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Original poster

Zwift app for indoor cycling/turbo training

35 replies

JacobReesMogadishu · 15/05/2020 21:59

If this bloody virus carries on into the autumn/winter I’d been thinking of buying a peloton bike. But obviously at 2k a bike and £40 a month it’s bloody expensive.

Saw Gordon Ramsey rabbiting about the Zwift app which I’ve never heard of before and it looks good. I could use my old road bike and leave it permanently set up. It’s been unused in the shed for 2 years. I’ve already got a normal turbo trainer but I’d be happy to spend £600-800 on a smart turbo trainer which will change the resistance in line with the course for hills, drafting, etc.

Has anyone got it and what is it like? Are there lots of different courses including some with some nice scenery rather than just urban road races. Has anyone used this and peloton and how do the two compare?

Is peloton more spinning classes and zwift is more of a turbo training computer game experience? I think I prefer the idea of zwift with outside courses, bit of visual interest?

OP posts:
Original poster
JacobReesMogadishu · 15/05/2020 23:12

I think I will definitely prefer riding outside but I’m a fair weather cyclist. I normally do a couple of spin classes a week in the gym Plus 14 miles a day commute. At the minute I’m biking outside for 60-90 mins a day.

I’ve been told I won’t be physically back in the office until jan 2021 at the earliest so that’s 14 miles a day commute I’m down. Plus from Oct onwards it’s going to be colder, darker, wetter outside. I’m worried the gym won’t be open!

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MrsAvocet · 15/05/2020 22:45

You can use Zwift with a basic turbo trainer or even rollers but you get a more realistic experience with a smart trainer. If you look on the Zwift website it tells you what the compatible trainers are and what extras you will need for each option. If you don't have a smart trainer you will still need a Garmin or similar bike computer with speed and cadence sensors - obviously you can't use the GPS on your Garmin as you aren't actually going anywhere. Its one of those things where you can spend an absolute fortune if you want the most realistic experience. The more you spend the better it will be, but you can get a fairly good experience without breaking the bank. I bought a refurbished Tacx smart trainer off EBay for about £150, an ANT+ dongle for about £15.00 and we already had a laptop which has reasonable graphics. I don't mind it, but it will never replace real cycling for me. I've got friends who are really into it and do a lot of racing and group riding. They do more Zwifting than outdoor riding and are a bit too fixated on all the numbers in my opinion. Some of them have top of the range smart trainers costing many thousands of pounds, and super expensive computers too. Its just not worth that much to me. If I had that money going spare I would rather buy another bike. I'm not a competitive cyclist and for me nothing will ever be as good as being outdoors, seeing the scenery etc, but its better than nothing. My DS is quite enjoying riding "with" his friends though and it makes indoor riding a bit less hideous than doing a standard turbo session. He is still training quite seriously so is getting quite a lot out if it.
The only other thing I would say is essential is a decent fan as it is easy to get very overheated when you are riding indoors.

Original poster
JacobReesMogadishu · 15/05/2020 22:44

I’d been looking at the flux s

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Original poster
JacobReesMogadishu · 15/05/2020 22:43

@lampygirl are they easy to set up? All this talk about needing cassettes worries me. I’m not very good at bike stuff.

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lampygirl · 15/05/2020 22:19

Zwift is amazing, I'm currently hitting around 200 miles a week on it, using my old road bike. There is structured workouts, social group rides and races for all levels along with free-riding round about 100 routes.

Definitely a direct drive turbo trainer if you can get hold of one. You'd need a cassette but could possibly take this off your wheel if you were leaving it permanently set up (if you buy a new cassette buy a new chain too so they wear evenly). I use a Tacx FluxS and for a cheaper direct drive model it's been pretty bomb-proof.

Blondebear123 · 15/05/2020 22:16

Look up watt bikes as an alternative to turbo trainer. Better than peloton and you can use it with zwift. im thinking of getting one.

I currently do peloton and les mills rpm and sprint on a normal spin bike

Original poster
JacobReesMogadishu · 15/05/2020 22:14

I think you can use it with an ordinary turbo trainer and just change the resistance manually. In which case I wouldn’t need to buy anything apart from the subscription. Guess I could do that first to trial it.

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user1471428628 · 15/05/2020 22:06

And sorry can’t help with suitable turbo trainers. DH and his cycling buddies seem to just know this stuff and I go along with it! I don’t remember it being an eye watering purchase though.

user1471428628 · 15/05/2020 22:05

I’ve never used Peleton but Zwift is great. You have to have a compatible turbo trainer and then for £12:99/month its unlimited riding. There are training programs, you can join group rides or just head out. There’s their own virtual world which has mock ups of some pretty iconic rides eg Alpe de Zwift (Alp d’Huez) but also courses (with some artistic licence) around London, New York, Richmond and somewhere in the Alps. The more you ride the more you unlock.

I gave up my subscription earlier this year due to injury which was also very straightforward - I just lost to the end of the month with no quibbles which I appreciated. As soon as I can get knee surgery I’ll be back on it.

justanotherneighinparadise · 15/05/2020 22:02

Watching!