite, binned the Zwift subs as I’m not using it, and I doubt I’ll be using it much over winter, hence I’ll register with the ‘free’ app RGT !

I’m all outdoor – 2-3 days with a 26 mile off road round commute, plus weekends and ‘lunch breaks’ on the WFH days.

I’m impressed so many of you can manage with so few fans!!!
Honestly – ive a Z2 workout and i’m roasting!

DrP

I can manage with one fan directly in front of me, but it’s in a cool garage, not a house !

My set up, last year. Still the same now, just less tidy! Bike permanently attached to kikr core, vacmaster cardio, Tele off eBay with Apple TV. Have really dropped off with zwifting (and road riding) the last few months. I suspect my ftp will have dropped a fair bit. Thinking about getting cracking again at the moment, will probably start with that 4 week builder. Am I looking forward to the winter STW racing season…..!? 🤔🤣

Yes – please Robbo a winter race league.. need something to train for.

I’m impressed so many of you can manage with so few fans!!!

Honestly – ive a Z2 workout and i’m roasting!

Yeah, but where is the air coming from?

I’m impressed so many of you can manage with so few fans!!!

I get hot with or without fans. I’m not sure it affects my performance though

one of the lowest possible 🤣

1W/KG on a good day possibly because I’m a seriously fat bastard 😂😂

2nd ever zwift race done, in my first I got dropped big time by the main B pack within about 1 minute of the start and then limped over 15th out of 17.

This one was a much bigger field, zpower results: 75th out of 109 in cat B. Settled into a decent group early on, didn’t get dropped, even made a push to bridge over to a trailing group that we were sort of catching up to, the pack I was with followed me (was hoping to drop them and join the next pack). And had enough left for a sprint at the end (uphill, of course… 🥵🤢).

Happy with that – my aim was to… NOT GET DROPPED! 🤣

280w AVG, 3.8w/kg, 770w max power.

Oh god, did I just enjoy a zwift race? 😦

Edit: if anyone is looking to start racing I reckon this new Zracing series is ideal, it looks like there’ll be loads of riders at peak times which means even if you’re not in the top 2/3rds of your category, you’ll still have people to ride with. Problem with the races that only have 20 riders in each category is that if you get dropped by them, you’re on your own and will get swept up by the next category down.

Yeah, but where is the air coming from?

Mostly shipped in from the top of K2…..

DrP

(Nearish the open garage door)

That’s great Paul…. keep it up!

DrP

Mine isn’t as fancy as some but it does the job nicely. It’s a garage but panelled out and insulated. Doesn’t get too cold in the winter or too hot in the summer vs how it was not insulated.

I have Kickr core which I Bluetooth to trainer road on my iPhone which mounts on the bars. I have got a spare computer monitor which I may mount on the wall if I can get a mount that swings out in front of the bike at some point. Not used Zwift yet – happy with trainer road for the flexibility of picking out workouts of differing durations when I want right now. Had a bad back so have held off a full training plan whilst I ease back in.

*declines to show his horrid, messy garage photo*

Will Rob get another winter STW racing league going???

I’m also hoping so and know some others are too.

FTP . . . dropped it down to 280

I briefly hit 280W at my absolute fittest a few years ago – but with IRL road riding replacing Zwift since I retired, I’ll be lucky to be much above 200W.

What do people run in term of PC to get the highest quality Zwift graphics?

Horrid, messy garage photo:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/2nJLLA3]PXL_20220709_145646877[/url]

Saris H3 mounted on a chopped up camping mat to act as a red-neck wobble board.
The new-to-me refurbed PC was just setting up Windows while I took this.
“Smart” plug for fan actually just a switched extension on the side where I can reach it.
2 sets of speakers, little ones for game sounds on the PC, bigger set for streaming Planet Rock from my phone.

It’s going to be less fun this year as the whole garage is a series of leaky bits – roof, walls and floor – and I don’t think I’ll be wanting to run the heaters or dehumidifier this year with the way electricity prices are going. Still, more reason to get out on the MTB instead 😉

What do people run in term of PC to get the highest quality Zwift graphics?

I bought a used GTX1070 for £135 to go in my pc which has a 10 year old i5 3570k CPU – runs at 4k uhd, ultra settings at 60fps unless there’s loads of riders around when it becomes CPU limited.

What do people run in term of PC to get the highest quality Zwift graphics?

Current set up is run zwift on my phone, pixel 3a, cast to a chromecast in a wall mounted tv.
Definatly not the best interms of frame rate but works for now, since my tablet was too old to run current zwift build.

What do people run in term of PC to get the highest quality Zwift graphics?

Why bother? It’s a cartoon anyway. For 2 years I’ve been running lowest everything on a very old pc and it still stuttered… but kept me in the “world” as it’s mainly the connect between going up and down on the screen and the smart trainer getting harder and easier that make it “real” for me.

The refurbed pc I’ve just bought (c. £150) has moved me to the heady heights of 1080 and “medium” graphics. I apprepreciate the lack of stutter, but otherwise there’s not any great real difference.

If you can handle the slightly annoying remote, the Apple TV is the best way to get it running, but I’ll admit it does look a hell of a lot nicer on my pc.

I needed a GPU to run it regardless, as I run TrainerRoad alongside on the same pc.

@Weeksy being “hot” is a massive drain on performance!
To illustrate- let’s say your ftp is 250w. If your body was able to produce that power without wasting the energy it does as heat, your ftp would be ONE THOUSAND WATTS!!!

Obviously that’s impossible at a biological level but it shows what sort of gains are on the table.

I have 36 fan-inches running next to an open window and also often wear my kit straight out of the washing machine- drained but still wet.
But even then- it’s almost not worth training indoors during the summer as I’m 20-30w off of what I can hit outdoors. It’s often not until October that my indoor power comes in line with out.

Training without a fan can actually produce some adaptations like altitude training- as you are similarly restricting the supply of oxygenated blood to your muscles (because it’s all in your skin trying to dissipate heat!).
But they are very short lived (a couple of weeks).

Tl/dr: If you aren’t shivering when you get on the bike, it’s probably costing you power once warmed up 😀

Mine is hooked up to a second hand Lenovo laptop running Win 10. I think it might have a GTX 1660 graphics card? Somebody local was selling it so I got it cheap enough and needed a laptop for occasional other stuff anyway.

The only thing I’m currently unhappy with us that some 8f the Zwift menu actions aren’t duplicated in the Companion app. Without some sort of remote keyboard I have to get off the bike to reach over to the laptop. I’m thinking that some sort of “pointer mouse” might work.

@DrP The guy who I bought my VacMaster from said it was worth an extra 50W…. and you have two