zwift or trainer road

jonesy99 · January 2017

im looking to get fit for a few sportives this year , what would you guys recomend more for getting my fitness up when weather is bad? ive used both and cant decided, i like each for differant reasons please help

markhewitt1978 · January 2017

If you've used both then I know who the best person to answer that question is.

fat daddy · January 2017

If used properly both will achieve the same results

Only you can decide which one will keep you hooked the longest.

Personally I like the social interaction of Zwift, the friends you make from suddenly riding and "pushing" on with a complete stranger for 10miles or so.

Ivan Drago would use trainer road ... Apollo creed would use Zwift and Rocky would HTFU and go ride in the rain

ronnierocket · January 2017

It's worth also checking out the Sufferfest App. That's what I went for over the other 2. 7 day free trial.

mechanism · January 2017

If you really can't decide, use both with TR controlling the resistance.

MiddleRinger · January 2017

Gotta be Zwift. Or....

fat daddy wrote:

Rocky would HTFU and go ride in the rain

:twisted:

slowbike · January 2017

I like the perceived social aspect of Zwift - but I prefer BKool for the flexibility of where to ride

jgsi · January 2017

Riding to pissin work in the pissin rain is not training.

Zwift racing, at least you can have hissy fits about electrodopers from the comfort of your own turbo.

cgfw201 · January 2017

Have used Sufferfest, TR and Zwift over the years, and now only subscribe to one – Zwift.

Offers the most flexibility, you can ride for fun and at whatever pace you like, you can race which is harder pound for pound than racing outdoors (in my experience) and you can do workouts, either custom or from their range.

I’ve created a full set of custom workouts based on Joe Friel’s book and they work brilliantly on Zwift, and no different to TR other than how they are displayed on the screen. But 400W intervals for 3 minutes @ 90 cadence is the same whatever platform you do it on. And with Zwift you get all the other nice bonuses like the amazing world of Watopia, riding with pros, riding with mates when weather is too crap outdoors and all the cool kits and level up bonuses that keep you coming back for more.

Must admit I do still have a soft spot for Sufferfest, and do still have the videos I paid for and downloaded a couple of years ago so may combine them with Zwift at some point.

sancho_panza · January 2017

ronnierocket wrote:

It's worth also checking out the Sufferfest App. That's what I went for over the other 2. 7 day free trial.

agree here - the app is excellent

fat daddy · January 2017

JGSI wrote:

Riding to pissin work in the pissin rain is not training..

it is, if when you get there covered in sweat you turn around and see 100 kids all behind you on bmx's waving there hands in the air chanting your name "rocky rocky rocky"

Vslowpace · January 2017

To get fit to ride some sportives i'd just spend more time on the bike

Hinaultscrapcousin · January 2017

Sufferfest, it's great.

I wouldn't avoid riding in the rain though, if it's raining on the day of the sportive you're going to have to ride in it. Might as well get used to it.

CRAIGO5000 · January 2017

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

Sufferfest, it's great.

I wouldn't avoid riding in the rain though, if it's raining on the day of the sportive you're going to have to ride in it. Might as well get used to it.

I would. Training in the rain is horrible and boring. Racing in the rain isn't.

Hinaultscrapcousin · January 2017

CRAIGO5000 wrote:

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

Sufferfest, it's great.

I wouldn't avoid riding in the rain though, if it's raining on the day of the sportive you're going to have to ride in it. Might as well get used to it.

I would. Training in the rain is horrible and boring. Racing in the rain isn't.

I love riding in the rain, especially if it's windy too. Different strokes I guess.

CRAIGO5000 · January 2017

Must be!

It was the reason I bought a KickR. I do live in Manchester though. Where rain was invented...

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

CRAIGO5000 wrote:

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

Sufferfest, it's great.

I wouldn't avoid riding in the rain though, if it's raining on the day of the sportive you're going to have to ride in it. Might as well get used to it.

I would. Training in the rain is horrible and boring. Racing in the rain isn't.

I love riding in the rain, especially if it's windy too. Different strokes I guess.

jgsi · January 2017

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

CRAIGO5000 wrote:

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

Sufferfest, it's great.

I wouldn't avoid riding in the rain though, if it's raining on the day of the sportive you're going to have to ride in it. Might as well get used to it.

I would. Training in the rain is horrible and boring. Racing in the rain isn't.

I love riding in the rain, especially if it's windy too. Different strokes I guess.

guessing here, somebody does nt have to commute all weathers ;-)

Hinaultscrapcousin · January 2017

JGSI wrote:

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

CRAIGO5000 wrote:

Hinaultscrapcousin wrote:

Sufferfest, it's great.

I wouldn't avoid riding in the rain though, if it's raining on the day of the sportive you're going to have to ride in it. Might as well get used to it.

I would. Training in the rain is horrible and boring. Racing in the rain isn't.

I love riding in the rain, especially if it's windy too. Different strokes I guess.

guessing here, somebody does nt have to commute all weathers ;-)

I commute by bike in Glasgow. I'll let you guess what the weather is like.

fat daddy · January 2017

JGSI wrote:

guessing here, somebody does nt have to commute all weathers ;-)

I commute in all weathers daily .... I also get up between 4-5 in the morning to get a hour or more on zwift before cycling to work

its a fun game and improves my fitness no end

CRAIGO5000 · January 2017

I commute every day of the year Monday-Friday with the exception of full on snow which was probably one day of last year.

Vanmanmatt · January 2017

fat daddy wrote:

If used properly both will achieve the same results

Only you can decide which one will keep you hooked the longest.

Personally I like the social interaction of Zwift, the friends you make from suddenly riding and "pushing" on with a complete stranger for 10miles or so.

Ivan Drago would use trainer road ... Apollo creed would use Zwift and Rocky would HTFU and go ride in the rain

Well said

stoobydale · February 2017

Check out PerfPro. Used TR and Zwift but for me working a 2 week on 2 week off shift pattern the one off payment was perfect.

vinnymarsden · February 2017

For me personally...I have TR until April as a customer care free period after some issues...I have to say, their customer care is incredibly good. I have PerfRo..paid for as a one off, it's also very good, and i am using the Sufferfest App at the mo, paid monthly..I have always likes the SF videos, they genuinely, for me anyway seem to encourage me, especially in the man cave(read garage) when its about 1degree!!! Tried Zwift, couldn't get on with it...someone made a valid point about it along the lines of..you always, regardless of your intentions get drawn into a race type scenario due to the presence of others!! Good fun but not always what you initially decided your session was going to be about!!
They all have good/bad things going for them, and I think all of them do some kind of trial period, so try them out, its the only way to ensure you get whats best for you.

The_Wicker_Man · February 2017

I use both. TrainerRoad for dedicated training sessions and Zwift for recovery rides or when the weather is too grim to ride.

mechanism · February 2017

I suggested using TrainerRoad and Zwift together earlier on and if I didn't object to paying for both and had a spare computer, it's what I would do. TR for the excellent plans and workouts; could be on a phone controlling the trainer via bluetooth. Zwift for the social aspect, visual bling and overtaking other riders during intervals; on a decent computer picking up power, HR and cadence via ANT+. Plus a big TV. Other configurations are possible too.

slowbike · February 2017

If you want something cross between trainerroad and zwift then try the bkool simulator (can be used with non-bkool turbos)

It's not as popular as Zwift, so you don't get hundreds of riders on the course to chase down.
What you do do is ride a specific route - either from one of the 0000's of online courses or upload your own GPX file to create a new one - start at the beginning (or if someone else is riding then you can start off with the last rider - your choice) - and finish at the end - it's not never ending - so you can decide to do a specific course and get on and ride it. You can stop mid course if you want to.
The advantage of riding a specific course is that you can have a ghost rider - this is from previously undertaken rides (I think it may just be your fastest) - giving you a target on the road to aim for.

Alternatively you can drop into the velodrome - again, the sessions are set in distance - but you can stop whenever you like - there are usually a number of people riding around and you can use these to draft, jump off and sprint to the next line or just do your own thing.

There's the obligatory ERG mode too - not really explored that yet.

scott_w1987 · February 2017

I mainly use sufferfest under ERG control for my 2 or 3 weekly hard interval sessions but that's just because it's what I'm used to and I enjoy it! I do sometimes double up a turbo session with a sufferfest video then an hour on zwift riding steady or if I have an easy day I'll put zwift on and spin round the island for an hour.

At the end of the day Zwift, sufferfest and trainer road doing workout intervals under ERG control are all the same apart from different visuals.

Zwift is obviously the best value for money as it gives you the same plus lots of other features that the others don't have.

I try and get 3-4 hours on the turbo and 8-12 hours outdoors, weather doesn't really play a massive part in it and riding in strong winds and rain is actually quite enjoyable! Although I wouldn't do it to get to work...

sopworth · February 2017

I've been using Zwift, over TR, for the last year as I was enjoying the racing side of it and the workouts seemed ok, but I'm seriously considering going back to TR.
The racing and competitive side of Zwift has just become too unrealistic. Some of the numbers and times people are posting are just ridiculous. I know it's still competitive amongst us that have a real weight dialled in but it's quite annoying. Also, this last few months Zwift have had a shocking reliability record - I've lost quite a few races due to connectivity issues that Zwift have accepted is their fault. On the bigger participation rides, they have struggled to cope with the numbers. Loosing connection or dropping out of a race after 45 minutes is really, really annoying.
I loved Zwift when I first started on it, and I still think the concept is brilliant, but it's becoming way to unreliable and considering I'm still getting a 2-3 second lag, it's not really acceptable.

jgsi · February 2017

sopworth wrote:

I've been using Zwift, over TR, for the last year as I was enjoying the racing side of it and the workouts seemed ok, but I'm seriously considering going back to TR.
The racing and competitive side of Zwift has just become too unrealistic. Some of the numbers and times people are posting are just ridiculous. I know it's still competitive amongst us that have a real weight dialled in but it's quite annoying. Also, this last few months Zwift have had a shocking reliability record - I've lost quite a few races due to connectivity issues that Zwift have accepted is their fault. On the bigger participation rides, they have struggled to cope with the numbers. Loosing connection or dropping out of a race after 45 minutes is really, really annoying.
I loved Zwift when I first started on it, and I still think the concept is brilliant, but it's becoming way to unreliable and considering I'm still getting a 2-3 second lag, it's not really acceptable.

Zwift do need to keep up as all companies do in order to survive.
It will be interesting to see how their income stream looks as the season changes this year and obviously there has to be other big hitter companies eyeing up this online potential big money maker.
As to races and times and speeds etc etc etc.. yes there are some highly trained athletes on board and they are riding at elite level - hence dont discount some race results -- you wouldn't be able to ride against them on the road , Zwift is no different.
Riders using this virtual power are at an advantage but the simple solution is to bar them from racing - but that is against the Zwift ethos of #rideon #fun and similar nonsensical sayings.
A formal calibration test on the Zwift software could be written for power meters and smart trainers - but again the cost factor means it wont be done.
On the whole it gets an 8 out of 10 over the other indoor training offerings... but as usual cabin fever strikes each February and I need more actual road work.

fat daddy · February 2017

I have just started getting seriously into the workouts on Zwift

Workouts are ok ... they do as you would expect

But

Compared to TR the number of workouts is limited, the scheduled plans are even more limited and the support to why and what you are doing is also lacking ... if you are wanting a training package that gives you a bit of support then go TR .... if you know how to plan your own structured training then Zwift is ok

CptKernow · February 2017

BOTH!

TR workouts and plans are the best. So I run these on the phone whilst on Zwift to help relieve the boredom.

zwift or trainer road

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