jtaylor996

Well, bike on/off of a trainer is no issue. Just get the trainer skewer and it takes 10 seconds to put it on there. In fact, I just use my trainer as a bike stand in my house even if I'm not training on it.

UnfilteredDregs

I'd say the argument is probably akin to free weights versus machines. Rollers will certainly make you smoother. Smooth isn't required on a trainer.

Regarding all out efforts...unless you're supremely good on rollers you pretty much can't sprint out of the saddle but...there's rollers for that too, with the moving cage and such. For quick acceleration, sure you can do that on rollers. Why couldn't you?

Riding at Z1/Z2 forever at 19.5mph on Zwift, smart trainer, resistance, and all doesn't seem to carry over to Z1/Z2 outside where it was more like 14mph. So, I don't see the simulator simulating what it is supposedly designed to simulate therefore, other than entertainment, what use is the simulator?

SpeshulEd 

I would argue the opposite from my experience. I think a lot of it is in how things are calibrated and how honest you are about your settings, weight, etc.

I would also ask how riding at 19.5mph on rollers forever carries over to the real world riding outside?

I guess, for me anyway, riding inside on a trainer/rollers is just helping me not become a fat, out of shape bum while I wait for the weather to get nicer. I'm not bragging about pushing a certain number of watts or going a certain speed while riding indoors. I'm more or less just keeping up with my conditioning.

UnfilteredDregs

As a grizzled IT as$h*!e...err..."Project Manager/Performer of The Miraculous" I admit bias.

LAJ

While you're on the trainer, listen to your back wheel as you're pedaling those nice low cadence, high power drills. If you can smooth those out, you're getting somewhere. That said, the rollers can be a nice tool. Resistance can be added in a simple way to even the cheapest set of rollers, as long as they're equipped with aluminum drums.

UnfilteredDregs

The only thing I could chalk it up to is settings/calibration then...as I understand it the whole point behind Zwift is to simulate the real world effort as close as possible?

In this case I know Zwift is not translating to real world. So, yes my experience is very much anecdotal.

WhyFi

It makes something, that many find to be tedious, a bit less tedious.

UnfilteredDregs

That's why I went with rollers instead of a trainer. Excitement!

Dan333SP

I agree that if it's not calibrated and you think you're riding at "20 mph" in the game but can't hang in real life, it doesn't do you any good.

I just started using Zwift and I know enough about my body to know what sorts of heart rates I'd be pushing, on average, for a given effort/speed. Initially my "zpower" numbers were waaaaay off, I was pushing 400 imaginary watts without trying, but I know I didn't miraculously turn into a world tour rider by drinking a lot of beer and limiting my riding for the last month.

Once I got everything set up where it felt about right for what I know I'm capable of, it's now become something that I really think will push me and help me become a faster rider outside.

My experience is also anecdotal, of course, and everyone has different motivations when they're riding inside, but I used to have a hard time pushing my HR above about 140 on the trainer because I'd just sit there watching movies spinning away, but this morning I averaged something like 160 and spent a good amount of time above 175 because I was engrossed in the whole "chasing down virtual strangers" thing and improving on my "times" up the climbs and such.

Maybe the novelty will wear off, but I'm actually looking forward to my alarm going off at 5 AM tomorrow so I can do it again. That's not something I could say about "normal" indoor training in the past, and I've got some cycling buddies who are going to try to ride with me.

LAJ

Soon, cycling will be Zwift, and Zwift will be cycling. The only way you'll break a collarbone is if you didn't fasten your bike down well enough.

Dan333SP

If a person enjoys Zwift enough to choose it over a ride outside when the weather is cooperating, then I don't want to share the road with them anyway.

It's fun, but it's not that fun.

Still, I can't wait for the day when someone comes in here and posts a thread saying something like "I averaged 23mph in Zwift today, can I upgrade to Cat 4 before I start my first race?"

UnfilteredDregs

Yeah...I'm kinda wired not to need a distraction for what many would see as tedium. In my guitar playing days...30 minutes of warmup, scale exercises, arpeggio exercises, chord work, special technique stuff, everything to a metronome, repeat & repeat & repeat, over & over again...I couldn't imagine requiring a distraction from practice while practicing. Good practice = 3 hours, a day, at least. 15-21 hours a week including writing, creative time, etc..

The analogy of Zwift to music practice would be improvisational practice...where I'd put on a backing track of a particular progression & time signature and practice improvisation, recording it of course in order to listen back and critically decide what was good and what sucked or needed work.

Nevertheless, I can't see skipping the base work...practice is supposed to be tedious, if it isn't you're not doing it right.

3alarmer 

...trust me on this. he is standing, stretching, getting his weight off the saddle so his ass won't hurt. Also a good strategy when you see bumpety bumps ahead of you in the road. Your legs absorb the bump rather than your cheeks on the saddle. Cheeks are swell and all, and without them, we'd be hard pressed on the toilet seat, but for shock absorption legs are where it's at.

jtaylor996

My little city of Coppell, TX has had 4 cyclists hit within a week, and we just heard that one of them didn't make it

Right about now I have no issues using the trainer.

3alarmer 

...we had a month like that about three years ago in the fall. The local constabulary decided to initiate a crackdown on bicycle riders.

jtaylor996

You're kidding. They went after the cyclists after that?!

rpenmanparker 

Save your watch folks. The **** is getting mighty deep in here.

Dannihilator

Well, I have some form of gearing, nothing overly fancy since it is a rain bike/commuter.

FLvector

And you won't have to shave your legs to cut down the wind resistance.

Ramona_W

If you sufficiently harass the cyclists, they won't be out riding and if they're not out riding then drivers can't/won't hit them. #makesgoodsense

Mumonkan

dude, i ****ing love this bike. 8 or 9s?

1x8/9 is really all you need for most riding imo

Herbie53

rollers... there's always rollers.

I have 2 Zwift crashes so far.

Dannihilator

1x8

LAJ

Ahh. Working on your smoothness whilst doing Zwift. Dangerous, I tell ya. Almost as dangerous as riding in the rain.

Herbie53

one was just following curves down the hill... second was freaking when my avatar when off roading and through some trees.

On a more serious note, I'm not sure I'm going to keep Zwift. TR workouts with video works pretty well for me and I can get outdoors most weekends.