Banzaibrothers

Hi all,

New to these forums so thanks for letting me join.

I had the opportunity to get a Kickr Core for a good price and so bought it. My intention is to sign up to Zwift later in the year when the weather drops off.

In the meantime I wondered if there we any free training apps with workouts that work with the Kickr Core that I can play with? (Thought Wahoo would offer something but I can’t see any workouts?)

Many thanks.

PeteHski

Wahoo have their own paid apps i.e. Wahoo SYSTM (video based workouts) and Wahoo RGT (Zwift competitor). Most of these Apps have free trial periods. If you go through the free trials one by one you won't have to pay anything over the summer.
I'm not aware of any free apps that are engaging enough to bother with.

Apps I've used over the last few years that you could initially try for free:-

Zwift, Rouvy, RGT, SYSTM, BKool, Fulgaz

BTinNYC

Welcome!

GCN has riding workout videos on YouTube, I did a lot of their interval workouts before getting a smart trainer.

Zwift is very cool. Period. Full stop.
For training, their FTP tests are my benchmarks after a training block. Very useful.

Banzaibrothers

Thanks for the ideas and suggestions. Really appreciate the info.

Maybe the free trial over the summer to work out my favourite app is the way ahead.

cheers.

PeteHski

That is the way to go for sure. There is zero downside to this approach and there are enough free trials to keep you going for months. The GCN video workouts mentioned above are included in the Wahoo SYSTM App and of course they will link directly to your trainer for resistance and data recording.

I have subscriptions for Zwift (which I usually pause over summer), Rouvy (annual) and Wahoo SYSTM (annual). The latter now includes Wahoo RGT at no extra cost, so I'll probably use it instead of Zwift going forward.

Banzaibrothers

Sounds good. I think there is a partially free version of RGT I could try - not sure it includes work outs. 🤔

spelger

there were some last time I tried. Limited though.

PeteHski

There was a very limited free version, but not sure now it's part of Wahoo. I get RGT bundled as part of my Wahoo SYSTM subscription, which is quite a good deal actually. If you are primarily looking for quality structured workouts then SYSTM is top notch and way better than Zwift in that respect.

Banzaibrothers

Ok, maybe I’ll take a look at that first then 👍🏻

Banzaibrothers

By the way, if someone sent me a PM related to this thread, I can’t read it as my access to messages is blocked by the administrators until I’ve made 10 posts 🤷🏻‍♂️

Banzaibrothers

Have now managed to download the rest of the notification email and have read the direct message - but still can’t respond here using my inbox etc.

Anyway, thank you very much, I’ll give it a try 👍🏻

IcySwan1 

What is the difference between SYSTM and RGT?

tempocyclist

Have you used RGT much since the SYSTM bundling? Are there many other riders on the courses at the same time?


SYSTM is Wahoo's own training platform. It includes all the old Sufferfest videos (these are absolutely excellent) plus a bunch of yoga and other training stuff that you may or may not want.

RGT (formerly Road Grand Tours) is a virtual roads cycling world, like Zwift with a lot less $$$ invested into it. Now owned by Wahoo and bundled into SYSTM for the one price.

IcySwan1 

Thanks, Tempo. That helps. I am
trying to avoid paying for Zwift if the Wahoo format provides a similar experience.

Mike

spelger

compared to the last time i used RGT it does not compare well to Zwift. i liked RGT a lot but their routes were so limiting that i could not bring myself to pay for it (last i looked i saw no new routes and only about 10 maybe). I actually thought their graphics were better but that's not what riding is about. the grade simulations were pretty much the same. RGT would reduce your speed when descending hairpins - reality. but with Zwift there are so many routes, granted they are all fake but so is the riding in both on a trainer.

hoping that whaoo puts some $ into RGT and adds more routes, then it may be worth it. i got sick of the problems with Zwift and switched to rouvy last winter. liked it a lot. lots of ongoing challenges that i took them up on and saw a lot of really nice country side mostly in europe. what a wonderful place to ride if you like climbing.

IcySwan1 

Spelger, that info is exactly what I am looking for. I will check out Rouvy; I have not heard of it. But what are the problems with Zwift that caused you to change? Thanks for your help in getting me started.

Mike

spelger

what i do like about zwift is that there are lots of riders and lots of roads. i like that because it is virtual i can turn any time i want. in rouvy or fulgaz you cannot do that since it is a per-recorded ride.

what i don't like about zwift is that there are too many riders. in this case what i'd really like to see is the ability to filter out other riders with a w/kg less than some specified number. also, they seem to introduce new bugs on every update they do, only to be followed up with another update to fix what they broke, or if deemed unimportant just not fix it at all. the last one i can recall is the grade indicator in london. i'd like to configure what i see on the screen so i can see more but not what they had last time i used it (all or nothing approach). if you like social then zwift is probably pretty good in that respect, i can take it or leave it. they have group rides that are either too hard or too easy (for me). the best thing they added in my recent memory has been the pace partners. i've done a couple of races but those turned out to be a joke.

between rouvy and fulgaz i just liked the rouvy layout. i like that in rouvy i can ride against myself if i am doing a route again. nice feature to push myself.

it is all a personal preference, thing is there are aspects of all that i like, i just can't afford to run them all. if you have not tried any of these i suggest you do. they all have a free trial. i still even get to do an occasional zwift session every couple of weeks. have not been a zwift customer since more than a year now. canceled rouvy but will start back up in winter or if smokey summer happens again. last i tried rgt the free rides were not possible since whaoo acquired them. i wanted to see what new routes they had and was sad to see no new ones. that is what i really liked about rouvy and fulgaz...there are so many routes you could ride 5 a day every day of the year and never do a repeat. i've done pretty much every road in zwift so got a bit bored with that too. i still like to ride up the radio tower, that is one of my fav routes. i like to go up the tower, back down toward the castle, take the shortcut to the left and go back up the tower 2-3 more times. i was doing that once a week after work shortly after they added that shortcut, another of their best updates. pretty whooped after that. speakign of updates, zwift forces the update on you, you have no choice so always be prepared for one. rouvy only ever notified me if an update was available but i could skip it if i wanted. since zwift does use a server to manage you and the other riders i do get it, but not every update should require this. do i really need to be forced to update because of added jerseys?

IcySwan1 

Spelger, that is perfect. Thank you for taking to time to sort it for me. I am sensible of your kindness. I will explore the free trials.

Mike

PeteHski

No and no. I've mainly been using Rouvy lately.

RileyG

Not related to a free app but you’ll love the Kickr Core. Great trainer. I use it with zwift through the winter and I love it. So much more immersive than a non adjustable trainer.

adamrice 

Trainer Day can be used in a limited way without paying for it. It's strictly for riding power-based intervals.

kingston 

I use free trainerday to find or build erg files then load them into free trainingpeaks which auto-loads them onto my bolt which controls the resistance on the kickr. After the workout, it's uploaded to free strava and automatically imported into free golden cheetah. I assume you could use one of the wahoo apps to control the kickr if you don't' have am element.

Viich

Banzaibrothers - I didn't see anyone mention it yet, your trainer can be paired to a cycling head unit and do a workout you download to it. Lots of ways to build those workouts yourself or download them.

Another option is Golden Cheetah, though it's a bit on the complex side.

Barry2 

I use my bike computer to control my Kickr. No app required.
I can build workouts on ZWOfactory and upload them to my Wahoo Bolt or Garmin 830 using USB cord.

Barry

La Tortue

I don't get it. I hear it a lot, "the "X" training programs are so much better than Zwift. Help me out. Isn't a workout essentially a series of watt production numbers? Show me any Trainer Road workout and I believe I can find a very similar workout on Zwift. You essentially push so many watts for so long then recover and push another amount. You can actually replicate the exact wattage of a TR workout with the custom Zwift template if you like. Or, you can pick a pace bot that goes your zone 2 speed and simply drop off the back far enough to replicate the time needed at zone 4 or 5 to catch back up. So, how is a TR workout that says you warm up at zone 2 for ten minutes and then DO a series of one-minute HIT intervals (zone 5) with two-minute recoveries any different than doing it via the Zwift custom or bot method? At the end of the day, all these methods required the exact wattages at the same time. How is one so much better than the other?