Anyone Zwifting this coming Winter?
Replies
-
Eric Min, one of the founders/owners at Zwift, said on Strava a couple of days ago that smart trainers control power to hit targets through the warmup, then once the actual "test interval" hits the software switches the trainer from Erg mode to Slope mode.
Ah, that makes sense to be honest - "keep you honest" for the warmup and "pre-loading" sections of the FTP test, then let you select your "comfort" (well-maybe not comfort exactly) zone for the actual test interval.
0 -
A couple of write-ups on Zwift training mode, for any of us that haven't had the chance to play with it yet.
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/10/zwifts-workout-mode.html
http://www.titaniumgeek.com/gear-reviews/zwift-workout-mode/0 -
/\ Look good
0 -
Following on from a possible Winter challenge mentioned earlier in this thread add your interest on here if you fancy taking part, could be an opportunity for some group Swift sessions perhaps.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10274244/winter-training-challenges-some-bad-news-from-me-but-an-opportunity-for-someone-else/p10 -
Had my first go at Zwift workout mode. Not terribly impressed at this juncture. The software spent almost the entire workout using my trainer (Tacx Vortex Smart) to fight me. It would, for instance, give me a power target at 175 watts and tell me to "Add more power!" I'd crank up the effort and the software would immediately turn down resistance on the trainer to prevent me from hitting the target. I know it isn't an issue with my setup because TrainerRoad does exactly this flawlessly.
0 -
Doesn't sound too attractive to me but I might have a bash tonight as I'm off the outside bike today so I'll see how the kickr responds, sounds like they have teething issues to sort out, not great when beta mode finishes in 2 days, I wonder if they are realising that releasing a major module a week before people start paying was not the best idea.0
-
Tried the workout mode this morning. The workout reminded me of Revolver. I wish there was more of a audible queue when power needs to change other than a start of an interval. There were a couple of 5-10 intervals that power changed and if you were not paying attention you would miss it. I also wish I knew what Max as if you dont hit it you fail that segment. Going to try it a few more times as well. The Worlds course was cool. Not so much into the social aspect but seeing the chatter between people is a nice distraction. Not sure how you train and chat but hey each his own.
Yeah I dont get how you can cycle and text by phone or type on a laptop at all. I'm moving way too much to type.0 -
I think some people are using 'voice to type' software of some sort.... Pretty sure it's a regular thing with some gamers. Headset microphone and they're away. Haven't looked into it, as the whole messages thing actually gets on my tits, I go on the trainer to get a workout, not to read someone's waffling on about keeping up or shouting decking ride on at me!0
-
The only time I've used the chatter thing was when doing the charity ride which was manageable at a plodding endurance speed, was quite nice to do it as a collective .... that was until the software had a major wobble and I was left in the twilight zone with everyone disappearing, how they chat while racing is beyond me ... even with voice to type.0
-
Per email, it looks like they are extending Beta another week.0
-
Per email, it looks like they are extending Beta another week.
Jason and I have already been having a bit of a *kitten* about that on the newsfeed...
Have to say, I read the email as "oh *kitten*, deadlines nearly here and nothing's working right... Let's try an buy ourselves another week to paper over the cracks"0 -
Per email, it looks like they are extending Beta another week.
Jason and I have already been having a bit of a *kitten* about that on the newsfeed...
Have to say, I read the email as "oh *kitten*, deadlines nearly here and nothing's working right... Let's try an buy ourselves another week to paper over the cracks"
Haha yeah, basically... Still quite a few bugs I dislike about the program.
Once I was in the workout section and I wanted it go back and do a standard ride, it wouldn't let me. I had to exit the program and restart.
Is there a way to access the menu prior to starting a ride, pedaling, then stopping for the pause menu to appear?
I also dislike the program closing out after doing the save & strava update.0 -
Did another work out this morning.... I know I keep my weight and FTP correct so my watts per kilo is correct but I think that if you dont have a legit power meter source (quarq, powertap, compu, tax, whatever) you should be dropped into a server where all that dont exist. All the math in the world is not going to make be believe that they can get a power curve to mirror actual power. Also I think some people pushing over 6w/k for extended amounts of time is a bit suspicious. Overall I am pretty happy with the workout mode so far. Will continue to play with it for the beta. Also there is no way I am wearing a headset while trying to do intervals I sweat too much even with a fan.
I saw a guy last night running 8-9w/k for what seemed to be a very long time which I thought was suspect. I think he had the PM icon but I only noticed because that stat turned orange to indicate a high output. I do find I generate more sweat and workout harder on Zwift rides than previous gopro ride-along video watching so that's good.0 -
My latest 'Level' info:
0 -
Per email, it looks like they are extending Beta another week.
Jason and I have already been having a bit of a *kitten* about that on the newsfeed...
Have to say, I read the email as "oh *kitten*, deadlines nearly here and nothing's working right... Let's try an buy ourselves another week to paper over the cracks"
Haha yeah, basically... Still quite a few bugs I dislike about the program.
Once I was in the workout section and I wanted it go back and do a standard ride, it wouldn't let me. I had to exit the program and restart.
Is there a way to access the menu prior to starting a ride, pedaling, then stopping for the pause menu to appear?
I also dislike the program closing out after doing the save & strava update.
Once you stop peddling you should see a big arrow on the bottom left of the screen, this should access the menu to change kit and setting etc.0 -
You know I've not used Zwift since getting outdoors, starting to wonder if it's worth splashing out £8 a month although I prob will just to give me options for bad weather days .... and the FTP testing, been wanting to do one of those for ages and never got round to it..0
-
-
^^^^ and as if to prove my own Meme...
I did the FTP test yesterday on Zwift... and if ever there was a completely meaningless bloody set of test results it's mine from yesterday...
basically, because I have to keep to a "hard ceiling" on my Heart rate of 110bpm. Which, even adjusted for the reduced HrMax figure (147 by "this weeks best guess from the rehab people" - I keep telling them I NEED a proper stress-test running ASAP before I waste any more time, or worse still, actually overdo things) due to the beta blockers is still a 75% of maximal hr. Now, for a 20 minute effort, I'd normally be jogging along around 160-165 for the duration (my normal max being 172) with the last 2-3 minutes going as deep as I could... I've done lots of time-trialling in my day, so I'm relatively adept at knowing how much I can hurt myself...)
So - basically, I did the test, pretty much just to actually follow the protocol and be able to answer any questions people may have about how it seems to work. The Initial section (post warmup spin) is quite difficult to follow on a non-smart trainer - basically, you're on your own to try and follow the recommended wattages for the "20 second bursts" - with a smart trainer, I'd imagine they'd be easier, as the trainer goes into ergometer mode and basically just adjusts resistance to make you develop the power at whatever gear and cadence you're in. So, after getting through the warmups, onto the main show... 20 minutes of hell moderate discomfort. Actually, the hardest thing for me was actually keeping to the HR threshold. Which I did... just about (went up to 112 for around 5 seconds as my HR "overshot" the target-that's another effect of the beta-blockers, it alters the HR's "rising/falling rate," making your HR less "spiky"). But at that threshold, my 20 minute power was 148w, and therefore I've got a FTP of 141 at the commencement of play for this challenge. That's hellishly poor BTW - especially with a watts/kilo of 1.11 - i'm currently feeling a little bit like a Stretched Cadillac with the engine out of a Trabant fitted.
At least now, If I do another test at the end of November, I know that I'm working with figures that reflect my "current" physical status, and not from my last test around a year ago, where the numbers were well into the 250's...
0 -
Gotta say it scares me a little you doing an FTP test Mark, good to see you on the bike, gotta be better then those classes!
On a comical point I saw this image posted on Zwift Riders, is it me or are athletes looking skinnier these days .....
0 -
Jakess1971 wrote: »Gotta say it scares me a little you doing an FTP test Mark, good to see you on the bike, gotta be better then those classes!
On a comical point I saw this image posted on Zwift Riders, is it me or are athletes looking skinnier these days .....
Nah, that's definately Chris Froome in the black bandanna 0 -
Jakess1971 wrote: »Gotta say it scares me a little you doing an FTP test Mark, good to see you on the bike, gotta be better then those classes!
On a comical point I saw this image posted on Zwift Riders, is it me or are athletes looking skinnier these days .....
it wasn't REALLY a FTP test, just a run through of the protocol... I basically substituted a 20 minute session at my allowed Max Hr for the "all out for 20 minutes effort" - so really it was pretty much just as intense (or not) as any other of the Zwift sessions i've done - in fact, probably less, because in training mode, theres none of that "sprint for the line" or "close the gap" cobblers to distract me.
I like the "halloween special" bit that they've put in there though... pity it didn't update through to the weight, as that's the only way i'll improve my watts/kg at the moment!
0 -
Jakess1971 wrote: »Per email, it looks like they are extending Beta another week.
Jason and I have already been having a bit of a *kitten* about that on the newsfeed...
Have to say, I read the email as "oh *kitten*, deadlines nearly here and nothing's working right... Let's try an buy ourselves another week to paper over the cracks"
Haha yeah, basically... Still quite a few bugs I dislike about the program.
Once I was in the workout section and I wanted it go back and do a standard ride, it wouldn't let me. I had to exit the program and restart.
Is there a way to access the menu prior to starting a ride, pedaling, then stopping for the pause menu to appear?
I also dislike the program closing out after doing the save & strava update.
Once you stop peddling you should see a big arrow on the bottom left of the screen, this should access the menu to change kit and setting etc.
I saw that and have used it. But I mean accessing the menu and doing your kit changing prior to starting, turning pedals, stopping THEN accessing the menu.
Last night I had a new kit icon on the pause menu display but when I checked each of the options, jersey, bike & wheels, nothing was there, yet the indicator (a star-like symbol with a 2 inside of it) would not go away. I checked thoroughly...
I did uturn my ride last night so that was a nice change. Never did make it to the 50mph achievement. I got 48.5. I'll make sure to get it next time.
So I guess there are no power ups on Watopia island? All I ever get is that plus symbol that disappears within seconds of getting. I make sure to hit the space bar quick so I get the +10 XP before it disappears.Jakess1971 wrote: »Gotta say it scares me a little you doing an FTP test Mark, good to see you on the bike, gotta be better then those classes!
On a comical point I saw this image posted on Zwift Riders, is it me or are athletes looking skinnier these days .....
That's effing hilarious.0 -
Looks like a new Zwift update pushed through with a bunch of changes to the workout mode. It seems like they implemented a workaround to the problem I was seeing with workout mode but unfortunately the workaround seems to be that they just dump me into "dumb trainer" mode and I have to hit targets on my own rather than having my smart trainer and the software handle it.
One other point of interest for the folks here who are annoyed by the messaging chatter: there's now an option to turn global messaging off if you don't want to see them.
I bet you're using the Zwift TT bike. Anytime you're on a TT bike you don't get powerups, only the +10 points.So I guess there are no power ups on Watopia island? All I ever get is that plus symbol that disappears within seconds of getting. I make sure to hit the space bar quick so I get the +10 XP before it disappears.
0 -
I actually choose the TT bike to deliberately switch off all the distracting Shite...
0 -
Gotta say I just don't bother with the power ups, I don't get them outdoors after all .... although sometimes I wish I did.0
-
I don't bother with powerups either, and in fact I wish you could disable them. There was a lot of pro and con discussion on the Zwift boards when they first introduced the feature. I switched back to a regular road bike yesterday and got tired of the constant "close the gap" messages and powerups pretty fast. I'll switch back to the TT bike tonight.0
-
The workout mode update from a couple of days ago is an improvement. It's usable for me now, but only by virtue of throwing my trainer into "dumb" mode.
The other odd thing I noticed is that in the 12 week FTP builder training plan almost all of the longer intervals are at endurance power levels, not threshold or sweet spot. Seems kinda strange.0 -
Looks like a new Zwift update pushed through with a bunch of changes to the workout mode. It seems like they implemented a workaround to the problem I was seeing with workout mode but unfortunately the workaround seems to be that they just dump me into "dumb trainer" mode and I have to hit targets on my own rather than having my smart trainer and the software handle it.
One other point of interest for the folks here who are annoyed by the messaging chatter: there's now an option to turn global messaging off if you don't want to see them.
I bet you're using the Zwift TT bike. Anytime you're on a TT bike you don't get powerups, only the +10 points.So I guess there are no power ups on Watopia island? All I ever get is that plus symbol that disappears within seconds of getting. I make sure to hit the space bar quick so I get the +10 XP before it disappears.
Ah ok that's it cuz I did change bikes which happened to be when it switched back to Watopia. Thanks, Noel.0
This discussion has been closed.