Limbatus

Hello,
I am looking for a solution for my indoor cycling setup. I use Rouvy to ride with a KickrBIKE, but I find the frame rate issues detrimental to the video experience. Is there a way to set a constant cadence / forward motion input so that video playback is fluid? I find that these apps display very staccato video if you don't match the pace of the camera. Is there any software that can output a constant speed / cadence? Is there a USB input meter that could be spoofed to a constant speed? Anyone else find a solution for this issue? Please give me your ideas.

Atlas Shrugged

Might be easier to switch to FulGaz.

Limbatus

Thats valid advice. I tried the Fulgaz demo a couple months ago, and I appreciated that feature.

Rouvy has better video footage than Fulgaz, so I am hoping to stick with it.

There must be some sort of USB device that can override the onboard sensor on the KickrBike

If Rouvy added the constant playback setting, it would greatly improve their product

surak

While I agree that many of the Rouvy videos could be improved if they were recorded at cycling speeds, I don't think they'll appreciate you spoofing your effort, and most certainly not if you do it in time trial mode where there are route leaderboards.

If all you want is the video, I've seen most if not all the videos available to stream from their website. You can watch those in your browser and use something else to display your actual power, like a head unit or app.

The only way to get the interactive elevation changes and display of your numbers would be to roughly estimate how much faster you want to go and drop the training difficulty setting in Rouvy when in Training mode.

Limbatus

I have no interest in rankings or competitive use of Rouvy. Just fitness. I am trying to create the best experience.

I have been using the Preview mode on their website, which creates the exact result I am after (although it lacks the grade adjustments )

I find that many of the older rides have a full length preview. Many of the new rides have a brief edited preview that only lasts a few moments.

Rouvy should post the entire footage for each of their routes.

spelger

unless you are a paying customer why should they?

mr_pedro

Do you still want Rouvy to control the resistance of the bike? How would that work if the video is not at the same spot you are?
If the video is decoupled from your power output on the bike, isn't it just like watching a video, you can probably find footage on Youtube.

Limbatus

I am looking for a rollercoaster. I hop onboard and peddle to get some exercise. The app creates a seamless experience showing scenic bike routes and controls the resistance and grade simulation as I progress through the course video

AdkMtnMonster

“...and I want a toilet made of solid gold, but it’s just not in the cards, now, is it?”

surak

So did you try setting the difficulty lower in Rouvy's training mode?

Limbatus

In Rouvy the app setting is called "Reality Level" I have it reduced down to 30% hoping that it would be easier to match the camera speed. I am surprised by the out of the box resistance in the app. IRL I can ride 30 miles / 5K Ft vert in a couple hours on my road bike or mountain bike. Just the base resistance defined by Rouvy was nearly impossible for me to achieve fluid frame rate. I'm not a pro cyclist, but I ride enough. I also wonder if reducing the reality level limits the grade simulation. Kickerbike advertises, I think 20 degrees to negative 15 degrees range of motion. I've never been on a Rouvy AR route and had it shift more than 5 degrees. I wish there was range scaling to make use of the limits of the bike.

I like the alps routes best, so it seems like some of the steep sections could easily max out the Kickr's limits.

surak

Yeah, unfortunately you can't hack the grade simulation on the Kickr Bike the way you can with a Kickr Climb by changing the wheelbase. Have you checked that your weight is set correctly in Rouvy? My resistance feels right with outdoors, even easier on the toughest grades because I can put it in a ridiculously low gear without worrying about falling over.

Another idea would be to drastically lower your Rouvy profile's weight and height to whatever is the smallest values it'll allow, which will mean less resistance even at 100% reality level. It will likely make you slower going downhill, but Rouvy caps everyone at 72 kph anyway.

spelger

i am sure you mean % grade and not degrees.

Limbatus

Thanks, I'll try adjusting my profile settings

Limbatus

Drastically reducing my profile weight made a significant improvement in the video experience. There is still some odd frame shifting that is not visible when the video plays back at constant speed. Thank you very much for this tip. I'd say this adjustment made an 80% improvement.

Rouvy should add a settings feature like Fulgaz to ride at constant playback speed

Atlas Shrugged

By better video footage I assume you mean more choices. I used Rouvy virtually since inception and gave up on it once I got my Kickr Bike. It’s almost like they don’t want to support it since they are affiliated with Saris. FullGaz videos are recorded at cycling speeds, display gearing on the screen as well is very smooth and realistic. I found Rouvy with Bluetooth glitchy and had a lag on the Kickr Bike slope. Try the free demo for a while and report back I would be very surprised you would prefer Rouvy. The choices of rides are substantial and the quality is excellent.

Limbatus

I really wanted Fulgaz to be great. The Kickerbike came with free trials to about 12 services. I did the two week Fulgaz trial last year, and decided not to continue. I emailed the below analysis to the Fulgaz developers and they told me their product was excellent as it is. I was frustrated by their response, but maybe some day i'll return once GoPro becomes markedly improved.

By better video footage I mean that Rouvy, for the most part, has video shot from a van with a full-size video camera. The height of the camera makes for a more scenic view than a handlebar mounted GoPro. The larger sensor on the video camera means the exposure control in the video is better. These are broad generalizations because rouvy has maybe 200 rides and fulgaz has maybe 1000 rides. I didn't complete them all but this is my general opinion from the 50 different rouvy routes I have ridden and the 30 Fulgaz Rides I completed during the trial. Because Fulgaz is filmed from the handlebars, there is often road wobble in the footage, or steering jiggle in the slow steep sections. You get stuck in packs looking at someones rear for periods of time, and I rather just look at the view of the mountains. I am after beautiful cinematic footage from the worlds best rides.

All that said. Its cool that Fulgaz is actually 4K, while Rouvy claims to be 4K but is actually only 2K? and then the app settings only list 1080.....

I wish there was a service that provided all Red Camera or Black Magic filmed cinematic quality rides. That would be awesome.

jpescatore

There is a complex way you could do the hack you'd like to do. For $50 you could buy the Cable USB/ANT+ bridge and use it to select which Bluetooth and/or ANT+ feeds you want to use for speed, cadence, rpm, power etc. Then all you need is a source of constant RPM via Bluetooth. That would be easy enough to do with some simple software on a laptop, or on something like an Arduino board.

A lot of Zwift YouTuber/blogger/podcasters have ways of doing this - they routinely create "ghost riders" to test things out like which cadence will go up hill faster or why changing the trainer difficulty doesn't impact speed. You could post on DCrainmaker or GPllama and ask how they do that.