robbyville

I will never make these happen but here are a couple ideas that I personally think could be positive sellers...

1. Online Spin classes, the world spends a ton of money on these interactive peep shows, how about spin instructors who have at least a one way and possible two way webcam to broadcast and sell their classes. I've purchased a sufferfest video and it's great but it's still a video that can only be watched so many times, interactive would be cool. FYI many of us live in remote areas and do not have spin classes available in our areas.

seems like this would be an easy to accomplish business.

2. Similar from a training perspective but this one requires some game programming. I have a perfectly good trainer but can't afford a fancy computrainer or interactive one. how about an Xbox Kinect or Wii cycling oriented game with racing, etc. I understand that it would not have feedback in the form of incline, or increased force so that would be self maintained but at least it would be interactive and fun.

food for thought while taking a break from my sick child!

cplager

Somehow combine the two so you hook up your Wii to the your bike on the trainer and so the spin instructor can monitor your progress.

Parson

This is in development. I think the guy doing it is planning on making it free. At least initially. It isn't pretty at this point but functionally its already pretty awesome. It will allow people to race virtually on any road over the internet or more than one trainer in the same room.

robbyville

nice! I wonder if he's beta testing yet, I'm dying out here!

evan938

Id be happy with just a good, hour to hour and a half long onboard video of a ride through some nice areas. Nothing helmet mounted (too much movement). Ive found a couple on youtube, and a whole bunch of short ones. I like to set up my trainer right in front of my 60" and make it seem like im riding the route

Silvercivic27

Here ya go!

https://www.cyclingfusion.com/winter-training/

Broid

Try this...

https://www.trainerroad.com/

Parson

There are a few people using it. I don't think he's at the point where he's ready for it to be widely tested though. I'm not affiliated with it all though, so I don't want to say anything that may be incorrect.

robbyville

thanks I'll take a look at all of these! A lot closer than I was before!

RoadMike

TrainerRoad is amazing. It doesn't quite have a game feel to it, but it brings the suffer level of trainer workouts up while keeping you occupied with maintaining your power levels...

Oh yeah, and did I mention that all you need is an ANT+ Speed/Cadence sensor and an ANT+ USB stick to train with power on TrainerRoad?

That's right, for about $40 to $50 initial investment, you can train with power...that's an awesome deal.

hhnngg1

I've found that the suffering of TrainerRoad workouts makes time fly, even the 2 hour workouts.

"Steady state" riding doesn't sound that hard until you actually do it. I find myself keeping my wattage to within 1-2 watts of the target wattage just so I can conserve energy for the later intervals!

The threshold and above stuff is very painful. I can barely remember the clock after doing those. You should check it out.

wjclint

There are quite a few options that are for sale or in development that fit somewhere into the general ideas of the OP, and there are probably even more out there:

Tour De Giro: https://www.tourdegiro.com/
TrainerRoad: https://www.trainerroad.com/
KinoMap Trainer (not just KinoMap): https://www.kinomaptrainer.com/
PeriPedal: https://www.peripedal.com/
jmX: https://jmtc.ls1howto.com/
Rad+: https://www.radplussports.com/
PerfPro: https://perfprostudio.com/
GoldenCheetah (in Realtime Mode): https://goldencheetah.stand2surf.net/
SportTracks Live View: https://www.zonefivesoftware.com/spor...=liverecording
RollerRacing: https://www.rollerracing.ca/login.html
Computrainer RacerMate One: https://racermateinc.com/int_software.asp
Tacx TTS:https://www.tacx.com/en/products/soft...are-4-advanced

TourDeGiro is the racing game that is in development. RollerRacing is a similar concept and is supposed to start beta testing soon. I've tried TourDeGiro a few times now and it is definitely at it's beginning stage, but it is pretty fun. Even the glitches are fun - like a tree being right smack-dab in the middle of the road. I've only raced against the AI riders, but even there it is fun to watch the different skill levels of the AI riders break into several different pelotons right off the start line. If you are in the back of the group and "attack" the AI racers slowly form up into a line behind you. How fast you are going depends on your watts, weight, the virtual slope you are on, and some assumptions about how aero you are, and whether you are in a rider's draft or not.

If jmX, TourDeGiro and RollerRacing all got together and combined the best parts of what they are doing they would really have something great.

robbyville

Wow thanks again to all! Some great stuff here to check out, never knew that so much was out there. The "game" feel kind of appeals to me too. I've never trained with power before and just today ordered my garmon edge 500 bundle. I assume that the ant+ stick is something ill have to order next and is not just a regular USB memory stick?

Can't wait to try some of this, right now still have beautiful but cold weather to ride in but since I work at a ski resort I'd frankly rather have the nasty stuff so we can get open!

garbagehead

Its been all over the channels these past three months, pelaton I believe is the name. The second idea, yeah great idea, to make something like GTA physics and reality like tiger woods golf, for bikes, combined with zwift data on the home device. I'm totally there.

DXchulo

This is an interesting zombie thread. It's amazing to think about how Zwift went from nothing to super popular in less than 5 years.

exmechanic89

Can I join in on the zombie thread fun? Here's an idea I've had for a while: heated drop or flat bars for cold weather riding. They could be run off of a hub like a generator light, or (more likely) a rechargeable battery system. Yeah I know, there'd be some drawbacks. I just think it's a cool idea.

indyfabz

I'm totally wondering how you found this thread from 2012.

netman9718

How about a way you could train for higher elevation while living in lower elevation. I was thinking with me doing the Triple Bypass this July it would be nice if I could go into a room that simulated riding at higher elevation. I could put my bike on a trainer in a high elevation room and train my self silly.

SCRcat6

That's easy. Google elevation training mask.

redfooj

looks like a batman villain

netman9718

does it work?

Dan333SP

I know this is a zombie post, but it really is interesting. He basically laid out the business model for both Peloton and Zwift, which are hugely popular and big money makers.

SpeshulEd 

No idea on the mask, but there's definitely a business in it...
Altitude Training | Hypoxico ? The leaders in Altitude Training Systems

robbyville

After the initial responses to this thread I tried out trainer road and used it for 2 winter seasons. Fun program especially when commingled with sufferfest videos!

I actually beta tested the roller racing software for a while but had too many problems, not sure what happened with them but that was pre-zwift. I also did Zwift in its infancy and had a great time with it.

I've since moved to a place where I can ride outdoors year round so sold my trainers and rollers. About a month ago I saw the new version of Peloton with the online classes and was happy about it. I knew it was just a matter of time until smarter folks than I would come up with a useable concept although I still think that there is ample opportunity for a physical fitness company like 24 hr, worlds gym, etc to profit from a software only app that has the spin classes online but allows you to use your own trainer.

Thanks again for the resurrection!

Dan333SP

You should sue both companies for stealing your ideas!

Kidding. If you're currently in Basye, I can't imagine that's a place where year-round riding is an option? Even Richmond has at least 50 days a year where it's either impossible or very unpleasant to ride outside.