i get your point but maybe I wasn’t clear enough. What I am looking for is options. iFit is very expensive, over $400/yr. I hate that Nordic track and similar companies lock you into their subscription system. Its like buying a TV and being licked into using Netflix with no other options. I may end up using some subscription system but I don’t think I’ll ever be gung ho enough to want to work with a trainer. When I go out on the road to ride or get in my kayak its for an hour or two of light exercise and to enjoy the scenery. It would be great to have a system like I said where I could pay a one time fee for a couple dozen rides that gave feedback to the machine and adjusted the tension to fit the scene but if not then at least let me use my own video or youtube etc.
i think what I am going to have to do is find out if anyone has hacked the tablets on these systems so it can be used as a web browser. I know its been done for Peloton. My other alternative is to buy a bike with just a simple display and then mount a monitor above it so I can use a streaming device to access a wide range of content. It seems like there are no bikes that have that flexibility built in or even a small library of basic no subscription rides. If there is a built in monitor they want their pound of flesh every month.
Originally Posted by
Thomas15
I think the reason you are not getting a lot of suggestions on the question of virtual riding platforms is because your wording in the OP is a little bit confusing. You want Zwift or Rouvy which are subscription services but you don't like the idea of a subscription service? You want to bike on your own without using a trainer but just video but I'm not clear on this stipulation? So we are left trying to understand just exactly what you want to accomplish and how.
I think I can speak for many here, the truth is for me at least riding an indoor trainer, spin bike or stationary bike, whatever, in any of it's basic configurations without some kind of distraction, be it music, a movie, a video of the Tour de France or a virtual platform with feedback into a trainer, without any of that, the chore is exceptionally boring. So yes I don't like the idea of having to pay Zwift $16/month but that $16 and my smart trainer combo have me on my trainer for 100-150 miles per week at a time when I wouldn't even consider riding outside (winter).
I went into the winter of 2019-2020 very much a beginner from a fitness perspective, when I started riding outside in the Spring of 2020, I was a much improved rider and able to climb hills I never thought I could climb. I worked at it, true, but I would say to anyone listening that the $16/month I paid Zwift from November to April was a fantastic bargain for me. I can and did all the things you are looking for: solo rides, group rides, races, measured workouts. Pick the terrain, pick the effort level, find bicycle happiness in the virtual world because it's there, it just has a small price tag attached to it.