ericy

The issue with Bluetooth and windows is that it isn't just ordinary bluetooth, but BLE or bluetooth-low-energy. And support for that didn't come until Windows 8. I have Win7 on my laptop, so ANT is required. I don't know if you had a newer windows whether BT would work or not, but the ANT dongle are pretty cheap so it isn't that big a deal.

The first ANT dongle I got from Amazon was a dud. Returned it and got a Garmin dongle, and that works fine. If you have it in the floor where sweat might drip on it, then put the thing in a baggie to keep it dry. I learned that one the hard way.

TrojanHorse

Ah, windoze 7 on my laptop too so that explains it. I have win10 on my desktop though, which I use for zwift now. I suppose that means I could use BT but the dongle works pretty well.

SUPPOSEDLY the range of ANT+ is 30 meters so why on earth would you need an extension cord? Probably just fear mongering but oh well, I already have one.

ericy

If there are no obstructions and no RF interference. But you would need to situate the thing in a way that all of the sensors always had a clear line of sight. It doesn't take much to block the signal either. If you get signal dropouts, you might see your hr drop or your cadence drop. In my case it was the trainer itself, since I was basically in the way.

I went to my local thrift store -they have usb keyboards and mice, and found a 10 ft extender cable for 3$.

TrojanHorse

Funny enough, with the dongle and regular ANT, I had tons of dropouts. ANT+ FEC... nothing noticeable. There's nothing worse than pedaling your ass off and seeing your avatar slow down, move to the right and stop.

Using BTLE with my iphone proved to just be a hassle comparatively speaking.

ericy

That's exactly what happened when I dripped too much sweat on mine. I was stuck on Tower Bridge in London, and could no longer move.

I did raise the issue with Zwift - if you unplug the thing, dry it off and plug it in again, it ought to repair with everything and let you continue your ride. But it didn't work - it never saw the sensor until I exited Zwift and re-launched it.

TrojanHorse

Odd. I've taken to putting my cable under the mat I bought so it's sweat protected. and I don't step on it so much.

ericy

I don't know why, but my ANT dongle just gave up in the middle of a ride, leaving me stranded in the jungle. I unplugged it and plugged it back in again, but Zwift wouldn't recognize it. I had to terminate the ride, re-enter Zwift, and *then* it saw the things it was paired with.

Speaking of which, I had worked out that if I first did one volcano loop and then headed to the jungle, that by the time I reached the entrance to the jungle that I would be just ticking over to level 10 and finally able to enter. I only miscalculated by a little - I reached the entrance with 15998 pts, and less than 0.1km more to go to the next bunch of xp. I rode past, and 30 feet after, it ticked over. Did a U-turn, but was too close to the junction to let me indicate a turn, so I had to ride a little further back on the bridge, and do yet another U-turn, and *then* I could enter.

sdmc530

this is why I use IOS system set up...don't have to deal with a dongle...sounds dirty anyways!

ericy

We have no Apple products in our house. But normally the dongle thing is rock solid - the time before that the dongle dropped out it was because it got wet. This time I have no idea why it dropped out.

ericy

And it was fine today. I wonder if I bumped the thing with my foot - the problem came up as I was stopping to take a short break. I might get a piece of packing foam, and put the dongle in there to further protect it.

I am starting to itch to ride outdoors however. Once we get a warm sunny day, I am out there. But today wasn't it - we had snow yesterday.

ill.clyde

Protip: Once you have your dongle in the extension cord, put the end of it nearest the trainer inside a ziplock bag. No more moisture issues.

copperfind

I have almost 1000 miles since November and have one drop with and dongle and cord... This was caused by the mentioned sweat... I moved the dongle farther back closer to rear wheel (Cycleops Powerbeam Pro tire on smart trainer) and started using a fan and have had zero drops since.

ill.clyde

Completed the California challenge today ... should hit Level 14 tomorrow.

sdmc530

Atta boy!! Great job!!!!




Warning though, don't get to excited about hitting 15. It was great to get there but after that the levels really spread out. Seems so daunting now to get to the next level. I am about 14,000 feet into the tron bike. That too seems forever away but will just keep at it.




15 was a great hit for me, was pretty jacked about getting there, but 16 is HOURS of riding out........Need to hit the 1100-1200 watt goals yet. then I am goaled out. Will never get the last 3.....not even going to try!

ill.clyde

Level 14 ... and I switched my challenge to Everest ... should be able to get the Emonda in due time ... that tron bike will take forever though, and I'm in no hurry. Heck, March is right around the corner. I should be riding outdoors in April I would hope

sdmc530

AMEN!!!!! I am ready for outside riding again. Actually this brings up a really good question, who is going to keep their Zwift membership through the summer? I don't mind the cost but will find it to convenient to ride Zwift as opposed to go outside when its say too hot, windy, cold, chance of rain, has more than 3 clouds in the sky, that mean looking squirrel is watching me though the window again..etc.

I will probably "suspend" membership for the summer to force me to ride outside. Although if you stop membership do you loose your running scores and what not? Would you have to start over with points and such when you re-subscribe in the fall? If that were the case i would pay just to keep my level and what not. Does anybody know for certain?

ill.clyde

Yeah ... not sure about if I'll keep mine going or suspend it ... if I had a second bike (which I'm hoping I do soon enough) then I would just leave one on the trainer during the spring/summer/fall and use it as needed, but my plan as always is to ride outside as much as possible.

If you suspend, or even if you cancel altogether, you don't lose your progress assuming you sign up again with the same email address I believe.

ericy

I don't know myself, althrough I am grandfathered in to the old price until November, so I am inclined to keep it for this summer and see what I end up doing in practice.

In the future, it kind of depends on how it goes - I like the idea of going for a Zwift ride when the weather is crummy or it is dark out (I do have lights, but my preference is to ride when it is light out). In fact it depends on whether I resume commuting by bike or not - in past years I was so out of shape in the spring I would need to work at it for a few months to get to the point where bike commuting was even feasible (i.e. where I wasn't so wiped when I was at the office that I could function), and by the time I got into a rhythm, it started getting cold again. And another issue has always been that part of my commute was on the subway system which has big blocks of hours blocked out during rush hour where they don't want bikes on the system, and it really sucks to try and work within their limitations on both ends of the day. I can add another 8 miles or so and get home without riding the train - if my legs are strong enough, I can go the distance on one leg of the trip and avoid the train, and that gives me some schedule flexibility. Avoiding the train altogether meant about 38 miles round-trip, which I could never get that excited about.

sdmc530

I am fortunate to have gotten a new bike last fall with the intent of having my old road bike on the trainer all the time and the new road bike for outdoor use. I really want to keep on the Zwift subscription but will have to wait and see if I don't use it when I shouldn't just because its easier. I too am on the cheaper rate until November so I will have to think hard about suspending it until then. I am going to contact Zwift to see what happens if you cancel and re-up.

sdmc530

found it, according to the Zwift FAQ section:


Your Zwift membership will auto-renew every month until you cancel, and you can cancel at any time. If you cancel, your progress will be saved so you can come back at any point.


And according to ZwiftCommunity.com:


This question comes up often on the Zwift Riders Facebook Group and now that the warmer weather is upon us (in the Northern Hemisphere, sorry Oz!) more Zwift'ers are taking their bikes off the trainer and outside into the real world.
But don't fret! Any achievements, scores, PRs, mileage, events you've participated in, FTP results and other data you've accumulated during the colder winter months riding indoors on Zwift, will absolutely be saved for the next time you log in after resuming your subscription.
You lose nothing, other than time riding indoors and maybe some jerseys you might have earned as part of your achievements climbing on Zwift

ericy

One thought - in April we oftentimes get lots of rainy days. Getting caught in a downpour on Zwift doesn't bother me as much as getting caught in a downpour when I am outdoors.

sdmc530

No doubt.....a lot easier to clean the bike too.

copperfind

So I went for first ride outdoors today after putting on around 900 miles on zwift since November... Have not dropped much weight, much of which has to do with my genetics. My body is changing a bit, stomach has come down a bit and legs are actually starting to get a bit larger, but in a good way. So I was curious to see how much this winter work would pay off towards my riding.

Started off the day in to a slight head wind and the legs were feeling it a bit though I was holding right around my average speeds on flats that I was during the riding season 18 - 19 mph at around 85-90 rpm. So at this point I was thinking well this isnt great after all that work but its not bad I guess, it would normally take me a few weeks to get in riding shape in the spring after putting the bike up in the winter.

So after a decent warmup of 3 or 4 miles I had to stop and adjust my seat... I just installed a new crank and BB and had gone from a 175 to a 170 crank arm and my riding position was a bit off. Adjusted the height and tilt of the seat which all the trainer riding had created a bit of a nose down. Got back on the bike started going again.

Legs now warmed up seat adjusted and I was feeling a bit better. Got moving again on a long flat section and realized I felt really good... Looked down at my Wahoo and I was holding 22-23 mph at 95-100 rpms and if felt effortless. I raced bike in the late 80s when in the military and I have not made speed like that since then.

First test says Zwift pays off big time if you put in the effort... Ride On!

Podagrower

I went for an outdoor ride today. 45 miles, 1,800 feet of climbing and thanks to zwift riding I got 5 PRs out of 11 segments. I've been working on cadence in zwift and doing a lot of intervals and I am happy with these results.

youcoming

I have done two 4 week FTP sessions and have taken my FTP from 240 to 276. I'm doing a mixed terrain race at the end of April, Paris to Ancaster, and hope to have my FTP up to 300 by then. Zwift can really help in bringing along performance. Only problem is now I want a power meter for riding outside!!