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I've had some conversations with a few of my cycling friends about their trainers. 1 upgraded from a Computrainer to one of the Wahoo direct drives, another from a cheap roller to a Wahoo Kickr Snap. I've been torn on putting 500$+ into something that I don't know if I'm going to stick with or really use, though I certainly have the time with the roni and winter coming up. Fortunately the third has an original Kinetic Road Machine with the inRide attachment and decided bike trainers weren't for him, so lucky me I was able to pick it up. I'm looking to at least try Zwift, as I'd had some fun with a few of the video cycles at the gym in years past, and would probably stick with it more doing this than just trying to watch TV for an hour. As i understand it, the inRide is going to give me some reasonable power metric, and I'm going to give it a try before adding more attachments and upgrading. I will pick up a trainer tire, my current road tires didn't get much love this season again, just didn't feel like I had the time with projects this summer to get out on rides, so I don't want to nullify my tread. Are add-on sensors, like a speed/cadence combo, or HR strap, going to give me valuable metrics at a casual level? Is there anything else in particular that I should be looking for? The fan seems like a good idea and I have some around to try.
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Oct 5, 2020 14:30
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 16:09 |
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A couple of rides in, the cadence estimate on the trainer varies wildly, and I do have a desire to know a bit more accurately what my stats are. I ran through the trial 25 KM of Zwift and yeah I can see how this can be addicting, help pass the time too for exercise Playing on an iPad, sitting on a table maybe a foot or so in front of my handlebars is impossible to read the numbers - going to want a TV screen or something The sweat on the floor I can deal with for now. Immediately got a fan going. I did pop on the continental trainer tire, 700x32 for the cross rims on my bike. It didn't do a ton to change the noise level to be honest over the tires that I had on it before, but, $35 was a lot cheaper than they were to wear them out. I am at somewhat of a disadvantage for real speed with my gearing over some of the zippy bikes but it was still fun listening to things ding and chime like a pinball machine. Given the number of people buying bikes this year, and the lack of bike races and events that have taken place, I think grabbing a cheap fluid trainer (cheap relative to other things I guess) with a sensor to play the video game is certainly a way to upgrade your investment and have fun if anyone else is on the fence.
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Oct 8, 2020 22:34
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Is there a trick with Zwift to improve hill climb performance with a wheel on trainer? I've been pushing myself a bit more during the tour de zwift, however the sadists there seem to think every route requires 15+ minutes of climbing an incline at 4 mph. I have been doing decent keeping up with groups at ~250W, but as soon as the grade kicks in I slow to a crawl and people I've passed whiz right by me up the hill. I have a friend with a smart trainer who tells me it sort of does the same thing to him there too so I'm hopeful there's some slider or setting that I can adjust to make the hill climb a bit more tolerable.
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Jan 24, 2021 18:46
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It might just be the rides I'm signing up for as well. Mostly the frustration has been with the tour de zwift, but I wandered on to the Alpe and committed myself to it before I realized how long I was going to be there spinning along at 3 mph, with pretty much the same results. I'll try and mind the W/kg next time to see how that looks. It sure feels like anyone out there can breeze right by me when I'm on an incline, and I find it rather discouraging. Trying to bust rear end to keep up with whatever position I'm in or pod I'm with is the motivator and it's just gone in those cases.
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Jan 25, 2021 22:29
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Literally Lewis Hamilton posted:The standard ride for this stage ends on the NYC KOM which is great fun if your a tiny baby like me. Yeah that was alright. I set the camera to POV with my iPad in my face on a gooseneck and kinda get into the ride and keeping up with the other people nearby. The climbs just feel so slow and monotonous that I notice the soreness from old worn bike shorts or incorrectly tightened shoes. I need to work on my comfort when in position for an hour plus and that should improve it. I played around with trying to get my W/kg up on inclines with NYC which was a lot easier with the short ones than longer climbs, seemed to go pretty well until I'd gassed out later in the ride. Thanks for the info on how it works all.
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Jan 27, 2021 16:47
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I’ve ridden in first person camera a few times and when someone overtakes you from behind you spend a minute looking at their face from inside out.
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Feb 12, 2021 05:10
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I have the cateye strap. I’m waiting for the strap to get extra gross since it is basically a sweatband, but it’s not noticeable while using it at all. I’ve had to reset it a few times but I can’t tell if it’s the strap , Zwift , or my iPad . I was in a group ride on Zwift the other day when a call came in. My iPad rang, and when I hit decline Zwift froze up. When I opened it again, it asked me to continue, and when it put me in I was cycling through the air not near any road. 
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Feb 26, 2021 00:18
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I added people before I realized the screen at the end of a ride did that. I thought it gave them a thumbs up back.
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Jun 4, 2021 11:39
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After a season of this, I’d almost suggest any wheel on trainer and training tire if you’re not really into tri or serious riding. If you can stick with it or fall in love with the gamification then by all means upgrade and offload the thing to someone who is starting.
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Oct 5, 2021 23:34
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The magnet and sensor kit isn’t super pricy but yeah at this point I would not grab one that close to MSRP. The smart upgrade is more than half the price of it new too , to keep in mind. Do we have a Zwift … thing … for group ride or whatever ?
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Oct 31, 2021 19:38
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I didn’t know it was that poo poo - figured for $250 it would be an upgrade . The sensor thing works in that it reports numbers . I don’t know to what accuracy but it operates ? I added a HR strap last season . Is there anything worth an upgrade between now and $700? Using a Kurt kinetic fluid from forever ago with the BT sensor.
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Oct 31, 2021 22:16
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I updated my iPad to iPad OS 15.1 , and now Zwift can’t pair with any of my BLE devices. I’ve rebooted , and re-installed the app. They show up in the Kinetic or Cateye apps. Is there something else I should check? I was going to try companion but there’s no “settings” on the pairing screen to switch that in Zwift either.
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Nov 26, 2021 04:52
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I didn’t see any new settings. BT is allowed in the app settings and I hadn’t changed it. The BTLE things don’t seem to ever show up in the system Bluetooth list, but I don’t think they should . If I open the kinetic app my inride and cateye hrm all show up right away. Ill try rebooting all my electronics in case they paired to something somewhere that’s goofing up Zwift.
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Nov 26, 2021 15:24
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TobinHatesYou posted:Have you tried quitting both those apps instead of leaving them in the background? I had. This time I removed Zwift from the iPad, rebooted it, and my iPhone in case in my goofing I'd connected something inadvertently. Re-installed Zwift, and this time I was able to re-add the devices. Sort of disappointed that I missed out on a Thanksgiving day ride, as the time I had was taken up playing with the devices, but we're back to rocking and rolling! Thanks for the suggestions!
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Nov 27, 2021 22:51
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Is there a recommended guide on adjusting your bike/trainer to respond to aches/pains that become more obvious with it being stationary? So far I've been going with trying to reduce pressure points by adjusting things opposite the ache, like angling the seat down more or moving the cleats on my shoes. I'm wondering if I'm missing a broader fit issue by playing with that.
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Nov 27, 2021 23:03
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Zwift today had me plowing through a crowd of people on a sidewalk doing intervals on some sort of gravel training. My bad joining something called “bonbon” thinking it was going to be easy. LBS has the Saris H3 for $799 on sale . I’m wondering if it’s soon to be replaced by something better for that price drop. Figured maybe go for that over upgrading the kinetic I am rolling on now. The $600 bonus cash this year from the health insurance also helps that decision if it’s any good .
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Jan 4, 2022 00:09
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I have a CatEye strap that’s been spot on since I got it. If it’s not clipped in right it will read 0 BPM , but if it’s on right never had an issue with it. I just rinse the strap in the sink between uses and once or twice in the trainer season I’ll try and get it with something more soapy and work out the grime. Picked up a Saris H3 new at the LBS for $499, replacing a Kurt Kinetic fluid trainer. I have a CycleOps Power Beam ANT+ I was given, but haven’t spent the time to set up something to use ANT. The $500 was free from my HMO. Seems to be the new price point for decent hardware given the Zwift hub.
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Dec 3, 2023 15:54
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The organized rubber band rides are pretty good for that . I’d been playing with the pace partner robots, but haven’t had the best time with those lately . Zwift has bugged out and suddenly the robot is +4 sec , or it hits and incline and slows way down so you blow out of the pace group forward . That and when you start it , it drops you in with only a few seconds to speed up . Club based rides from ZER or Herd are my preference if they sync with my schedule .
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Jan 7, 2024 15:23
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 16:09 |
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It works the same as it does on the road - change gears to meet your desired cadence or output when the difficulty changes . The H3 I am using and probably others have some slop if you shift down the power output will drop off briefly then come back up . Usually doesn’t make a difference but I found it took some getting used to in workouts with short intervals to make sure you have the segment count as completed .
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Jan 11, 2024 12:44
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