Zwift - does it get better?

rdt

phreak wrote:

When you say you're using it via your phone, do you mean the Android app? In which case, I don't think you'll see any of the worlds you're in, which seems a rather limited version of the program to me.

I think I acknowledged that up front:

"last week I got a new Android phone that can run Zwift so gave it a whirl

I was a bit underwhelmed, but I realise there were a few things less than ideal:
- Tiny phone screen"


For sure, any sense of immersion isn't going to be great on a tiny screen(!), so that was definitely a factor...

But once over the novelty factor simply riding around in Zwift felt pretty "pointless" for me, in a way that doing a structured interval w/o as part of a TR plan doesn't (NB fully accepting that "everything is ultimately pointless", so I'm talking degrees of pointlessness ).

After thinking about it, and based on feedback here, I suspect Zwift races or competitive group rides of some sort would be more appealing to me.

NB I'm not knocking Zwift here. We all like different stuff, and fortunately there's loads of options available to us.

phreak

rdt wrote:

phreak wrote:

When you say you're using it via your phone, do you mean the Android app? In which case, I don't think you'll see any of the worlds you're in, which seems a rather limited version of the program to me.

I think I acknowledged that up front:

"last week I got a new Android phone that can run Zwift so gave it a whirl

I was a bit underwhelmed, but I realise there were a few things less than ideal:
- Tiny phone screen"


For sure, any sense of immersion isn't going to be great on a tiny screen(!), so that was definitely a factor...

But once over the novelty factor simply riding around in Zwift felt pretty "pointless" for me, in a way that doing a structured interval w/o as part of a TR plan doesn't (NB fully accepting that "everything is ultimately pointless", so I'm talking degrees of pointlessness ).

After thinking about it, and based on feedback here, I suspect Zwift races or competitive group rides of some sort would be more appealing to me.

NB I'm not knocking Zwift here. We all like different stuff, and fortunately there's loads of options available to us.

They're completely different though. The mobile app is akin to watching a football match via teletext. It's called a companion app for a reason :-)

You can do structured workouts via it very easily (about half of my riding there is thus), and ultimately it's what you can look at that takes your mind off being indoors on the trainer.

rdt

phreak wrote:

They're completely different though. The mobile app is akin to watching a football match via teletext. It's called a companion app for a reason :-)

You've got the wrong end of the stick here! I'm running the full Zwift app, not the companion app... :shock:

phreak wrote:

You can do structured workouts via it very easily (about half of my riding there is thus), and ultimately it's what you can look at that takes your mind off being indoors on the trainer.

As mentioned before, not currently interested in Zwift for structured training as I have TR for that job.

phreak

Ah, beg your pardon.

fenix

If you have TR for your structured workouts then why would you pay to just ride round ? Just put on whatever floats your boat from the internet. Eurosport or race footage on youtube or movies.

fenix

Swapped the road bike for a mountain bike last night in Zwift and did the offroad course. I thought it would be a gimmick beforehand but I really enjoyed it. Decent workout and really immersive. It's only a very small segment but with a steep climb on it - well worth a look.

https://zwiftinsider.com/find-zwifts-ne ... ng-course/

stevejmo7

I got Zwift to try to motivate myself over winter. Last year I rode outdoors three times and once this year. Both years I rode something like 345 days on Zwift - love the group rides where I sweep and the Thursday team time trials are superb.

fenix

Blimey. You must be fit as a flea. But why so few outside rides ?

sopworth

Second hand 32" TV from Gumtree for £30. In the garage with laptop hooked up....sweet.
I love Zwift but I only do workouts and races - mainly races though. I used to spend hours just cycling around the maps but I just find that way to boring now.
Races are great and I feel like i've really had a top work out. I know they are not the best form of structured racing but I love them and will do them all winter with a few other workouts thrown in.
I do think many of the Zwift training plans are well below par compared to Trainerroad, and I doubt you would get much improvement if you followed ones like 'FTP builder' IMO.
Zwift companion App on your phone is essential too. Plan races/group rides in advance and have a good idea of expected turn out.

fenix

I'd be surprised if Zwift can't get a basic FTP training program right.

It's hardly rocket science is it? Pretty much everyone on here has improved their fitness with a bit of training haven't they ?

If they can set up a global platform for online cycling and create many virtual worlds then I don't see why they'd not be able to put together a training plan.

rdt

rdt said:

I've been using TrainerRoad for 18 months or so for structured training, am quite happy with it, and keep an annual subs for use throughout the year, which I use a lot.



A background plan has been to add in a bit of Zwift during the darker months, but I've been in no hurry...

I'm the OP, and the above quote is how I began the thread.

To wrap this up, I've abandoned that notional background plan to add in some Zwifting over the winter...

A few reasons combined, the key ones being:
* now in the midst of a TR mid-volume plan, it doesn't leave much (read any) slack to accommodate additional workload;
* after kicking the tyres a bit I've found Zwift to not really float my boat and suit my requirements - horses for courses innit.

Had a budget set to buy some new AV kit to run it on, so that's a nice bonus - will stick the loot towards another cycling holiday somewhere warm and sunny.

dannbodge

I'm in much the same boat.
Zwift was great when I wanted to do workouts but didn't really have a plan.

Now I've got a training plan to stick to, I'm spending 99% of the time on Sufferfest instead.

stevejmo7

fenix said:

Blimey. You must be fit as a flea. But why so few outside rides ?

don't see any advantage to riding outdoors - lots of virtual friends & race for a team on Zwift - many reasons not to ride outdoors - weather, 4 x 4 drivers, Audis, BMWs, squirrels potholes etc etc

cruff

stevejmo7 said:

fenix said:

Blimey. You must be fit as a flea. But why so few outside rides ?

don't see any advantage to riding outdoors - lots of virtual friends & race for a team on Zwift - many reasons not to ride outdoors - weather, 4 x 4 drivers, Audis, BMWs, squirrels potholes etc etc

I find this bizarre. No offence, but Zwift racing is ridiculous. It doesn't even remotely resemble real life racing. It will keep you fit, for sure - but I just don't get the mindset of someone who would choose to ride indoors at the expense of outdoors.

And that's coming from someone who is on a Zwift team, and who uses Zwift extensively - and does almost all their winter training on it

fenix

stevejmo7 said:

fenix said:

Blimey. You must be fit as a flea. But why so few outside rides ?

don't see any advantage to riding outdoors - lots of virtual friends & race for a team on Zwift - many reasons not to ride outdoors - weather, 4 x 4 drivers, Audis, BMWs, squirrels potholes etc etc

Saddest post ever.

jgsi

I’m a Zwifter. Fairly addicted over winter, using a decent Direto trainer.
I have enough kicks being a regular commuter, utility cyclist.
riding outdoors keeps it real, even though it knackers the bike up in this weather.
You cannot describe yourself as a cyclist if all you do is indoors.
End of.

rdt

jgsi said:

You cannot describe yourself as a cyclist if all you do is indoors.

The fella's free to do what he wants. Why should he care what you label him as?

As in other walks of life: each to their own, live and let live, etc.

stevejmo7

cruff said:

stevejmo7 said:

fenix said:

Blimey. You must be fit as a flea. But why so few outside rides ?

don't see any advantage to riding outdoors - lots of virtual friends & race for a team on Zwift - many reasons not to ride outdoors - weather, 4 x 4 drivers, Audis, BMWs, squirrels potholes etc etc

I find this bizarre. No offence, but Zwift racing is ridiculous. It doesn't even remotely resemble real life racing. It will keep you fit, for sure - but I just don't get the mindset of someone who would choose to ride indoors at the expense of outdoors.

And that's coming from someone who is on a Zwift team, and who uses Zwift extensively - and does almost all their winter training on it

Zwift racing is incredible - TTT pushes me harder than any other session. Great company

stevejmo7

jgsi said:

I’m a Zwifter. Fairly addicted over winter, using a decent Direto trainer.
I have enough kicks being a regular commuter, utility cyclist.
riding outdoors keeps it real, even though it knackers the bike up in this weather.
You cannot describe yourself as a cyclist if all you do is indoors.
End of.

Dear oh dear

stevejmo7

fenix said:

stevejmo7 said:

fenix said:

Blimey. You must be fit as a flea. But why so few outside rides ?

don't see any advantage to riding outdoors - lots of virtual friends & race for a team on Zwift - many reasons not to ride outdoors - weather, 4 x 4 drivers, Audis, BMWs, squirrels potholes etc etc

Saddest post ever.

'Saddest post ever.' even sadder

stevejmo7

Something else occurred to me re the people who put anti-Zwift comments above. I've ridden with Hannah Barnes, Simon Yates, taken part in a group ride with Mark Cavendish and done three interval sessions with Fabien Cancellara, I doubt they have - also had the opportunity to text them on screen or talk IRL on Discord. Many, if not most, top professional riders use Zwift for varying reasons, but of course, they are not cyclists are they.

cruff

stevejmo7 said:

cruff said:

stevejmo7 said:

fenix said:

Blimey. You must be fit as a flea. But why so few outside rides ?

don't see any advantage to riding outdoors - lots of virtual friends & race for a team on Zwift - many reasons not to ride outdoors - weather, 4 x 4 drivers, Audis, BMWs, squirrels potholes etc etc

I find this bizarre. No offence, but Zwift racing is ridiculous. It doesn't even remotely resemble real life racing. It will keep you fit, for sure - but I just don't get the mindset of someone who would choose to ride indoors at the expense of outdoors.

And that's coming from someone who is on a Zwift team, and who uses Zwift extensively - and does almost all their winter training on it

Zwift racing is incredible - TTT pushes me harder than any other session. Great company

But it isn't racing. Like I said it will keep you fit, but it just isn't comparable to racing

fenix

stevejmo7 said:

Something else occurred to me re the people who put anti-Zwift comments above. I've ridden with Hannah Barnes, Simon Yates, taken part in a group ride with Mark Cavendish and done three interval sessions with Fabien Cancellara, I doubt they have - also had the opportunity to text them on screen or talk IRL on Discord. Many, if not most, top professional riders use Zwift for varying reasons, but of course, they are not cyclists are they.

I'm not anti Zwift - I love it - but if you're not riding out in nature or getting out into the world and having great cake stops - you're missing out.

All the pro riders you've ridden with - would you have mentioned them if they'd only ever ridden inside ? Big Fat Nope. Get out and ride outside and you can meet them in real life.

moscowflyer

I never got on with Zwift but now I work from home so do group workouts and group rides during the day which I love. The Dutch Diesel Weekender on a Friday afternoon for example pushes me way more than any ordinary Zwift ride would. There's good training plans as well, plus you can create your own easily enough.

Most TR workouts are already uploaded to Trainerday ready to download, so just get your plan off TR and download them and put them into Zwift and you get the best of both worlds. It's a fair bit cheaper for Zwift than TR as well, unless you're locked in to the old rate of course.

Longshot

There's some bizarre attitudes in this thread.

Where does it say in the definition of 'a cyclist' that it has to be done outdoors?

**** me, some of you need to get out more.

fenix

ISWYDT

ibr17xvii

stevejmo7 said:

I got Zwift to try to motivate myself over winter. Last year I rode outdoors three times and once this year. Both years I rode something like 345 days on Zwift - love the group rides where I sweep and the Thursday team time trials are superb.

I love Zwift & do literally all my indoor miles on there but that is next level.

Not knocking you at all, each to their own but for me personally I couldn't imagine riding outdoors that little. Indoor riding in my case is there as a substitute if I can't go out due to time pressure, work, weather etc etc.

Like I say each to their own though, at least you're riding which is the main thing IMHO.

Longshot

fenix said:

ISWYDT

I'd love to say I did it on purpose but only noticed aftwerwards

neeb

Longshot said:

There's some bizarre attitudes in this thread.

Where does it say in the definition of 'a cyclist' that it has to be done outdoors?

**** me, some of you need to get out more.

Well, I would say that physical movement on a bicycle (as opposed to simulated movement) is pretty intrinsic to what cycling is, or at least what is has been thought to be by almost everyone until very recently. Of course that's nothing much to do with indoors/outdoors - you can move very fast on a bicycle in a velodrome.

It's rather fascinating that this may be changing, and a testament to how far virtual cycling has developed that the distinction between the simulated and the physical is becoming blurred in some people's minds.

Of course you can choose to define cycling either as the act of pedalling (in which case Zwift is cycling) or as the act of moving on a bicycle (in which case it's not).

I really enjoy Zwift during the winter but for me it's absolutely a substutute for the "real thing", the real thing being.propelling yourself under your own power at much greater speeds than is possible for the purely biological human organism with the aid of the wonderful mechanism that is the bicycle. The attraction of Zwift is that it evokes the sensation of doing that - it wouldn't make sense to me if I didn't have ample and relatively recent experience of riding on real roads to be evoked. Which is not to say that it doesn't have anything that "real" cycling doesn't.

I wonder if there are any people who use Zwift regularly but have never ridden a bicycle "for real" in their lives, and if so what it means to them. It would be fascinating to talk to someone like that.

pblakeney

I've been using the 25km/month trial for years. 😉
I have been using it on an ATV 4K since the summer and can't see why you'd wait for a new model.
FWIW Zwift is good for the competitive side if that's for you but I prefer Fulgaz FWIW.