Author Topic: Zwifting - I think I need help! (Read 79005 times)

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #700 on:** 20 June, 2023, 06:50:42 pm »

Decided to be a guinea pig for Zwift Play Controller. Partly to take advantage of the cut-price offer. Sold the elite stereo smart steerer block on eBay.

gibbo · « **Reply #701 on:** 19 October, 2023, 10:56:12 am »

So it's Tour of Watopia again and I've done 3 of 5 stages. I've tried my hardest on all so far and my W/kg and power output are noticably higher than previous efforts of free cycling/ meetups which has left my legs in an almost permanent state of soreness.

I even went back and repeated stage 1 as a felt I held back a bit on the first attempt. I'm not repeating the same stage 3 course since it's a climbing one...

Anyone completed all stages via the on-demand feature?

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #702 on:** 25 October, 2023, 11:03:27 am »

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Anyone completed all stages via the on-demand feature?

Hell no. One at a time, please! It's not a race..It's not a race..It's not a race..It's not a race.. Ok, It's a race..

Jaded · « **Reply #703 on:** 31 December, 2023, 03:14:34 pm »

Just followed a robot-pacer in a group. A different experience for a not too serious Zwifter.

Legs · « **Reply #704 on:** 31 December, 2023, 04:58:52 pm »

I like the idea of the robo pacers, but I’d only use them to do a long Z2 ride. That said, it requires a bit of concentration to stay close to the pacer and it’s very boring doing long Z2 rides, so I find that the time passes quicker if I put on a long erg-mode workout and watch a film on the big screen instead.

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #705 on:** 03 January, 2024, 07:33:38 pm »

On 1 Jan I did my first training run on Zwift, thinking it would be quite a social easy ride for NYD, but no, not a bit. There was nothing about ERG in the invite and anyway I have never used it. Whenever I was told to increase power, I did so and it seemed to have no effect - I was reaching cadences of 115, just to keep up, so I thought. Then I got a message to say I could increase my ERG power using the menu bar, so I did that and slowed the cadence a bit. Towards the end the resistance ramped up and it was very tough, but I did my 40 minutes with an average cadence of 95, somehow finished about 150 out of 300 odd and didn't die..

Still puzzled about how it works!

Legs · « **Reply #706 on:** 04 January, 2024, 09:14:20 am »

Asterix, the group training sessions are ‘rubber-banded’, so all of the avatars move along at roughly the same speed regardless of the power they’re doing, whether or not they’re using erg mode. If you’ve got a trainer which supports erg mode, I’d highly recommend using it for any workouts other than spiky-profiled spring sessions - it’s much easier to achieve the power targets than constantly trying to match your gearing and cadence to give certain powers.

Zwift has a difficulty rating scale for workouts from 1-5, which I think is worked out as a function of duration and overall TSS. Only Z1- and Z2-focussed workouts are going to be ‘social easy rides’!

L CC · « **Reply #707 on:** 04 January, 2024, 09:17:31 am »

I'm regularly surprised by how poor the understanding of how Zwift and trainers work and interact is, among long time users (including me).

TimC · « **Reply #708 on:** 04 January, 2024, 09:21:34 am »

The ‘rubber-banding’ was modified last year for group workouts to allow sub-groups of similar w/kg to form and for the sub-groups to separate by pace. I was quite surprised when I last did one that I ended up in a small group of 4 or 5 riders out of a total participation of 200+. After half an hour or so, we were a couple of Km behind the fastest riders. Yes, it was definitely rubber-banded in erg mode.

Legs · « **Reply #709 on:** 04 January, 2024, 02:08:37 pm »

Oh, that’s interesting (although completely pointless, really!)

TimC · « **Reply #710 on:** 04 January, 2024, 05:33:59 pm »

Quote from: Legs on 04 January, 2024, 02:08:37 pm

Oh, that’s interesting (although completely pointless, really!)

That's what I thought!

Jaded · « **Reply #711 on:** 04 January, 2024, 05:37:02 pm »

Quote from: L CC on 04 January, 2024, 09:17:31 am

I'm regularly surprised by how poor the understanding of how Zwift and trainers work and interact is, among long time users (including me).

Also not long time users

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #712 on:** 04 January, 2024, 06:55:27 pm »

Ah! So that’s how it works!

Thank you

LateStarter · « **Reply #713 on:** 06 January, 2024, 07:51:11 am »

Quote from: Asterix, the former Gaul. on 03 January, 2024, 07:33:38 pm

but I did my 40 minutes with an average cadence of 95,

Still puzzled about how it works!

What Trainer, my Tacx Flux won't allow me to do much more than low 70s, very very heavy all the time even downhill, I think I have a dud but it's out of warranty so I guess that's it! I am not buying a trainer costing more than my bike. I will just go to the park and pretend I am zwifting

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #714 on:** 06 January, 2024, 05:11:48 pm »

Wahoo Kickr.

It’s my second one. The first had trouble because at some points it halved my cadence so I was climbing at about 30rpm. Sent Wahoo all the reports and they swapped it for a brand new one. Luckily I had kept all the packing. The problem was a weak Bluetooth signal I believe.

yoav · « **Reply #715 on:** **Today** at 07:46:22 am »

Just received an email from Swift to say the monthly subs is going up to £17.99 (from £12.99). I think it’s time to quit Zwift. What other training apps are people using and what do you recommend?

Asterix, the former Gaul. · « **Reply #716 on:** **Today** at 08:21:16 am »

Something about it here

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/zwift-hikes-subscription-price-by-over-a-third/

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Indeed, Zwift's price has remained at its current level for more than seven years, the last increase came in November 2017, when it rose from $9.99 to $14.99. That means it has ridden the wave of the pandemic boom and bust without any fluctuations, despite most competitors increasing theirs.

The move, however, positions Zwift as the most expensive indoor cycling subscription (excluding Peloton). It sits a few cents ahead of TrainerRoad ($19.95), while Wahoo Systm is $14.99. Peloton is by far the most expensive at $44.99, albeit with a different model and a different target audience.

Cheapest Rouvy sub is $12.41/month if paid for a year.

I'll probably drop Zwift for the summer soon anyway.

MattH · « **Reply #717 on:** **Today** at 08:57:05 am »

mywhoosh might be worth trying. I tried it early on, but my pain cave laptop wasn't up to running it and I couldn't run it on the big screen from my phone (could get it up there, but the mouse wouldn't work to click on things - it does on most apps).
They've now released a lightweight version, but as I'm off the trainer for the summer haven't tried it.

MrsH is still running zwift, I might ask her to take a look. It'll get quite expensive in winter when I restart mine.

gibbo · « **Reply #718 on:** **Today** at 09:08:47 am »

It's a sad day, I paused my membership of 4+ years! Obviously, I too, got the Zwift email regarding an uplift in prices. These people are in business to make money, I get that, and to me it's acceptable to have say a small yearly increase but when a 33% hike comes in one hit it's probably not surprising there will be a backlash?

I've now paused my subscription for a couple of months but still have one month to ~~run~~ ride, allowing me a bit of time to research and try out other platforms before quitting. I'm thinking Rouvy, at the moment, but will watch this thread to see what pans out.

One of the things I like about Zwift is the number and participants in events and group rides and I'm wondering if other platforms will have that? Having people, even virtual ones, around me helps to keep me motivated and to keep going etc.

IanF · « **Reply #719 on:** **Today** at 09:29:00 am »

If at least 'virtual' company is important to you then Indievelo is probably worth a look. If events aren't fully subscribed with real people the numbers are generally made up with bots (though organisers can make real people only events). The pace bots generally have decent trains around them.

Also can vouch that the new lighter MyWhoosh client plays much more nicely with my low spec PC than the original one. It's still deserted there though in my brief experience.

Pedal Castro · « **Reply #720 on:** **Today** at 10:32:58 am »

IndieVelo is great, even when given I free year on Zwift after RGT was closed down i gave it away and after I tried IndieVelo.

I currently run a series of races where human riders mainly race against ability matched bots. So instead of getting dropped on the first climb and TTing to the finish it ends up as a tactical race. Today I didn't chase the early breakaways, worked hard to stay in the second group as the climbers left us, hung on on the flat until we caught the climbers, did the same on the second lap which really tested my resolve and pushed me to the limit. Then on the short rise before the line I sprinted from 600m out and hung on to win catching the bots by surprise.

usually in similar situations I am passed just before the line.

There are 5 time slots to ride each of the N&DCA weekly races. Today's 9am slot has 3 human riders but because we are of different abilities we were not in the same race. I was in pen 5 from 7, the others were in pens 1 and 3.

Last month's results