Turbo Trainer Racing - FREE

birdy247

Hi

As previously mentioned, I run the website turbotraining.co.uk Last time I posted was requesting for beta testers on our new web based platform. http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40011&t=12996779&start=20

The feedback we received was great. As such, we have decided the allow users to race 100% FREE.

Race in real time (handicapped or raw power) or against past performances. Plot your own GPS courses and have some fun thrashing your mates.

Lots of other features such as workouts, "proxy" power (read estimated from a speed sensor)

We would love to hear peoples feedback/improvements. Feel free to PM me direct or post here.

http://www.turbotraining.co.uk

cerv50

This looks really interesting and would love to give it a go, I do have one question though...

My turbo is in the garage where I don't get a wifi signal due to all the steel beams in our house, will the program still work?

birdy247

cerv50 wrote:

This looks really interesting and would love to give it a go, I do have one question though...

My turbo is in the garage where I don't get a wifi signal due to all the steel beams in our house, will the program still work?

Hi, unfortunately you need an internet connection to race. Its much like gaming on an xbox, other "players" (riders) data needs to be picked up on your system to ensure they are accurately positioned.

joe2008 wrote:

My question is: if your doing a set course say 'Box Hill' how does that work, because the program cannot adjust the resistance on my turbo?

Courses are plotted using GPS data. As such, the elevation is known and we calculate a factor which adjusts your virtual speed accordingly. So, if you were to ride a course at an iso power of 200 watts for example, your speed would fluctuate up and down depending on if you were going up/down and how steep those gradients were.

cerv50

So if I wasn't to choose the racing facility that requires an internet connection then everything else would work?. When I use TR I load up the laptop inside the house and then move it to the garage and train, does this work with your program too?

birdy247

OK, thanks, you can just pedal at a consistent speed/cadence. So, not very realistic compared to virtual simulators that adjust the resistance of your turbo trainer, and therefore, probably your cadence.

Great job though

We went with standard trainers first as this is what the majority of people own. We didn't want to make people think they had to go out and buy an expensive "electronic controlled" trainer. Its on our road map to control these units as well though.

birdy247

cerv50 wrote:

So if I wasn't to choose the racing facility that requires an internet connection then everything else would work?. When I use TR I load up the laptop inside the house and then move it to the garage and train, does this work with your program too?

We do have software that does what you describe. i.e. start a workout in a WiFi area and then use it out of WiFi range. PM me for details on that.

MarkAshton

I'm going to be using this tomorrow. Time to burn off some xmas excess!

diy

Powerline Network?

They work pretty well I have 600Mb one - was about £35 for two units.

birdy247

diy wrote:

Powerline Network?

They work pretty well I have 600Mb one - was about £35 for two units.

That's a good idea. A few users have also mentioned they use their phone as a mobile hotspot. In a 30 minute session/race, it uses a small amount of data.

MarkAshton

Just worked out how to setup a race :-)

I have a window at 4.30pm GMT time. I'm racing on the F11/10 tt course. If anyone wants to race me, click the link http://www.turbotraining.co.uk/Groups/race/50 (4.30pm start)

Its a handicapped race, whatever that means!

Guanajuato

Just set up a few courses to test how well I compare with real life on a turbo. Something went wrong saving the Shap Hill Climb route and it appears to have made 3 versions. oops. Can you delete 2 of the copies?

birdy247

Those are gone. Looks like you clicked the button a few times. Good spot, I will add a handler to prevent multiple clicks.

Mikey1976

Hi, just thinking about signing up for this, couple of questions,

1 My Turbo is not listed (tacx blue motion)
2 I have no power meter but do have a garmin speed ant+ speed sensor. How does the FTP work out the proxy power, for example would the turbo need to be on a specific resistance, for example based on resistance 5 @ 20mph it would be producing 300w say??

bobmcstuff

I can't help you with 1) but the answer to 2) is yes - see various sites e.g., http://www.powercurvesensor.com/cycling ... er-curves/ , which provides power curves for the Tacx Blue Motion at 4/10 and 8/10 resistances (same trainer I have). This program must be using something similar.

birdy247

Mikey1976 wrote:

Hi, just thinking about signing up for this, couple of questions,

1 My Turbo is not listed (tacx blue motion)
2 I have no power meter but do have a garmin speed ant+ speed sensor. How does the FTP work out the proxy power, for example would the turbo need to be on a specific resistance, for example based on resistance 5 @ 20mph it would be producing 300w say??

Hi

Proxy power is calculated by using the raw wheel speed and then using the power curve for a given turbo trainer.

Many of the Tacx trainers use a similar power curve. We will add the Tacx Blue motion, but in the meantime, you could select something like the Satori or Sirrius. The main thing is to keep your setup consistent and perform a threshold test.

If you change the resistance level, you are effectively changing the power curve, so you would also need to reflect this in your selected turbo.

Let me know if you need any other help

cerv50

birdy247 wrote:

cerv50 wrote:

So if I wasn't to choose the racing facility that requires an internet connection then everything else would work?. When I use TR I load up the laptop inside the house and then move it to the garage and train, does this work with your program too?

We do have software that does what you describe. i.e. start a workout in a WiFi area and then use it out of WiFi range. PM me for details on that.

Hi Birdy247,

I did PM as requested but have not had a reply as yet. Need to burn off all this Christmas cake lol

Cheers

birdy247

I have PM'd you

Aphorism

Hi Birdy

I've already contacted you through the turbotraining.co.uk website

Just wanted to say this is a great idea and will really provide a strong motivation to take training seriously. Like a Sufferfest, but it means more.

cerv50

I am having a few issues getting the program to work om my laptop

When in the quick start section and I click on the speed sensor ad USB dongle to say this is what I have they dont highlight. Also when doing a device search nothing happens, is it my laptop, something I am doing incorrectly or a program issue your end?

birdy247

Hi cerv

First thing to check is that wattSys is running. If you look in your system tray, can you see a small "cog" icon?

Guanajuato

birdy247 wrote:

Those are gone. Looks like you clicked the button a few times. Good spot, I will add a handler to prevent multiple clicks.

Sorry about that! :oops:
It seemed to get completely stuck (went dead for a couple of minutes, as though uploading something), so I clicked the button (can't remember the text) in the hope it might cancel. Eventually closed the window and logged in again, only to see Shap listed 3 times. Could it be down to having used data from a genuine ride, cropped for just the climb, that caused such a delay?

Its not the same as reality, but its still an interesting exercise. Great Dun Fell was still hard - basically half an hour at threshold+. The difference is the lack of grip & balance on very steep bits. 'Half an hour' less than my real time. Interestingly, apart from the first steep section, I had a breather at about the same spots as I stopped on my real ride. But its rather easier to get going again. There's no wind on a turbo, and you don't need to see where you're going.

birdy247

Guanajuato wrote:

birdy247 wrote:

Those are gone. Looks like you clicked the button a few times. Good spot, I will add a handler to prevent multiple clicks.

Sorry about that! :oops:
It seemed to get completely stuck (went dead for a couple of minutes, as though uploading something), so I clicked the button (can't remember the text) in the hope it might cancel. Eventually closed the window and logged in again, only to see Shap listed 3 times. Could it be down to having used data from a genuine ride, cropped for just the climb, that caused such a delay?

Its not the same as reality, but its still an interesting exercise. Great Dun Fell was still hard - basically half an hour at threshold+. The difference is the lack of grip & balance on very steep bits. 'Half an hour' less than my real time. Interestingly, apart from the first steep section, I had a breather at about the same spots as I stopped on my real ride. But its rather easier to get going again. There's no wind on a turbo, and you don't need to see where you're going.

Great you enjoyed things.

When a course is being created, there is lots of processing going on behid the scenes, so it can take a while sometimes. Could you send me the file you used to info@turbotraining.co.uk so I can check it over.

WRT your time, it was a handicapped race. So speed was scaled relative to the % of ftp (handicapped races also normalise the speed at FTP - currently set to the resulting speed at 250w) . It would be interesting to see how close your time is in an "un-handicapped" race.

cerv50

birdy247 wrote:

Hi cerv

First thing to check is that wattSys is running. If you look in your system tray, can you see a small "cog" icon?

I have downloaded wattSys and its icon is in the tray so assume all is OK there

birdy247

cerv50 wrote:

birdy247 wrote:

Hi cerv

First thing to check is that wattSys is running. If you look in your system tray, can you see a small "cog" icon?

I have downloaded wattSys and its icon is in the tray so assume all is OK there

I have PM'd you

colinsmith123

Ignoring all the doom and gloom MS warnings about installing the program on my laptop, I downloaded wattsys. I never got asked to enter my user password. And when I plugged in my ANT stick message came back device not found. This was three days ago. Updated USB drivers, stick reported as working fine in Device Manager and Quarq Qalvin detecting PM also, but could not get wattsys to work. Googled the issue to death,and also phoned Garmin and got nowhere. No change there.

Eventually and as a last resort, I signed up to trainerroad, downloaded software within a few minutes without the doom and gloom MS warnings and everything was working fine within minutes.

Any feedback on why all the doom and gloom messages and why I was not able to get the wattsys software up and running would be appreciated.

I was quite happy to blame Garmin as every Garmin product I have owned has been returned under warranty and non-warranty and it is quite a list, but that is a different story. (And why I have SRAM PM cranks and not Garmin pedals).

birdy247

Hi Colin

I have sent you a PM for further details and the aim of making direct contact to get you up and "cycling" on the software as quickly as possible.

Thanks

MarkAshton

Weather looks horrid today. I am going to be using this later. Does anyone fancy a race? I don't mind which course. I just need something to make me push on!

MarkAshton

I am entering this race

http://www.turbotraining.co.uk/Groups/race/156

Rowers revenge course. Looks like a 40/45 minute effort.

rowlers

Any chance of Android support?
My WinXP laptop is as old as this hills and so I use a chromebook daily.
My Xperia Z2 has ANT+ built in so it would be ideal!

Dazza Doom

birdy247 wrote:

Hi Colin

I have sent you a PM for further details and the aim of making direct contact to get you up and "cycling" on the software as quickly as possible.

Thanks

im having quite similar problems, instead of pm's, anychance of an open reply as it seems to be a common problem.

birdy247

Hi

Sure, no problem

Could you clarify what is happening, or not happening in your case

Thanks