Zwift setup or winter bike?

hello my dears
I have been riding as an adult for about 2 years.
I have a Via nirone7 and no zwift equipment ie trainer or ipad and I've never experienced zwift.
I am saving up either for a trainer/ipad or a winter bike, so what does a good winter bike need for uk conditions, ans is zwift as fun/rewarding as road riding?
thanks for any input
I have been riding as an adult for about 2 years.
I have a Via nirone7 and no zwift equipment ie trainer or ipad and I've never experienced zwift.
I am saving up either for a trainer/ipad or a winter bike, so what does a good winter bike need for uk conditions, ans is zwift as fun/rewarding as road riding?
thanks for any input
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Posts
As has been said. Full proper guards are best and clearances for bigger tyres. Also a cheaper groupset for the crappier weather.
Zwift is great but you have to be keen to use it. There's thousands of turbos that get very little use.
You might be able to pick up a bargain after lockdown is relaxed.
I have one of those "thousands of turbos" that fenix refers to above.
Real roads, real miles in real weather - there's no substitute.
I don't think the VN7 will take full guards though....if you are going to go that way.
Zwift will not be as fun or rewarding as being out on the road. On the other hand on those days when it is lashing down or blowing a gale then Zwift is better, and that happens year round. IMO.
Only you can choose. Ultimately it is better to have both.
I am not sure. You have no chance.
A proper modern smart trainer set up is very different and makes regular turbo use a lot more tolerable, perhaps even fun.
That said, the answer to your question is obviously you need both!
Depending on where you live it's only really a few weeks either side of Christmas when the roads are *always* wet... The rest of the time, alternating between outdoor rides when it's dry and indoor Zwift sessions when it's wet is a really good way to keep motivated and mix things up - short and intense indoors, longer rides outdoors.
But you do need the whole smart trainer, decent IT/screen setup etc to get the full experience.
Is it possible to add a gpx file to any of the software programmes available, or are the preloaded ones the only routes you can follow?
It stacked up fairly accurate to my PB which is understandable when you don't have to worry about junctions and potholes/ gravel etc. 😉
I am not sure. You have no chance.
Is it just gpx, or do I have to convert to .fit or.kml? Simple enough to do but just another step to consider.
I am not sure. You have no chance.
In the end, if you use Zwift it's still going to be you pedalling in the house when it comes to basics, and Zwift doesn't fool everyone into some kind of involving experience, some people who don't like being on a turbo in the house will not be converted by Zwift into doing it.
(Same goes for all-weather winter riding, some people just don't take to it).
I bought a discounted smart turbo and a used iPad and I’ve been on zwift or RGT 5-6 days a week for the last 9 weeks. I love it.
Zwift racing has been the competitive outlet I’ve been craving for years but haven’t had the time or money to do anything about. I’ve not been this fit for years.
I’ve done a couple of 2 hour+ rides on zwift and only stopped because I had other stuff to do, no way I could have done that on a dumb trainer, But time flies on a nice virtual route.
I’m not sure I’ll ever ride out in the dark and cold again, but I do have to caveat that all of my riding is done between 5am and 9am so I’d you’re the type of person who waits until a sensible time to ride at the weekend you might not find it as much of a revelation as I did.
Voodoo Bizango - 2014 - Dead - Hit by a car
Vitus Sentier VRS - 2017
Saying that, although I use my Crockett for the winter, I'm tempted by either a steel or titanium bike for winter.
All Road/ Gravel: Trek Crockett 5
WInter: Trek Domane ALR3
MTB: Canyon Grand Canyon 8.0
Road: tbc
Just get outside and ride regardless.
Unless where you live suffers from monsoon season or 6 months of snow there's no substitute to the great outdoors regardless of the weather.
Sure, a Zwift session could give you a workout, let you hit your training stats, but it's not everything that being outside is all about. Where's the crosswind? Potholes? Errant drivers? All the things that sharpen your mind and improve your bike handling skills. Zwift sounds great in theory, but doesn't harden you to real cycling, whatever the weather. IMO it trains you to be soft, gives you an out when the conditions aren't right. How's that going to help you in a club race or training ride when the conditions are changeable.
As for a winter bike, as long as you can fashion fixings for full length mudguards any bike can be winterised. There's plenty of bodges out there.
Keep it real, cycle outside as often as possible. Anything else is not moving you forward to your potential.
What utter nonsense.
Each to their own but to say indoor riding trains you to be soft is absolute nonsense.
In terms of power training, they are probably better than riding outdoors, as you can do more work in less time, more structured intervals, without the distraction of road junctions, traffic, potholes and temperamental terrain, but of course I am dubious about what they do for your mental health, compared to being outdoors for a few hours. It's not just about the watts, sport outdoor is beneficial in a number of ways that virtual cannot replicate.
And Zwift is so time efficient.
But you do need a winter/commuting bike as well. It is great to have something with cheaper bits on it, that already looks like hell, but rides okay.
Cube Attain
But that's probably because people used to train with the aim of racing, and the racing season only goes from spring to autumn, whereas now many train for the sake of training or because they want to do virtual races, which go on every day of the year.
If you want to race outdoors, then it's probably still a case of letting go of intervals over the winter, or you might peak at the wrong time, or not peak at all.