gravelschlub

I'm close to cancelling Zwift - just too many frustrating bugs. They announce fixes that are worse than the original bug - see the finish line count down (counting up...). There are just too many little problems detracting from the experience.

So, what should I move to? The big advantage of zwift, for me, is the distraction it offers while riding. Last week I did two and half straight hours riding a really hilly course. I've NEVER been able to stay in the saddle that long indoors watching a movie. Maybe a football or basketball game will do it, but still- Zwift helped me train by staying in the saddle, indoors, longer. What else is the closest to Zwift? Bkool? Fulgaz? TrainerRoad is probably the best established, but doesn't offer the "gaming" aspect of zwift- does it?

zacster

On the one hand you are complaining about little bugs, on the other you are telling us how it kept you engaged for two and a half hours straight.

Zwift is the most popular for a reason and that popularity feeds on itself since it creates a critical mass of other riders. Just stick with it

gravelschlub

Oh, you're not wrong, I definitely see how silly my frustration is. I really liked races and longer group rides. Tour De Zwift and all that. This is far more petty than I want to be, but when I complete a new route and expect to earn the route badge, then it doesn't show up... And I do a race, and the distance counter to the finish line starts counting UP, meaning I launch my sprint way too early.... And the finish line for a route (Surrey Hills) is at the top of a climb, not at the beginning of the climb where it was indicated on the route description... Yeah, I'm not satisfied, and for $180/year, they really need to fix all the simple stuff.

I can do without the races and the social aspect if I can still be distracted for an extended period in the saddle. Anything <1hr I can do in Golden Cheetah for free.

Flip Flop Rider

Peloton?

prj71

Ann Arbor, MI?

Get a fat bike and go ride outdoors.

aspalmat

If you find something that is better than Zwift, please let us know. I certainly have not tried all the other options, but Zwift provides an amazing indoor cycling experience. I'm not aware of any other indoor, trainer based program that can even come close in offering what Zwift does. And all for for $15 a month. Meanwhile, the Peloton folks are paying $40 per month.

I've experienced a few of the bigs you mentioned. When I experience them, I just shrug and keep on riding. They are of no real consequence to me.

I love the group ride, events, tour etc. After a year and half, I'm still blown away by it.

DaveLeeNC

I did indoor training on Zwift for a while. I was using a spinner bike and Garmin Vector pedals, so the 'results' should have been (and I assume were) realistic WRT the real world - although the speeds that I attained seemed a bit high to me, given what I achieve outdoors.

But the 'experience' was not that satisfying. The video stuff seemed cartoonish to my eye. And I just could not get a feel for riding in a group. So I abandoned Zwift and now my riding indoors is a spin bike, Vector pedals, and some music or maybe Netflix.

I wonder if I would like the experience more if I had some kind of 'smarter trainer' than I have right now, that would adjust resistance force to match the terrain being ridden.

dave

ps. My last Zwift ride was probably 2 years ago, so my experience is pretty dated.

Riveting

If you enjoy variety of rolling hill courses, BKOOL (that I started with several years ago) has a nice feature I liked that will allow you to create a simulated route from an actual real route via a GPS file, easily created and exported via RideWithGPS.cm, especially if you already know know of a hilly course somewhere that you have really enjoyed in the past, so you can then ride it whenever you want. That same feature also allows you to do a simulation of an actual route (possibly a road race you're signed up for) BEFORE you ever ride it, which is great for doing a recon when you don't have the ability to actually ride there in advance. Why I didn't stay with BKOOL was that it doesn't/didn't have that "live group" feel, so now I Zwift for that reason. The "live" feel, and the ability to chase someone down, triggers some primal instinct to chase the rabbit, which must release some adrenaline/endorphin and makes it just that much more engaging to me.

billridesbikes

I’ve had Zwift for two years now, and they continue to improve. For Zwift I login, pick the route I want and ride. I think the platform is good, but I’m not all that motivated by the ‘game’ part like badges and I rarely buy bikes or change my virtual kit much. If these parts of the software are buggy or the UI is poor I really don’t care because it’s the riding experience that I’m after.

That said

If you have a smart trainer and a Garmin 1000/1030, not sure about other cycling computers, you can follow your saved courses, or ones you upload, or create workouts and have the Garmin head unit control the smart trainer resistance in ‘indoor’ mode. I like this because you can train on specific rides or segments using your trainer.

anotherbrian

I think I just hit three years on Zwift. I’m in it for the game side (slowly marching towards level 50), or at least come back for it.

Now that they’ve added badges for finishing routes I’ve been basing my rides on picking up a new one each session. Way easier than doing all the climbing for the Tron bike or the 7 days in a row for the Unemployed badge.

I recently signed up for Veloviewer just so I could see the Leaderboard he’s keeping for riding all the routes (though main interest was the Tile Explorer — gamifying outdoor riding further).

I know a friend is riding FulGaz and a couple folks I follow on Strava post TrainerRoad rides, but I still enjoy Zwift enough I’ll stay on it.

596

I used zwift for about a year. I found the graphics kind of like a cartoon. I'm also not into the community aspect. I cancelled zwift and for $100 a year joined Tacx. Their real life videos are amazing. I ride an RLV at least 4 days a week anywhere from 35 minutes to 2 hours. They have over 100 real life videos. The quality is awesome. I ride a tacx neo from a laptop to a 58" television. I also play music from Spotify while riding.

bobwysiwyg

Rouvy.

sfrider 

I like Rouvy a lot.
It has a few bugs, but on the whole it works well and feels a lot more like real world cycling that Zwift. There's a 14 day free trial that doesn't require a credit card and doesn't automatically convert to a subscription at the end.

bung

I started with Zwift thinking I wanted the video game aspect of training but it did not appeal to me. After the Zwift trial I moved on to Rouvy but realized I didn’t enjoy the simulation aspect and I wanted a more structured workout. I have since migrated to The Sufferfest and have been using it for about a year and a half. I run Sufferfest on my iPad with the video option turned off. I then watch videos on my television while I ride.

zacster

I used The Sufferfest for the last three years on and off, but always with the video. I kind of feel that without the videos and music, you lose any motivation. I tried once with my own music, but left the video on, and it was still not the same. It would be like doing aerobics without the music. The workouts are the best that I found, but I will have to say though that I've stopped using it lately because I'm beginning to find it a little repetitive. Zwift OTOH is always a new ride, even on the same courses. Different people ride with you, the group rides are fun usually. I find the Zwift workouts though to be lacking, so I mostly ride in simulation mode, not ERG mode.

prj71

Swift = Bike Prison

BillyD

Please don’t drift off into Covid19 discussion, there’s a separate sub forum for that.

HeyItsSara

I know some of the Cyclecast instructors and they are excellent!