Zwift, TR, Sufferfest etc

[Iowagriz]

I also use AppleTV on an old big screen. Works well, but use the companion app on the phone at the same time for powerups and rideons, etc.

For those that haven't been on in awhile. A new section has been added to the Japan world. Good riding and new routes to earn extra points for completion. The select a world part of sign on is also different and better once you get used to it.

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[evasive_MT]

Zwift also changed their logon system, and it can only remember one password. And if you have 2 accounts in the household it remembers both logins and 0 passwords. It’s fucking annoying. I need to change my PW to something I can remember, rather than an autogenerated one I have to look up every time.

[jamal]

I have a notepad program with my zwift password pasted on it because the pc version doesn't remember the password for just one person either.

[Dee Hubbs]

I’ve been away from home on a work project since Oct 23, hopefully I’m finished in the next day or two and fly home Dec 3 or 4th.
I’ll have something set up for Dec 6 and 8th.

[EWG]

Zwift also changed their logon system, and it can only remember one password. And if you have 2 accounts in the household it remembers both logins and 0 passwords. It’s fucking annoying. I need to change my PW to something I can remember, rather than an autogenerated one I have to look up every time.

We use two old retired laptops, one for each of us. Problem solved. We also used the savings from ditching the gym membership when covid started and bought a second core. So my lovely wife and I can leave our bikes set up and also ride together.

Except she hates riding at the same time I ride. Go figure.

[VTskibum]

First go of Apple TV for Zwift was pretty good upgrade over my phone w respect to graphics. Though will say that the phone made many of the UI controls really easy, swiping up/down/left right to hide/show different screen elements. Was able to use my phone as companion app, so likely just take some time to sort through the features.

[bean]

The Zwift experience is way better on a PC than AppleTV. I’ve got an old PC that runs Zwift pretty well, $beer to anyone in the Denver area. I want it out of my house, anyone interested or know someone who would put it to good use?

[Zhem]

Are we on for a ride this evening? I will be slow and out of shape (been doing a lot of lifting and BJJ lately with little to no cardio focus) but willing to hop on if anyone else is in.

[VTskibum]

I'm tentatively planning on it

[jamal]

yeah i'll be there

[EWG]

I have to skip this week as I'm at the doc for a minor medical procedure tonight. Have a nice few laps!

[Zhem]

Sorry guys, I won't be able to join, work is getting in the way and I have a conference call at 5 pm. See you all next week.

[gramboh]

Starting to look at options for either a turbo trainer or stationary bike for home. My wife has been getting into spin classes a bit and has been talking about Peleton. I was set on getting a turbo trainer and putting my road bike on it and using Zwift (my logic - my road bike fits me well, I don't care about Peleton class shit, I can program my own workouts). Roadie friend of mine is trying to talk me out of a trainer, he ended selling his as he found it a pain in the ass to swap wheels back and forth for trainer vs actual rides. We live in Vancouver so you can ride year round but there are often long periods of rain/snow where I'd rather ride inside, plus with two young kids it's easier said than done getting out even for a power hour. So then I started looking at Wahoo, Tacx etc. bikes but man they ain't cheap.

There's a plethora of barely used Peleton bikes for sale on Craigslist and we might be able to piggy back on a buddy's subscription to defray the absurd monthly cost. Wife approval factor is high and I know she will actually use it and spend less money going to the gym. Does anyone know with Peleton if there's an ability to do your own program (basic stuff, intervals, hills etc) and not the video class shit? If I can get those basic workouts done and the wife is happy, I'd rather go that route than spend a bunch of extra money having two indoor bike platforms at home.

[VTskibum]

Can't answer the Peloton interval options, but I know a bunch of pretty serious riders who have a Peloton for their wives and a smart trainer for themselves.

Good luck, but wheel off smart trainers are worth it IMO.

[bean]

There's a plethora of barely used Peleton bikes for sale on Craigslist and we might be able to piggy back on a buddy's subscription to defray the absurd monthly cost. Wife approval factor is high and I know she will actually use it and spend less money going to the gym. Does anyone know with Peleton if there's an ability to do your own program (basic stuff, intervals, hills etc) and not the video class shit? If I can get those basic workouts done and the wife is happy, I'd rather go that route than spend a bunch of extra money having two indoor bike platforms at home.

Peloton subscriptions are tied to the hardware, so no way to get out of the $45/mo or whatever it is now. My wife got one some years ago so I used it lots, there are power zone workouts of different lengths and interval structures that are pretty good, it was my primary training for some pretty big rides. But she didn't use it much so we eventually sold it and I bought a Tacx bike last summer for Zwift which is much more my speed.

My suggestion would be to go the smart bike route and have your wife get a peloton subscription for $15 or however much they charge for just the app. The integration with the bike is slick but it's not much beyond having a built-in tablet and the leaderboard which is (imo) pointless, and it's not a cheap subscription, even if you can get a used peloton bike pretty cheap. Using a peloton for "just ride" and doing your own intervals or whatever would be a sub-par experience.

Like I said I have the Tacx and like it a lot, if it's for both Zwift and peloton classes I'd look at the Stages SB20. I think that can break down to 50 "gears" which will give a lot more fine adjustment for spin class type rides.

[gramboh]

Can't answer the Peloton interval options, but I know a bunch of pretty serious riders who have a Peloton for their wives and a smart trainer for themselves.

Good luck, but wheel off smart trainers are worth it IMO.

Peloton subscriptions are tied to the hardware, so no way to get out of the $45/mo or whatever it is now. My wife got one some years ago so I used it lots, there are power zone workouts of different lengths and interval structures that are pretty good, it was my primary training for some pretty big rides. But she didn't use it much so we eventually sold it and I bought a Tacx bike last summer for Zwift which is much more my speed.

My suggestion would be to go the smart bike route and have your wife get a peloton subscription for $15 or however much they charge for just the app. The integration with the bike is slick but it's not much beyond having a built-in tablet and the leaderboard which is (imo) pointless, and it's not a cheap subscription, even if you can get a used peloton bike pretty cheap. Using a peloton for "just ride" and doing your own intervals or whatever would be a sub-par experience.

Like I said I have the Tacx and like it a lot, if it's for both Zwift and peloton classes I'd look at the Stages SB20. I think that can break down to 50 "gears" which will give a lot more fine adjustment for spin class type rides.

Thanks guys, kind of confirmed my suspicions. Good to know about the Peleton subscription being tied to the device, it's $55CAD/mo here which is a lot (but still cheaper over time than ~$20-25 per spin class for wife). Didn't realize you could use Peleton via app with other bikes, figured they would do a walled garden approach. As long as she can do the video classes, that is what she is looking for to motivate her. She likes riding her road bike but is not into anything numbers based, power, cadence, times etc. Going to look into that route as I think I would be a lot happier on Zwift. Not a super serious roadie or anything, but I do want to improve my fitness (for both road/mountain biking) and to train for the Whistler Fondo ride in the next couple years. I know I could manage that ride at current fitness but want to set a goal time and work toward it.

Quickly looked into the Stages SB20 and found one on sale in Calgary at seemingly a good price: https://www.thebikeshop.com/product/...e-389586-1.htm will start looking at the different options (Tacx, Kickr etc).

https://www.thebikeshop.com/product/...saAoWcEALw_wcB

[schuss]

Thanks guys, kind of confirmed my suspicions. Good to know about the Peleton subscription being tied to the device, it's $55CAD/mo here which is a lot (but still cheaper over time than ~$20-25 per spin class for wife). Didn't realize you could use Peleton via app with other bikes, figured they would do a walled garden approach. As long as she can do the video classes, that is what she is looking for to motivate her. She likes riding her road bike but is not into anything numbers based, power, cadence, times etc. Going to look into that route as I think I would be a lot happier on Zwift. Not a super serious roadie or anything, but I do want to improve my fitness (for both road/mountain biking) and to train for the Whistler Fondo ride in the next couple years. I know I could manage that ride at current fitness but want to set a goal time and work toward it.

Quickly looked into the Stages SB20 and found one on sale in Calgary at seemingly a good price: https://www.thebikeshop.com/product/...e-389586-1.htm will start looking at the different options (Tacx, Kickr etc).

https://www.thebikeshop.com/product/...saAoWcEALw_wcB

I have a TacX Neo Bike and it's great - definitely better than my bike on a direct drive trainer. DC Rainmaker has some good reviews out there. While it does have more convenient handles for adjusting, it's not as easy as a gym bike for swapping positions/items and the saddle is secured traditionally to a proprietary post thing, so you'll need a saddle you both like.
Zwift has a ton of cycling groups now, so if she doesn't need someone yelling at her in person, there's plenty of content there (and you can share the sub if you don't care about individual stats or calibrations). I'll also say that the cobble/rough road simulation stuff is pretty neat. I know backcountry has them for 20% off right now, but not sure on canuckistan providers with discounts.

[gramboh]

I have a TacX Neo Bike and it's great - definitely better than my bike on a direct drive trainer. DC Rainmaker has some good reviews out there. While it does have more convenient handles for adjusting, it's not as easy as a gym bike for swapping positions/items and the saddle is secured traditionally to a proprietary post thing, so you'll need a saddle you both like.
Zwift has a ton of cycling groups now, so if she doesn't need someone yelling at her in person, there's plenty of content there (and you can share the sub if you don't care about individual stats or calibrations). I'll also say that the cobble/rough road simulation stuff is pretty neat. I know backcountry has them for 20% off right now, but not sure on canuckistan providers with discounts.

I did a bunch more research the last few days. She definitely wants the spin class style workout with instructor yelling, she's not motivated by just grinding out numbers like I am haha. The biggest thing I am still looking into is what the Peleton app experience is like in terms of steps to start a workout. If it involves loading multiple apps on the iPad/phone, logging in and syncing devices every workout, that might be a deal breaker for her (yeah, I know), it needs to be a straightforward "just works" process. Good point about saddle comfort, she will be doing 30ish min classes so hopefully not a big deal for her. Bar/steapost adjustment should also be adequate given the nature of those spin classes versus sustained static position efforts like a road bike.

I'm confident I'll be happy on any of the SB20, Tacx Neo, Wahoo etc. Watched enough reviews to have a high level understanding of their pros/cons and it ticks the boxes I need.

Another snag with finding deals is it's $200 pallet shipping for any of these things if they aren't in stock locally, so that $2,850 SB20 becomes $3,416 with shipping and 12% sales tax. Prices without shipping/tax are $2,850-$3,150 for the SB20, $3650-$4,100 for the TacX Neo and $4,000-$5,300 for the Wahoo Kickr (depending on v1/v2) so the SB20 is significantly cheaper than the others.

[bean]

The biggest thing I am still looking into is what the Peleton app experience is like in terms of steps to start a workout. If it involves loading multiple apps on the iPad/phone, logging in and syncing devices every workout, that might be a deal breaker for her (yeah, I know), it needs to be a straightforward "just works" process.

The peloton app is literally just a video. There's nothing to sync other than HRM.

[schuss]

I did a bunch more research the last few days. She definitely wants the spin class style workout with instructor yelling, she's not motivated by just grinding out numbers like I am haha. The biggest thing I am still looking into is what the Peleton app experience is like in terms of steps to start a workout. If it involves loading multiple apps on the iPad/phone, logging in and syncing devices every workout, that might be a deal breaker for her (yeah, I know), it needs to be a straightforward "just works" process. Good point about saddle comfort, she will be doing 30ish min classes so hopefully not a big deal for her. Bar/steapost adjustment should also be adequate given the nature of those spin classes versus sustained static position efforts like a road bike.

I'm confident I'll be happy on any of the SB20, Tacx Neo, Wahoo etc. Watched enough reviews to have a high level understanding of their pros/cons and it ticks the boxes I need.

Another snag with finding deals is it's $200 pallet shipping for any of these things if they aren't in stock locally, so that $2,850 SB20 becomes $3,416 with shipping and 12% sales tax. Prices without shipping/tax are $2,850-$3,150 for the SB20, $3650-$4,100 for the TacX Neo and $4,000-$5,300 for the Wahoo Kickr (depending on v1/v2) so the SB20 is significantly cheaper than the others.

My neobike was a standard shipping box (just a biggun).
Zwift isn't just grinding numbers, there's a lot of racing and pack/pace work stuff. Only thing I really pay attention to is heart rate, but there's definitely a bunch of options of a personal pace rider, group rides and programs.

[TrueNorth]

As long as you have the space, you can get 2 decent smart trainers (for example Tacx Flux S at $750 CAD at multiple retailers right now) and 2 used bikes for around the price of one smart bike, and leave the bikes permanently on the trainers. That way you don't have to mess around with changing saddle and handlebar positions between riders, or scheduling around each other. Pretty much any old bike will work on a trainer, as long as it has a decent drivetrain and can hold your saddle and handlebars in the right place.

[gramboh]

The peloton app is literally just a video. There's nothing to sync other than HRM.

I believe the Peloton app, in iOS only, now allows you to sync the Stages bike cadence sensor as well as an HRM, so you get those two metrics shown on the Peloton app during the workout. People seem to then use the Stages app on their smartphone to show power (if they care). Wifey will not care about power, she will just want cadence as I believe the instructors on the video workouts call it out in addition to the tension/resistance. Will have to create a cheat sheet until she memorizes what the "50/60/70" etc Peloton number corresponds with on the Stages bike gearing. They do have some "Dreamdrive" gearing thing where you can setup a large number of increments so that might get it close, versus a standard 2x11 setup. Will have to play with it I guess.

My neobike was a standard shipping box (just a biggun).
Zwift isn't just grinding numbers, there's a lot of racing and pack/pace work stuff. Only thing I really pay attention to is heart rate, but there's definitely a bunch of options of a personal pace rider, group rides and programs.

Good to know about Zwift, still learning about this stuff. Now realizing stuff like TrainerRoad is where the pure number grinding is found. I think Zwift will appeal to me and keep me more engaged than pure grinding but will have to experiment and see. My goal is improving solo road bike performance (and as a knock-on, mountain biking climbing fitness). Not going to race, may do the Whistler Fondo ride as a personal challenge/goal.

As long as you have the space, you can get 2 decent smart trainers (for example Tacx Flux S at $750 CAD at multiple retailers right now) and 2 used bikes for around the price of one smart bike, and leave the bikes permanently on the trainers. That way you don't have to mess around with changing saddle and handlebar positions between riders, or scheduling around each other. Pretty much any old bike will work on a trainer, as long as it has a decent drivetrain and can hold your saddle and handlebars in the right place.

That would be cheaper but unfortunately do not have the space for two setups unless one of them is in the garage. I have no problem suffering there but wife will not be keen, especially in the winter since it's not heated (yet). Also I doubt she will be keen on how a bike on a trainer feels. It's really down to a Peloton for her and a trainer for me (in garage), or one smart bike that meets both needs which is the way I'm leaning. Having it inside also means I can at least try to get in workouts while the kids are playing... they are still too young to be out of earshot, i.e. house while I'm in garage.

[wendigo]

is this getting off the ground this season? nobody showed on thurs

[Iowagriz]

I likely won't be showing until after New Years

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[Dee Hubbs]

is this getting off the ground this season? nobody showed on thurs

I likely won't be showing until after New Years

I have family in town and have been stupid busy entertaining them, and they are staying in my Zwift room. (Mrs Dee calls it "the spare bedroom")
I'll keep setting up the rides, and I should be more regular after the holidays.