Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Indoor & Stationary Cycling Forum
Reload this Page >

any free smart trainer app?

Notices
Indoor & Stationary Cycling Forum From spin to Zwift to Peloton, this forum is dedicated to any and all indoor training on stationary bikes

any free smart trainer app?

Old 08-19-21, 01:04 PM
  #1  
sean.hwy
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sean.hwy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: San Jose
Posts: 1,022

Bikes: Blur / Ibis Hakka MX / team machince alr2 / topstone 1

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 424 Post(s)
Liked 272 Times in 200 Posts
any free smart trainer app?

I purchased an H3 ( used with zwift ) last year during the winter and used it often. Between sunset at 6/7 pm, rain and all the bad air we had from fires. When the air cleared, it stopped raining and sunset was passed 7pm I stopped using my indoor trainer all together. I was just throwing money away on my subscription. Yeah I paused after I had probably given them 5+ months.

Is there any free app I can use with my H3? I know it will not be as good as zwift with all the roads, pretty video and social aspect. It would just be nice to use for simple a simple ride like the dumb bikes in the gym. Go up a hill, down hill, on the flat etc. Like an old stair master or something.
sean.hwy is offline  
Old 08-19-21, 04:06 PM
  #2  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
You might check out Golden Cheetah. I have used it to control my kickr, but it uses the standard control.
unterhausen is offline  
Likes For unterhausen:
Old 08-19-21, 04:49 PM
  #3  
sean.hwy
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sean.hwy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: San Jose
Posts: 1,022

Bikes: Blur / Ibis Hakka MX / team machince alr2 / topstone 1

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 424 Post(s)
Liked 272 Times in 200 Posts
Originally Posted by unterhausen
You might check out Golden Cheetah. I have used it to control my kickr, but it uses the standard control.

thanks. I am watching some videos on it now. looks good. will have to try it this weekend.

sean.hwy is offline  
Old 08-20-21, 04:43 AM
  #4  
mr_pedro
Senior Member
 
mr_pedro's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 645
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 75 Post(s)
Liked 75 Times in 48 Posts
Originally Posted by sean.hwy
I purchased an H3 ( used with zwift ) last year during the winter and used it often. Between sunset at 6/7 pm, rain and all the bad air we had from fires. When the air cleared, it stopped raining and sunset was passed 7pm I stopped using my indoor trainer all together. I was just throwing money away on my subscription. Yeah I paused after I had probably given them 5+ months.

Is there any free app I can use with my H3? I know it will not be as good as zwift with all the roads, pretty video and social aspect. It would just be nice to use for simple a simple ride like the dumb bikes in the gym. Go up a hill, down hill, on the flat etc. Like an old stair master or something.
Two possible options are:

RGT has a free option: https://www.rgtcycling.com/
You can ride in a virtual world with bots and other riders like in Zwift.

If you have a Garmin unit, it is possible to let the Garmin control the trainer resistance and ride a route where it will adjust the resistance/incline accordingly.
mr_pedro is offline  
Likes For mr_pedro:
Old 08-20-21, 06:47 AM
  #5  
Viich
Hack
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,251

Bikes: TrueNorth CX bike, 88 Bianchi Strada (currently Sturmey'd), 90's Giant Innova (now with drop bars), Yess World Cup race BMX, Redline Proline Pro24 race BMX Cruiser

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 343 Post(s)
Liked 181 Times in 127 Posts
Another vote for RGT - it's a little odd in some ways if you're used to Zwift, but is as close a replacement as you'll get for free.
Viich is offline  
Likes For Viich:
Old 08-20-21, 09:43 PM
  #6  
sean.hwy
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
sean.hwy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: San Jose
Posts: 1,022

Bikes: Blur / Ibis Hakka MX / team machince alr2 / topstone 1

Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 424 Post(s)
Liked 272 Times in 200 Posts
I have a Garmin 1030 plus. I will check out RGT.

Thanks.
sean.hwy is offline  
Old 08-20-21, 10:41 PM
  #7  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
how badly does RGT use the battery on your mobile device?
unterhausen is offline  
Old 08-21-21, 06:14 AM
  #8  
Viich
Hack
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 1,251

Bikes: TrueNorth CX bike, 88 Bianchi Strada (currently Sturmey'd), 90's Giant Innova (now with drop bars), Yess World Cup race BMX, Redline Proline Pro24 race BMX Cruiser

Mentioned: 4 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 343 Post(s)
Liked 181 Times in 127 Posts
Originally Posted by unterhausen
how badly does RGT use the battery on your mobile device?
I've only tried RGT a few times - but it didn't seem all that much worse than the Zwift Companion app. One of the drawbacks is that you absolutely NEED to have two devices, you need to run the app on your phone plus the screen app on a tablet, computer (or other phone, I guess, though I've not tried that)
Viich is offline  
Old 08-21-21, 07:53 AM
  #9  
unterhausen
Randomhead
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Happy Valley, Pennsylvania
Posts: 24,364
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Liked 3,664 Times in 2,497 Posts
Zwift companion app burns through my phone's battery pretty badly. A two hour ride would definitely be enough to make the phone go into low power mode. It would be a pain to hook it up to a charger. I don't quite understand how they do it.
So I almost never use it.
unterhausen is offline  
Old 08-21-21, 09:04 AM
  #10  
spelger
Senior Member
 
spelger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: reno, nv
Posts: 2,275

Bikes: yes, i have one

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1124 Post(s)
Liked 1,171 Times in 682 Posts
Originally Posted by unterhausen
Zwift companion app burns through my phone's battery pretty badly. A two hour ride would definitely be enough to make the phone go into low power mode. It would be a pain to hook it up to a charger. I don't quite understand how they do it.
So I almost never use it.
the zwift companion app does not really offer more than being able to see the bigger picture (think map). aside from that i really have no use for it.

i really do not like how rgt requires two apps. i do like the more vivid colors in rgt though.
spelger is offline  
Likes For spelger:
Old 08-21-21, 09:08 AM
  #11  
spelger
Senior Member
 
spelger's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: reno, nv
Posts: 2,275

Bikes: yes, i have one

Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1124 Post(s)
Liked 1,171 Times in 682 Posts
Originally Posted by sean.hwy
I purchased an H3 ( used with zwift ) last year during the winter and used it often. Between sunset at 6/7 pm, rain and all the bad air we had from fires. When the air cleared, it stopped raining and sunset was passed 7pm I stopped using my indoor trainer all together. I was just throwing money away on my subscription. Yeah I paused after I had probably given them 5+ months.

Is there any free app I can use with my H3? I know it will not be as good as zwift with all the roads, pretty video and social aspect. It would just be nice to use for simple a simple ride like the dumb bikes in the gym. Go up a hill, down hill, on the flat etc. Like an old stair master or something.
definitely not as good as zwift but it gets the job done on a budget ($0). its a crappy little program i wrote and i do still use it from time to time.

https://www.bikeforums.net/indoor-st...plication.html
spelger is offline  
Likes For spelger:

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.