PSA – Free Ant+ indoor turbo trainer software

http://veloreality.com/products/trainer-software/

Needs 64-bit windows.

Plenty of calibrated turbo trainers in there already with the ability to add your own user defined power curve.

And if you need the data analysis…
Get Golden Cheetah (which is also freeware)

Looks a good alternative to trainer road. But I can’t find anywhere that lists compatible trainers, anyone know which it will work with>

Looks good. I guess they make their money from selling the route videos. Not sure I’d use the riding a route thing very much though as the novelty would wear off quickly.

So that’s trainer road, golden cheetah, motivo, and this. Plenty to choose from. I think wahoo and minoura do one too but they may be tied to their own trainers.

Its got hundreds of different turbos and their associated power curves.
All the popular ones are on there for sure and some more.

You can also define your own – if you have access to a power meter.

Best thing is to download the executable and run it.
Its a self-contained executable so there is actually no installation of the software onto your PC.

Click on the button below the resistance curve to select a trainer from the left hand list.

MSP – which turbo do you have?

Where’s my free ant..? I’m sorely disappointed with this thread.. 😐

It’s Ant+…

That is one of the ugliest interfaces I’ve seen in a good long while.

… you don’t work in IT then.

… you don’t work in IT then.

🙂

That is one of the ugliest interfaces I’ve seen in a good long while.

Top picture reminds me of an old Amiga game, probably from about 1990. Can’t remember what though.

Top picture reminds me of an old Amiga game, probably from about 1990. Can’t remember what though.

Tetris the really dull edition?

That is one of the ugliest interfaces I’ve seen in a good long while.

Remember the workout part is free/gratis! 🙂 below are some images of a couple of the display options when doing say the Tourmalet or Ventoux for example. The video menu part of the software should be improved in the next week or so. Then in place of clicking a file name you will have something a bit more obvious then a list of file names. After this we are adding the ability to share workouts & race past performances of others. Then we have some other cool ideas for it like real time racing etc.

Starting the Bedoin side of the Ventoux in Malaucene

The start of the Col du Tourmalet (same side as next years Etape du Tour)

Awesome, it’s got my Sportcrafters rollers already preset (although it looks like a 5 min job to plot in your own kit if not already listed but you have access to a power graph for it).

I’ve just ordered a Garmin ANT USB stick for £15 to give it a go.

Thanks!!

I’ve just ordered a Garmin ANT USB stick for £15 to give it a go.

and don’t forget the speed & cadence sensor.

Remember the workout part is free/gratis!

Fair point. You’ve obviously put a lot of work into the programming side but why not get yourself a pet undergraduate that’s looking for some portfolio/project work and let them loose on the visual aspect of it.

If I’m gonna have to be staring at something for a couple of hours ideally I’d like it be be reasonably comfortable to view. That interface has so many small numbers and fades and so on that it all looks a little awkward.

bacondoublechee, where did you get the Garmin ANT USB for £15?

and don’t forget the speed & cadence sensor.

Already got as I use a Garmin 500 on the bikes anyway

bacondoublechee, where did you get the Garmin ANT USB for £15?

eBay – just do a UK only buy it now search for ANT USB and order by price.

Fair point. You’ve obviously put a lot of work into the programming side but why not get yourself a pet undergraduate that’s looking for some portfolio/project work and let them loose on the visual aspect of it.

If I’m gonna have to be staring at something for a couple of hours ideally I’d like it be be reasonably comfortable to view. That interface has so many small numbers and fades and so on that it all looks a little awkward.

Well the free workout part can & will change, it does the job, we can make it look a bit more like Trainer road or Tacx Catalyst if thats what you think is ideal. Eventually if we can get enough users (& enough of those to buy a ride or two) we will make it so you can set up the data display anyway you want & share those.

eBay – just do a UK only buy it now search for ANT USB and order by price.

It has to be a USB2 Ant stick like you would have with a recent Garmin. There is a new type of ant stick going on the market called Antsubm & this will be working later in the week (about an hour after we get it).

here is the manual if you want to understand it as it is now. Although the software is getting new features & updates every week http://www.veloreality.com/exs_v_ride/manual.zip

looks like your making a useful tool but why 64bit windows only? thats a sure way to not grow your user base

May have a gander at this, assume it works like TrainerRoad and needs an FTP test to set the bar?

I tested the ANT+ connectivity with the eBay USB stick last night and it worked fine, picking up my Garmin HR strap no problems. Will try it in the garage with the rollers and speed/cadence when I get chance and report back.

Posting so I can keep an eye on this, anyone using it with a power meter?

Looks good. Can anyone suggest a suitable cadence and speed sensor to get up and running with this?

So do I need an all singing all dancing turbo for this or will my existing variable mag trainer with my garmin speed, cadence and hrm work?? I usually plan interval sessions in garmin connect and upload to my garmin800 but this looks like I’ll get prettier graphs……

So do I need an all singing all dancing turbo for this or will my existing variable mag trainer with my garmin speed, cadence and hrm work?? I usually plan interval sessions in garmin connect and upload to my garmin800 but this looks like I’ll get prettier graphs……

Yes the garmin speed sensor/USB dongle will be fine & you have a list of trainers here

Try the free video demo also, your garmin will allow you to ride the hills, you have to hammer harder up them to increase your virtual speed & the video frame rate! One of the Demos is the top of the Galibier which will loop until you have enough of it! For a few quid you can do the entire thing & then tackle Alpe d’Huez

The HUD display options have changed a little bit, there will be many other options for those doing our collection of rides 🙂

Haze – Member
May have a gander at this, assume it works like TrainerRoad and needs an FTP test to set the bar?

You dont have to do an FTP test as just now you have to make your own sessions..I can make some for you but they will be dull as hell & probably not very effective. The workout builder uses %FTP though so just ask your friends what they recon you can pump out for an hour…or just ride an hour time trial (dont worry this will make you fitter anyway)

petrieboy – Member
So do I need an all singing all dancing turbo for this or will my existing variable mag trainer with my garmin speed, cadence and hrm work??

Did not answer this properly above…Yes it will work with any trainer, spin bike or even rollers. If you have a Lynx, Kickr or Computrainer (not really known in the UK) then you will have the ability to set the watts in ergometer mode or actually feel the grades change when doing one of the filmed routes. Later into the winter we will hopefully be able to build on the list of VR trainers that the software supports.

I used this for the first time the other night, initial thoughts:

Good Stuff:
Fairly simple to get up and running
Nice fast display updates
I can’t think of a cheaper way to ride with power (albeit estimated but still consistent)
Demo videos looked good, I might be tempted to buy a full one

Could be improved:
-As soon as I hit the end of the default workout it reset to a new workout making all the average and max power/hr/cadence useless as I didn’t get chance to look at them. It should stay on the workout screen until you exit
manually.
-Can’t see a way to log/save/export sessions for future comparison
-If you don;’t know your FTP (I don’t) then it’s a bit fiddly to set the workout intensity. I used some sort of zoom feature which seemed to work just about!
-Some more basic prebuilt workouts would be good and quick for the developers to add. II’ll freeze standing in my cycling kit in a cold garage setting up all the separate intervals in the UI
-The video’s seemed a bit jerky but that’s probably the laptop I used for it!
-Countdown to next interval/end of interval is a must! It’s impossible to tell from the graph accurately (especially on rollers while sprinting!) so you have to wait until the power gauge shows you are too low/high to tell. Also knowing how long you have to go on an interval is always good.

All in, very good for free – will use again!

Bacon, it didn’t run too well on my laptop either. It’s not a great spec but certainly adequate enough to run TrainerRoad smoothly.

Not sure if it’s a software or resource issue tbh, from a feedback perspective it may be something for the developers to check out?

Anyway, potential is there but I’m not buying into it just yet. It needs to be significantly better that what I already use, it isn’t.

Well I have read the manual (there’s a first time for everything!) and have now found my workout saved as a tcx. Strava read it fine so that’s a start. Would be nice to view it in the app though so I can compare easily.

With the laptop in the house I’ve also had a go at creating a workout. It’s actually not that bad, but being an IT bod I can pick it up easily – some more prebuilt ones would be less daunting to new users.

Haze – try playing the video outside of the app and see how it goes. Just about plays on my laptop but gets a little stuck in places so add the app on top and it seems about right. The developers should consider that dedicated garage/trainer computers probably aren’t top spec. 720p from decent source footage is more than enough when your eyes are stinging with sweat!

bacondoublechee720p from decent source footage is more than enough when your eyes are stinging with sweat

Maybe you do not have good enough fan? My face is dry and whatever tries to come down from my scalp gets blown back by the fan. I have 30″ IPS monitor and can definitely appreciate higher resolution.

bacondoublechee – Member
Well I have read the manual (there’s a first time for everything!) and have now found my workout saved as a tcx. Strava read it fine so that’s a start. Would be nice to view it in the app though so I can compare easily.

With the laptop in the house I’ve also had a go at creating a workout. It’s actually not that bad, but being an IT bod I can pick it up easily – some more prebuilt ones would be less daunting to new users.

Haze – try playing the video outside of the app and see how it goes. Just about plays on my laptop but gets a little stuck in places so add the app on top and it seems about right. The developers should consider that dedicated garage/trainer computers probably aren’t top spec. 720p from decent source footage is more than enough when your eyes are stinging with sweat!

We need to change the site a bit so you know the basics before you download as its true almost nobody will read the detailed instructions in the pdf. All your data is auto saved as tcx files inside the data folder. If your doing a ride right now & dont stop it will just keep repeating but the saved data does not get repeated, it just keeps saving your data like normal. To solve this simply stop when you have enough! The displayed data & averages should not reset though, if they do this is a bug & it will be fixed.

To look at your tcx file you can literally use a whole sea of analytic 3rd party programs,Garmin connect is free, Cycling Peaks, Strava etc even Google Earth can open a tcx file! 😉 We will do this also at some point but right now we want to focus on things you cant do elsewhere.

For the pre made workouts, they will come. Actually we will have it so you guys can share them via our server. Just now we are adding a Strava type ability to race everyone on the hills inside our video collection & free multiplayer so you can race in real time up d’Huez, Ventoux etc.

For low res versions of the rides we have made some, next week I will start pumping out some 720p versions. Its true you need a fairly powerful machine to smoothly run 1080p at super high frame rates. If you have the budget for a Lynx trainer then you will probably have a fairly good PC to go with it. Another solution for borderline PCs is to just avoid descents! just ride the climbs & your frame rate should should be cool. On a descent the video will skip if your PC is not man enough for the job. But by the end of next week most of the rides should have a lowbitrate version that will run on anything 64bit.

That’s good to hear!

I have to say, all this sounds very complicated. 🙂

The screenshots look nice.

The Lynx trainer looks interesting for a fair chunk of cash.

http://veloreality.com/products/lynx-trainer/

Makes my Elite RealAxiom look fairly budget.

Its the only trainer that can replicate real inertia on all grades, I know all the trainer companies say this but this is the only one thats measures torque at 250hz (250x every second) & calculates just how much inertia is actually needed 😉 really all the others feel like riding in a sandbox. Spin trainers have a lot of inertia but its not accurate & on a hill your back at the sandbox feeling. Its why riding a trainer hurts more then on a road even if your heart rate/watts is the same. trainers are unnatural, they keep you in a fixed position when out on the road you want the bike to move freely. On the Lynx the rear of the bike can move with your hip movements…it feels like rollers but with the inertia of the road…Add the software & you can train all day inside if you wanted.

It costs a fair bit more then your typical plastic VR sandbox trainer, but if you like to get what you pay for then you will see the thing is build like a tank, CNC machined with industrial parts & a huge 2HP motor. Its a tool for the cyclist that wants to train a lot inside.

https://www.facebook.com/Veloreality

bacondoublechee

-Countdown to next interval/end of interval is a must! It’s impossible to tell from the graph accurately (especially on rollers while sprinting!) so you have to wait until the power gauge shows you are too low/high to tell. Also knowing how long you have to go on an interval is always good.

All in, very good for free – will use again!

Thanks for the feedback bacondoublechee, software now has a countdown to the end of each interval. Heart rate & Cadence real time curves are also added to the wattage one! We are now looking for some popular workouts to be included by default, so if anyone has ideas or thinks they have the ultimate workout for mountainbike fire away . Its being built in a way that you can share workouts easily.

Question for you guys! We want to film some MTB routes in mainland Europe next year. not too technical as we will have a lot of very expensive camera/stabilization kit with us. So the kind of stuff that would be fast enough for a trainer ride. Pyrenees Alpes etc needs to have incredible views & grades that are not crazy steep.

What’s the question?