Zwift, TR, Sufferfest etc

[satori]

I got a code for a few month when I bought my trainer. I'll PM it to ya, hope it it works for you.
I haven't been on my trainer in a month since riding outs is great, BUT woke up to 3" of snow on the ground here in Colorado. Might need to fire up the Zwift today.

Thank you so much!! Looking forward to trying it out this weekend!

[buttahflake]

Jumped into the Crit City race this morning, (C) class. 3.5w/kg for 22 minutes! I’ve been bumped back into the (B)‘s again. They give you a good bit of leeway on watts for the Crit races. It’s all out for 8 laps. ZP has me in 8th out of the hundred plus that were in the (C) race. I think there was a shit-ton of (B) class sandbaggers in the group today. ZP does a good job of weeding them out. Great way to test fitness, given that I haven’t been on any Wednesday night hammer rides this summer. How do you guys feel about riding in groups outside during the pandemic? They just started our ride again, a couple of weeks ago. I still feel like it’s too soon. Am I wrong?
Downtown Dolphin Crit City, love this course.

[ridinshockgun]

Road or mountain? Road group rides are disgusting as far as trading body fluids between sweat flying, snot rockets, sneezing, hacking, etc. I would avoid those like the, errr, plague for a while. I wouldn't have any issue with a mountain bike group ride right now.

Lots of "sandbaggers" in the B races in particular on zwift since COVID, I think it is a lot of people with crappy equipment (what can I throw together to get on zwift) in addition to a lot of fit people who couldn't race outside jumping in. Zwift power weeding it out is great but that doesn't effect knowing who not to chase during the race so it kind of sucks with all of the sandbaggers.

[buttahflake]

Gravel group ride, it stays pretty tight, I’m gonna keep away for awhile. Good points about all the hacking and snot rockets. Totally agree also about chasing sandbaggers and blowing up.

[Iowagriz]

I'd also stay away from a gravel or road group ride. At least mtb tends to get spread out. No need to be in a paceline right now.

Installed a new chain yesterday on the road bike, which has been 99% on Zwift for about 3yrs. Not needed per the chain checker, but man did it make a difference. Super quiet now.

I think I'm down to 7 routes left on Zwift. However I also think that 6 of them have 4k+ in climbing. Those might have to wait until next winter.

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[ticketchecker]

about as interested in group rides as I am eating indoors at a restaurant

[carpathian]

I've been checking off badges left and right and it has been cool to ride in different Zwift locales that I normally don't bother with. My Watopia list is getting pretty small with a bunch of the big bad boys in there. Four Horsemen etc

On the other hand I went out for first cross country ride in about 5 years with the previous about 10 years before that. The last 5 have been road specific and the previous 15 plus was DH focused)

Scored a KOM and a bunch of top 5 in Strava segments I had been eyeing up. Did it on an old cro-moly GT Karakoram circa 1995 with V-brakes and 1.5" travel fork. She is my town cruiser. Either I'm in really good shape or the competition is not too tough, maybe a little of both. Thanks Zwift!!

I think I might be ready to upgrade bike, Thanks for the motivation Strava!!

[satori]

Thoughts on France/Paris world? Seems a bit dull but maybe they will release new rides for it? I haven't climbed the mountain yet so guess I gotta do that and then check back in. Maybe that will be an ass kicker like AdZ?

[dan_pdx]

Anyone got any recommendations for Zwift-compatible trainers? I want to HTFU this winter and I'm kind of kicking the figurative tires on a Wahoo Kickr; anyone have any thoughts on that model in particular?

[Sandbox]

I’m possibly going to get into Zwift in the next little bit...got a “ dumb” trainer and some wahoo sensors but still need to line up a road bike for it, have a feeling my gym will be closing due to Covid soon.

Anyone have a link, discount code or friend pass if I sign up? Like a refer a friend get XX?


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[XtrPickels]

Anyone got any recommendations for Zwift-compatible trainers? I want to HTFU this winter and I'm kind of kicking the figurative tires on a Wahoo Kickr; anyone have any thoughts on that model in particular?

Wheel off trainers are significantly better than wheel on.
Kickr Core is probably the best bang for the buck.

Best overview is here: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/...2019-2020.html

[ridinshockgun]

I've had a Kickr snap for a couple years and like it and you can usually pick them up used because people get really into it and upgrade to the wheel off for more accurate power readings. Just make sure you have the trainer tire mounted to a separate cheap wheel for easy change and it works fine.

[dan_pdx]

Wheel off trainers are significantly better than wheel on.
Kickr Core is probably the best bang for the buck.

Best overview is here: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/10/...2019-2020.html

Awesome, thanks! I've used a dumb trainer on and off for years, looking forward to getting on something more engaging.

[sethschmautz]

Anybody found an app to do spin bike (class) style workouts on a smart trainer? Asking for a friend (wife).

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[Dee Hubbs]

Anybody found an app to do spin bike (class) style workouts on a smart trainer? Asking for a friend (wife).

All of them.
Zwift, FulGaz, TrainerRoad, Rouvy, Sufferfest, BKool. All of the Smart trainers have there own apps, like Tacx, Wahoo, KurtKinetic.

[sethschmautz]

All of them.
Zwift, FulGaz, TrainerRoad, Rouvy, Sufferfest, BKool. All of the Smart trainers have there own apps, like Tacx, Wahoo, KurtKinetic.

Sorry, that's not exactly what I meant. I've mainly used Zwift and Sufferfest with my smart trainer and they work great automatically ramping up resistance when the app tells them to. My wife is not really interested in Sufferfest or Zwift but loves spin classes. Instead of buying a dedicated spin bike I was hoping that there was an app/service that provides the spin class environment (like peloton, for example) but works with a smart trainer.

Right now, if we don't but a spin bike, I'm thinking of trying to use the peleton app and letting her manually set resistance on the trainer using a tacx app. For those who like technology this might be okay. She is not one of those and I'm guessing that she'll grow tired of that combo quickly.

Ideally it would be a system that would use the app's Bluetooth connection to the smart trainer and adjust resistance based on what the spin teacher is doing on their end.

Make sense?

Seth

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[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Finally took the plunge on a smart bike + zwift account. Holy crap I can see how this would be addicting. Took 4th in the B group in my first ever race today. Which I was stoked on, but then I learned it didn't really count because I don't own a heart rate monitor. LOL. I can't believe people cheat so much at this they had to put those restrictions on racing. The start was insane though - do all zwift races go full on max watts out the gate?

Only thing I can't figure out is ERG mode. In that mode, I feel like I'm never in the right gear for the cadence I want to be at to hit my target watts. So I've just stopped using ERG and manage the gears myself. But maybe I'm missing some secret to unlocking ERG mode?

[buttahflake]

ERG is for the training plans and FTP test only. Never use it for racing or free riding. Yes, the first five minutes of any race is red line. Have you registered at Zwift Power yet? Get a HR monitor ASAP. I prefer the Wahoo Tickr armband. I’m in (B) class also, but I’m 55 now, I have trouble making the front of the big races, the starts are so demanding. I usually end up in the second group, scrapping for any ZP points I can get. Everyone starts with 600 points on ZP and the better you do the lower your points. 4th in a (B) race is freaking savage. Well done. Let’s jump into some races!

[kathleenturneroverdrive]

Thanks! Yeah I should have clarified I'm using ERG with a training plan coming in through Training Peaks. What I run into is the zwift terrain kind of forces super high cadences to hit my high watts (and I'm def not holding 110+rpms for that long) or if I'm doing a low cadence/high resistance workout ERG won't let me get into the cadence I need to be at. Today I did find the flattest course possible seems to help, but even then I turned off ERG to have more control. Could just be me though/maybe I just need more time on the machine to figure it all out.

On the race front I'm not registered at zwift power. I'll check that out for sure. I was stoked on 4th, but it was a short race and I didn't realize it was a mass start (I figured I just started with the B group) so I ended up burning everything trying my best to hold on to the lead group...which I realized later were a lot of A racers.

[jackstraw]

ERG is for the training plans and FTP test only. Never use it for racing or free riding. Yes, the first five minutes of any race is red line. Have you registered at Zwift Power yet? Get a HR monitor ASAP. I prefer the Wahoo Tickr armband. I’m in (B) class also, but I’m 55 now, I have trouble making the front of the big races, the starts are so demanding. I usually end up in the second group, scrapping for any ZP points I can get. Everyone starts with 600 points on ZP and the better you do the lower your points. 4th in a (B) race is freaking savage. Well done. Let’s jump into some races!

GO FUCKING OUTSIDE! IT'S BEAUTIFUL OUT THERE!

LAPS BEATER!

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Ok so when we all Zwift racing? Did my first race in Cat C the other night. Traded pulls up front and then sprinted thinking the race was almost over and then realized I had 6 miles to go lol......blew up and lost the front pack and finished in 9th.

[Iowagriz]

MTCX (Facebook and Instagram) is doing a short series. Cross oriented, so typically 30-35min up front. No fees,, just a donation. Wednesday 6pm MST. Training rides with them on Thursday, same time.

Jamal and I tried to make the start tonight, but somehow didn't get in.

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[jamal]

Yeah I set everything up today and have never done this before. I think the issue was with following Shaun- he didn't see me there to give me an invite. I did get into the 9pm one but it was just one other guy and he disappeared about 2/3 through. Cool to have something that actually measures power. I've been thinking about getting a PM for my road bike for awhile but still haven't.

Borrowed the trainer, not sure how long I'll be able to hang onto it but I guess I might have to just break down and get one. If I can find one that is. I think my shop has a couple of wahoos either there or on order but with limited availability they might prefer to sell it at retail than have me buy it. i can't stand my basic wheel on resistance one anymore.

[XtrPickels]

Thanks! Yeah I should have clarified I'm using ERG with a training plan coming in through Training Peaks. What I run into is the zwift terrain kind of forces super high cadences to hit my high watts (and I'm def not holding 110+rpms for that long) or if I'm doing a low cadence/high resistance workout ERG won't let me get into the cadence I need to be at. Today I did find the flattest course possible seems to help, but even then I turned off ERG to have more control. Could just be me though/maybe I just need more time on the machine to figure it all out.

On the race front I'm not registered at zwift power. I'll check that out for sure. I was stoked on 4th, but it was a short race and I didn't realize it was a mass start (I figured I just started with the B group) so I ended up burning everything trying my best to hold on to the lead group...which I realized later were a lot of A racers.

ERG mode adjusts to you.
If you want a higher cadence, then pedal faster. It will raise your watts for a few seconds, but then the trainer will ease up the load so that you hit the correct wattage at the new cadence.

If you cannot raise your cadence OR you keep getting bogged down, then your FTP is likely set too high and needs to come down.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Yeah I set everything up today and have never done this before. I think the issue was with following Shaun- he didn't see me there to give me an invite. I did get into the 9pm one but it was just one other guy and he disappeared about 2/3 through. Cool to have something that actually measures power. I've been thinking about getting a PM for my road bike for awhile but still haven't.

Borrowed the trainer, not sure how long I'll be able to hang onto it but I guess I might have to just break down and get one. If I can find one that is. I think my shop has a couple of wahoos either there or on order but with limited availability they might prefer to sell it at retail than have me buy it. i can't stand my basic wheel on resistance one anymore.

I'm on a Kinetic Road Machine with the inRide thing for fake watts measurement. Super low end. I feel like the tire resistance sucks a stupid amount of energy. Even with a dedicated trainer tire on the wheel. Like to hold 20mph on Zwift seems like 3x as hard as doing it out on the road.

I also really want a legit cassette based trainer. Spendy though.