Author Topic: Which VR cycling app do you use?  (Read 14546 times)

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #100 on: 28 December, 2020, 03:07:58 pm »
FulGaz seems to have problems streaming, so I’m trial downloading and FTP test to see if I can run it locally. Did a pleasant 20km somewhere flat in the Netherlands on Rouvy too.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #101 on: 11 January, 2021, 02:52:58 pm »
mllePB did the free trial on Rouvy and it was mostly a success so we've paid up.  Now though, having taken my money, I am tearing my hair out with trying to get the website to do basic account maintenance like being able to set up a second family user, manage to set and retain profile data or even select which user is wanting to ride.

Anybody else having Rouvy regrets?

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #102 on: 11 January, 2021, 03:39:04 pm »
No regrets about Rouvy but it takes a bit of faffing to get around.
The routes etc are on two ( at present) apps Rouvy and Rouvy AR . I believe everything is being slowly migrated to the AR one.
To deal with your account you need to go onto their internet site - not the apps

Two other bits of advice, from my personal perspective
- it’s data heavy, so anyone else using your router for say, streaming, can freeze your ride ( but I’m in a very slow rural area)
- don’t engage with the Facebook user group too much! There are people on there constantly bickering about people’s power/ weight figures being false, and cheating in races

I’ve got Zwift and Rouvy, but I use Rouvy most days, and haven’t been near Zwift since November, so you can guess which I prefer.

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #103 on: 11 January, 2021, 03:40:26 pm »
I bought a Neo 2T in November but resisted the temptation to unpack it before Christmas.  I've been on Zwift since; a few sightseeing pootles, a meetup ride 'with' my brother (first time we've ridden together for >10 years!), an FTP test (246W), a couple of stages of the Tour de Zwift, and a slog up Alpe du Zwift.

It's all been great so far.  I've lost a few pounds and I can see my numbers heading back up as my fitness increases.  :thumbsup:

I'm going to do a 'Jon's Mix' workout tonight.  I'll probably wait a few weeks before starting an FTP-building programme.

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #104 on: 11 January, 2021, 04:00:12 pm »
mllePB did the free trial on Rouvy and it was mostly a success so we've paid up.  Now though, having taken my money, I am tearing my hair out with trying to get the website to do basic account maintenance like being able to set up a second family user, manage to set and retain profile data or even select which user is wanting to ride.

Anybody else having Rouvy regrets?

In the end I didn't take up the Rouvy offering. I got it working (non-AR) but their support failed to explain why my laptop, which exceeded their specs, failed to load the AR images, and therefore I had no assurance that in future I'd be able to continue to access it as the migration continues. It may be a graphics card issue (I have the graphics memory but an AMD card and they recommend nVidia).
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #105 on: 11 January, 2021, 04:08:17 pm »
I can see your point.  The app rides work well on the tablet and you can download the route beforehand for even smoother interaction but the user profile experience is left wanting.  As mllePB is the sole user just now we can live with the issues but when I want to start using it these issues will cause us problems.

Not impressed Rouvy.

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #106 on: 11 January, 2021, 05:32:02 pm »
I bought a Neo 2T in November but resisted the temptation to unpack it before Christmas.  I've been on Zwift since; a few sightseeing pootles, a meetup ride 'with' my brother (first time we've ridden together for >10 years!), an FTP test (246W), a couple of stages of the Tour de Zwift, and a slog up Alpe du Zwift.

It's all been great so far.  I've lost a few pounds and I can see my numbers heading back up as my fitness increases.  :thumbsup:

I'm going to do a 'Jon's Mix' workout tonight.  I'll probably wait a few weeks before starting an FTP-building programme.

On the other hand, there are some really irritating little glitches in the Zwift experience (some of which might be peculiar to me because I'm running it on a PC)

  • It takes quit a long time to load, and loading always involves the BCD (Blue Circle of Doom) and the joyous 'Not Responding' message...
  • It's annoying that I can't check out the Drop Shop without being in-activity.
  • Once you're in an activity, the only way to get out involves shutting Zwift down...
  • Joining an event is not perfectly straightforward - there doesn't seem to be an option for 'go there' and it makes me nervous that I can only get to the warm-up pen when I get the 'your event is going to start, do you want to go to the pen?' message.
  • Entering your weight and height can only be done to the nearest kilogram and centimetre or inch and pound.  How annoying is that?



Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #107 on: 11 January, 2021, 06:07:11 pm »
I'm going to do a 'Jon's Mix' workout tonight.

Thanks for the suggestion - I quite liked that one.  The 'sprints' made quite a change from most of the stuff that I have done but I could have done with a longer warmup.

I should be able to remember the workout name too  ;)

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #108 on: 11 January, 2021, 06:58:02 pm »
Cool, I’m glad you enjoyed it.  I’ve not done any of the workouts yet (except the Ramp Test), so tonight will be my first.  Did you do it with self-regulation, or did you do erg mode?  I imagine erg mode might make the sharp intervals difficult to transition into- it’s probably better for longer near-threshold activities.

Got to join a pace partner ride some time, too...

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #109 on: 11 January, 2021, 07:26:20 pm »
I did it in erg mode on a Kickr.  For the 10s intervals at 265% FTP I started to ramp the cadence up a second or two before the power changed to stop myself getting bogged down.  The Kickr seems to react pretty quickly but I don't really have anything to compare it to.

If you believe the numbers in the Zwift FIT file it copes pretty well with the step change:

T            P
(s)        (W)
830      109
831      110
832      113
833      115
834      525
835      526
836      535
837      533
838      531
839      532
840      530
841      528
842      526
843      525
844      181
845      130
846      128
847      128

These should be 110 -> 530 -> 130.
 
Not convinced by pace partners.  They seem popular and it is difficult to practice my social distancing  ;)

jiberjaber

  • ... Fancy Pants \o/ ...
  • ACME S&M^2
Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #110 on: 11 January, 2021, 07:49:51 pm »
Can you Rouvey on just a monthly basis, web site not clear as only shows 12$/month on a 1 year plan?
Regards,

Joergen

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #111 on: 11 January, 2021, 08:25:51 pm »
You can cancel a monthly subscription at any time, but can’t, AFAIK, suspend it like you can with Zwift for example.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

jiberjaber

  • ... Fancy Pants \o/ ...
  • ACME S&M^2
Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #112 on: 11 January, 2021, 11:36:11 pm »
You can cancel a monthly subscription at any time, but can’t, AFAIK, suspend it like you can with Zwift for example.
Ta I think I used up to free trial a year or so ago but will look to see if I can re-register to get another..
Regards,

Joergen

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #113 on: 12 January, 2021, 05:58:34 am »
Taking some time over the Christmas break to try out a few of the free trail periods of as few of these offerings.  I (and I guess everyone else who was trying to use it) had an issue with BigRingVR, where it failed to authenticate properly using my Google account.  The issue was identified, and  the solution was to issue a new build which everyone had to download.

I tried a few times, but still had the problem. So I emailed their support (it was around 5:30pm UK time).  I had a response within 5 minutes, asking me to confirm the version I had installed was 6.16.0 - it wasn't, it was 6.14.0. I uninstalled, and re-downloaded and installed - same issue.  Emailed back. Inside 5 minutes a response - some browsers were caching the original download - switch browser / go incognito. I did, and it worked. Really good support from them.

I got hit by the same issue, I was quite impressed by their speed of response, alongside their general customer support as you point out.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #114 on: 12 January, 2021, 11:04:37 am »
Yep, very good. And I like their layout the best of all I've tried too, it's very clear what's going on, what's coming up and where you are. Plus it's the one that I can usually stream no problems at 1080P, which is good enough for me.  I must try out some FulGaz rides too, but thats a weekend "job", too bloody cold in the shed to muck about finding my way around it atm! So, it'll be BigRingVR this evening again.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #115 on: 12 January, 2021, 11:38:01 am »
Rouvy have replied to me:


You (as a Master of the subscription) can add 2 members to the Family sharing. The members have to have their own Rouvy account with a username.

Family sharing is not possible when a free trial is active
(on both sides - main and member - if one of them has a free trial,
then it does not work).


What I infer from this is that only fully paid up account holders can be family members on another account.  If this is the case then I am feeling disappointed and misled by the claims that you can share your account with upto two family members.  I'll try and figure this out but I'm not feeling positive about this experience of Rouvy membership.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #116 on: 12 January, 2021, 02:11:10 pm »
Yep, very good. And I like their layout the best of all I've tried too, it's very clear what's going on, what's coming up and where you are. Plus it's the one that I can usually stream no problems at 1080P, which is good enough for me.  I must try out some FulGaz rides too, but thats a weekend "job", too bloody cold in the shed to muck about finding my way around it atm! So, it'll be BigRingVR this evening again.

I'm using only a fraction of it at the moment, focussing on two videos which fit my training programme, one is a very flat lakeside course that I'm using for steady state work, the second is a hill ride that I'm using instead of intervals this year. Trying to make both progressive.  On the first that means time to complete the course, and normalised power whilst staying in an aerobic HR zone. Second is time to the start of the hills ( flat run-in), time, power, ave and max HR on the climbing section, and then distance at the one hour point on the flat recovery section.  The hilly bit is typically 2-3% with some sections up to about 5%, but it's got enough regular flatter sections to simulate an interval session. 

I'll pick a video of a steady, hard climb of at least 25 minutes as a test towards the end of Feb. I need to find a nice course to do some 30secs on / 30 secs off intervals as well.
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #117 on: 12 January, 2021, 03:40:42 pm »
Rouvy have replied to me:


You (as a Master of the subscription) can add 2 members to the Family sharing. The members have to have their own Rouvy account with a username.

Family sharing is not possible when a free trial is active
(on both sides - main and member - if one of them has a free trial,
then it does not work).


What I infer from this is that only fully paid up account holders can be family members on another account.  If this is the case then I am feeling disappointed and misled by the claims that you can share your account with upto two family members.  I'll try and figure this out but I'm not feeling positive about this experience of Rouvy membership.

I know how it works now but it isn't very user friendly or particularly intuitive.  Firstly, you can only edit a user profile from a full web browser.  The android and apple apps don't allow this.  Why?  Secondly, to add family members you have to register for a separate account and wait the 14 day free trial period.  Once the trial expires you can then link them to the subscription account through a full web browser, no mobile apps again.

A rather clunky system.  I suspect that sharing a subscription is an add on and they didn't think it through in any detail.

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #118 on: 12 January, 2021, 03:41:59 pm »
Rouvy have replied to me:


You (as a Master of the subscription) can add 2 members to the Family sharing. The members have to have their own Rouvy account with a username.

Family sharing is not possible when a free trial is active
(on both sides - main and member - if one of them has a free trial,
then it does not work).


What I infer from this is that only fully paid up account holders can be family members on another account.  If this is the case then I am feeling disappointed and misled by the claims that you can share your account with upto two family members.  I'll try and figure this out but I'm not feeling positive about this experience of Rouvy membership.

I THINK that if a user joins with the premium type membership other profiles can be added - separate logins, same subscription. I could be wrong.

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #119 on: 12 January, 2021, 09:05:39 pm »
As a Zwift user I was pleased to discover a 3rd party app called Zwifthub.  It actually gives a detailed description of each ride which I find very useful and something the main app lacks.

Good explanation here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgSfajJzW6M&feature=youtu.be
Move Faster and Bake Things

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #120 on: 25 January, 2021, 06:24:14 pm »
Nope.  Rouvy is total shite.  It will not connect to the Wahoo Kickr Core from the same tablet but different account.  To be clear, all is fine with the first account but it simply refuses to recognise the trainer having logged out and logged into account 2.  Why FFS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I can log out, go back to the other account and then all is well.   Totally crap.

I am so pissed off at this moment.


Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #121 on: 26 January, 2021, 08:57:27 am »
Possibly try powereing down the Kickr so as to be sure to drop all the BT / ANT+ connections?  There's also a Facebook page (I know, I know, but they can be useful) "Rouvy Athletes" where you can look for community support if a support ticket doesn't work.
We are making a New World (Paul Nash, 1918)

Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #122 on: 26 January, 2021, 09:32:54 am »
I have been all through the power down, etc., etc. options.  It turns out that only one account can be registered to a device and that a maximum of five devices only is allowed. 

The first part of that is the issue for us as we don't currently have more than one tablet and no pc in the vicinity.  mllePB is registered to the tablet and a phone is way too small for me.

Imagine if you could only log on to one account from Google or Facebook or ebay or from any other service on any device let alone for a service that you pay for?

Rouvy is a great product incredibly poorly implemented.

ElyDave

  • Royal and Ancient Polar Bear Society member 263583
Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #123 on: 26 January, 2021, 10:09:24 am »
Go BigRing VR, I've had no issues other than their total failure of log-in, which they resolved pretty quickly, and their customer support has been excellent.  New rides are being added all the time
“Procrastination is the thief of time, collar him.” –Charles Dickens

citoyen

  • Occasionally rides a bike
Re: Which VR cycling app do you use?
« Reply #124 on: 26 January, 2021, 10:23:00 am »
It turns out that only one account can be registered to a device and that a maximum of five devices only is allowed.

Ugh! That's annoying.

Zwift at least allows separate users to log in using the same devices. I don't think there's a restriction on the number of devices you can log on from either.

The family sharing thing is in Rouvy's favour though. I wish Zwift would implement that. Or maybe some kind of tiered pricing based on usage that would better suit casual users like my wife - their standard pricing is too high.
"The future's all yours, you lousy bicycles."