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

[Gwerziou]

Anyone using/have thoughts re: MyWhoosh? I've been curious about it but haven't tried it.

I've used Bkool for quite a while. I like to ride with virtual 'others' of varying speed; I get super bored riding alone in a simulation, and Bkool offers that. They used to use Bots of a few different kinds and now you can ride with/against recorded rides of real people.

The increase/decrease in resistance seems to follow the scenarios well. Sometimes trees and such will appear right in the middle of the road until you go through them.

[bigbill]

I've been using the Zwift workouts. It simplifies my workouts and helps me with my cadence and power. The workouts let you choose the region that will be in the background, but the workout ignores the terrain/grade and only changes wattage based on the workout.

[sasquatch16v]

I've been using Rouvy the past 2 winters, mostly because the video game graphics of Zwift are a HUGE turn off for my brain/ability to pass the time. I'd recommend giving it a shot, this time of year they're usually doing a 1 month free or heavily discounted first month trial.

While it's not perfect, there are tons of virtual routes with video, tons of workouts, some training plans, you can create your own workouts and I believe the ability upload workouts from other platforms such as trainer road exists or is coming soon.

It DOES take a little planning sometimes if you want to ride for more than an hour or so, seeking out a long enough route or just picking one in "just ride" mode and it'll load you up a random route when you finish the one you started with.

There is like a billion routes that have no video, just a google maps overhead type view and route profile at the bottom and simulated grade through the trainer. There is like SBT gravel and other big events if you just want to load a long ass route and watch youtube or something.

I primarily ride the trainer in the basement in the dark except the computer screen/youtube on my phone/tablet. There are a bunch of video routes that I've ridden in real life, it does occasionally give me the mental feeling of being there because I can pick out and remember certain landmarks/parts of the ride. That makes trainer time a little more bearable for me.

[caneye]

Originally Posted by Gwerziou

Anyone using/have thoughts re: MyWhoosh? I've been curious about it but haven't tried it.
....

I've tried MyWhoosh. It's like a less polished version of Zwift.

Many similarities - racing, workouts, etc .. with an on-screen avatar in a virtual world.

What I did not like was the font size, just a touch too tiny for my eyes. Lots of information with the same font size.

Another thing was .. the firmware updates (via Microsoft store) take a long time to download. There's no way to get around it. And there's always an update whenever you are rushing for time!

I ended up starting MyWhoosh 1-2 hours before the planned workout, just to make sure I get any updates out of the way. PITA.

Has anyone considered IndieVELO?
I'm trying it at the moment ..

[morrisericd]

I just looked up IndieVelo and read DC Rainmaker's article about Training Peaks acquisition of it. Looks like it's free on Training Peaks Virtual until March and then part of Training Peaks Premium platform. I'll give it a try and if I like it, I'll probably re-up for Training Peaks Premium. I used to be a premium member when I was racing more, but I still use Training Peaks to track all my workouts and activities. At $125 / year with the IndieVelo, it seems like a great deal.

[mass_biker]

Been doing a few Rouvys now…so far so good, with no dropping, lagging etc. I’m exploring the ecosystem. The “AR” (with in-ride avatars for pacing etc.) definitely make the workouts more challenging. I will try some of the other options in due course, but I can say so far, the ease of use (and stability) are winning me over.

[KonaSS]

Originally Posted by morrisericd

At $125 / year with the IndieVelo, it seems like a great deal.

They have historically had a black Friday sale every year, and usually around $100 for an annual subscription.

I plan to try indievelo soon, as that may be a very good value.

[CAAD]

Originally Posted by morrisericd

I just looked up IndieVelo and read DC Rainmaker's article about Training Peaks acquisition of it. Looks like it's free on Training Peaks Virtual until March and then part of Training Peaks Premium platform. I'll give it a try and if I like it, I'll probably re-up for Training Peaks Premium. I used to be a premium member when I was racing more, but I still use Training Peaks to track all my workouts and activities. At $125 / year with the IndieVelo, it seems like a great deal.

Long time training peaks user here, did all my workouts with just my Garmin edge device. Having indievelo now included is a pretty nice bonus. I can jump on the bike and follow a virtual route and ride it as if I was outdoors with my kickr or follow my workout on a big screen. I run it on a laptop with a HDMI cable to the TV. Hopefully training peaks won't skyrocket the price because of this enhancement.

[Ewiser]

IndieVelo graphics are really rough. They are going to have to get a few other on staff to fix that.