Training platform recommendations- Getting fed up with Fulgaz

[old fat man]

Golden Cheetah. Wow, that's one I haven't thought about in a long time. Wonder if my 2008 MacBook Pro still runs it.

As far as cost for my trainer road + videos setup
- $22/month for trainer road (usually only subscribe 4-5 months of the year so roughly $100)
- already owned the kickr
- already own a tv + roku/appleTV
- already subscribe to streaming services
- already have an iphone/ipad for running trainer road app

So I guess I spend about $100/year to train indoors. The effort to use a 10 year old computer/tablet and download GB of content to then navigate and play each time I am gonna ride indoors is not worth the $100 savings. Riding indoors sucks enough - I gotta remove as many obstacles/excuses as possible.

[Alistair]

Originally Posted by mass_biker

While I love TrainerRoad, sometimes I want to do a steady 45 minute climb….that’s the niche that Fulgaz filled for me.

You can pick individual workouts in TR - just pick something that has a 45 min tempo block in the middle.

[mass_biker]

But I’ve grown to like the visuals on the climbs in Fulgaz. Silly I know, but for years I would mark the arrival of December with Gibraltar Rd. And trick myself to ride a certain gear (or cadence) when doing old favorites. I figure I’ll try the same approach to Rouvy once I get spun up on how best to use it.
MB

[Robbos]

Thanks for all the feedback. Has anyone tried icTrainer?

[eri]

Originally Posted by old fat man

Golden Cheetah. Wow, that's one I haven't thought about in a long time. Wonder if my 2008 MacBook Pro still runs it.

As far as cost for my trainer road + videos setup
- $22/month for trainer road (usually only subscribe 4-5 months of the year so roughly $100)
- already owned the kickr
- already own a tv + roku/appleTV
- already subscribe to streaming services
- already have an iphone/ipad for running trainer road app

So I guess I spend about $100/year to train indoors. The effort to use a 10 year old computer/tablet and download GB of content to then navigate and play each time I am gonna ride indoors is not worth the $100 savings. Riding indoors sucks enough - I gotta remove as many obstacles/excuses as possible.

Yeah to each his own. I was lucky to stumble on a cheap pile of tacx discs so I found a way to make it work.

The weirdest thing for me is that I come in off the porch at 10pm on a cold rainy winter night and feel like I just rode a pass on a spring morning. I’m on the bike just craving the next switchback and the views and I come in feeling great. No need for trash movies to keep the boredom at bay.

I am lucky I guess I don’t need a lot of variety, I’ve probably ridden the umbrail, mortirolo and alp d Huez a hundred times. Many trips across the full length of the Pyrenees and Maritime Alps. I actually visited those places because I loved them so much on the trainer (and guess what it’s nicer in real life.)

I really liked fulgaz when I tried it years ago direct from my phone but it had bugs and crashes that meant I was spending my time futzing instead of riding.

I’m quite surprised my setup has lasted trouble free for as long as it has sitting out on my covered porch. The power cord on my tablet is rotting and the battery has no life, at some point I’ll need to find another bargain bin windows tablet.

Fwiw last I looked the trainer mode on Mac golden cheetah was a barrel of bugs.

https://youtu.be/HyoNOYc0P-c?si=kKdftVdRFmlnzKdX

[mass_biker]

A few rides in and enjoying it so far. The “gamification” (i.e. avatars etc.) is a little distracting for me, but it’s early days. I do miss the ability to see what “gear” I’m in (what is visible in the HUD on FulGaz) but shifting via the SB20 levers definitely takes resistance up/down (and allows for more effort to be translated into more watts etc.)

I haven’t yet attempted some of the iconic climbs on the platform. That’ll come with the colder/wetter weather!

Of course all this comes on a year when I am building up a true winter beater - so let’s see what gets more use!

Thanks all for your feedback
MB