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Anyone using Zwift?


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Just finished stage 1 of the Tour of Watopia and saw a few South African flags en route which was cool. Crazy amount of climbing on stage 1. Properly shattered now.

going to do this at 17:00 hopefully.

 

at least you didn't have to go up the radio tower climb yet.  also... tour of fire and ice will be freaking hard.  (it was for me any ways,  i averaged 174 bpm for the climb)

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Okay installed my trainer and everything is starting to fit together - any comments on other apps - Trainer Road vs Zwift. Zwift seems to be pretty processor intensive - i have run it on my Macbook Pro and the fans start up in no time. 

 

It seems Trainer road is a lot less about the virtual world and a lot more about a structured ergime with detailed feedback?

 

 

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Okay installed my trainer and everything is starting to fit together - any comments on other apps - Trainer Road vs Zwift. Zwift seems to be pretty processor intensive - i have run it on my Macbook Pro and the fans start up in no time. 

 

It seems Trainer road is a lot less about the virtual world and a lot more about a structured ergime with detailed feedback?

you have it summed up pretty well.  

Zwift = online riding against / with real people.  They do have a 'structured workout' section.  But in general the platform is more gear towards real life interaction and live workouts.

 

Trainer Road = one of the go-to apps for specific training plans / goals etc.  Structured workout without any frills.  Do your workout, follow the graph/numbers etc on screen.

 

And then of course, you can import your Trainer Road training plan into Zwift and do the workouts with all the nice graphics.

 

If you haven't already, check out DC rainmaker for indepth info...https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/11/trainer-apps-guide.html

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Chop over here, did not read the instructions properly, did the whole of stage one without joining an actual group...so that lekker stage is going to have to be re-done on one of the make-up days... only realised this at about 7km from the end of the Big Loop.  

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perhaps off topic a little... but how do you guys handle your rear ends? I zwift and my ass really gets very sore. Riding mtb in general it isnt as much an issue, but in the trainer it really gets sore. I have even tried cycling with liv saddles. best at the moment seems to be a giant liv.  But I still get sore and rarely go further than an hour in...

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perhaps off topic a little... but how do you guys handle your rear ends? I zwift and my ass really gets very sore. Riding mtb in general it isnt as much an issue, but in the trainer it really gets sore. I have even tried cycling with liv saddles. best at the moment seems to be a giant liv. But I still get sore and rarely go further than an hour in...

Something must be wrong with your ride setup. On the trail you move around so won't really notice it
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Something must be wrong with your ride setup. On the trail you move around so won't really notice it

I would imagine it the case. But I have checked the geometry and all seems 100% legit. I have however never gone for a professional "saddle setup" measuring my pelvic bones etc.. Perhaps a good idea...

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perhaps off topic a little... but how do you guys handle your rear ends? I zwift and my ass really gets very sore. Riding mtb in general it isnt as much an issue, but in the trainer it really gets sore. I have even tried cycling with liv saddles. best at the moment seems to be a giant liv.  But I still get sore and rarely go further than an hour in...

are you using mtb gear when cycling indoors?  i find it more comfortable using road bibs/shorts.

 

a bike fitter could also point you in the right direction wrt saddle width.

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are you using mtb gear when cycling indoors?  i find it more comfortable using road bibs/shorts.

 

a bike fitter could also point you in the right direction wrt saddle width.

road bike for trianer. dont road bike though...

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perhaps off topic a little... but how do you guys handle your rear ends? I zwift and my ass really gets very sore. Riding mtb in general it isnt as much an issue, but in the trainer it really gets sore. I have even tried cycling with liv saddles. best at the moment seems to be a giant liv.  But I still get sore and rarely go further than an hour in...

 

You and me both. I use my fitted road bike on the trainer, and anything longer than an hour really becomes a chore. On the road/trails you're moving around way more than just sitting on your arse turning the pedals. 

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Okay installed my trainer and everything is starting to fit together - any comments on other apps - Trainer Road vs Zwift. Zwift seems to be pretty processor intensive - i have run it on my Macbook Pro and the fans start up in no time. 

 

It seems Trainer road is a lot less about the virtual world and a lot more about a structured ergime with detailed feedback?

 

I've tried most of the training apps/programs and find for me TrainerRoad to be the best.  The graphics of Zwift are nice, but I found I was mostly using the workout mode so wasn't really riding with anyone anyway (either going faster or slower than those around me depending on the interval I was on).  

What I like about TR is that I can see from the start how long each session is going to be - great for planning.  The on screen text is also great - it's got just the right amount of info and humour to break up what could be quite monotonous blocks and turns them into something enjoyable.  I actually want to get onto the trainer every day to keep to the plan which is something I never really had with Zwift.  The sessions are also hard but without killing you, which is good for wanting to keep going the next day.

 

I do miss the Zwift races, but overall I'm far happier with TrainerRoad.  I've only been on it for a few weeks but can already see and feel the difference to my 'real world' riding.  

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perhaps off topic a little... but how do you guys handle your rear ends? I zwift and my ass really gets very sore. Riding mtb in general it isnt as much an issue, but in the trainer it really gets sore. I have even tried cycling with liv saddles. best at the moment seems to be a giant liv.  But I still get sore and rarely go further than an hour in...

 

Firstly, a simple test is to take a spirit level, put it on lenghtways (From back to front) across the saddle and make sure it is level. 

 

Then, make sure you stand and pedal from time to time. 

 

Preferably go for an assometer measurement to see if your saddle width is ok.

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I've tried most of the training apps/programs and find for me TrainerRoad to be the best.  The graphics of Zwift are nice, but I found I was mostly using the workout mode so wasn't really riding with anyone anyway (either going faster or slower than those around me depending on the interval I was on).  

What I like about TR is that I can see from the start how long each session is going to be - great for planning.  The on screen text is also great - it's got just the right amount of info and humour to break up what could be quite monotonous blocks and turns them into something enjoyable.  I actually want to get onto the trainer every day to keep to the plan which is something I never really had with Zwift.  The sessions are also hard but without killing you, which is good for wanting to keep going the next day.

 

I do miss the Zwift races, but overall I'm far happier with TrainerRoad.  I've only been on it for a few weeks but can already see and feel the difference to my 'real world' riding.  

That's what it looked like to me. I am waiting for my delivery of my Campy freebody so i can put my spare bike on the trainer and then get going - its a mission to change clusters from 10 to 11 speed etc. Once i have that i will get started  with FTP test etc and then just do a bit of riding in ZWIFT to get used to it. Then once i think i am serious and have a goal i will go over to Trainer Road for the "serious" interval stuff. I need to do some base as well.

 

What sort of values do you monitor if you had to be able to load a training profile on your garmin screen - is it just power or should you be looking at sustained power over a period. I dont have a power meter on the road bike but i would like to understand what metrics to monitor. Logically watts per kg but that is going to be impacted longer term by weight etc? What do you guys look at? 

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You and me both. I use my fitted road bike on the trainer, and anything longer than an hour really becomes a chore. On the road/trails you're moving around way more than just sitting on your arse turning the pedals. 

 

It unfortunately takes time, but I initially increased time spent on the trainer by 30 minutes a  week. Longest I have done was the Pretzel and that was just shy of 3 hours. Not easy, but Zwift really breaks the monotony. 

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Then once i think i am serious and have a goal i will go over to Trainer Road for the "serious" interval stuff. I need to do some base as well.

 

TR does amazing "sweet spot" base training - really recommend it.

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