The Official ZWIFTING Thread

[mtechnica]

I'm going to run zwift on a Lenovo p50, 50" 4K tv, studio monitors wth a subwoofer, and a Peugeot triathlon. Going with the same trainer and dongle as angry scientist I believe. Should be interesting. Maybe when things get really bleak this winter there could be a paceline zwift ride.

[carpediemracing]

Originally Posted by mtechnica

Maybe when things get really bleak this winter there could be a paceline zwift ride.

Make it slow enough and I'll join. I struggle on Sub2 (w/kg) rides, like I get shelled pretty hard after being redlined for a while.

I'm waiting for Zwift to update because right now my older Mac OS doesn't work with Zwift, but last two Sub2 rides I got shelled hard in 10 minutes or so. Apparently there has been some effort put into making Sub2 rides more like 1.7 rides with 2 w/kg pushes on hills, which is where I am.

If possible I'll be joining pre-existing Sub2 rides, but I have to sacrifice family time to do it so I normally ride on my own.

Pre-existing rides are much easier to handle in terms of messaging and such because all hte other riders don't show up in your list (but they can pass you and all that).

Also TeamSpeak is useful for real time communication, although I haven't really played with it. Going to a different channel, for example, could make the channel just for riders in that group.

[shovelhd]

The Sub2's that I've done have been more like Sub 2.5-3.0. There's always a group of Yahoo!'S who hit the gas coming out of the tunnel and keep it going through the marina. I guess it strokes their ego to get away from a group where many are intentionally holding back. If you comment on it they trash you.

If anyone wants to do a Paceline Sub2 and make an effort to stick with the leader, I'm all for it. Not yet though, it's not quite trainer season.

[ergott]

Originally Posted by shovelhd

If anyone wants to do a Paceline Sub2 and make an effort to stick with the leader, I'm all for it. Not yet though, it's not quite trainer season.

I'm up for a Paceline meetup when it's more consistently indoor season too.

I'm a strong proponent of sticking to the ride plan/pace if there is one. Quite happy to let a yahoo continue off the front. Best way to avoid it is to have the ride leader change up the route while riding. If you are off the front and miss a turn, good riddance.

[AngryScientist]

i like where this is going.

so starting a private group ride is allowed on the zwift platform? that's actually pretty cool.

[Mzilliox]

PSA 20% off trainers at Nashbar today

[Mzilliox]

Originally Posted by ergott

I'm up for a Paceline meetup when it's more consistently indoor season too.

I'm a strong proponent of sticking to the ride plan/pace if there is one. Quite happy to let a yahoo continue off the front. Best way to avoid it is to have the ride leader change up the route while riding. If you are off the front and miss a turn, good riddance.

This, im in for this some time soon too

[MagicHour]

+1 for a Paceline zwift ride

[carpediemracing]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

i like where this is going.

so starting a private group ride is allowed on the zwift platform? that's actually pretty cool.

You can start a private ride but it's sort of like "okay, we're meeting at wherever at whatever time and we're doing whatever loop". But then you get all the external noise, like whatever text messaging others are doing, etc. For such a ride I think that a Teamspeak channel would be critical, to get rid of exterior noise. Leader would need to be calling stuff out, like "okay, left turn up ahead" or "hey slow it down up front" or whatever.

If you do a "real" ride then Zwift does stuff, but Zwift has to approve it, it goes on the official ride list (website), etc. At that point the ride leader gets a beacon, the ride leader's text appear in huge letters in the middle of the screen, you can only message other riders in the group (all non-group riders are ignored), your list of riders on the right is populated only by riders in the group, all the riders that join the ride get automatically routed onto the right route.

Other things - you might be outfitted in the same kits, and you sit on trainers until the start time. Then you all start together.

An official group ride is much easier to control. Only thing is no route changes, no options to veer off route.

This was a particularly large group, about 95 riders. We all got stuck in the blue Saxo kit, the route was set, and the leader was set. There were probably 500 riders online at the time but only 95 or so showed up in my list of riders. Etc etc.


Beacon is the yellow shield. If you pull back or you're farther away, there's a yellow pillar of light shining down on the ride leader.

[drewskey]

Originally Posted by carpediemracing

You can start a private ride but it's sort of like "okay, we're meeting at wherever at whatever time and we're doing whatever loop". But then you get all the external noise, like whatever text messaging others are doing, etc. For such a ride I think that a Teamspeak channel would be critical, to get rid of exterior noise. Leader would need to be calling stuff out, like "okay, left turn up ahead" or "hey slow it down up front" or whatever.

If you do a "real" ride then Zwift does stuff, but Zwift has to approve it, it goes on the official ride list (website), etc. At that point the ride leader gets a beacon, the ride leader's text appear in huge letters in the middle of the screen, you can only message other riders in the group (all non-group riders are ignored), your list of riders on the right is populated only by riders in the group, all the riders that join the ride get automatically routed onto the right route.

Other things - you might be outfitted in the same kits, and you sit on trainers until the start time. Then you all start together.

An official group ride is much easier to control. Only thing is no route changes, no options to veer off route.

This was a particularly large group, about 95 riders. We all got stuck in the blue Saxo kit, the route was set, and the leader was set. There were probably 500 riders online at the time but only 95 or so showed up in my list of riders. Etc etc.

Thanks for posting this. This was not around when I left Zwift. This seems super slick compared to what it was before. Herding cats.

ALSO - Thanks for chiming in yesterday in /r/velo!

[kramnnim]

2 months of Zwift free for Strava Premium members...ends in 2016. I think if you sign up for a month of Premium, you will automatically get Zwift free from November 1 to December 31.

[pmac]

I'm fairly new to Zwift, and apart from not understanding a lot of what shows up on the screen (why isn't there a simple diagram showing what it all means?) I've found it to be far, far better than riding on a trainer. Having never used a power meter and having no point of reference, are the power numbers a pretty good estimate, within 10 or 20%? Likewise, do the mph numbers give you a realistic idea of how fast you might be going on a road? And finally, when you're going up the mountain and there are extended sections at 8-10%, does that approximate what it would be like on a real hill of that gradient? I entered my actual weight, so the values won't be off because of that variable.

How do you find the sub2 group rides? I find much of the interface a bit confusing. At one point I could only do the London rides, and for the last week or so it's been only Watopia no matter what day of the week it is. Maybe I'm not seeing all the options.

Thanks for any insights.

[weisan]

One thing I am still kinda confused and hoping I can get some clarification on...

I have an old trainer - Minoura Interim Ergo



And I have got a ANT+ enabled powertap rear wheel that talks to my Garmin 800 computer, feeding power info.

I have a desktop PC that is more than adequate for the job...trust me on that one, it is.

Assuming I get the USB dongle and register with Zwift....will that be sufficient to get me into Zwifting?

[kramnnim]

Yes, that's enough.

Originally Posted by weisan

One thing I am still kinda confused and hoping I can get some clarification on...

I have an old trainer - Minoura Interim Ergo



And I have got a ANT+ enabled powertap rear wheel that talks to my Garmin 800 computer, feeding power info.

I have a desktop PC that is more than adequate for the job...trust me on that one, it is.

Assuming I get the USB dongle and register with Zwift....will that be sufficient to get me into Zwifting?

[kramnnim]

What's your trainer setup? Fluid trainer with a speed sensor? Smart trainer?

Was London yesterday... The rides are on the app, and also on the sub 2 Facebook group, I think?

Originally Posted by pmac

I'm fairly new to Zwift, and apart from not understanding a lot of what shows up on the screen (why isn't there a simple diagram showing what it all means?) I've found it to be far, far better than riding on a trainer. Having never used a power meter and having no point of reference, are the power numbers a pretty good estimate, within 10 or 20%? Likewise, do the mph numbers give you a realistic idea of how fast you might be going on a road? And finally, when you're going up the mountain and there are extended sections at 8-10%, does that approximate what it would be like on a real hill of that gradient? I entered my actual weight, so the values won't be off because of that variable.

How do you find the sub2 group rides? I find much of the interface a bit confusing. At one point I could only do the London rides, and for the last week or so it's been only Watopia no matter what day of the week it is. Maybe I'm not seeing all the options.

Thanks for any insights.